Work continues successfully!

Nutan, Elena and Tabea arrived on sunday and completed our team. First design lab to design the niches to be built into the rammed earth wall. 

Durch die Ankunft von Elena, Nutan und Tabea ist seit Sonntag unser Team nun komplett. Noch am selben Abend bekamen die Teilnehmer ihre erste kleine Entwurfsaufgabe, welche darin bestand unterschiedliche Konzepte für Wandnischen innerhalb der Stampflehmwand zu entwickeln.

Early monday morning we woke up to heavy rain and power outage, which lasted all day. And unfortunately, the generator wasn’t producing enough power to run the saw. Regardless of rain, the adobe brick group fullfilled their mission by testing and exploring the local soils and fibres. We also prefabricated formwork panels for the rammed earth wall and tested more soil and aggregate mixtures.

Heftiger Regen und Stromausfall beeinträchtigte unsere Arbeit am Montag. Trotzallem wurden erste Proben bezüglich der unterschiedlichen Erd- bzw. Faserbeschaffenheiten genommen, die für die Herstellung der Lehmziegel notwendig sind. Der andere Teil unseres Teams konnte Teile der Stampflehmwand-Schalung fertigstellen und weitere Mischungsverhältnisse für den benötigten Lehm austesten.

On Tuesday we removed the remaining formwork on the foundation walls. After examining our test samples we agreed on final mixtures on both the rammed earth and the adobe bricks, and started producing material and mixing. 

Am Dienstagvormittag wurden die letzten Schalungselemente der Fundamente entfernt. Nachdem nach etlichen Tests die Mischungsverhältnisse sowohl für die Lehmziegel als auch für den Stampflehm festgelegt wurde, konnte mit der Produktion beider Mischungen begonnen werden.

Our workforce reached its peak with a total of 27 local workers and team members. The Adobe group was in full production mode, and the formwork for rammed earth wall was put in place. First earth layer was rammed by Verena and Maria on there last evening on the workshop. Thank you, Verena, Maria and Jule for your dedication and hard work. Bucket showers had to be reduced to half a bucket due to the lack of water.

Durch die Unterstützung der Einheimischen bestand unser Team mittlerweile aus 27 Arbeitern. Ein Teil unserer Gruppe konnte nun mit der Produktion der Lehmziegel beginnen, der andere platzierte die Schalung der Stampflehmwand. So bekamen unseren Teilnehmerinnen Juliane, Maria und Verena, die uns leider schon wieder verlassen mussten, noch die Möglichkeit die erste Schicht der Stampflehmwand zu rammen. 

Wir bedanken uns herzlich für Euer Engagement und die tatkräftige Unterstützung!

The first week is over!

On Thursday, we started building low walls to be used for seating for the house, out of natural stones and cement mortar. The formwork was laid for the main wall, as well formwork for testing rammed earth mixtures.

Friday, the benches were completed, as well as the formwork for the foundation of the main wall (located on the northern side). Tests were made on the soil found at different locations on the site to see how it held up under ramming.

Saturday was the main day for setting the concrete. We mixed so much concrete that we used up all the water on the site, and water had to be carried in by hand (or better, on head) from the neighboring village. The foundation for the 12 m main wall was finished, and finally the formwork for foundation for the walls could be removed to show the work that the team completed.

The First Few Days

Monday Aug. 3 marked the first day with a full workforce of 15 motivated workshop participants! The foundation was dug, the first layer of sand (subbase) was rammed in place, and used wooden formwork was gathered to be recycled on our building. Materials (wood, sand, stone, and metal) and tools were ordered for future use on the site.

On Tuesday, stones were collected in the village nearby to reduce the amount of concrete used in the foundation, and then a concrete layer was poured and rebar was put into place to stabilize the wall. The team started assembling the formwork for the foundation of the rammed earth and adobe brick walls. 

Tuesday also marked the official meeting with the village chief and his speaker, as well as a welcoming ceremony. The chief granted the group permission to visit his village and to interact with its community.

On Wednesday, the team visited the stone quarry to order a specific kind of gravel needed for the earthen mixture, and the first preparation of the earth mix began. More progress continues to be made on the foundation and on leveling the formwork.

More team members arrive on the site on Sunday, so there will be more to report then. Stay tuned!

Thanks to Ingrid for the pictures!

Work has officially begun!

Our first arrivals have reached our site at the Abetemin Arts Village in the Ashanti Region in Ghana, and were able to report back what they've accomplished so far.

Markus, Matthias, Ingrid, and Vincent arrived at the village on July 30, and determined the best site for the house. It is situated between a palm tree and another big tree which will act as shading for the house during the evening hours. They also met with the other teams that are also currently building, and exchanged their experiences of their mud house workshops that are currently underway.

On Friday, the 31st, the team worked with 4 local workers to clear the site from trash and bushes. Underneath, they found the parcel fits exactly the required orientation of the house in regards to the path of the sun. In the evening, the team had an official meeting with the Village Chief's Wife, to hand over gifts from Germany, and to receive permission from her to build the house.

Saturday, August 1st, two more participants, Tim and Laura, joined the group. The floor of the site was leveled and measured, and the first parts of the foundation were staked out.

Stay tuned for more updates. More participants are arriving next weekend, and we will report back when we can. 

We want to thank all the people who have supported us so far on this journey. Our crowdfunding campaign is really taking off, with more than 20% of our needs being covered already! Thanks to all the people who have contributed so far, or have helped to spread the word about our project. We appreciate all the help you have given us!

For those new to our campaign, and wanting to support us financially, please check out our donation site at www.betterplace.org/p31124  (for the English version, look at the upper right corner of the page, and click on "English").

We need your support!

Dear Readers, we are closely approaching the start of the workshop and things are slowly falling into place! To help cover the costs of the workshop we set up a crowdfunding site to collect donations to pay for things like better quality materials, and getting local experts and community members involved in the work we are doing. The more we engage with local villagers, the more likely it is we will make a lasting difference in the community, and the more successful our workshop will be. Please help spread the word to your friends, family, and colleagues who may be interested in making a donation via this link: www.betterplace.org/p31124
 
We will be collecting donations up until the last day of construction (or sooner if we reach our goal before that). Every euro counts, no matter how small the donation, our project will receive 100% of donations. If you aren't in the financial situation to donate, please help spread the word to others you know who are interested in making a difference. Together we can put an end to destructive building processes and make a change in how sustainable construction is seen in the world.

Thanks!
The Raumgeschichten e.V. Team