topping out...or the richtfest

ground floor walls completed

it seems that we go from the sublime to the ridiculous here at the village of hope, our last post contained the info about how we provided some very basic care for a couple of families that had lost everything in a fire that destroyed their home and possessions in one of our informal settlements in grabouw and today i am posting a blog about the wonderful party we had to celebrate the hard work of our stuttgart students as they close on to the completion of our second building that will host our international volunteers.......

richtfest (topping out)

...everything is connected as we wouldn't be able to provide the help to the community without our volunteers and we are so thankful to them and to the amazing german students who have been working so hard to not only build but also provide the design and concept of our new building but sometimes your brain struggles to come to terms with the two worlds in which we seem to live.

the richfest party

however that's the conundrum we live with everyday and we have to deal with that...what we wanted to share with you the wonderful evening and traditional ceremony that we had last night with the students as they performed the 'topping out' or what they call the richtfest of the new building. this is richtfest is only completed once the roof is finished and they have worked hard very hard each and everyday, performing taxing building skills with little knowledge or experience, and having to contend with the warm (if not hot) summer sun to enable that to happen this week.

we had a great time, listening to their speeches, which were set to rhyme in both german and english and we enjoyed a braai and some beer together....with less than two weeks to go before they leave this was a good time to reflect on all that has already been achieved (i am sure the photos show some amazing progress) and gives them renewed energy for the final push.

thanks guys, we truly love, respect and commend all that you are doing to further the work of the village of hope and the wider thembalitsha foundation here in grabouw and south africa.

arron and tyler start the plastering

arron and tyler getting plastered.

after a succesful test patch we are now confident that the lime, sand and straw plaster mix is ready to be applied to the inside of the new house built by the team from stuttgart university earlier this year.

arron and tyler are now busy getting their hands dirty and applying the mix onto the straw walls. this might take some time, but we hope that once this is completed we will be able to re install the kitchen and then start moving rob and emily (our long term volunteers) into their new home. thus freeing up space in the short term volunteers accommodation.

the last straw!

team working hard outside front of house

well we are into the final week of the visit from the team from the university of stuttgart, they will leave us on sunday and therefore are busy with the last of the building work that they have been completing on the new accommodation. they have worked so hard and are making every effort to finish the building to that 'german standard' that they are known for!

over the last week we have seen the solar panel installed which will provide some cost saving on our water heating bills, the septic tank has been sunk into the ground, the window frames and glass are being installed as i write and the kitchen and bathroom units are being manufactured (the door fronts of the kitchen units are made from old yahat sails)....this really is an ecco house.

light switch in cob wall

we will be so sad to see this team leave, but we are so blessed to have had them come and visit, raising funds and build us a new home. myself and maz are returning to england for a short break at the end of may and we have made plans to visit the team in germany and not only thank but speak to their professor, who knows where our relationship will lead but we do hope to see them again soon.