Making 12,000 cement blocks
It is inspiring to see the local men working to make the blocks for the 420m perimeter wall. They are grateful for the work and we are grateful for their skill and speed, using local materials and building blocks in the traditional way for Guinea-Bissau. Hand mixing cement, they are using moulds to form the blocks, which then dry in the sun. One bag of cement, mixed with sand (locally-sourced and hand-sieved), makes around 30 blocks. The men are making around 600 blocks a day! They get paid the local rate of around £3 for every sack of cement used, which offers an opportunity to earn good money to provide for their families. Some of the men working have children in our school.
After two weeks work they have made around 6,000 blocks, with 6,000 left to go! When finished, we hope to enter the final phase of building the perimeter wall and encasing the pillars with cement.
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