About working here

A while ago someone told me that she had dated an architect for a while, and she really could feel stressed from HIS job... Through what he was telling her, she had the impression that nothing could ever go well in our job, that every day brings new problems...

Well it's true that it's day-to-day problem solving when you're in charge of a construction... but that's what makes it challenging and interesting, is it not ? :)

But working here is definitely a pleasure for me. I truly sing in the car when going to site ! The good weather probably plays a big role in this. But also...

Because the workers on site are actually pleased to see me coming, and happy that I'm giving them directions.

Because there's no problem when we want to try out things, or make some adjustments on site (in time, that is, before it's actually done), and everybody is willing to do so.

Because even if not everything is perfectly made, the overall look is very satisfactory, and beautiful.

Because even if we use different tools, we're not drown in the technology and still use our brains very much ;)

And using natural materials and no heavy machinery is definitely also playing a big part in the pleasure.

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Week 5 : The launch of CSEB making

So, yeah, this week saw the start of the production of our CSEB - Compressed Stabilized Earth Blocks, also called "SSB" for Stabilized Soil bricks, or BTC in French, for Blocs de Terre Comprimée (manque un S pour stabilisée mais bref). They are much more eco-friendly than the fired bricks (using a looot of wood to get cooked) or concrete (using a loooot of (imported) cement), as these blocks should count only 5% of cement for the stabilization, and don't need any plaster or paint or any other layer on them at the end to be confortable and beautiful. So some soil has already been extracted and sieved, and kinda analyzed ( a bit too roughly unfortunately), we had a bag of cement ready, some water nearby, a large area for the curing was prepared, the machine was assembled and we were ready to start testing ! We made our first blocks on Monday afternoon, guiding the guys for the dry mixing, the wet mixing, the steps for the compression, the handling on the block...

Chantier au jour le jour

I've already talked about the difficulties to plan anything ahead here last year. On Wednesday late afternoon, the person in charge of the site while the boss is away informs that he will have to be away for the 2 coming days, as he has to attend a relative's funeral. Ok, I am the one remaining, I will then spend Thursday and Friday on site. I'm also waiting for more info on the gardens to finish setting out the future alley. But the permaculture director just messaged me : she's been sick all night and won't be able to go anywhere today.

Week ...? - 17/01 Preserving the trees

When you want to preserve the trees of the site you're building on, you have to go with some golden rules... One of these is "you do not build too close from the trees", or else you'll damage the roots, and the tree you wanted to keep will die shortly... So the challenge was to build our stone boundary wall without damaging the roots of the beautiful Tree-on-the-Rock that is standing just at the limit of the site. And we did it ! It's such a nice place and will be perfect to come to meditate about the resilience of beings around us...

Eco-Archi in Malawi

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