Update on the Saidi Building Project

I had the perfect opportunity to review progress at the Saidi Building Project during my recent 3-week visit to Malawi.

As you may recall, in January a lightning strike and fire seriously damaged the msasa we built for the children’s work at Saidi. This really discouraged us at the time as the msasa was still not completely finished. However, with the Lord’s help and the passage of time we have got over the disappointment. The cyclone that followed caused enormous damage across the Southern Region of Malawi. Thousands of people suffered loss of their homes and/or their crops. Many have no means to rebuild and are still sheltering from the tropical rains in makeshift shelters of plastic sheeting. This puts the msasa fire in perspective, especially as some of our neighbours at Saidi we affected.

There has been definite progress since the end of my last visit, albeit a little slower with the onset of the rainy season.

Container Bay

I was delighted to see the fine job the builders have done finishing the container bay. They have finished plastering the outside of the structure and laid a “breeze-block” pavement and “spoon drains.

By the end of February, Joel (our engineering contractor) had made great strides with the container / office conversion. While I was there he finished the wiring work and lining/plastering the interior. By the time I was ready to leave, the interior was complete and we were waiting for installation of the aluminium windows.

We are confident that the office is going to be a real asset to the work. It will give the team an ideal place to manage the increasing admin associated with the many growing facets of the work.

Security

Brother Goodson continues to do a great job as foreman of the building project, both at Saidi and at the nearby site where Anna is constructing a house.

As you may recall, we had a number of thefts a few months ago, so we decided to prioritise spending on security before proceeding much further.

We had already built a brick wall along most of the north and west perimeter of the site – particularly the boundary with the community grave yard. Over the past couple of months Goodson has overseen erection of a wire fence to the remainder of the north perimeter. The builders have also completed construction of a block wall along  approximately 150m of the western perimeter, adjacent to the main road. Our plan is eventually to surmount this with metal railings to provide adequate security without seclusion.

A couple of months back we invested in additional solar powered “street lights”. We decided to cast our own reinforced concrete lamp posts for these on account of the cost of metal posts. Unfortunately we were unable to erect as the ground was too soft to support a crane after all the heavy rain. We thank the Lord for a dry spell which enabled us to get these up a few days before I left. God willing, we hope to install the lights and a CCTV system shortly. We still have a few hundred metres of fencing to do, but we believe these measures will considerably improve on-site security.

Ground works

We have several landscaping issues to contend with. During the dry season the land becomes extremely hard and dusty. The elevation of the site drops by over 5 metres from south to north. Consequently, during wet season, there is a problem with water runoff causing soil erosion, gulleys and localised flooding. The road just outside the site is particularly badly cut up.

During my visit in November I spent some time contouring the site. Having established the contours, we planted rows of Vetiver Grass to produce temporary terraces and prevent runoff. Meanwhile, Brother Goodson had a team of guys multiply and plant kapinga grass rhizomes. This is intended to further limit the wet-season runoff and dry-season dust problems. Sadly, the onset of the rains was very late and some of the kapinga died. However, what survived has been a real help. We will need to make provision for irrigating the grass once the rains cease.

The bare slope in front of the container bare has also been a problem. When wet it gets muddy and slippy, and when dry it is dusty – and slippy!

During my March visit I was able to hire an excavator to partially level this area. We made a large, level parking & turning area, with an upper terrace where we hope to build further storage. Our immediate plan for this parking area is to lay concrete kerbs and then backfill the space with quarry stone, thereby reducing the traction and dust problems.

Next phase(s) of the building project

Apart from the various works I’ve already referred to, our next phase of works will involve:

• Construction of a block-making shed (we mould our own Interlocking Stabilised Soil Blocks (ISSBs)) – underway
• Repair of the thatched roof on the Msasa (the collapsed pillar has already been built up)
• Construction of Basic Accommodation for Security & Ground Staff (more people living on site will reduce the security risk)
• Connection of Fresh Water Storage Tanks to the Borehole
• Installation of brown water storage and irrigation
• Construction of a small meeting / conference room in time for MGO (August 2022)
• Building Dormitory Accommodation in time for Teaching Conferences later in 2022 (DV)
• Construction of Visitors’ accommodation – this will eliminate the need for staying in B&B

Longer Term Plans

At our last team meeting we brainstormed some ideas about the possible use of the land available to us. We agreed that our vision for the land revolves principally around the upcoming generations and we will value your prayers for guidance as we put flesh on the bones of our ideas.

As Nehemiah said, this is a “great work”, but we give thanks that we have a great God.

We appreciate all that the generosity of the Lord’s people has enable us to do so far. Thanks for your prayerful support.