This week the team is focusing on the timber formwork for the reinforced concrete ring on top of the stone foundations. The task is demanding, mostly because of the precision of measurements and levels.
We visited the Shrine House in Besease, a local cultural heritage of Ashanti Region. The guide lead us through the history of that site, meaningful for the whole ghanaian tradition and customs. Further, we found out more about the construction techniques, its courtyard typology and concept, hoping to embody some of those aspect in our project at Abetenim.
We rammed the fourth sample, using higher percent of sand, 10% and lowering the cement back to 5%. The interior surfaces were fold by plastic sheet on a side and dirty oil on the other side.
It was added some wooden boards while layering, to test the possibility of flexibile fixing point for shelves and any kind of hanging furniture. On the edge we fixed the ending board within the earth, through a special lock system made out of a piece of wood and metal wire. This piece will meant to become part of the window and door frames.
The result is still good using plastic, otherwise the lower percentage of cement or over wet mix, made some earth parts very sticky on the dirty oil side.
In the meantime, the painting process of clay stoves has started. Abu, Frank, Kofi and his son Ted has been working for few days so far. It would be great to involve more people on it, including children from all over the village. Many activities are yet to be scheduled and more volunteers are coming. Next week we will pour the concrete for the ring bond. Afterwards the ramming step will start eventually!
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