Katikamu Project Covenant Signing

December 14th, 2008

I went to the Habitat for Humanity Katikamu community for a meeting today. When I arrived people were still gathering and those who were settled and waiting were chatting away about the brick making machines and the process it involves. They were laughing and making bold expressions. Happy as can be. George William took me to the building site so I could see the bricks that have been made so far as well as the pit latrine excavation. It’s amazing how far they’ve come along in such a short amount of time. It’s so incredibly impressive!!

There was a wedding and a funeral today, so not every member of the community was present for the meeting. All members of the Project Support Committee were there, so we went ahead and signed the project covenant after going over the terms as outlined in the methodology.

We briefly reviewed the major areas that the methodology states should be gone over before the covenant is signed, which includes:

-community understanding of JLMC methodology

-community contribution to the project (all details concerning land, unskilled labor, materials, etc.)

-what JLMC will contribute

-community commitment to educating girls and boys in equal numbers

-project time line

-volunteer implementation plan

After reviewing these key areas and giving the opportunity for a questions and answers session (no questions were asked…a man simply stated….”No questions just our utmost gratitude to you Nambooze”) we all signed the document. Ben will keep the document and the rest of the community members will sign it over the next couple of days. I explained that JLMC is also thankful to this community for working hard and placing value on education. One man asked whether or not JLMC would continue to help other communities to build schools in Uganda. I told them that this very community will set the precedents for whether or not JLMC will continue to build schools in Uganda. If this community does well and acts as a role model for what’s possible, then JLMC will gain confidence in future prospects. This opportunity got them very excited, which is exactly what the signing of the covenant is all about. The whole point is to get people motivated and fired up about the project.

We also discussed the minutes of their last meeting. At least twelve members have agreed to work on the school building until the 23^rd of December before breaking for Christmas. They agreed to return to the school building on the 27^th of December and work until the 30^th. They will return from the New Year’s holiday to work on the 3^rd of January. They are fairly certain that other community members who were not present for the meeting will agree to this holiday schedule as well.

We discussed the making of bricks and their challenges with the earth from the pit latrine excavation being very rocky. They decided to go and gather earth from a different area to make the work a little bit easier. So far they’ve only been using one machine because the earth was giving them such a hard time that all of their efforts were exhausted. Tomorrow they will begin working with both brick making presses. They already have close to 900 bricks made. After so much practice, better earth and two machines they hope to be making over 500 bricks per day from here on out. Check back for updates and photos on the brick making process.

We also discussed the issue of the machines having to be moved to the land every day. They are extremely heavy, so Ben had suggested that we purchase durable chains and padlocks so that they could be secured on the land after the days use. I explained that the cost for chains and padlocks was not an issue, but rather the security of the expensive machines. One community member piped up saying…”Hey everybody…remember the door???!!!” All of the community members smacked their knees and yelled out Banange (meaning oh my goodness!!) and giggled a bit. Apparently this man had a 150 kilogram metal garage door on his property. It was sitting in his yard waiting to be attached by a builder. Someone came in the night and stole it. He said to himself…..”Surely I can leave this door unsecured because there is no way that a human man could lift it!” Oh they lifted it alright. Right off of his property poor guy!! This was enough for the community to decide that chaining the machines was too great of a risk to take. They considered the possibility of moving it to another house just a little bit closer to the land, but Ben and George William had already considered this. They took measurements and determined that the machines would not fit properly inside anyone else’s home. I guess those machines are meant to stay at Ben’s house. They talked about the fact that Ben has a pickup truck that the machines could be loaded onto every morning and driven to the land. He actually just paid someone to repair it because he thought it might come in handy with the building process.We also discussed the pit latrine excavation and the need for the latrines to be covered when digging is not taking place. The community is concerned that a child, animal or adult could fall in on accident if they were walking at night or even during the day. They agreed to discuss it with the excavator tomorrow when he’s digging. They also talked amongst themselves about the meals program they are coming up with for feeding the workers lunch on site.