Working Construction in Ghana

All of the houses we built were constructed of cement block, single level, with concrete floors and corrugated sheet metal roofs.  Our construction materials were very simple.  Everything from the blocks to the mortar to the concrete floors to the plaster on the walls was some mix of cement powder, sand, rocks, and water; the only difference between the components was the ratio of its constituents.  Our tools were shovels, wheelbarrows, head pans, trowels, and muscle.  We didn’t have any power tools on site at all, so everything was mixed, carried, and assembled by manual labor. 

Working on the gables - that whole truss is supported by gravity, not a single nail, bolt, or other fastener holds it to the wall.

Our tools - headpans, a barrel of water, shovels, and a mix of cement powder, clay, sand, and rocks, creates the building arising block by block in the background.

Filling a wheelbarrow with sand (the first of many). 

filling another wheelbarrow - trying to keep as much sand as possible in the barrow and as little as possible in my lungs.

 

As largely inexperienced volunteers, we weren’t very useful at jobs that required some skill, like mortaring and plastering.  (And I was even more humbled than I expected to be by how difficult it is to stuff mortar into cracks and flick plaster on a wall).  So, our most essential function as volunteers was to serve as warm-blooded conveyor systems.  We hauled cement blocks, hauled head pans of mortar, and shoveled sand and rocks into wheelbarrows and transported them from Point A to Point B.  It was pretty much lift and carry, lift and carry, most of the day.  Not jobs I’m especially well built for (I’m a runner, not a hauler), but I adapted alright, I think. 

lifting blocks

Trying my hand at mortaring - I gave up on using the tools and just used my hands. 

It was warm.  We didn’t have a thermometer at site, but I heard after the fact that the forecasted temps were up to 105 F on some of our work days.  Had I known how hot it was, I might have convinced myself that it wasn’t possible (or at least wasn’t safe) to be doing hard physical labor in those conditions.  It actually wasn’t that bad – uncomfortable, but not unbearable.  You just put on your hat and sunscreen (or long white sleeves, if you’re me), accept that it’s going to feel like a sauna for the next 8-ish hours, and get to work.  And sweat.  A lot.  I went through an average of three 1.5L bottles of water every day, sometimes more.  My shirt didn’t have a dry spot on it at the end of the day.  I guess it’s fortunate for me that I’m used to sweating heavily, as it didn’t bother me much.  Simple tricks like standing in the shade when you’re not working or stepping around the corner to the breezy side of the house made a world of difference too.  Obvious, right?   

Filling a headpan with rocks - with enough arm muscle it would've been faster to shovel the rocks into the pan, but we found it more feasible for us to load the rocks a handful at a time.

Passing a cement block.  Not shown in the photo:  the long, long line of volunteers doing the same thing. 

At one point I started having a mini-epiphany/euphoria moment about the simplicity of it all.  I could count the number of tools we used in a day on one hand.  I could count the number of ingredients that went into each of the building blocks of the house on one hand as well.  I could probably even count the total variety of the meals and snacks I ate on no more than two hands.  The houses we built were not much more than four solid cement walls, a concrete floor, and a corrugated steel roof.  And they were perfectly adequate.  I stayed in one for a week and a half that was furnished (shower, sink, and toilet aside) with nothing more than light bulbs and foam mattresses.  I didn’t miss having a bedframe, tables, shelves, window treatments, wall art, towel rods, light fixtures, closets.  I didn’t miss computers, televisions, air conditioning, or hot water (granted, most of the bath water was lukewarm by default anyway).  The only thing I used on site that had an on/off switch was my camera.  I’ve always been frugal when it comes to creature comforts, but not quite at this level before.  I kind of loved it.  I can see why some people would be inspired upon visiting a place like this to come home and start stripping themselves of all their possessions, giving away everything they didn’t absolutely immediately need or want.  It really is liberating to see, even for a little while, life stripped back to its most basic elements.  It re-sets your priorities.  

High five!