Building Underway—the RWANDAN way!

We are VERY excited to share our enthusiasm for the long awaited beginning of the building of St. Antoine’s Secondary School! And according to Fr. Jean, boots on the scene, he wants us to know that the construction in Rwanda will be very different from typical construction in the U.S. He explains:

“Our way of construction remains manual with builders in the just numbers to avoid congestion. They are divided into teams with specific daily tasks on the building. Their material supply points are at the nearest places on the outside of the structure. The aim is to get materials at hand, avoid crossing supply lines of other teams, combine efficiency in time, speed, as each team meets the daily goal. The supervisor sees to it that teams work in harmony and all coordinate their work. The quality of materials in use is controlled at the common source where technicians follow the ratios of mixing with sand, stones aggregates, stone dusts, cement, water, etc. These are determined by electronic sensors following the international building regulations.

An extra team has the task of getting the ready materials from the common supply source (where there are prepared and controlled for quality) and take them to the points all along the outer perimeter of structure being built. There is a kind of competion betueen the teams doing their daily assignments, and from the team supplying the materials to the common source to the teams source. There is also between the teams a cheerful spirit as they compete for materials and for finishing their tasks before others. It is all fun, and at that healthy fun.

I am also enjoying seeing the building coming up and learning this profession from the builders and their team leaders. May God bless all of you who have helped make this dream a beautiful reality!” –Fr. Gakirage Jean Bosco