This is a long overdue update on my kitchen project that many of you have helped me fund.
After my brick supplier backed out the week before construction was scheduled, the project was brought to a screeching halt while trying to sort out the brick problem. After 2 months of phone calls, e-mail requests, and faxed proposals with 3 government departments and 6 different brick suppliers I was finally able to locate some bricks; ironically, from the company that initially backed out.
This lengthy effort of trying to get bricks is a blessing in disguise. Since I've had all of this additional time on my hands I have been able to seek out additional donations as well as redesign the structure.
The owner of Build-It (think Home Depot or Lowe's) is almost as excited about this project as I am and has been helping me not only with determining the list of materials I need but also getting items at drastically reduced prices. Throughout the last month he has assisted in some way-connecting me with the sales reps or negotiating prices on my behalf-in getting R13000 (1700USD) in material donations/price reductions.
On the day we were scheduled to dig the foundation, the foreman (appointed by the parents) staked out the 12m by 12m kitchen facility and felt that it was too large (I agreed) so we decided to cut it down to 10m by 10m by shrinking the school and kitchen storage rooms by one meter each in length, one meter in width, and decreasing the veranda's length by 2m and width by 1m. This reduction in size saved us a substantial amount of money which is fortunate since there have been expenses popping up all over the place that I didn't expect (delivery charges, necessary materials that were left out of the original list, equipment rental, etc.).
Despite the delay, we did some work in early June. I was lucky enough to find some extremely dedicated and hard-working parents who were content with a free lunch of pap (donated by the Department of Education) and chicken (donated by Shoprite) and R50 a day. We were able to completely dig the foundation and pour the concrete for the foundation.
Hard-working parents mixing concrete by hand
Despite shrinking the kitchen, it is still far larger than the existing one. The new foundation vs. the existing kitchen
I paid for the cement and stone/sand mix using the PCPP funds and had it delivered to the school. The owner of Build-It delivered the cement and promised to buy back any cement that I was able to get donated from the cement companies. He kept his promise and I was able to purchase all of the window and door frames using the money I saved after receiving a 40 bag cement donation from an emerging cement company called IDM cement. Afrisam, a very large and established cement/concrete company, initially rejected my request for 200 bags without explanation. I contacted the person that informed me that my request was rejected and she cited quantity and uncertainty of transport as the biggest factors of being rejected. Upon request, I was given the phone number of the director to try and sell the idea to him verbally and more directly. After 20 minutes of explaining that: the kitchen was being almost entirely by parents, Build-It would transport the cement from their store, I had reduced my request to 80 bags due to the structure being redesigned, and that I had already negotiated a 40 bag donation from IDM, he reversed his decision and Afrisam will be donating the other 80 bags; I received verbal confirmation today. Lesson learned: don't always take no for an answer.
The other piece of good news is that I received confirmation today that I will be receiving a R24000 monetary donation from a company called Blue Label Telecoms (the company that operates Vodacom, one of the largest cell phone networks in South Africa). This will allow us to purchase the commercial oven and other items that were cut from the budget.
The bricks finally arrived on Tuesday which made me very happy.
They started placing the bricks that will create the form for the veranda and slab on Wednesday
The end of the day Wednesday
They completed placing the forming bricks today
They will finish preparing the slab by Monday and will pour the slab on Tuesday.
More pictures and exciting updates to come!
