Laying the foundation stone for the new SISP centre

5th April, 2007

We have started work on a new centre !

The preparatory steps were to put up fencing and start boring for water. Unfortunately we had to stop the boring because we reached 150 metres depth and still found no water but already we had expenses of 500 Euro. We must therefore look for other possibilities.

We appointed an architect with experience in school construction. He collected tenders from different contractors and we have choosen the cheapest but with guaranteed quality.

The construction is estimated to cost around 60,000 Euro. According to the architect, the chosen contractor is a sincere company. Let's hope so....

Soon they will start to dig the foundations for the building but it is not quite that simple to start here. According to the Malayalam calendar and depending on the position of the stars and moon, some rituals have to be performed on specific days. Only one day a month is suitable, and that turned out to be April 5, between 10:45 and 11:30 am, otherwise we would have had to wait until the 17th of next month before we could start.

Through murderous heat, we walked together, children and staff, from the old centre to the new. We had to walk for 15 minutes and made an impressive group.

A freshly cut and stripped branch from a nearby tree was sharpened and I had to hammer it in the soil at the marked point with 3 blows. After this the architect and the contractor had to repeat the ceremony. Then they dug a hole a metre deep and placed in it some coins and a piece of gold ornament decorated with 5 metals which we had bought previously. Some cement was then poured over this and I then laid the foundation rock on top.

I paid the first daily wages to the contractor and the coolies, we shared sweets and bananas with the children and staff and the land was then ready to start with the construction.

Dripping with sweat we returned to the school under the merciless sun. We must urgently buy flip-flops or mules for our children, some of whom scorched their feet on the burning surface of the road.

Paul

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