Mpaka Branche Service Project

This Branche Service Project was adding a room 
onto the home of a member sister who is a seamstress (she sews out under the trees in her yard) and has extended family living with her.
There were more people there wanting to help than there was work, but everyone loved being there and most people stayed all day to help.

They have few tools and no ladder, but many helping hands.  They are using long branches as poles for the main structure, with wood for part of the frame and for the roof support.

This view shows the pole in the hole, with broken up pieces of cinder block filling the hole.  The process is now to beat the rock down with another pole, as much as possible, and then fill in what room is left with dirt.

The holes for the poles (this sounds like a Dr. Seuss story!) are dug with machetes - so they start out as kind of square holes for poles......They actually are quite deep holes for the poles.

When they couldn't find a chair or a barrel, a friend with strong shoulders worked just fine!

I showed some youth how to play tic tac toe, so they would have something to do while they were waiting to help.  It just to a minute to show them, since my limited French doesn't include the right words, and they understood and had fun playing it in the dirt.

I think these little boys were grandsons of the sister whose house we were working on.

I love this picture, because it shows the diversity of Africa:
Grandmother is sewing, using her hand/foot powered sewing machine.  Young boys are playing a game on a computer.  Teen age girls are lounging in the shade of the big tree above all of them.  And the helpers on the other side of the tree are adding on to the home, which has no running water or electricity.  Lunch is cooking in big pots on a fire in the yard and everyone is having a great time!