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That's it. My six month sojourn to Western Uganda is over. I'm back on the east coast preparing for the fall semester at RISD and learning to deal with the anxieties of reintegration into the absurdity so poignantly referred to as Blubberland (America).
When I left, the first classroom block was nearly complete with the exception of some interior plastering and the installation of the remaining doors and windows. Bernard's crew was beginning work on the roof trusses for the kitchen house and Mathias was working to finish the staff latrine. Edison's crew had already begun digging the foundation for the second classroom block and Headmaster Eric was making plans for a road extension capable of carrying materials to a piece of recently acquired land. And though I would have liked to see more of the project complete, I'm happy with the results so far and supremely confident that we will have a functioning school ready to accept students by the beginning of the next school year in January 2009. Enjoy the new pics.
For more detailed information on the Kutamba school please feel free to e-mail me at: matt@architectureforhumanity.org. I'm happy to discuss the building process, the experience or just rap about Uganda but please be specific. Cheers.
So, I just returned from an AFH sponsored trip to Liberia to check on some things for their upcoming collaboration with UNICEF. I've uploaded a few select images on this site – check the workspace tab in the folder named Liberia. Fascinating place that I can only sum it up this way: Liberia is to Uganda as Detroit is to Bozeman, Montana. Enough said.
Things have been moving ahead at a staggering pace on the Kutamba site. The first classroom module is beginning to take shape and we will likely have all of the walls and load bearing columns complete by the end of next week. I have been building benches for the front elevation of the classroom while our foreman Edison and his band of masons are plugging away with the walls.
Work has also begun on the kitchen house, also located on the first terrace and only a few meters west of the first classroom building. You may recall that the first classroom building will house administrative offices and classrooms for the first and second graders – a space that will double as the dining hall when the younger students go home for lunch. The kitchen itself is very simple with spaces for cooking, dry food storage and separate storage for firewood. The dogtrot continues to be a form I am exploring and the kitchen is no exception. There is an open space bisecting the storage and cooking spaces where the students will enter one side, pick up their food and exit the back side returning then to the dining hall or outdoor benches to eat. Stay tuned as I will be uploading images throughout the construction of the kitchen.
The water has been turned on! Our dedicated well was finished last week and is finally providing water to the construction site. Up next is a small brick structure to house the generator and keep it safe from vandals.
Finally, my major task for this coming weekend and next week is to finish the pouring of the stairs to the second terrace. I still have 15 risers to pour so this will not be an easy task and the higher we go the more stairs I have to climb with buckets of concrete.
Quick update, but the pictures tell the story. Enjoy.
Not even sure what day it is let alone what week, the sun rises at seven and sets at seven 365 days a year in Uganda, a 24-hour day begins not at midnight but rather 7am which is really 1 here (with no additional designation its just 1), and ends at 7pm which again is referred to as 1. Confused? I actually have to count on my fingers when asking a driver to pick me up at a certain hour of the day, if I get it wrong its a long damn walk home. What I am certain of is the internet is back, probably temporary but nonetheless I can stop referring to it as the internot for a while.
A lot has happened since the last update, though its not terribly evident in the photographs, I'll provide a run-down:
GHI Pilot Questionnaire
* all comments specific to rural Southwestern Uganda, Africa
Cultural Considerations:
1) What is the preferred type of building system and why?
Brick masonry is the most prevalent construction method among institutional, governmental and higher-end residential buildings. Much of the residential construction and even some schools in rural areas are waddle and daub, some with thatched roofs but more often with 32 ga. galvanized corrugated steel. As always, the choice of construction method comes down to an economy of means, in terms of both skill and money.
2) What is the local Vernacular building system?
Waddle and mud/dung daub, thatched roof.
3) Is this still used? Why or why not?
Yes, but only out of necessity, everyone knows of the benefits of masonry construction (primarily longevity) but cost is always the determining factor.
4) What are the climatic conditions of the region?
Just south of the equator, a typical day is light from 7am to 7pm all year. Temperature ranges from mid-60's to mid-90's depending on the season. Four seasons, sort of: 2 rainy season's (march-april and september-october) and dry in-between. Kisiizi is located in a lush valley at an elevation of 5500 feet above sea level, surrounded by hills/mountains up to 8000'. In a word: tropical.
5) Are buildings generally well insulated? Well ventilated? High thermal mass? Are there any apparent reasons for this?
No insulation for its not really needed. Ventilation is poor and generally consists of a screened, or louvered vent, or vent bricks above windows/doors. Thermal mass is also not considered in construction here as I believe its positive properties are simply unknown to builders. Rammed earth or straw bale for example simply don't exist. Additionally, materials (especially portland) is considered expensive where-as labor is very, very cheap. We are currently paying approximately 16 dollars for a 50 kilo bag of portland, and about 2 dollars a day for a skilled laborer.
6) Would a block system that cuts like wood be useful?
Absolutely. Versatility is hard to come by here. My only concern is the materials resistance to rot (both water and insect resistance, termites especially wreak havoc on anything soluble here).
7) Are there skilled masons in the community?
Yes, but skill is a relative term. Brick masonry is common but very sloppy, mortar joints can be as thick as two inches and the bond between brick and mortar varies. The main reason for the heavy mortar use is the inconsistency of the hand made bricks, but I still find it excessive.
8) Who currently builds housing? Residents? Government? Contractors?
A mix of contractor and resident, again depending on the budget and skill level of the owner.
9) Would residents be interested in participating in the building process?
I would think so, especially if costs and flexibility could be honed to create a manageable system. My only concern is a relative resistance to change and a difficult language barrier to overcome.
10) What aspects of the local traditional building system can be integrated into a block system? (I.e. Roof, interior/exterior finishes, layout)
Mostly wall construction, but a sub-grade unit with hollow cores would be tremendously helpful for establishing stem/foundation walls without the need for form work and excessive concrete.
Materials:
Blocks in use:
1) What are all the different types of blocks currently used for construction made of?
Mostly mud with a high clay content. Some concrete blocks are available but they are not hollow-core and expensive to transport.
2) What are the size and weights of these blocks?
Bricks are available in two sizes although the smaller size is difficult to find. Most common is 6”x9”x3” and seems to be a country-wide standard. The smaller size is closer to a common brick @ 4”x9”x2.75”. These sizes may vary slightly between regions and manufacturer's.
3) How much does each of these blocks cost?
The large brick (6x9) is usually 80 UGX/per, which is currently about $.05.
The smaller brick goes for 70 UGX/per.
4) How much does each of the individual materials cost?
Its all mud/clay from an individuals property mixed with water and nothing else.
5) How readily available are these materials?
The red clay which is primarily used seems to be in abundant supply.
6) How much does transportation cost for these materials?
Transportation of locally made mud/clay bricks is generally 30 UGX/per brick or roughly $.02. Transport of concrete blocks is expensive because they are manufactured in urban areas.
Locally available materials:
1) What type of soil is on site? High clay content? Sandy? Rocky?
Depends of course, but on our site I have found both red and gray clay in good supply. Very little sand or stone, these materials must be trucked in for concrete.
2) Do you have means of separating aggregates from the soil?
Yes, screening is done.
3) Are there any locally available agricultural waste products? Straw, Rice Hulls, fiber with low sugar content, etc.
Not sure of sugar content, but bananas are the staple here and the husks which they grow on are readily discarded once cut from the tree itself. Also available and in good supply in the swamps is papyrus, when dried its stalks are used for baskets, mats, roof thatching, etc... and traditionally in the east for making pulp for paper.
4) Are there any lightweight aggregates available? Perlite, vermiculite, pumice?
Can't seem to find a single person that knows what this is, but I'm in a rural area. More investigation will be necessary in the urban areas where a manufacturing sector exists.
5) Is wood a locally available material? Is this considered an affordable building method?
Eucalyptus grows like a weed here and is harvested for lumber, mostly cut into 2x4's and 2x6's @ 11' in length although custom sizes can be ordered. 1x9's and 1x12's are also available and generally used for form-work. As a material it is very affordable, however, I have yet to find a framed wall anywhere. I suspect it is because the technique has never been developed or introduced. Termites also make wood construction difficult but that alone does not prevent waddle and daub or even light timber construction from happening.
Block Production:
1) Where and how are blocks currently made?
Produced by land owners sometimes on spec or by larger operations that higher laborers. Regardless of the ownership issues it is strictly done by hand, allowed to cure/dry for several weeks in the sun and then fired in stacked kilns of about 20,000 bricks.
2) Should we look at developing a large, medium or small scale production system?
I would think a grass-roots approach on the small to medium scale would be most acceptable in the rural areas. The education process will be the most difficult but most important to overcome.
3) Is there electricity on site?
Negative.
4) How is concrete currently mixed?
By hand, generally on the bare ground with shovels and hoes. Water comes from the nearest available source and is not filtered.
5) Are block mold
Yeehaw! Finally poured some concrete on Wednesday. Been delayed for several days due to some wicked storms that have passed through the valley. It felt a bit like building in Detroit actually - minus the stray gunfire and crooked city officials - because nothing can be stored at the site I hurriedly spent the first couple hours cutting and placing re-bar, plastic, reestablishing some form-work, and best of all making unavailable 8” anchor bolts from available 4” lag bolts. No Detroit Ready-Mix this time though, just four dudes that don't speak English, a couple of shovels and a very patient (at times) Muzungu running the show. But we pulled it off quite well I think, took about three hours, once all the prep was complete, to mix and place 1 yard of concrete to serve as the cover/floor of our first “long drop” privy. Additionally, I learned this week that I was mistaken in my assumption that a composting privy would be culturally inappropriate in Uganda and that they do actually exist here locally. So, while they probably won't be constructed until late this summer, design for two composting privies that will serve the students has already begun – very exciting, I think.
Also this week, three nurses from the US arrived to hold a two-day clinic at the temporary location of the Kutamba school. On Wednesday they attended to all of the students and their guardians, treating well over 160 people. Thursday was more or less open to the public, and the throng of people waiting to be treated was overwhelming when we arrived. Fortunately, because I am still waiting for my concrete to cure I was able to attend and help out where I could. See pics under the folder name: “nurses with purpose”, which I think is the official name of their organization. On Monday, in anticipation of their arrival I 'MacGyvered' a quick shelter of log thinnings and blue tarps under which they could work free of rain and intense sun. During the making of the shelter, which took only about 3 hours, my right-hand man Edison who speaks very little English, all of the teachers at Kutamba, the kitchen staff, the children and any local villagers who happened to stroll by starred in disbelief and accompanied laughter at what I was proposing to build claiming there was no way in hell it would ever stand up. Well, I don't need to write anything in my defense, I just hope they learned a thing or two about geometry and Muzungu engineering.
On tap for this weekend: a lot of drawing, finalizing the design of the 3-bay unit with actual brick dimensions and establishing a detailed/realistic construction budget for the first unit. Hope to be heading into Nyaka late in the week to meet up with Rob and Carol one last time before they leave for the States on the 1st of April.
Spent the weekend designing a privy to be located on the second terrace somewhat behind what will be the kitchen house. Simple, replicable, cheap and yet improved, I hope. Currently, a local contractor is building a 'two-holer' of a similar size at the temporary Kutamba site which I visited on Saturday to see how its done here. Pretty basic I guess: 30' deep hole in the ground 4' x 5' in plan, a concrete slab with two 6”x9” holes, brick perimeter and dividing walls (stuccoed), gabled 2x4 rafters, a corrugated roof, a vent pipe that doesn't draft and loads of stank and flies.
After consulting several online resources (thanks emp!) and my handy DLYGAD I think I have come up with something good, maybe. Thinking hard about Arup's VIP latrine inspired the section, how the vent drafts, etc... but I found it hard to reconcile a composting toilet in this area, mostly because of the stigma around defecation and its resultant. Ugandan's compost nothing and I believe it will be difficult enough to convince them to compost their food waste, but at least that is a challenge worth confronting. The vent of the VIP latrine uses a black (I assume south facing) wall to heat the air in the vent and intensify the draft, effectively pulling cooler air in though the privy hole, thus cutting down on the stank and flies in the enclosed privy space. The sun path on the equator complicates things a bit because no wall surface will heat up as intensely as a roof will – on a clear day in the toilet of the guest house in Kisiizi you can feel the heat radiating down from the corrugated metal roof above your head. All of this helps to explain the cross-section and roof structure, also shaped to catch rain water for washing hands. See “privy” folder in the workspace for drawings and pics.
So we began digging on Tuesday, was supposed to be Monday but, 'this is Africa'. I never would have imagined that for less than 50 US dollars one could have dug a 30' deep shaft, 4' wide by 5' long, but again, 'this IS Africa'. Additionally, we have several villagers constituting a road crew which has been organized by Eric the headmaster. We initially asked for 15 workers to dig a trench on the uphill side of the road to help remove water and mitigate erosion during the rainy season. So, on Monday we had 15 laborers, mostly women who brought they're own hoes. On Tuesday the crew had nearly doubled to 24 and Wednesday to 36. I guess this just illustrates the lack of available income generating work in an area populated primarily by subsistence farmers. Keep in mind these people are being paid less than a $1.50/day to dig for 8 hours, with no lunch break.
Its Friday, the hole is dug, a mere 20' because the clay was too hard, which also leaves me feeling a bit unsure of the longevity of this privy given the low percolation of the soil. Nevertheless, it should take a while to fill a 20' hole in the ground with shit. Framed up the concrete forms and should be pouring the pit cover tomorrow, assuming things go according to plan, which is far from likely and hasn't happened to date but I remain optimistic. A great example of how things generally stray from the day's plan: bought a saw at the hardware store yesterday on the way to the site, turns out they don't sell sharpened saws, spent most of the morning trying to cut green wood with a dull hand saw because it would have taken an hour, probably three, to walk back to the hardware store, purchase a file and sharpen the saw myself. Today, my buddy Edison shows up to help with this nice big, sharp bow-saw. Great, until the pin snaps three minutes into it and then no more bow-saw. Rather than making the two-hour walk to the hardware store I managed to replace the pin with a short length of barbed wire and chewing gum, Edison was floored by such ad-hoc ingenuity, Thanks MacGyver!
A critical aspect of the design of Kutamba is its ability to be replicated in other parts of Uganda without the services of an architect – this is a point stressed by the foundation and its funders. The site is less than ideal for the development of such a model and under normal circumstances would call for strict specificity, a one-off design. However, given the program parameter's I have decided to approach the design through a series of repeatable modular structures each housing two classrooms, expandable to three if necessary. A floor plan of the initial module will be posted in the file set named schematic drawings for review and critique. Below is a list of factors that led to the design of the floorplan – much of the criteria came from studying the existing conditions at the Nyaka School (the predecessor to the Kutamba school founded in 2003).
importance of natural ventilation and light.
- Because the school operates during the day it will not require or be provided with much electricity. Any electricity to the site will need to be provided by solar pv's. The Nyaka school tends to be a little dank with several classrooms receiving no cross-ventilation.
- The square footage of each classroom is based on information gathered from the teachers at the Nyaka school and is the size of Nyaka's largest classroom. The dimensions may change when more information is received from the Ministry of Education.
- The teachers at Nyaka and Kutamba express a desire for the ability to co-teach classes, however, none of the current classrooms can accommodate more than one class of children. This flexibility has been built into the floorplan allowing for each module to be converted into one long interior space capable of handling several classes at once. Each may also serve as a dining hall if buildable acreage is too small to accommodate additional dining facilities (which may be the case at Kutamba).
- The material pallet is limited to local bricks, concrete, and rough framing milled locally from Eucalyptus trees. The lumber can be planed further to create suitable material for window/door frames, louvers, etc... While other materials can be transported the cost of doing so may be prohibitive and go against the agenda the foundation as set forth.
Excavation of the Site:
I arrived in Kisiizi late Monday afternoon following a quick visit to the new site and the temporary facilities of the Kutamba school. The current facilities are tucked into a banana plantation just above the village of Bikongozo and consist of a two room, single story brick structure with dirt floors, rough sawn 2x4's scabbed together to form a sort of gable end roof truss and a corrugated galvanized steel roof. This structure houses classrooms for the second and third grades and a small office for the headmaster. The first grade classes are conducted in a temporary structure made of split logs (think one-room log cabin without chinking) with a similar floor and roof structure. Finally, a third temporary structure of the same construction has recently been built to house the kitchen – unlike public schools in Uganda, Kutamba and Nyaka students are provided with breakfast and lunch, which for most are the only meals they receive each day.
As for the site, well, the site is a challenge to say the least.
In December of 2007 the Nyaka Foundation purchased 5 acres located on the northern facing slope (which is of little consequence on the equator) of a moderately sized hill about 6km from the town of Kisiizi. Surrounded entirely by farmland, the site itself appears to have most recently been used for grazing livestock. It is accessed by an adjacent county road at its base and has a small, apparently unreliable stream running near the western border down to the road. The site lacks any major features, such as ridges or valleys, is steeper on the western side and relatively flat near the top of the hill. Fortunately, the small piece of land adjacent to ours at the crest of hill was offered to us this week for a price yet to be negotiated and I am lobbying hard for its purchase given the relatively small amount of acreage suitable for building on the current site.
Prior to my arrival in Uganda the Foundation had arranged for a grader (bulldozer) to be delivered to the site, and sure enough, it showed up Monday evening just hours after my arrival. The dozer had been reserved for 5 working days, so on Tuesday morning with little to no prep we hit the ground running. With the help of Rob Auld and Mathius we began staking out the road and its entry to the site. While the bottom half of the road was being cut, Eric (the headmaster of the Kutamba school) and I took a quick survey of the buildable acreage near the top of the site and staked it for the dozer to clear. By the end of day one we had the top terrace cleared and the bottom half of the road established. Wednesday we cleared most of the second terrace. Thursday the dozer broke down. Friday we were back online, finished the second terrace and staked out the upper section of the road. Currently, I'm sitting at the Nyaka guest house preparing to return to Kisiizi to oversee the remainder of the excavation. Today marks the 5th working day for the dozer and I hope to report the completion of the road by the time I arrive on site this afternoon.
* For photographs of the excavation see the file set: site excavation
* For initial floor plans and all subsequent schematic designs see file set: schematic drawings
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If I think about it too much it can be debilitating: 300 children, orphans, having lost both parents to HIV/AIDS, living alone or with elderly guardians hardly capable of caring for themselves. And yet, these children have a passion for education like nothing I've seen, and for one reason alone: because they understand their education is their survival. These are my clients. These are the students of the Nyaka and Kutamba Schools. For three months I have been in Uganda working jointly with the Nyaka AIDS Orphans Foundation and Architecture for Humanity designing and building a primary school. My role is simultaneously architect, contractor, supervising foreman, mason and day laborer, but never in such a perverse hierarchical order. Ultimately, I am here to follow in Architecture for Humanity's now famous mantra; I am here to “design like I give a damn”.
So what is it that compels us to design? One could argue that it comes down to two things: ego and money. Some may call it passion, but at the root of that passion is usually a raging ego. Beyond that, what compels us to design for the less privileged, the indigent, or the other 98%, a demographic that for the most part has little idea what an architect is or does? And without the money to pay for architectural services, such demographics have very little voice in the shaping of their physical surroundings. Compassion, sympathy, guilt, self-righteous religious calling, or a naïve Utopian belief in humanity and equality, we as designers are, at the end of the day, putting ourselves out there to benefit a broader scope of society.
When working in developing countries, especially rural areas, it quickly becomes evident that your role is first one of education, educating yourself to the vernacular contexts within which you are expected to contribute. You have to ask yourself questions like: Who is doing the building? Why do they build and for whom? How do they build, what do they build with and what is the resultant product? In a place where design, as we know it, is of little consequence, design aesthetics and the design ego play a minor role. A house is clearly a house, whether it is of waddle & daub or brick masonry; a school looks like a school no matter what village you live in, and so on. Design, therefore, is the easy part of the equation; getting shit built and built well, this is the crux of working in a developing country.
Methodologically, I've responded to building in Uganda with an almost autodidactic approach. I am building the first of several simple latrines with minimal help, constructing the bulk of it alone. This process will serve as a learning tool, a way to test and understand the potential and limitations of the locally available building materials. Using a combination of concrete, brick masonry and wood wall and roof construction, this small structure will test every material and method of construction to be used in the classroom buildings. The benefits of this approach are obvious, and with this gained knowledge I can better serve the clients I am designing for and the people who will build it.
In the end, it is more than just “designing like you give a damn,” because design without action is masturbation, well intentioned, maybe, but passive-aggressive at best. We must be better doers, capable of listening, inventing, constructing and teaching all with the same “give a damn” sentiment we so avidly profess for design.