Phase 1: Pilas. Ya Estuvo.

I told you my next blog would be work related, so it will be informative and not too funny or sarcastic. I have been hard at work *cough* the past month getting this project up and running. Thanks to my awesome community partner, Tito, it has been a success. Turns out he knows more that I do, and they really only needed the gringa for her money (go figure). Tito is every NGOs dream: an enthusiastic, forward-thinking, innovative host-country national ready to learn and then train his fellow citizens. I have been staying at his modest adobe house while working on the project. Aside from being terrified of getting bit by a chinche picuda bug and contracting the Chagas disease (google that), it has been wonderful. I get fed every 2 hours, then work on some pilas, harvest sweet potatoes in Tito’s garden, consume unimaginable amounts of sugary coffee every day, make tamales, and al fin,  lay in his hammock.

The idea of the project was to provide the community with most of the construction materials, and then train them on how to build their own pilas. Of course, it didn’t really work like that, as they chose to hire a local mason, but no matter. The beneficiaries provided sand, gravel, rock, and manual labor as their contribution. Sustainable? Not really. But at least these families don’t have to bend over and wash their clothes on rocks and wood.

Below I will demonstrate the steps of building a pila. It takes a total of 2 days to complete one.

 

This is what a woman was using to wash her clothes before. Hug your washing machines right now

 

Adelso, the local mason, placing the PVC pipe for drainage

 

His brother mixing the concrete

 

Making the foundation

 

Starting the masonry

 

This kid was mad

 

Finishing the 10^th layer of bricks

 

Repellar(you actually throw a sand/water/cement mixture on the walls to make it stick)

 

Me looking like an idiot attempting to work. Yes they did laugh at me

 

Finished repellando

Finished repellando 2

 

Day 2, Pulir (makes a water-tight seal with a cement/water mixture)

 

Make-shift form for the lavadora

Placing rebar on the lavadora

Placing the washboard and filling the sides

 

Smoothing the pulir job out using a sponge

 

Finished product, with Tito and daughter Sumy pretending to wash clothes

 

Another washing area complete with rocks to wash your clothes on

 

Tune in next time for Phase 2: Improved stoves. We will be replacing these stoves with ones that are more energy efficient and have chimneys, so that people’s lungs don’t look like this ceiling. . .