Preparations for the first ceiling
Unfortunately, Dear Diospi Suyana friends and readers of the building report, this past week was not ideal because we had to deal with some setbacks. First, my foreman Edgar’s father died at the age of 85 years. Of course, he and other workers belonging to his family were missing him. So I attended my first Peruvian funeral with close friends and was moved by the great sympathy and solidarity of other workers who were present.
Secondly, I had hoped to get a modern sound system like the one at the school site. Unfortunately, this was not possible, and so we must now encase the basement ceiling conventionally. This means that the supports will be made of eucalyptus trunks reinforced by plywood panels. We need at least 500 eucalyptus trunks, and they have to be cut exactly. The wooden slats, which are intended to strengthen the plywood boards, must first be planed and naturally sawn on their length and nailed to the boards. The entire board must then be painted on the sides, so that no water can penetrate during concreting. This, of course, means more work to finished wooden beams on height-adjustable metal supports. Nevertheless, it is difficult to employ many people here.
So it is good that we can begin another job: the concreting of the sewer manhole covers, which connect the hospital to the municipal system. This work could not be done previously, because the iron for round concrete covers was missing. We have the covers now, and when we are finished, the channel will be permanently protected so that branches, stones, and dirt cannot fall into it. Also, cars and motorcyclists no longer have to be afraid at night because of the holes in the middle of the street.
I wish you all a beautiful and blessed week, Ing. Johannes
