Akagera National Park

It has been awhile since my last post. Sometimes the frustrations and challenges here put you in a bad mood and so if you have nothing good to say should not say anything at all.
New RGI colleague Jim Bulluc arrived in Kigali last week and delivered 2 rolls of Copenhagen to me which was a much welcomed relief!!!
The project is moving along well. Should be fabricating trusses on site this week which would be a few weeks ahead of schedule. I am pushing the contractor quite hard.
Reviewed their site design two weeks ago and had 5 pages of comments/corrections to be made. Just as I issued these comments their Architect headed to Kenya so we are at a stand still until he arrives back hopefully this week to have the meeting I requested to review with the engineers and incorporate into final design. After this I will need their final site work pricing which will be the same struggle to get.
Took my first Saturday off from work and went to Akagera National Park. Hope you enjoyed the photos that I forwarded. Amazing experience to finely see the animals that before I had only seen in a zoo. The park was established in 1934 and is quite large but in 1994 was reduced to 1/3 its size due to the need for land based on all the Rwandans returning to the country after the genocide. Much of the park has experience wildfires during the dry season. These fires spread rapidly thru the Savannah's where the ground is covered by tall grass. The trees survive quite well. The Acacia trees are quite beautiful. Unfortunately did not see any elephants, crocodiles, lions, or snakes. Will definitely see them when I head on safari to one of the larger parks in Kenya or Tanzania while I am here.
Looking forward to returning to Seattle on 9/8 for 2 week break. Not allot of time as I return to Rwanda on 9/21. Taking the jet lag/time difference recovery into account leaves me with about 10 days to enjoy home and see family and friends.
All for now. Hope you are well. Take care.

Week Eight

The pool at the Serena last sunday was wonderful! Quite good for the mind. $40 US for the pool and brunch but well worth it. Today I am writting from the Mamba House. This is a local establishment with pool, volleyball, Mutzig, and food. I am the only muzungu in the place. Definetly not the Serena.
Well its been 2 months since I arrived. We have accomplised alot in the last 2 months. I need to keep this in mind when dealing with the many frustrations I encounter. 4 weeks til i board a plane for 2 week break in Seattle, yea!!
Worked til 1pm yesterday and then went around town to take pictures if the signage in Kigali. I have found the signs very entertaining and thought you might to so am attaching some of them to the blog and will also send out via picassa.Good example of the exciting things to do in Kigali!
The presidential election is tomorrow. Paul Kagame the current president should win by a landslide. It has been interesting to see the increased military presence throughout the city in the last month. Men with big guns all over the place should there be trouble. Although the government claims to be democratic the Tutsie's are definetly the elite and in power. Have heard reports of a few opposition people being murdered. I am not anticipating any trouble but will hang low tomorrow. there have been political rallies for the last few weeks. A tremendous amount of celebrating. Tomorrow is a national holiday and Tuesday will probably end up the same.
Construction is going well. Block work is now progressing in most buildings. Ring beam started in Dining. Will be ready for trusses very soon. Received site grading and utility design on Saturday and will spend the day reviewing Monday. Will spend Tuesday hopefully finalizing the deal with the power company Electrogaz to provide power to our site. Recieved and reviewed another round of BOQ/Pricing on several more buildings and should finalize this week. Next critical is the sitework and utilities pricing which is major. Learned last week that a environmental impact study is now required. New requirement that Rwanda has implemented in the last year that was not required when the permits for the project were issued. Frustration/headache #1001!
All for now, have a great week.

Week 7

well the block issue has resolved itself. the new machine is making very good blocks and the block masons are installing with nice equal joints. mission accomplished! construction progress moving along well, in fact Hygebat is ahead of schedule. finally finished all building design last week and should receive site grading and utility design on monday. keeping my fingers crossed. my next push with the contractor has been for him to finalize all budget re-pricing. this has been like pulling teeth as has everything else. once we accomplish this task i can then start spending more time on the site addressing day to day issues. I can also hopefully take some time to get the hell away from Kigali and see other parts of East Africa.

when i decided to take on the assignment i new it would be interesting in many different aspects. after 7 weeks in country my initial expectations can be multiplied by 10! along with the construction aspects considered another aspect was how would it be to live in a third world country for this length of time and deal with the day to day issues? well it has proven to be very difficult. the demands of the project are quite intense. on my next opportunity i would want to be involved with the NGO/Foundation and plan for the project much differently than was done on this project. living in a third world country is challenging and takes allot out of you, in fact drains you. from the poverty you see here, the language barrier, pollution, heat, dust,un-sanitary conditions,internet malfunctions,isolation being one of the few muzungu in town, cultural differences, missing your familiar surroundings, family, friends, and the luxuries we have in the US,etc,etc. I work hard to maintain a positive perspective, take in all the different experiences, and work towards my ultimate goal to complete the school construction. one walk thru the many slums puts you life into perspective. i feel fortunate for the opportunity.

not much other news to tell. i think i will visit one of the hotels in town today and take advantage of their swimming pool. attitude adjustment!a day of relaxation! hope all is well with all of you. take care.

Week 5: Concrete Block Drama

Another interesting week here in Rwanda. Last week I touched base on the concrete block quality and that the contractor committed to replacing the blocks that I rejected. Well had another lost in translation experience! Went to site on Monday and found that no blocks had been replaced and in fact a tremendous amount of additional block wall that did not meet the quality expected had been installed over the weekend. Reviewed this with Theo the Hygebat Superintendent. Theo all of a sudden does not speak or understand my english! I make a call to the owner of Hygebat, Mugabo, and the owner of the Rwandan Architect Eudes, and request a meeting on site to resolve this issue. Mugabo again advises me that it will be corrected and that a new block making machine is being shipped in from Uganda. Met with Mugabo and Eudes on Wednesday. I again made it very clear that all block work had to be removed and quality block had to be manufactured and installed. Smooth block face and no chipped corners. There I was in the middle of these 2, Theo, 2 of their forman, the man making the blocks and a couple guys who lay the block, all speaking very fast Kenyarwanda about the situation which I have no idea what they are saying. Probably something along the lines of how can we get rid of this SOB from America! There conversation ends and Mugabo tells me that all block will be removed and he guarantees quality block with new machine. Requested that we travel back to Kigali to review the school St Ignaus so i can show him the quality I am looking for which we did. Traveled back to his yard to see new block machine just delivered. Feeling pretty good that the issue is finally resolved but no, another lost in translation situation occurs when I go to the site on Saturday. The good news is that the new machine is making the quality blocks that I am expecting. The bad news is that no walls have been removed. Theo explains that another sample wall will be made for my approval Monday and then they will remove walls at my direction. No sense in arguing as this is their way of business. Will hope for final resolution on Monday to my satisfaction. Sorry for the long drawn out story but trying to give you a feel on how difficult it is to get things done over here.
Aside from the block issue construction is actually going along well. Most of the building foundations are complete and hopefully walls will move ahead quickly. A couple of the pictures attached show rock being placed under the floor slabs. They call this Hardcore. Slabs will be placed on top of hardcore once roof is installed and interior walls have been plastered.
Was out on the ISAR Farm to review their irrigation pumping system from the lake to use same technology for our system. Beautiful farm. The attached pictures of the grass hut is where one of the farm workers lives. You can see his cot and the fire he has going inside. These are quite typical in the rural farming areas.Thought you would enjoy.
RGI has provided us with a car here in Kigali. Will be a nice change. Took it for a spin to Gashora Saturday and around town today. Stopped in at a travel agency today who is located in the hotel the movie Hotel Rwanda was based on. Want to plan a trip to see the mountain gorillas and also a short safari.
Not anymore other news. I am looking forward to 2 week break back in Seattle on September 7th. Glad I planned this from the beginning as it will definitely be required. Take care.

Week Four

All is well here in Kigali. The project is moving along well. Started block walls this week. Have been advising the contractor of my quality expectations for the last few weeks which they forgot all about when they started putting the block in place. Had to reject 50% of what was installed. I am anxious to see re-work results this next week. The contractor's engineers are struggling with design, cant keep the pace and committments they have made. Had a "CTJ" meeting with the owner of the company Friday which was quite heated, but we shook hands at the end. He thanked me for pushing them along. I thanked him for his good work so far. I am hopeful they can catch up with the design and pricing requirements. Finding my time on the jobsite well served. Many questions to answer due to the fact we have only conceptual drawings at best from US Architect. No big suprise as is same when building in US!! Find myself drawing many sketches. Difficult to explain details in the field with the language barrier. Interesting after you spend 5 minutes explaining something and you look the person in the eye and ask if they understand. You know they did not when you see a blank stare, so you start all over with a different approach. The process is the same when they are trying to explain something to me. To thier credit, the 2 or 3 folks on site that I deal with speak 2 to 3 languages, usually Kenyarwanda, french, and english.
Went to the Kigali Genocide Memorial Center yesterday. Quite a emotionally moving memorial, very well done. Over 250,000 people from the genocide are buried there in mass graves. Hard to imagine that approx 1 million people were murdered in the genocide which lasted 100 days. There are various memorials around the country. Reminds me how small my personel troubles are. France, Belguim, and the United Nations should be ashamed.
Went shopping at the outdoor market today. A amazing market with a vast array of vegetables, fruit, chicken, fish, beef, goat, pig, nuts, flour, rice, and on and on.
Paid $250 francs for a pineapple which is less than 50 cents. Meat is not quite as cheap as I paid about $5 for a whole chicken and $6 for a nice piece of talapia fish. They have large freezers at the market for the meet but still suspect. If in the US it would be closed down by the Health Dept. Have no bugs yet that I am aware of!
One of the pictures I am posting is of the motorcycle taxis. I use them frequently as they are much cheaper than a car taxi. Quite the exiting ride in the traffic here. A 2 mile cab ride will cost you 2000 francs whereas by moto taxi it costs 400 francs. Traffic here is pretty wild. The horn is a much used accessory. Cars rule, motorcycles are next and pedestrians are last! Look both ways 2 times before crossing a street. Vehicle emmissions are terrible. I wonder if they still use leaded fuel here. Almost all the automobiles here are used cars imported from Japan.
Sitting at my front porch sipping a Mutzig as I write this post. About 3pm. Will be watching the World Cup finals tonight. May head to Heaven Resturant to watch. Have had my fill of soccer but sad to see it end as there is nothing else to watch on TV here. Had a small world experience at Heaven Restuarnt as the manager I met is from Portland and another young lady I met there is from Friday Harbor. Arielle from FH went to school with girls whose mother was a cheerleader at FH when I played ball at Skykomish and is a old girlfriend of Dan Boffey when we were at WSU. That was worth at least 2 more Mutzigs!
Will miss the Oldtimers Picnic in Skykomish next weekend. Susie, sell lots of our cookbooks. Any Skykomish Oldtimers reading this post please say hello to Teddy Jo for me and have a few at the Whistling Post for me.
Take Care and will talk soon.

ps: Mom, I hope you enjoy the picture of my 12 new girlfriends! Can't find the spell check, may be the Mutzig!

Week Three

Today is the end of week 3 for me here in Rwanda. I am working an extreme amount of hours getting my arms around the project and implementing management tools. Exhausted but enjoying the experience. Down to my last tin of Copenhagen as planned. Glad I had a supply for the first few weeks. Next couple of weeks without should be very interesting and painful. Brought a box of nicotine gum with me to ease the pain. Hopefully I survive!!
Construction progress is going very well. Was on site yesterday and we are very close to completing all stone wall and concrete foundations. Concrete ground beams are now proceeding on top of the stone walling. Completed my review of structural, mechanical,and electrical drawings this week. Blocks for walls are being produced on site as per the attached pictures. Discussed quality issues with the contractor and requested they build a mock up of wall for my review and approval. I do not think they are used to anyone reviewing/QC'g and commenting on their design and or construction quality. I try to be pleasently firm. There are currently +/- 150 workers on site. Laborers make between 1000 and 1500 RWF per day and stone masons make 3000 RWF per day. $1 US dollar equals 580 RWF which equates to making $1.70 to $5.17 per day. Very cheap for labor.
Was reading a blog from a young lady I met the other day and the title of one of her posts was "Lost in Translation". It was a excellent post as it reminded me just how difficult it is to understand conversations due to the different languages and mis-intepret the conversation. This is true both ways. I listen very carefully to conversations and alot of times must ask the person to repeat what they said to make sure I understand. You get most of it but not all of it which makes it difficult. Have found it to be important to ask if they understand what I have just said. Even with all this you walk away from the conversation wondering if you or they understood what was just said!
I have been watching alot of the World Cup. Very popular here. What we call soccer they call football. Quite the topic of conversation with everyone.
I hope you are all enjoying this 4th of July. We are so fortunate for what we have in the US.

Week Two

Hello my friends! I have been very busy. My usual work day this week has been 6am to 6pm and 1/2 day today. Very good progress on site. About 90% complete with structural excavation. Foundations are now in progress. Column footings are similar to ours in concrete with rebar although not as substantial. All other foundations are made of stone and mortor. The attached pictures give a good representation of this work. The stone foundations are called walling. Prior to setting foundation they place motor on top of excavated ground for leveling which is called blinding. Layout is called setting out. They do a great job with batter boards and string lines. after they set the stone foundations they place a reinforced concrete ground beam on top to tie the base in. Reinforced columns are then placed/extended and then a reinforced concrete ring beam is placed on top of columns around the entire perimeter. Un-reinforced hollow concrete block is then infilled between the ground beam and ring beam. They will build a mold and fabricate blocks on site.Reinforcing appears to be the size of a #3 bar.I am anxious to see the block mfg process start to observe quality. I am very pleased with the progress on site.
The contractor is struggling with completion of design build plumbing, electrical, and structural drawings. They got a taste of the real me in a meeting Friday. I have been assured their design progress will get better starting next week.
I have not found time venture out for anything but work. Finding it no different here than in Seattle where you have to constantly push the issues. Much more difficult here though with the cultural differences and language barrier. Tonight though I am planning to have dinner out at a place they call Heaven. Hopefully it will be a good venture. Would be nice to meet some lady ex patriots there!
The project located in Gashora is very rural and is a major farming area, supplying Kigali. It is amazing to see how they transport these goods on bicycles. I have attached a few pictures. You see everything from bananas, bags of produce, lengths of pipe, doors, etc hauled on these bicycles. If not then they balance on their head.
Can someone please fill me in on Seattle and important national news. The Internet is so slow it is impossible to view the times on line. files take 10 to 15 minutes to open each time you click to a new one! If I have not responded to one of your emails it is for this same exact reason. All for now. Hope all is well with you. Take care.