In the Shade of a Mango Tree

Just outside Free Town, past Hastings and the mud hut with the Canadian flag in the window, there is a hill. Take the first dirt road after the hill and head down the road to Old Yams Farm Warf. You will go past a blue tin shack and a poda poda with no wheels. Just after the rocky patch in the road, stop. Below you twists the Freetown estuary weaving its way through the mangroves. The water ways stretching like veins from a heart. Carry on past the cucumber patch and head down the hill. At the bottom of the hill is a mango tree. In fact there is a whole grove of mango trees. Like leaves flicked into the air on a blustery autumns afternoon, civil war refugees and child veterans settled in the cool of this orchard. Walk, passing men mending fishing nets and women chatting around their cooking pots. A young man gets out of his hammock strung between two trees. He stretches out his hand in a gesture of friendship, eyes smiling as he speaks the greeting of “ow de bodi?” The scars on his arm, like numbers on die, betray the mask of the tranquil shade. The unrest that rent this community into being and the magic and superstition lurks beneath. This is Old Yams Farm Warf. A beautiful Muslim fishing village.

The local chief showing us his fishing net he is repairing. Fishing is one of the main sources of income for the village.

A Pioneers Story

The school/church floor was cemented once we left.

Moving from the streets of Freetown, following a calling from God, giving up a well paying profession and trade, Pastor Mark moved into the Yams Farm community. Squeezing into a tightly traditional Muslim village, he ignored death threats, side stepped assassins and established the Word of Life Church. On Sunday the church fellowships under the hot zinc roof swinging the the wooden shutters and doors wide open to let the breeze through. During week days the mudblock building shelters 150 primary school children. They are having the foundations needed to be the country’s future instilled in their young minds. The teachers volunteer their time, driven by the knowledge that in order for their country to advance, the next generation must have an education. The community has recognised the good work of the teachers by allocating land for the schools future development. In order for the school to be recognised by the government, one of the requirements is that there is a ventilation improved pit (VIP) latrine for the children. In faith that they would get the funding for it, the community dug the pit for the latrine outside the school where they wanted it.

Enter Mercy Ships

Two years after the pit was dug we, as Mercy Ships find out about the school and church. After establishing relations with the community leaders and determining exactly what was required at the school we decided to bring a team in to help with the construction of the latrine and do a Holiday Bible Club with the school children at the same time.

Two of the schools students

Latrine Construction

Building sand is dug up from estuary sand bars and boated in. It is another source of income.

Prior to the team arriving I designed the latrine, got the community to straighten up the pit and assisted the community men with the production of the cement blocks to be used in the pit construction. I also sourced the sand and stone required from the local villagers at a very competitive price. Granite stone is painstakingly broken down by hand with hammers and is sold by head pan. The sand is dug up from a sand bar in the estuary and loaded onto a wooden boat and then paddled to the village. It is sold per wheel on the vehicle it is loaded into.

Granite building stone is all broken to the right size using a hammer and rubber tire.

I stayed with the team in a conference facility about 5 minutes drive from Yams Farm. There were two really nice big dormitories with guys sleeping in one and girls in the other. The team was mostly women, but also had an Afrikaans family in it. It was really funny when Rhenier, the little boy realised that I could speak his language.

The pit with foundations and the start of the retaining walls.

The villagers were really excited about having us there and turned out in full force to help out. We started by precasting the cover slabs next to the pit. Once these were done we cast the foundations and built up the retaining wall inside the pit, packing rocks in between the block work and the bank and leaving gaps for the water to drain out.

The pits cover slabs were precast next to it.

Once the block work was built up we levelled off the top and then moved the concrete slabs onto the pit. These were really heavy and involved a lot of grunting, heaving, shouting and crow bars.

Shifting the slabs into position once they had cured.

Once the slabs were in place, the superstructure was built up and the roof was put on. The end result was a little bit lopsided and definitely not symmetrical, but was a million times better than the open pit toilet previously being used.

The roof was zinc sheets on the timber used for the concrete forms.

There were two things which I battled with. One was that this was not a commercial site, but a community site. I did not want to demotivate the team by constantly stopping them and telling them their method was slow, or inefficient and not aesthetically pleasing. The other was that every time I would pick up a block, or spade one of the villagers would take it from me saying, ‘here let me help you.’ They then proceed to ignore the spade lying on the ground next to you and take you.

Concrete, blocks and mortar was passed down a human chain to where it was needed.

We set up scaffolding with plastic over the top to protect us and the new blockwork from the rain

The latrine turned out well and was ended off with a big celebration where the villagers gave each one of us a locally tailored shirt and affirmed us with the positive attributes they had noticed in our lives. It was a really great experience. Aside from the successful construction of the latrine, the project had a number of other outcomes.The biggest thing in my opinion was the unity that it brought the community and the attention that was focussed on the church. It was also great developing inter cultural friendships and learning as well as teaching various things.

The Gateway group, the builders and the cooks outside the finished product.