The new street children residential centre, the Amasiko Halfway House in Kabale, Uganda, has only been underway for two weeks but already impressive progress has been made. The foundations have been dug and completed and eight concrete slabs have been laid. Over 4,000 environmentally friendly interlocking bricks have been made at a rate of more than 300 per day, the window and door frames have been welded and the roof trusses are under construction! This has cleared the way for the team to start erecting the walls next week, which is exciting.
This fast pace of progress has required an enormous amount of effort from everyone involved. The students from the Faculty of Architecture and the University of Ljubianja in Slovenia, the local workforce, the older street children who are joining the workforce. The local Alongside Africa Uganda team and the volunteers from the UK are helping to keep the Amasiko Drop-In Centre running for visiting street children whilst all attention has been on the construction.
As always when operating in this part of the world, nothing is straight forward and several challenges have arisen which we would not have anticipated with European backgrounds. From needing to use green wood for the frame slabs, which warped very quickly, to problems with the water supply, necessitating us transporting thousands of litres by hand from a nearby stream and by vehicle to the site.
Nonetheless, the progress made so far is owing to the passion of everyone involved. In ensuring that vulnerable street children can find a safe home to sleep, get access to trainings and education to help them live a fulfilling and economically independent life.
Commendable progress indeed; many hands undoubtedly make work light.