I thought it would be good to provide an update on the new Chronic Care Center
here in Eldoret. The last time I wrote
we were digging holes and putting in foundations for the building. Well, that stage has thankfully passed! I had had my fill of mud and I am sure that
the workers had had their fill even more.
In the interim we have completed a cardiac wing for Duke University
on an existing facility. This is the
first of its kind in the region for those of lesser means and the facility is
already having a meaningful impact in terms of lives saved. Cardiac issues abound here, particularly for
men. Some think it is as a result of a
high fat diet…..not in the way we would usually think of in terms of meat, but
in terms of using high fat milk for a significant portion of their diet. It has been great working with a diverse team
of cardiologists from Mt.
Sinai, Duke and IU. Purdue has been training Kenyan pharmacists
in the use of drugs for cardiac care. There is also a compliment of Notre Dame
folks here helping develop a business model that will enable the facility to
continue serving patients.
The major CDM structure is now out of the ground and
climbing. The facility is being built
out of reinforced concrete…..which means lots of steel rebar, lots of formwork
and even more concrete. The forms are
supported by a veritable forest of young trees which are grown specifically for
construction use. Many weeks of work
have gone into building the forms and then placing all of the reinforcement
bars where the concrete is to be poured.
I am very pleased at the quality and conscientiousness of
the team. We had a very thorough set of
structural, plumbing and electrical inspections all of which were successfully
passed. On July 23 with 60 men on site
the first big pour began for the 2nd
floor lasting from sun up until late in the afternoon. There is a lot going on when a large pour is
undertaken….. We have a reasonable sized
mixer here but nonetheless all of the sand, stone and cement have to be
shoveled into measuring cubes and then dumped into the machine. After the concrete is mixed, it is dumped
into a big tray from which it is again shoveled into a .25 cubic yard bucket
which is lifted with a crane to the floor.
There it is again placed into a large try from where it is shoveled into
a fleet of waiting wheelbarrows and their blue hard hatted operators. They then wheel the concrete to the area on
the floor where the slab is being poured and it is placed and vibrated……..not an
easy process and a very hard day for all involved.
Columns are poured one shovel at a time….yup, one shovel at
a time. The wheelbarrows are wheeled
next to the columns where a team awaits with a pans about the size of a 16”
pizza pan which is filled and tossed up by way of two or three men to the top
of the column. With 40 hands working even this progresses quite
nicely and is quite a display of coordination.
By mid September we should have the 2nd floor
completely poured and work will also be underway for the 3rd floor
support columns and structure. Each of
the full floors here is roughly 30,000 sq. feet so that is a lot of concrete!
Needless to say we have our share of challenges. Sand can be bizarrely difficult to locate due
to the rains and the distance it has to come…. and it is expensive!When the guys show up with 20 tons of sand in
a big truck they don’t simply dump it, rather they shovel it out….We are
currently held up as “gumpoles” are in short supply due to the rains.. We use the gumpoles to support the floor
forming above. There is a pole about
every 24 sq. inches….so you can imagine how many poles there are!
I am including one photo of the contractor's team. The owner is Ramji Vekaria, a Kenyan of
Indian descent. Wonderful man and a
devout Hindu. My first experience
working with someone of that religious orientation so I have learned a good
bit. He is quite successful but very
humble and simple in his ways. No fancy
Mercedes for Ramji, rather he drives a little beat up 4 door sedan. Peter Musiyemi is the foreman and as good a
foreman as I have had an opportunity to work with. They work a lot here…..normally 6 and often 7
days a week and Peter is there all of the time.
The lead form carpenter is Albert.
He bought his first power tool for the project and simply loves his
skill saw…..I can relate. An exceptional
individual who also has a great smile and damn good work ethic. Another one of the foremen is Barratt and he
hails from Gujarat in India. He has recently been working in Sierra Leone and is very happy to now be in Kenya. Many of the Indians in Kenya hail from Gujarat
as the Brits brought them over to help build the railroads. Many of the medium to large sized
construction companies in Kenya
are Indian Kenyans. They are now dealing
with competition from China
which they are none to happy about. With
all of these different people and different language capacities being
understood remains my biggest day to day challenge… I do however know the words for “Do You Understand
Me”….Una e lewa??? That works wonders
and often gets a good laugh.
Our current schedule has us completed in January of 2015 and
at this clip I am reasonably hopeful that we can accomplish our goal. Our biggest remaining challenge are the
Radiation Oncology bunkers and the regulatory red tape associated
therewith.
Take care and always glad to hear from friends back home!
