Now, we’ve all had our fair share of hard work and we’ve all had those days where we thought that nothing could be more difficult. I’ve felt this before, and I could never have guessed I was so wrong. Bio construction, unlike normal construction, requires not only collecting materials from the top of a hill but tireless readjusting to make the product you need. Let me break it down for you.
So let’s start with weather conditions. What would you choose, blazing sun with no wind or blazing sun with wind? I thought so, with wind. You’ve failed the first test and you’ve got sand in your face, but that’s just a side point. So let’s begin, who knows about bio bricks? I thought so, nobody. So bio bricks are plastic bottles filled with sand that’s compacted using a metal rod and a hammer. Now, if you are a machine like Bruce then you will produce more bio bricks than the group combined and be condemned to bio bricks forever. However, I myself have no such skill in this matter, and I am more reserved for the heavy lifting tasks due to being 6ft3, which has once resulted in the collapse of a wheel barrow. Don’t worry, no sympathy needed, I walked it off with pride it - didn’t quite survive though.
Now tell me, how do you break rocks with a sledge hammer? Yes, you would hit it directly, but no no no there is a skill to it. To my horror, my strength was not going to help me this time, as a national put me to shame with breaking rocks, much to his amusement. “Esta bien” - damn you Miquel!
Aside from that, we are well on the way to completing two new benches for the bio park, we have started a new mural on the back wall and have replaced the sand based floor with a new cement base. The scary thing is the fact that Izzy now has bigger muscles than Arjun, and is slowly trying to beat me. As a group we have all got so fit that pick axing for a few hours is like a pastime. The humour of the group is slowly getting worse as we’ve all heard our own jokes, but as a group you couldn’t have picked better people. Everyone works hard and we have developed a joke for every person here, but the love is still flowing. So in the words of our Team Leader, “no dramas”, and we shall keep it that way.
Written by ICS volunteer Alisdair Allam
