This series of pictures shows workers at the new Mission Building and some of the progress. According to "Lucky" the project Superintendent, "the building is virtually finished" and he is being moved to a new project in the Capital City, Abuja. The first picture is a partially completed "Car Park". That's what they call a parking lot. The men are playing football, or soccer as we call it. Not many minutes after I took this photo, Lucky took their football and locked it in his office. His office will be the office of one of the Mission Presidents, when they turn the building over to us. The parking lot is made from interlocking pavers, very similar to what we use at home. The curb looking thing on the left of the first picture is made from pre-formed slabs of concrete held in place by concrete that they mix on the ground on the job-site. It is then carried on the heads of the workers, in buckets, to the place they "pour" the concrete from the bucket to the place they want it. This entire building has been built, one bucket of cement at a time. There have been no truck load pours like we do in the U S. They have worked for weeks preparing the ground underneath the parking lot. They have had a small diesel powered roller, vibrator on the job most days. The only days the machine was not working were rainy days when the machine would have gotten stuck.
The second picture shows the exterior of the couples' end of the building. The two Presidents' apartments go all the way across the area to the left, from this side to the back side and then half-way up the side opposite this view. Their apartments are very large, very spacious, four bedroom "flats", as they are referred to here.
The main thing I wanted you to see in the pictures with the scaffolding was the lack of any boards to walk on. The only place I have seen the scaffolding supporting boards of any kind, has been where the painters are. Most of the time the workers stand with bare feet on the bars and do their work.
This picture shows the way they make parking stalls. Colored pavers define the parking spaces. Not Yellow Paint to weather and wear off-over time. These babies stay that color forever.
The green Honda belongs to "Lucky" the Superintendent of the project. It gets washed every day, whether it needs it or not. Some Nigerians ("Lucky" is one) earn a lot of money. Their cars and how they are cared for is one of the indicators of their income. If you click on this picture to enlarge it, the large pile of sand just to the left of center is the final sand the interlocking pavers rest on. It is leveled by hand with very long straight boards. One man lays down every paver. Others bring the pavers in wheel barrows and stack them up at intervals so the paver dude just reaches out and he has all the pavers he needs right at hand
The second picture shows the exterior of the couples' end of the building. The two Presidents' apartments go all the way across the area to the left, from this side to the back side and then half-way up the side opposite this view. Their apartments are very large, very spacious, four bedroom "flats", as they are referred to here.
The main thing I wanted you to see in the pictures with the scaffolding was the lack of any boards to walk on. The only place I have seen the scaffolding supporting boards of any kind, has been where the painters are. Most of the time the workers stand with bare feet on the bars and do their work.
This picture shows the way they make parking stalls. Colored pavers define the parking spaces. Not Yellow Paint to weather and wear off-over time. These babies stay that color forever.
The green Honda belongs to "Lucky" the Superintendent of the project. It gets washed every day, whether it needs it or not. Some Nigerians ("Lucky" is one) earn a lot of money. Their cars and how they are cared for is one of the indicators of their income. If you click on this picture to enlarge it, the large pile of sand just to the left of center is the final sand the interlocking pavers rest on. It is leveled by hand with very long straight boards. One man lays down every paver. Others bring the pavers in wheel barrows and stack them up at intervals so the paver dude just reaches out and he has all the pavers he needs right at hand
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