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Wednesday, July 5, 1978, 10:00 pm, Day 890
After looking at the road last night, I could have sworn that no lorries would be coming today. I was wrong! Not only did lorries make it to Densembadu as always, , but two of them even came as far as Kamiendor. I don't know how they can do it; going over that road two times each day, each and every day. I found myself completely exhausted today, with sore muscles and all, just from the trip yesterday.
I would like to, at this time, describe all of the motions that I went through yesterday, in order to go down the hills without falling down. It demonstrates that no beginning motorcyclist would have been able to travel this road last night. This is the scene.
It is night, and completely dark, since there is no moon, and the stars are clouded over. It is raining steadily, if not heavily, and so the road has turned into streams of water flowing. I am on my motorcycle, riding along in first gear. The motorcycle is not working too good, and so I am afraid that if it stalls, then I would be unable to start it again.
I am riding along, and I come to a downhill section. I can't see very far ahead, because the headlight is positioned wierd, especially when changing grades. There are two objectives: 1) to keep the motorcycle headed in the right direction, and 2) keep the motor running. Hill sections on the Kamiendor road all have gullies running down them at awkard positions.
Now for the motions. You are headed downhill. You pull in the clutch with your left hand, and give it some gas with the right hand. This is to keep the engine from stalling. At the same time, you apply both the front brake with your right hand, and the back brake with your right foot. You take your left foot and stick it out to the side to act as a support to keep the motorcycle from falling over. If you are able to do this, then you can be in control pretty much all the time. By alternately releasing and applying the brakes, you can work yourself down the hill, small-small, until you reach the bottom. Then, give it some gas, and let out the clutch, and continue on your way.
Thursday, July 6, 1978, 2:00 pm, Day 891
Moiba came up with the rest of the materials today. He got the 3" pipes cut and threaded, but unfortunately one length is all wrong, and so has to be done again.
On the way up the hill to Kamiendor, the lorry was up ahead and I was behind on my motorcycle. I stopped and waited for it to reach the top. I was watching the lorry travel up, and it was just bouncing all over the place. Finally, all of the pipes and reinforcing steel all got bounced right out the back of the lorry and onto the ground. The lorry couldn't stop there, so it continued on up to the top and stopped. I couldn't help laughing. I went on up the hill after them. Together, we loaded everything back into the lorry, and it went on up into Kamiendor.
Saturday, July 8, 1978, 11:00 pm, Day 893
The tank is moving right along now. Luckily, we found that we could manage with the 3" pipes cut and threaded as they were. Therefore, we were able to continue construction on the tank. Yesterday, we put in all of the tank pipes and worked on the formwork. Today we finished the formwork and started cutting the rebar. Tomorrow, we should finish cutting, bending, placing, and tieing all of the reinforcing. Then, tomorrow and the next day, the people will be busy breaking stone, hauling sand, and leveling a place to mix concrete. On Tuesday or Wednesday then, we will be pouring the bottom slab.
I have it all figured that we could finish the tank before I leave for America. That would be pouring the cover slab just a day or two before I go down to Freetown. Then the formwork would be left up, and the concrete left to cure while I am away. We could take the formwork down and put on the finishing touches when I come back 6 weeks later.
I spent this evening playing cards with the kids here in Kamiendor. The game that we play is Concentration. I taught it to them a long time ago. They seem to be getting better at it now. This is a good game for them, because it forces them to use their brains. Memorizing the cards and their positions is tough work. Still, I usually win, but not always. The worst I did today was 3rd, with 8 cards against 18 and 10, with 7 people playing. Bondu beat me a few times. Kumba won once, and even Alou, who doesn't have any sense,even managed to win one.
Tuesday, July 11, 1978, 8:00 pm, Day 896
I got a surprise visit from MEP people today. I guess that technically it wasn't a surprise, because I had word that they would be coming sometime. The surprise comes in that this is the first time that they had actually come, after they said they were coming. It was only a short visit, though. They couldn't have been here over two hours this afternoon. I happened to be in my room at the time, and their driver, "Sugar", appeared at my door. When I went out, I met Mr.Nicol and Mr.McIntosh, standing on the platform, taking a look at the tank construction.
Mr.McIntosh had a list of modifications to make on my tank. I more or less told him what he could do with his suggestions, as this is a little late to start changing the design. We were pouring the bottom slab tomorrow, and hope to finish the tank before I leave for America. There is no room in this schedule to put in modifications.
When they got done looking at the tank, I talked them into going down to look at the water source. When we got back up, they rested awhile and then they left.
Wednesday, July 12, 1978, 6:30 am, Day 897
This is the morning of the big pour, and it looks like a beautiful day. We've got 150 cubit feet of concrete to mix and place by hand today. They've called out the town for this work, so it should go quickly. There should be 40 or 50 people there to work today.
Wednesday, July 12, 1978, 2:30 pm, Day 897
We did a good day's work today. It was a little slow starting. I went over at around 8:00 o'clock, and we started rounding up tools and materials soon after. By about 10:00 o'clock, we had the first batch of concrete mixed and ready to pour. We were done 27 bags of cement and 4 hours later. There were about 20 men working and about 30 women and children hauling water. The ladies seemed to have the best team spirit. They would go get water, and wait until everyone's bucket was filled, then they would all come to the worksite as a group, chanting some Kono or Kissy song as they came.
The men, on the other hand, sometimes looked like they didn't want to do the work. Mr.Lansana seemed to be always having to order someone to come pick up a shovel.
The stone came out exactly. We used up all that we had re-broken, and then had to use all of the ones that were just broken the first time, so some stones were a bit bigger than they should have been. I think that we managed to get all of the voids filled in, at least in the slab itself. Around the edge, I think that it will need some patching, but that wouldn't hurt the structural strength of the slab. The surface of the slab is a little rough. It will probably need another thin finishing.
Friday, July 14, 1978, 8:00 pm, Day 899
Started work on the tank again today. First, we pulled the formwork on the sides of the slab. Then we brought up a couple of rows worth of blocks. I then set to work putting the first row in place. It was a tricky job. There is vertical rebar, which goes up through the middle of half of the blocks. These blocks have holes in them. A close tolerance is needed, but unfortunately we couldn't keep a close tolerance during construction. Therefore, the holes in the blocks and the vertical rebar sometimes didn't match up. I had to use a hammer and chisel to move some of the holes. After that, I was only able to do the motoring for half of the first row. It is slow work. Hopefully, the other rows will go quicker. We have a mason, but he has been sick lately, so I had to do all of the mortaring myself.
Friday, July 14, 1978, 10:00 pm, Day 899
I just finished reading back through the last 100 pages or so. I started with my malaria attack. My writing seemed to catch my thoughts pretty good.
As long as actual construction is going on, I wouldn't mind staying here in Kamiendor, and not taking that Freetown job. The people here in Kamiendor keep telling me that they don't want me to leave, either. I am still going to move to Freetown, though.
This tank construction that we are upon now is really keeping me busy and occupying my time. Now, I no longer just sit around, counting the days left before I go home. Instead, I sit and count the days left, wishing that there were more, because I want to finish this tank before I leave for America, but to do it, we have to keep to a full and tightschedule. I have it all worked out though, and I think it is possible.
I am leaving Kamiendor next Tuesday to be in Freetown Wednesday. I hope to clear up all details about the trip, and also whatever needs to be done about the project. Then on Sunday July 23, both Diana and I will leave Freetown and go to Kamiendor, where we will spend a week. During this time I hope to put up the formwork for the tank cover slab, put in the rebar, and then pour the concrete about the day before we leave for Freetown.
In Kamiendor, everyone has been asking about Diana and when she will be coming. There are two people who are saving up chickens to give to her when she comes. That last week in Kamiendor should be a good experience. Diana and I will have a chance to say goodbye to everyone, and everyone will have a chance to say goodbye to us. Also, we will be completing work on the tank, topped off on the last day by calling out everyone in Kamiendor again for the pouring of the cover slab.
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