Fabulous Pre-Fabs

It looks like I'm leaving for Nairobi on Saturday. I will be in Nairobi until Thursday. During that time, I intend to eat some real food, take a real shower, and change my plane ticket to an earlier departure date. I intend to return some time during the first week of September.

At the moment, I'm just trying to get all the kinks out of my project before I leave my researchers stranded for 5 days.
I'm facing a tought decision at the moment, as I believe all of the elements within my project design can be accomodated by August 14th, which supplies either two weeks of additional research work here, just for kicks, or two weeks to explore some of the continent. I'm really not sure what to do.  If I stay, it improves my chances of getting some sort of solid connection and hopefully I will be a little closer to having a really great job when I get out of school, working in Sudan or something. But on the other hand, I'm not very optimistic right now about making contacts, and am thinking of cutting south to Mombasa, then getting a lift to the island of Zanzibar. I can cover a lot of ground in two weeks, so I might as well hit the pavement if its an option...I'm really just not sure what to do at the moment.

As far as the project I am doing with SAVE, its moving along smoothly enough. I spoke with an architect on the phone, who works for company that designs the prefab structures. This place is so hot and sandy, I was concerned about the temperatures in these metal buildings and also the issues regarding the foundation design. I really don't want to do an earthbrick foundation although that was recommended by one of the staff here. My research on indigineous shelter designs within the camp has really provided some insight into the pros and cons of the different materials used by the agencies. 

Its funny, because when I first spoke with the UN about ideas on building design for the SAVE project, I was basically proposing a Pole Barn, although they don't have such things in this country, I thought it would be ideal given the demands and the budget. Well the UN proposed this concrete block structure which I thought was too much like a prison, afterall, I sleep in one of those every night and its certainly not the Hilton.  Anyway, these prefabs come along, SAVE is really interested the UN is slowly coming around, and it turns out that these things are little more than a Pole Barn.  The are nothin more than pre-shaped metal sheets that are bolted together to form a large tube, like an airplane hanger. We will hire local craftsman to construct the gable ends, and the foundation will consist of metal poles sunk into concete blocks about every 2 or 3 meters. Nothing fancy, nothing expensive, and completely practical. I'm looking into using some local materials to created a second roof, a sort of suspended canopy to cut down on the heat. With temperatures reaching 110 degrees, a little bit of shade can go a log way, especially when sitting in a metal box. I also intend to site the buildings so the wind blows through them, not over them. As long as the wind doesn't suddenly blow REALLY hard, so as to flip the thing over, I think everything should be fine.

Today I caught a ride with a MASSIVE truck from the Red Cross. It was the biggest truck I have ever seen in my life and there were two of them, racing through the dessert. The one I sat in had no windows and it was really comparable to riding a rollercoaster.  The roads here are so brutal and the the guy was driving at an insane speed. We nearly clipped a bedouin and a donkey. It was the most fun I've had in days.