Extending the Factory

RDIC is a fast moving, every changing place. Since I arrived a number of new sheds have gone up, and new processes started. The great advantage that RDIC has over other organisations is its diversity of staff and skills. Combining a full research lab, with agriculture specialists, animal husbandry-ists (hmmm not sure of that word), well-diggers, nurses, teachers, camera operators, puppeteers, directors, artists, scientists...and engineers, which allows projects to be developed integratively.

Not only are the ideas generated, but they can be tested in the lab, constructed and fully implemented with education programs.

So...when construction is needed, the staff can handle it...and some of us get to chip in and learn the ropes.

A big part of the filter factory production process is the drying of filters before they are fired in the kiln. Removing as much water as possible before firing reduces the chance of cracks caused by water in the clay expanding quickly, cracks that would allow bacteria to pass through the filters. Drying takes up a lot of room and RDIC needed more!

So we built a slab. I joined in. A project goal for me, a natural office dweller, is to develop some practical skills that I will be able to draw on in planning and design in the future.

For those interested in concrete slabs.....we:

1) Cleared and levelled the site.

2) Set out string lines to indicate the height required for the base layer.

2) Laid out large gravel on site.

3) Added cement to sand and mixed it thoroughly, then loaded the mixture into wheelbarrows, and spread the mixture over the rock layer.

4) Watered the site well, to allow the cement to react and set.

5) Set out string lines to identify the desired height of the top of the slab slab including to align with existing cement pads.

6) Made small pyramids using a piece of brick, with cement sides, at points across the area of the slab, to indicate the desired height.

5) Prepared a top layer using a diesel powered cement mixer by...

6) Loading buckets of sand and gravel, and water into the mixer and ...mixing

7) Poured the mixture over the base layer, and smoothed with a plank of wood.

Then we sat down in the shade to rest!

The extended concrete slab has allowed RDIC to build many additional drying racks and to therefore increase the number of filters we can dry at a time.

I was also really glad to now have a practical

eye to how concrete slabs are made, so when people need to do it at home for a house, a yard, a building, I know how they do it. I told Mickey so. He replied:

‘Yeah, I have never seen concrete laid like this anywhere in the world before Cambodia, but it seems to work.’...

...hmmm so at least I know ONE method for laying concrete it even if it is employed in only one beautiful, tropical, and fast developing place in the world!

There is nothing one way about it

So here are a few short observations I have made about culture.

Every week Caleb (a fellow long term volunteer at RDIC) and I, each spend time with Makara (our neighbour) to assist her in English pronunciation and vocabulary that helps her in her job tutoring school students. Working through Makara's text books we get to read different stories, lessons and scenarios that are used to teach children English. A few weeks ago Makara and I worked through the lesson on clothing. A picture of a clothes line showed a range of clothing items and their English words.
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We got to pyjamas. For this item a pyjama top and pyjama bottom were attached to the line. The clothes looked familiar to Makara but she had not heard this word before, so I needed to explain. Ummm....they are usually a suit - top and bottom - and they are loose and comfortable, and we wear them to bed....in western countries....ummm of course in Cambodia these clothes are worn during the day, to the market, down the street, etc which is good, very cool and practical. Makara's jaw dropped a little....her hand went to her mouth....she laughed out loud....What? Were the bright coloured, printed cotton button up tops with matching pants considered bed wear only in Australia/Canada/the US! We had a slightly confused pause. Hmmm....were either of our practices a little strange? Inflexible?...or had we just both sensibly adapted an available resource to a practical use.

So reversing this story....I mentioned to friends recently that in 5 months in Cambodia I have worn shoes and socks only about 6 times, when I have gone for a run. Shoes are kicked off at the door of every building you go to, so slip on sandals or thongs are best. I have slipped into a reliable pair of green thongs (provided by my good mates Fae, Cath and Pip as I stepped onto the plane to come here). These thongs are my staple and I wear them all day every day.

So Jane wears thongs in Phnom Penh for work too. They were her staple. Comfy, cool, airy.... until she was asked by one of her colleagues why she was...wearing 'bathroom shoes' all the time. Surely she could come up with something better. Yes I had noticed too but failed to register....that rubber thongs are retained for the privilege of protecting feet from the wet bathroom floors upon which showers are taken directly, and water is generally sloshed around as a form of cleaning....maybe even from the result of those bidet like hoses provided in most Khmer bathrooms.

How could thongs then be considered fashion items along the riverfront when then they provide a rubber glove or a cooking apron-like protection! We look pretty funny to Cambodians too it seems....

Which reminds me...when we discuss methods for sustainably implementing new technologies to communities sometimes we might ask ourselves 'Why wouldn't a community love our new pit toilets, or wet latrines, or water filters?' I have pretty much worked out that those bidet/hose things are beyond my comprehension and are likely never to give me what I need from a bathroom experience. And if I can be so resolute about this new-to-me technology, why wouldn't members of Cambodian communities about our next new thing!

Judy