Hauling sand and gravel

We need sand and gravel to make the culverts, so we use the native materials. The villagers dug sand and gravel out of the stream in Lowuma, and in Gbeleyankei, they got gravel from around the village. The whole village got involved, even the children. In Gbeleyankei, they had to haul the sand from a stream 1/3 mile away. The sand and gravel from the stream was nice and clean, but the gravel from around the village was not clean. It had palm kernels, sticks, dog poop, and other things that don't make for strong concrete. So, the gravel had to be cleaned. There's not nearly enough water for washing it, so we screened it with a fenner. The fenner is a basket used for sifting rice to clean it. I tried my hand at it, as you can see in the photo. Four women worked all day to clean enough gravel for the culverts. In Lowuma, the well crew used a mosquito net to sieve the silt from the sand and gravel. We had to use the materials that were available. The villagers had to haul the cement, tools, and pump from Fassama; we don't want to haul any more than is necessary.

Please take a look at my photo album. I have lots more photos there. The link is on the main blog page. Also, I welcome your comments and questions!