Experimentation

Labours have not reached, some amount of frustration for the people staying there with the hardship with kids and …………no thikana, no kahaa pina ka intzam, no comfort of home.

Mina informed we will experiment with making one room with mud and stones by ourselves on the site, so we can stay there and no need to rent the house.

I was excited yet I had my own apprehension

Do we need to get into this work? Do we have so much of liberty of people and time at our disposal? What about our target of starting session in June? Once the sessions starts how are we going to divert energy? How do we make maximum out of this one month? Not much have happened from last construction date to this construction date? My discomfort meter rising – I could not think more positive with 102 degree fever and severe headache.

Who will do all other brain and decisions work like how and what to do for electricity? What will be the layout? How will water reach site? Do we need to experiment with each and every decision or we also need to move ahead with goals? Instead of Vishal spending his time on making a wall I would rather have him installing energy systems at site. Instead of Mina working with construction, I would rather have her work on getting water to the site. Instead of Venu working on wall, I would rather have him identifying various places form where we can source the material. Its time for action,,,,,,,,,,,,even If I have to do experiment, I will do with the labours and mason – for me they are still are the brain of construction.

I reflected with my saviour Ratnesh. He put it in different perspective – as and when need will come, may be people do not have enough or much direction on what to do, hence they found this is the best option to start. This helped me to put thing sin my perspective. I sped up the work to get the workers at site, the preparation to get material for labours…………….Mina, Venu and Vishal on their toes went around, hunted the material and all ready to receive labour on the site.

Yesterday Mina informed “we started making the wall with stone and mud and it is coming up”

I asked “what about foundation”

She informed “we dug 6 inches deep”

And I fell two feet down - I have not heard any wall without any foundation. I did my own search on the net, scratched all my knowledge of making of a wall, and looked around at all the vertical things to understand if they exist without foundation?

My scientific sense and sense balance did not give me any comfort of a wall without foundation. I was imagining kids playing on that wall and wall toppling down.

Also I remembering any fall of the building and foundation being questioned?

I questioned myself - If kids making wall without foundation will I stop or bring my previous knowledge so soon? Yes I will throw some challenges to them, question them …….I sent a mail to Mina and Vishal with my understanding of foundation

Hi guys
Just questioning the making of wall without foundation.
even for a compound/ boundary wall - one goes down by 1.2 mtr. (has no roof load).
Normally foundation base is bigger than the wall.
Did my own research to know if the walls are made without foundation - did not find any.
Also the depth depends on the terrain - To get bonding with the rock in rocky terrain, one needs to chisel the rock.

Foundations
Because mud has poor mechanical resistance and is poorly waterproof, the builder usually
lays a full length stone wall base prior to a mud brick wall construction. This foundation may
be quite small when the wall is built in rocky terrain. Otherwise, compact or masonry stone is
used.
In some cases, these foundations are extended above ground level, thus becoming an actual
wall base. More rarely, this type of wall is added to hewn-stone masonry, overlapping the
stone base.
My two cents

I slept with fever in mind and in the heart.

Today also labours did not reach - not much to on the site to do. Mina and Vishal with two kids went around to look at various mud houses in the village, spoke to few people and informed “we are not making wall now, it is too dangerous”.

They also looked at few houses as original plan to rent for few months – so we can stay there and divert all energy in making of O-campus.

We all meeting tomorrow

My thoughts - We need to work towards our target "Staring sessions in June and also completing first phase in July".

1. We all take up specific areas to work
2. And get into action on the site
3. All the experiment, leaning etc we do in that area - let others do experiment in their areas. We may support each other in cross areas.

So this is how I look at it

1. Vishal - work on energy and start building system for solar, wind etc etc on the site
2. Mina - Water, start work for that on the site
3. Aditi and Venu- start construction and do related research, experiment on the site
4. Ratnesh and Prakash - Funding
5. Mina and Ratnesh - all other legal works like elect pole shifting, entrance land

All other people who will come on the site can be volunteers and we can even ask for specific help from people.

I do not know if I stopped the creative process or the spirit of people trying to experiment?

How can one be creative with constraint (here we have time constraint now)

What is the scope of experimentation?

For me every process is reflection of leaning process? How it would have been with kids?

I am still reflecting.