Project Spotlight

Tile Project Kontum

Reported by Graham Sijben

This Project was intended to improve conditions at the baby/toddler complex at VS2. This baby complex was an area of 24m² (260 ft²) where the babies and toddlers could play and eat. The floored area consisted of a rough concrete floor which tended to soak up everything that dropped on it, and this was a lot more than just food, as the babies and toddlers do not where nappies. You can imagine the amount of flies that would be attracted to this as well as the dogs that would enter and walk around licking up anything that interested them. 

Ingrid and I came up with a simple solution and brought this to the attention of Sister Jeanne, who is in charge of this orphanage. We told her what we wanted to do and asked her if she was agreeable to this and also if she could find some locals to do the work. This is something we always try to do, so that the money being spent can be of more benefit than to just the initial project. She liked our idea and talked to some young men/boys from the local village, and she soon came back to us with a price, which we checked and found acceptable.

Our idea was simple; to break out the complete floor, because as well as being filthy it was also very run down. The sand underneath would then need to be renewed and compressed again, and lastly, a new concrete floor with a tiled surface would be laid.

Unfortunately we weren't able to see a lot of the work carried out but on our return to the orphanage a couple of weeks later we were led directly to the baby compound so we could admire the completed project. They had done a great job and were very happy about how easy it was to clean. The only problem they had encountered was getting the floor level but by simply drilling a new drainage hole in the wall surrounding the compound, this problem was quickly solved.

What was achieved with this project:

1. The standard of hygiene improved immensly in the children's play and eating area and the amount of time needed to clean the area was also shortened. There are no more wasted hours of scrubbing to get the smell out of the concrete.
2.  An extra income for some of the local village boys was provided.
3. After hearing about this project, one of our sponsers offered to donate an extra €250 to help us with our next project!

Conclusion: Project Successful

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