We finished the last shopping on Wednesday evening and were determined to catch a bus to Bafousam, a good 260 km and 45 minutes from Bangoua. Our Friend Gilles set us on a motorbike each with our luggage and we dropped of at the bus stop. We hopped on the bus(seating about 30 people instead of the 14 that are supposed to go) and went to a bigger collection point. After having some grilled beefsticks and waiting for 3,5 hours (23:15 at the time of leaving) we set of. The ride was fast and lacked a bit in comfort, something that a drastic lesson in road safety made up for. A bus had rear ended a truck. No one had died but two people were pinned and six buses had stopped to help, including ours. Since there are no ambulances in this area a bus de-merged the two vehicles and the injured were transported in cars to the hospital.
For Breakfast in Bangoua we ate an egg sandwich and were picked up by the hospital pick up. This was at 6.15 am. We had not slept. So before starting work, we took a quick shower and slept for two hours. The place called “The German House” has 4 bedrooms, a big living room, small kitchen and two bathrooms. Feels a bit odd getting food served to a table with a white tablecloth, but hey, we take it.
Together with the team of local craftsmen and our Technician, Mr. Gabriell, we sorted the bricks by quality, cleaned the already build foundation and set the final layout of the incinerator. The first layer of bricks will be laid tomorrow morning, since we got the last tool to mix the cement this afternoon. Due to the heavy rain in the wet season and sometimes strong winds in the mountains, we will build an extra high outer wall sheltering the incinerator and the wast from water and thus damage. According to our technician, we will finish in 7 days. And can then begin with the training.
It stays a challenge!
Tune in again for more updates on the construction! Thank you for reading!