Street Children Project

Joseph Waweru Home School
Building the Commons
The walls begin to rise!


The cornerstone and first few courses are critical. Waweru guides the placement and alignment of the first corner. Each year the majority of the workers return. It is wonderful to see the familiar faces. They too are excited to see the building rise.	It is exciting to watch the first wall rise. Each carefully hand cut stone is tested for fit. After each course is dry laid, the mortar is mixed and the course set.

The walls rise to the height of the windows. The forms for the lintel are measured and cut by hand. The wire reinforcing rods are cut and twisted. Finally the form for the lintel is lifted into place and buckets of crushed rock and cement relayed and poured into the form. While the lintel is drying, the staging is created from poles cut from the Blue Gum tree. After the lintel is dry the walls can rise to the top.	When the lintel is dry and the staging is in place, the individually cut stone blocks are relayed to the mason. All day he remains on top of the staging, placing and securing the next row of stones.

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