You may recall that way back in April I dropped a post about a school in Dur Baba, one of the more remote Districts in our area of responsibility. (See : Best Ventilated School Ever)
Dur Baba is one of the first places that the PRT focused on following our arrival to Afghanistan. Shortly after we surveyed the site, we secured funds for the construction project. I requested a short delay on the project to enable the opportunity to improve upon the canned building designs that we were furnished via various offices/organizations in Kabul. Most of the designs are dreadful and are intended to be one-size-fits all solutions. But Afghanistan is very diverse containing some of the most extreme variations in climate conditions in the world. Just as Mexico and Canada are different; East, West, North, and South Afghanistan are different. And besides, I'm an Architect! The Commander approved of my scheming, and let me push ahead with a new design.
This little project ended up being one of the few times where I have had the opportunity to direct the design of a construction project, so I have been very excited about the opportunity. However, I quickly found that I had almost no time to devote to the effort. Like the rest of the team, i quickly became overwhelmed in all manner of projects and obligations. Most of which were more important, big picture wise, than a small Girl's School in distant Dur Baba; For better or worse, my duty title is 'Civil Engineer' and not 'Architect'. My bread-and-butter out here comes in the form of Hydro Electric Dams, Asphalt roads, Canals, Levies, Retaining Walls, Rail Heads, and the like. Anyways, eventually, I squeaked out enough of a design to get the contract rolling.
The available funding allowed for an eight room school, but with a little 'out of box' thinking (literally), I managed what I think will be a good thing. This design supports 20 class spaces for about 10% more cost. To achieve this, the building was turned 'inside out' with the circulation running around the outside of the facility rather than through a central hall. The building is raised one and a half meters more than it otherwise would be to accommodate terraced (or stadium) seating which enables the extra class space and adds extra ventilation...which is key as AC is not possible despite the 120 -130 degree temperatures. The heart of the school is the library which is surrounded by a flexible use teaching space. The heart/center can be entered from the north or the south. The dual entrance was established in response to the needs of the site. On paper the project is rather sexy.
Now with all that said, there are some big problems, most of which are the nature of doing business in rural Afghanistan. And some the problems are my fault.
The site has no power, no water, and requires all terrain vehicles for access. Land rights are muddy at best out here...no deeds, no documentation, and no easements. We hopped around and collected signatures and thumbprints and promises from all of the area elders, mullas, mayors and other significant persons. Ordinarily, this takes care of any potential problems, but Dur Baba is different. Dur Baba is nestled in the Spin Ghar (or Tora Bora) Mountains along Afghanistan's border with Pakistan and is one of the primary smuggling routs along the border. Anyhow, as soon as the contractor laid out chalk for the foundation, a bad-behaver built a wall trough an important portion of the site. Thus, we couldn't fit the building on the available government land. The bad-player basically said that he owned the land, despite what everyone else said. Probably, he is an important person or at least self-important person that we had somehow neglected to contact in ramping up towards construction, and we had pissed him off due to this neglect. Or he wanted us to offer to buy the ,non-arable resource-less land from him...at an fantasized premium. Or he was part of the Dur Baba drug smuggling machine and was against the whole American facilitated progress thing. Whatever his reason, it caused a big problem. So I let the contractor modify the design to get things to fit. I didnt have much of a choice as couldnt venture out to take care of the issue in person or even by proxy.
This brings me to the next problem, which is that I have not been to the construction site since last Spring. Dur Baba is hard to get to (last 10 kilometers are up a river bed...as there is no road), we have a whole lot of priorities, and very few people to cover down on those priorities. To monitor the project, I have the contractor bring photographs back to me. Occasionally, I am able to send one of the PRT's Afghan Engineers, who work for me, to the site. The poject is maybe 40% finished at this point. If I am lucky I will see it twice before it is completed. As it is, to date, I have never seen the project under construction with my own eyes.
When I was designing the project, I spent a lot of time/effort trying to sort out the proportions of the building. I put everything in metric and in dimensions that are common to this area. However, the contractor really hasn't gotten the whole 'proportion' thing and has made occasional adjustments, variations, and mis-measurements to the design on his own cognizance. None of these mistakes have compromised the integrity of the structure or it's functionality. However, the proportions are lost to the wind. At first i fought to keep the integrity of the design, but I cannot overstate the effort required to communicate these things via an interpreter, who is unfamiliar with construction in a land that is accustomed to mud huts. Eventually, I gave in an let the project move along with it's own life....I didn't have the time or assets to overcome the situation.
And then there is the matter of construction materials. The cement, and steel reinforcement are imported from Pakistan and are of dubious quality. The cement bags read "Lucky Brand Cement, #1 Best!, Made in Pakistan, For Export Only". If the Paks wont use it....it probably isn't too good. The wood for the door frames, window frames, form work and scaffolding are all smuggled in from who knows where. The bricks are fired in un-monitored kilns with old tire rubber. The only upshot is that the local marble is very good. I have taken a number of measures to mitigate these problems...but these are fairly egregious problems.
Thus, I eagerly await my first trip the the construction site. Stay tuned for 'Best Ventilated School Ever -- Part III'
I started the day off with a half marathon (13.1 miles). Being the first time that I have run that far since my junior year of High School, it was a mighty painful experience. What is worse, I ran the race 'cold turkey'....(sorry...bad pun). Actually, I dont feel as bad as i thought I would....or should. But tomorrow may be another story.
For the rest of the day i touched up a few matters in the office and then tried to take it easy a much as I could get away with. But my electronic-leash (cell phone) got the better of me a few times, but not too many times. Its nice to get a little down time now and again.
Happy Thanksgiving to you
Yes I know I’m late with some of the Happy Birthdays out there, so here goes:
Within the last few days:
Happy 90 to my Grandma Nez – Who can still stomp me in any board-game of your choice
Happy 28 to my little Brother David – Who can still stomp me in any video-game of your choice
Happy 21-ish to Jen Sharp Woods – Who can out blog me any day of the week and twice on any day of your choice
And as I am somewhere between one and three hundred sixty four days late with everyone else’s Birthday: Happy belated Birthday to you!
Yes I mailed a present to ‘you’, but like every other package that leaves this place, it has been intercepted in Pakistan and will be resold for marginal profit via ebay under the heading ‘number one #1 bestest – guaranteed not to be DOA!!’ or something to that effect.
This birthday stuff is kind of depressing. Yesterday Rheagan told me that Lucas asked her when I was coming home. She said that I was still at work and would still be there for a little while longer. As this was relayed, it occurred to me that my deployment will span long enough for me two of my son’s birthdays in a row. And I will probably miss two of my daughter’s birthdays as well, as I will in all likelihood not leave Jalalabad until April. Then I will take the multi-country multi-stop trip back across big pond #1. Then I have to go back to Ft Bragg to turn in all of this dusty Army gear. Then I have to go across big pond #2. Then I check out of Yokota AB. And then I have to go back across big pond #2 to get to the States where I will take as much Leave Time as I can possibly get away with and cram lots and lots of missed happy birthdays as possible into that same time. ….which will be followed by another trip across big pond #1. I’m worn out just for writing about it.
Autumn is in full stride here and the members of my team are sporting wool watch-caps, gloves and polypropylene sweaters. The locals are wrapping blankets and scarves of various dimensions and colors around themselves. They have a beautiful way of blending into their clothing or becoming part of their clothing (or vice versa). And in general, they have a relationship with their immediate surroundings that is more dynamic than what I am accustomed to.
For now, Nangarhar is pleasant; the trees are takeing their time in losing their leaves, the river runs low and gently, and the sky has taken on a drawn out and intimate relationship with the horizon. The river's embankments are saturated with long graying grasses which are slowly being harvested by the locals. Much of the grass will serve as winter feed for their livestock, while the rest will be used to winterize their homes. It is beautiful.
Rheagan added some great photos to the gallery
My favorites
