Always the builders!

When a school is growing by 150 children a year, teaching is carried out against the constant background of building and renovation. This is the new classroom block at the School of St Jude in December 2006. By 12 January, it was open for business!



During the Christmas holidays, the builders can REALLY get to work unencumbered by the presence of children. One important renovation during the recent holidays was the office expansion. The admin area seems to double each year. Kim says

It’s hard to believe that we expanded last Christmas and already have outgrown the space. In a week or so I hope I won’t be shuffling sideways past desks to get to mine while apologising to Lulua for knocking her off her chair.

I laugh when people ask if I’m enjoying the holidays – HOLIDAYS!? Along with the builders, we in admin work harder when the school is ‘closed’! So much to do to prepare for the next term and normally I’d say at least it’s a bit quieter but at the moment we are coping with the demolition derby next door and all the dust and rubble that it brings. Still, it will be worth it in the end … Lulua will certainly think so.

Office renovations

African style building has some colourful results. Thnext photo shows the site behind the office which has been the dumping ground for broken branches, unearthed tree stumps and homeless logs from all around.

Not a chainsaw

The photo was taken four weeks after the work started so it doesn’t show the true size of the massive deadwood forest that was there originally. Although the cooks would come and grab armfuls of the smaller stuff for the kitchen, the pile just kept growing like the magic packet of TimTams.

During Operation Cleanup, Gemma found a wily old local bloke who offered to chop the lot and clearly it was going to take a chainsaw, so Gemma gave him money to hire the machine in town. Instead, he hired two of his mates for a lot less! Although they are less noisy, it has taken a lot longer. The beautiful smell of seasoned wood wafting through office window tells Kim and other office workers that it’s not a tennis court despite all the hacking and grunting!