Yes! We’ve actually got a couple of selfies! How many people fit in a Suzuki Samurai ? Carrying the team of workers back home after a day’s work on the Rubber House.

There’s two ways of setting up a solar power system: one that is connected to the net, the other is autonomous. An autonomous system is not connected to the “grid” and, if it is set up and used correctly, will also give you 24 hours of power a day. There are many different qualities of panels, inverters and batteries available in the Gambia, and for very different prices, too! I’ve seen compounds in the Gambia with a “local system” using simple  truck batteries to store the generated power. You wouldn’t even notice it if you didn’t know. Even freezers and washing machines can run on solar power!

I just got a call from my contact in the Gambia: what do I want to do with the tires that are left on the compound, now that the walls are coming up? The ones we didn’t use to build with? The ugly, worn out or strangely shaped ones? And suddenly I’m facing the same dilemma as people are facing in the Gambia: what to do with tires you don’t need anymore? The dilemma that made me decide to do something new: build with them.  Well, please don’t burn them, that’s for shure! For now, I want to keep them and see what to do later. And I ‘m happy I was asked, because sustainability is not the first thing people think about in the Gambia. Not yet.

Recognize this? With any building job, some tools just seem to get lost. I don’t know how many pulleys I have bought since the start, but we need another one to get water from the well to continue building the walls around the compound. Luckily there are little and bigger building shops just about everywhere.

The last couple of days, a team of 10 workmen have been clearing the land. The grass grew up to the roof this time.  It took the team two full days.