Experience of Arthur E. Westphal, Volunteer

I came as the expert from the U.S. My main assignment was to build two
large concrete containers which would contain the sand filtration
system for purifying the water. My strong nephew, Bill Clark, was
along to do the heavy work. From the blueprints I figured just how I
could build this quickly, efficiently and of quality at home. Upon
arriving I had a list of materials I would need. I suppose if the
materials were available they would be too expensive and would require
many weeks for delivery.
The hospital had many old steel forms. However the hardware to
assemble these forms was long ago forgotten and missing. The crew
assigned to me included, Fikiru. He had served five years in the
Ethiopian Army with the Corps of Engineers. Fikiru and the men cut
down eucalyptus trees and wedged sticks in to the old, bent up metal
forms. I did not sleep that night wondering how I would accomplish
everything. By morning the Lord helped me figure out how to do the
job. Fikiru spent a few days building the outside forms with a few
locals while Bill Clark and I, with lots of help, cut and tied the
re-enforcing steel.
Knowing there was no OSHA approved scaffolding I asked Fikiru to build
scaffolding while I built the inside forms from scraps of lumber. The
crew cut down more eucalyptus trees and put together a frightening
maze of sticks that looked adequate for a monkey. Noting that I was
slow and unsteady, they nailed some sticks together and told me that
was a ladder I could use. I was the one to use that ladder to climb
the scaffold. To my amazement no one fell or was injured by the
scaffold substitute.
With much frustration we built the inside forms. Then with imagination
we tied the two forms together. I was wondering whether we should cut
the steel forms to put a pipe through or simply cut a plastic pipe to
put in the forms. Both ideas had serious draw backs. Fikiru said we
put a section of banana stalk in there before pouring the concrete. If
I put a piece of wood there it would swell and be stuck but the banana
stalk was spongy and easily removed after the pour.
The night before pouring concrete for the job I slept fitfully,
worrying about all the things that could go wrong. The men had
concrete boxes where they placed the sand, gravel and cement into,
thus guaranteeing a perfect mix. I had read in textbooks how to do
this but had never been that careful in the U.S. The pour went without
a hitch. When it was time for the second pour I was confident.
However, to be sure I reminded our engineer that we must have
electricity for the entire morning for our cement mixer. In the
morning there was a large crew and no electricity. I angrily started
the half hour walk up the hill to chastise the engineer. He tried to
tell me he’d been up early taking care of emergencies with a higher
priority. When we walked back Fikiru had the crew mixing concrete on
the ground as he’d learned to do in the military. When the engineer
finally got the electricity, Fikiru explained the crew was too small
to operate the mixer! I was left having to apologize to the engineer
and for all the work he did! I believe I taught the crew a few things
about building but these Ethiopians taught me a lot more! I thank God
for the great learning opportunity I had while helping the hospital
get the pure water.