Saturday 28-07 - With
the late-night push for completion, the hall took on a different image on
Saturday morning. Yet again, work
was off to a slow start, despite the imminent hand-over. This was largely due the late-night, and that
some of the principal volunteers operate taverns until late night on weekends. At this crucial stage, a last-minute
trip to the local hardware store had
to be done, to get tack screws needed to fix the remaining polycarbonate sheets.
With
the prompt arrival of the 1:1 student team including the JCP students, the site
became vibrant again. This
despite the fact that the day’s visitors
ended up having to work, clearing up
the site of rubble, neatly storing the
un-used bricks to form outdoor seating, and washing
and cleaning of the paved areas and the hall.
A final
tidying up and cleaning of the hall and its surrounds made for a professional
hand over of the site, even
though a few aspects needed tending to. These are to be addressed in the upcoming week, and include final building
of columns, painting of all steel work, sealing of
the roof leaks, installation of the ceiling insulation panels, repairing of the
floor tiles and closing of the window
panels. Attention must also be paid to the ailing jungle gym, as it is over-used by the local children,
and is in need of reinforcing.
Another Perspective
by Yolandi Viljoen
The day
finally arrived. The upgraded Slovo Hall : Opening. Truth be told, I was
dreading this day. Not being part of the building process for the last week and
being forced to focus on other work, when we have not completed the Slovo Hall,
was challenging. The community was eager to complete the process of enclosing
the hall and Omar kindly updated us on the progress as the week went by.
We were pleasantly surprised to see that everyone was already hard at work when we arrived. None of us expected to be working on Saturday, but things needed to be done, and thus we all jumped in.
The energy was great. Bonga, Frank and the rest of the Slovo Khayalami Youth Forum set up a DJ set and the music attracted many children and unfamiliar faces. Julia offered to make us pap and Mohau and I drove to Kliptown for some meat to end the day off proudly South African style, with a braai.
At 6PM when we left Slovo Park, I felt very close to content. Saying a temporary goodbye to everyone we have met the last 2 months, made many things I know ,quite irrelevant and all the things I have learned, crucial.
Japie and Tebogo
The improv-braai/tap
The JCP students from the University of Pretoria
