An Update

Friends, this is to update you on the school construction process. I called home yesterday and I talked to both civil administrator and the paramount chief. They were thankful to the donors for the first shipment of the construction materials. They told me that the construction site has been cleared and leveled and were ready to produce bricks; however, they are faced by the following:
1. Truck to carry sand to construction site. They said those with private truck are asking for $200 per one tripe
2. Rocks for constructing foundation. The area has no nearby mountain to collect rocks. However, small rocks could be collected in the Jonglei Canal. There are people who collect rocks for sale. One sack of small rocks costs $15
3. Proposed to make block bricks instead of mud bricks. This was to make it durable and not destroyed by unexpected rainfall during the process
4. Food for those who would be doing manual work. They told me that harvest was bad last year because of flood. They are proposing one meal a day for those who would be doing work.

My response to the above was that there was no enough money to do them; however, I told them that I will raise these issues with you, the donors.

Solution
• Truck: I told them to make an agreement with truck owner for future payment
• Rocks: No clear solution, but construction wouldn't be possible without rocks for foundation
• Block bricks: I told them to go ahead since they only need 70 sacks of cement
• Food: Conditional based on the money we have

What does this mean?
This means that the budget presented was not enough because the costs of these requirements were not included. Therefore, we need to raise additional money because they are vital for the project.

Thank you for standing behind this worthwhile project, together, we're getting closer!!!