BUILDING BLOCKS

I went to Europe with my friends, Linda and Jayne a few years ago. We visited Delta Works, built by the Dutch. It was an amazing sight to see their daily battle with water. The dam was built to hold back the ocean water and was awe-inspiring.


I assumed they consulted with world experts to find out how to build these structures. Surely, the engineers in the United States must have come here to teach them to build these cement monsters. A little naive, isn’t it? They are the world experts and we consulted them after Katrina.


I’m still learning at my age that I need to “undo” many of the stereotypes I was taught in school as a child. As I write this, I remember: Oh yes, this is exactly what the 60s was about; thinking for ourselves and finding truth.


So, here is the story. A large flatbed truck pulled up in front of the house. The driver opened the door and jumped out and onto the back of the truck onto the pile of gray blocks. He put his gloves on and began unloading the cement blocks and neatly stacked them in front of Elizabeth’s house.

I watched as they were unloaded, thinking how hard this work must be. Each block probably weighs at least ten pounds and there are way too many to count.


The blocks are made by mixing cement and pouring it in a mold. Each block is handmade. Now I am the first to admit I know little about building a house, but I do know enough to be intrigued when watching Saint Lucian’s construct buildings.


Homes are either constructed of wood or blocks. The newer wood structures seem to be made of plywood, whereas the old ones are more carefully and artfully constructed using wood brought down from the rain forest. These homes have handmade windows and shutters and decorative cutouts. It's easy to see a craft with love and care that construction workers had many years ago. The more modern homes, like mine, are constructed of blocks and set into cement floor foundations.



Early into this adventure and during my home stay, I watched the workers build an addition across the street. My first thought is that they have no idea how to construct a building. Then I remembered my thoughts of the Dutch and Delta Works.

These are the construction workers who build structures to withstand hurricanes. Many of these buildings were here during the worst hurricanes. They remain standing when they receive more rain in one season than Los Angeles will see in a generation. Humm, it seems to me the houses in Los Angeles slide down mountainsides when a few more inches than normal descend upon the land.



As I observed the construction of Elizabeth and John's new addition, I was not surprised that power tools were seldom used. Picks, shovels, sticks and large pieces of bamboo are standard. There was also a handmade broom, made from bamboo and banana leaves. Any nails that are used are nailed by hand – there’s no nail gun. Nails that are bent are not thrown away, but hammered straight and re-used. Cement is mixed in the street and shoveled into small buckets and hoisted with ropes to the taller areas.


The structure begins to take shape. They leave openings for the windows. This is one of the few places where wood is used. They will construct frames and attach it with nails and of course more cement. Once that is done they will make a wooden structure for the ceiling and, yes, poor cement on top of it. That will be my new extended balcony.



The railing is made of decorative ballisters. Ballisters are popular on the island. They are made of cement from molds that are reused. I talked to one man who makes them. He can make four per day. They each have a metal rod through them and are left in the sun to harden.

The workmen fitted a cement foundation to the posts and placed each ballister in the foundation that was filled with fresh cement. It will harden overnight.



So here is the bottom line on this post: It's amazing what a Peace Corps Volunteer can find entertaining. I would never have guessed that I could engage in the spectator sport of watching workmen build an addition onto a house. Imagine, this kept me entertained for nearly two months.