[GSBN] Plaster thoughts

[John Glassford]

G ' day Bruce Old Mate

Should have given me a call love to be there with you guys in my home
country.  We were there in December.

Having been born there and lived there for 21 years all I can say is have
fun!!!

Re the earth Kenyans have been using earthen mixes for centuries and know
more about it than we do, in the villages NOT Kibiera or Mathare.

Went to Mathare for our orphan rescue projects:

http://www.mountainsofthemoon.org/?p=646

Mathare is a smaller version of Kibiera 600,000 lost souls in the worst
possible conditions for human habitat.

Places like Kibiera and Mathare should never exist in today's society.  I
heard there are 1.5 million existing in Kibiera.  It should be raised to
the ground and resettle the slum dwellers for that is what Kibiera is, a
slum and one of the worst on the planet.

60% unemployment in Kenya resettlement will probably never happen so how
does one rebuild a place like Kibiera or Mathare?  Money and lots of it
however the Kenyan government is poor very poor.

The only solution is for massive foreign aid but that is not going to
happen.

Re the rendering earth earth earth maybe with a lime wash for the external
but ask the locals they have been doing it for centuries.

Also remember that it does rain twice a year in Kenya two monsoons the
short and the long monsoons can drop a massive amount of water in a short
space of time.

Mark you originally started this post and I wonder where you are building
in Kenya?  I would use an earthen mix leave out the cow dung up the sand if
it is high in clay.  The soils on our coffee farm outside of Nairobi had a
high sand to clay ratio red in colour and beautiful to work with.  If they
want to insist on a lime render then use the best available in Kenya and go
with 2.5 sand to 1 lime powder mix and see how it goes.  Hopefully it is a
hydrated plaster lime.  There used to be a large cement factory on the
coast near Mombasa and a very good source of high quality lime from that
area.

With so much labour available great soils best to go with the earth.  You
could also try a mix of earth, lime sand and chopped straw but use it
throughout the rendering i.e. first coat to last coat.

Mimi na taka kwa saidia wewe lakini mimi hukuna pesa sasa.  Asante kwa
wewe, na Bwana Eco Bruce, wewe na funia kazi muzuri sana.

Kind regards
The Straw Wolf
Huff 'n' Puff Constructions
http://www.glassford.com.au
61 2 6927 6027
In Australia (02) 6927 6027

Mountains of the Moon Climb 2011
http://www.mountainsofthemoon.org
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