It’s a nice change this morning to wake up and not have to pack everything away. After the standard porridge breakfast we break up into groups for the day. There’s the retaining wall group of six (which includes myself), the painting group of four and the final two working on the window shutters.
As the painters and would-be carpenters retreat to the comforts of the cool classrooms the rest of us hit the retaining wall that we quickly nickname ‘the pit’. The first task in the pit is to clear away the collapsed rocks so we can start rebuilding at the base. This is no easy task as we create a chain to carry the rocks up to the top of the pit and add them to the pile. After the first hour we covered in dust and already developing the first signs of ‘pit cough’.
Most of the day is spent clearing away the rocks and layering the foundations. Whereas the last retaining wall was just rocks piled on top of each other with soil as cement, the new improved retaining wall will be made up of rocks piled into metal wire cages stacked on top of each other. The section of the wall we’re repairing will be made up of 24 cages, six long by 4 high. By the end of the first day we’ve cleared half fallen rocks and put down 2 cages.
It’s physically the hardest day I’ve ever worked.
Many of the rocks required two people to lift and even then it’s a struggle. The pit is always covered in a lingering dust cloud that even with makeshift masks seems to settle in our lungs. I end the day with a newfound respect for retaining walls. I’ve started noticing other retaining walls in the village. Whereas previously I wouldn’t have given them a second glance I know can’t help admiring them, their form and structure, the nice use of pebbling between the boulders.
After a day of such back breaking labour we cap it off with the closest thing we could find to a cold beer in the afternoon sun – Nepalese moonshine at the local tavern. The tavern is really just a house in the village where the family distil a potent mix of potatoe-based alcohol. It’s doesn’t quite quench the thirst like a cold beer but it takes the edge off the aching muscles and proves a fitting end to a hard day.
