The bridge... building begins

Building the new bridge has begun. The exciting work has finally started. I am very happy to see the wood which has taken months of preparation, being put in place and forming a strong, sturdy, wide bridge though the village over the sea. 

During our frequent storms, waves come over the old bridge which was built lower than the houses. We are building the new bridge higher, so that the waves won’t reach it. It also makes it easier for the people that often had to climb up into their houses; the new bridge is now level with most of the houses. 

You'll see in the pictures, We use the old bridge as scaffolding to build the new. This can be done because the new bridge is wider than the old. Then the old bridge is removed from underneath and many supporting braces are fix in place to make the new bridge strong and steady. It will not move from the traffic of people moving on the bridge, but also must flexible enough to withstand tropical storms. 

Progress is pretty quick at the moment as we are still in the shallow area, but each day as we progress along the bridge it becomes deeper, so the posts become larger and longer and the distance to carry becomes further. But it’s going well and great to be in the Badjao village... working with local people and seeing the difference it's making in their lives. To see more pictures, click here...

Load the trucks

Phase one of our project to replace the Badjao village walkway (bridge) is finished... all the wood we have cut down is complete, treated and ready to go. Everything that can be done at the farm is over and we're ready to start phase two, the actual building of the bridge! 

Three huge trucks came here to the farm where the safe home is based, and with the help of a group of Badjao men we have loaded everything on to the trucks. It was a huge task and heavy work loading everything on the three trucks. The trucks then transported all the wood to the Badjao village where it was all unloaded and the local government provided a guard for all the wood. 

It was great to see the wood arriving at the village after months of work. Everyone was excited to see it, knowing that work on their bridge would soon begin. Many of the locals helped with the unloading of the trucks at their village – it was good to see the teamwork and joy on everyone’s faces. I was given the

task of counting and checking all the wood was loaded and unloaded safely and that it all made it to its destination.

Back soon with the start of the construction work! To see more pics, click here