Friday 31 March
Election day (local government) yesterday. The Fort is used for polling stations, ballot security and counting so it is off limits to everyone save residents. Security is extremely tight with dozens of armed police and militia; quite intimidating at first. Now however I’m recognised and don’t even have to show my pass, they just wave me through.
It’s a sort of unofficial holiday, yesterday and today, and a party atmosphere prevails. It all contrasts markedly with elections in Britain. Mind you if the punters lined up by the Fort walls don’t get the result they want, it can get really nasty.
Construction at the playground continues apace – tomorrow I’m off to inspect the wonderful timber that’s been delivered to the contractor’s premises for final cutting and drilling. I also have two voids to fill in and thus integrate the seating into the park more. I’m hoping to have a couple of large planters made with seating around them all made in 30 year old coconut wood. It would be great, as coconut wood cannot be planed into regular cross sections. It’s all quirky and twisted. I’m told its SRs. 25 per rejan ( a rejan is 18” – don’t ask me!) so that calculates to about 15p a foot. And its really hard – used a lot for carvings. Unfortunately, I don’t think what’s left of the budget will be sufficient.
On the framing front, I’ve visited three jewellery box makers in the Moslem quarter this week. It is impossible to describe the squalor these people live in and the further bereavements and hardship they have suffered due to the tsunami. All three were desperately keen to get involved in the framing but I just didn’t feel any of them were capable of building on it for their future prosperity. The PG06 exercise would be a one off which would supplement their income for a few weeks and then nothing else. I have visions of this fine equipment just rusting in a corner for the next ten years. Whether they were even capable of doing the PG06 exercise was debateable and accommodation for a workshop is also a problem when you’ve got about eight of them already living in two rooms. They tend to use little scruffy lean-to’s as their workshops and putting my equipment into one of them would look absolutely incongruous. I’m so desperately keen to ensure the equipment is put to good use.
I’m meeting the Salvation Army’s project manager next week so will see if he has any suggestions. Meantime I have another option to explore. Ravi Livanage at Surfcity, last time I was here confessed to having an interest in framing – upmarket framing that is as a commercial venture; so I visited him yesterday to chew my situation over. I explained that I had received financial and equipment donations and they had to be used for a good cause. Ravi then said that he knew a young man who had lost family in the tsunami, was currently drifting and in danger of going off the rails. Perhaps a framing business would give him a purpose and get him back on the straight and narrow. Not only that, Ravi also has an undeveloped room at Surfcity that could be used as a workshop. This is more like it thinks Colin. This is a genuine good cause; Ravi could look after him after I’m gone and with Ravi’s help he could develop the business and possibly create jobs.
So let’s see what next week brings.
Election day (local government) yesterday. The Fort is used for polling stations, ballot security and counting so it is off limits to everyone save residents. Security is extremely tight with dozens of armed police and militia; quite intimidating at first. Now however I’m recognised and don’t even have to show my pass, they just wave me through.
It’s a sort of unofficial holiday, yesterday and today, and a party atmosphere prevails. It all contrasts markedly with elections in Britain. Mind you if the punters lined up by the Fort walls don’t get the result they want, it can get really nasty.
Construction at the playground continues apace – tomorrow I’m off to inspect the wonderful timber that’s been delivered to the contractor’s premises for final cutting and drilling. I also have two voids to fill in and thus integrate the seating into the park more. I’m hoping to have a couple of large planters made with seating around them all made in 30 year old coconut wood. It would be great, as coconut wood cannot be planed into regular cross sections. It’s all quirky and twisted. I’m told its SRs. 25 per rejan ( a rejan is 18” – don’t ask me!) so that calculates to about 15p a foot. And its really hard – used a lot for carvings. Unfortunately, I don’t think what’s left of the budget will be sufficient.
On the framing front, I’ve visited three jewellery box makers in the Moslem quarter this week. It is impossible to describe the squalor these people live in and the further bereavements and hardship they have suffered due to the tsunami. All three were desperately keen to get involved in the framing but I just didn’t feel any of them were capable of building on it for their future prosperity. The PG06 exercise would be a one off which would supplement their income for a few weeks and then nothing else. I have visions of this fine equipment just rusting in a corner for the next ten years. Whether they were even capable of doing the PG06 exercise was debateable and accommodation for a workshop is also a problem when you’ve got about eight of them already living in two rooms. They tend to use little scruffy lean-to’s as their workshops and putting my equipment into one of them would look absolutely incongruous. I’m so desperately keen to ensure the equipment is put to good use.
I’m meeting the Salvation Army’s project manager next week so will see if he has any suggestions. Meantime I have another option to explore. Ravi Livanage at Surfcity, last time I was here confessed to having an interest in framing – upmarket framing that is as a commercial venture; so I visited him yesterday to chew my situation over. I explained that I had received financial and equipment donations and they had to be used for a good cause. Ravi then said that he knew a young man who had lost family in the tsunami, was currently drifting and in danger of going off the rails. Perhaps a framing business would give him a purpose and get him back on the straight and narrow. Not only that, Ravi also has an undeveloped room at Surfcity that could be used as a workshop. This is more like it thinks Colin. This is a genuine good cause; Ravi could look after him after I’m gone and with Ravi’s help he could develop the business and possibly create jobs.
So let’s see what next week brings.
posted by Colin HARMAN at 7:09 PM
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