Two women arrived last Saturday each carrying two large basins filled with 20 pounds of raw clay. They had carried it for 12 miles or so from across the valley. These women are third generation potters working with local materials. They brought some pre-processed clay as well and wasted no time making these bowls. Their process was very similar to Maria Martinez' work, part pinch pot part thick coil, a process known around the world. The pieces were made in a shallow dish called a puki. The puki facilitates spinning the ceramic piece in the dirt and building it in 360 degrees. Without it, it is a clumsy process.
The women use the simplest of tools, a thin knifelike piece of bamboo to scrape the outside of the pieces and a small disc of curved gourd to round out the inside. The finished pieces were placed in the sun to stiffen up until they returned in an hour to scrape and refine them. They returned on Wednesday and fired the pieces in a simple outdoor fire. The results were incredible.
These three women are in charge of preparing all the meals, doing laundry, hauling water and wood to cook the meals. Toomba Katoko on the right has been working with REVE Kandale since 2018. She is in charge of the kitchen and the caretaker for the forest. One of her jobs is to maintain a fire break during the dry season to keep the forest safe. Ade Mbatuva and Julie Ngombe help out Toomba when there are many guests.
Kisenda Munani or Sho Sho is the caretaker for the REVE Kandale compound. He begins work at 4:30 in the morning sweeping the grounds of all the leaves and mangos that have fallen in the course of a day. He began work with REVE Kandale in 2020. He has several goats that he manages and he spends his day as security guard and running errands. He is a go to guy.
Bea Kabisa has been working for REVE Kandale since 2021. Bea is the lead gardener and with four gardens to maintain, he is a busy person. Presently he has been creating a hen house to start raising chickens. Bea comes to REVE Kandale with a background in photography.
Doka Katoko started as a community volunteer planting trees. When the brick making machine was purchased he was trained as one of the operaters. Right now there is a big need to grind flour, but soon he will start making bricks again to anticipate the need for the next block of classes.
Leontine Lembesa has been working with REVE Kandale since May 2024. She was trained by James. She and her husband recently moved to Kandale where he is the director of the Kandale primary school. Leontine sings with the women’s choir every Sunday.
Stones, sand, rebar, bricks, gravel, wood boards, water and cement are in constant motion on this project. Many Communiqués ago I wrote, 'It takes a village', and nothing could be further from the truth. Many individuals have been reassigned to provide a steady flow of materials to maintain the pace. Church goers lended a helping hand after church. Children are constantly scrambling over the terrain to fill up pails with gravel, while in the shade of the mango trees others pound the big rocks into smaller pieces. The walls are almost complete and they have started pouring the support columns. Stay tuned for a final Communiqué reflection.
