By Casey Callais 6/24/2016 — Four dump trucks of dirt. That is how much sticky black mud has been removed for the foundations of the columns so far. Big thanks to the Jesuit High School group from Portland Oregon and the neighbors in the El Jicarito community for helping to make the first week of construction fun and rewarding. By the time the Jesuit group comes back next year, we hope to have an active and lively school for them to see!

Click here to see photos from the Jesuit High School trip

We aren’t quite to the halfway point yet with the digging of the foundations. The columns need to be on solid ground so the bad clay comes out and the good dirt goes in. Then we pack it down, wet it and pack it again to squeeze out all the air. Fluffy earth does not a good foundation make. Once all the holes have been dug and filled back in with the good stuff and the entire foundation brought up to level, we will begin putting the columns in the ground. Still got a long way to go. Just to get an idea of which part of the school we are working on, take a look at the blue columns in the drawing above. That’s what we are digging the foundations for. See below for a video that summarizes this week’s work in less than a minute.

The rest of this week and part of next will be spent putting the finishing touches on our first project of the year, the school room in Papayal.

We will be posting regular updates about the project as construction continues. In the meantime we are offering an amazing deal for people who are interested in this project. Donate to help buy whiteboards, desks, computers, etc. and receive Knitknot’s architectural plans, Precision Structural Engineering’s structural design (compliant with the 2012 International Building Code), Seeds of Learning’s complete construction report AND a 2-hour phone call with the Seeds of Learning team. This is ideal for anyone who is interested in building their own super adobe project and the money goes to cover school supplies and resources.