After a long wait, our wonderful collaboration project is finished!
Uncle Ti directs assembly.
It all started when Joyce Trapper and Heidi Feldman of The Didi Project gave us the funds to build some playground equipment. Then Bonnie Auntie’s brother, Ti Ellison, came for a visit. He designed a jungle gym and swing set and trained the boys in welding, grinding and the use of tools by allowing them to help in the construction. But first they had to build a workshop and work through several challenges…
Challenge #1 – the floor of the workshop wasn’t level and the monsoon rains pooled on the floor, so they had to stop and fix the floor in their work area. Challenge #2 – the power welder pulled too much voltage for the Solar Power, so they didn’t always have power to use in construction. Now the boys are building an inverter to solve that problem in the future – another lesson learned. Challenge #3 – all pieces of the jungle gym and swing set were reinforced for maximum strength, and the design required the boys to learn to make some very tricky angles.
All in all, the boys are very proud of theiraccomplishment and of course this fun new area has been in use by the neighbors and our children, even during the monsoon rains. Here are some comments from the boys about what they learned:
“We were so grateful that we got to learn skillful and practical lessons which were based on fabrication, preparation, designing and household electrics. Working 9-5 (8 hours) a day was reallychallenging for us, which we hadn’t experienced. We loved the way of Uncle Ti’s teachings which encouraged and motivated us to compete with the world outside.
Every question we had confusion about, we got a detailed and clear answer. We remember his saying “How many ways to skin a cat?” and the answer is “more than one” which means there is more than one way to solve the problem. We always accepted his yellings which made us much more concentrated towards our task. We were introduced with many advanced tools and their uses. Not only in the workshop but we were also involved in the household maintenance. We also got to know the importance of Team-work. That was really a great opportunity for students like us and we express our thankfulness towards him.” — Biratjan, Subash and Akshaya
“As I was interested in electrical engineering, I got a chance to work with Ti Uncle about this subject. I was taught how to balance the phases. It was quite easy. I learnedabout the neutral, live wire and earth wire which is necessary to know.” — Sanu Sajan
Everyone is enjoying their new play area!