Crix!!

by Craig

In September 2023, we bought a machine to make our own bricks for construction projects at the hospital. This machine makes bricks by compressing soil mixed with cement, and the combination of compression and cement makes them resistant to damage from weather. These blocks have a special shape which allows them to interlock with all their neighbors above, below, and side to side. This means when building a wall, we don’t need to use any mortar to bind the bricks to each other like we do with the traditional bricks. These bricks go by different names, Interlocking Stabilized Soil Blocks (ISSBs), Compressed Earth Blocks (CEBs), but we have just been calling them Crix (a stylized portmanteau for "Craig’s Bricks"). It's an honor (but not my idea) to have my name integrated,  but it’s not because I deserve any credit for them, I am just the person who is most excited about them.

Our press, when it was still shiny and new, and some of the first Crix it produced

side by side comparison

stock of traditional bricks (top) and Crix (bottom)

There are a few good reasons why I am so excited about Crix, and why you should be too! They save on time, labor, fuel, firewood, sand, and cement; and all of those things lead to saving money. They also look really smart…in my opinion.

These Crix walls look nice, right?!
I know, I know, it looks like the Crix on the right have been mortared in place. But truly, they have been dry-stacked, and we just filled in the chamfer with a tiny bit of mortar to make it look a little nicer.

Traditional, local made bricks in Burundi have served us well for many years, but there are some inherent characteristics that can be improved upon. Those bricks are stabilized by heating them with a large fire, which consumes a lot of firewood – a precious commodity in Burundi. They also are far from uniform in shape, which requires a lot of mortar to make up for the inconsistencies. I measured a typical section of wall and estimated that only 52% of the wall was made of bricks, the other 48% was mortar! Another challenge is that these bricks are made in various locations around Kibuye and need to be transported here. This increases the cost, and is dependent on the availability of diesel, which can not be taken for granted here. Whereas, Crix don't require any firewood, they are uniform, use almost no mortar, and are made right here on site.

But, just because Crix offer an improvement on all of those challenges that are baked into the local bricks, doesn’t mean they are a slam dunk solution. Bringing in a new technology like this can really upset the order that we have worked for a long time to establish. Even though it seems much easier and faster to build with Crix, it is completely different from what the masons are used to doing, so it takes a lot of adjustment for them to get comfortable and fast at laying the Crix. We also didn’t really know if the community or the hospital administration would like Crix, they have a different value system than an American engineer. And, we needed to invest quite a bit of time and money into buying the equipment and learning how to use it well, before we could start to save any time or money in the construction process. Regardless, there will still be some applications where traditional bricks are more appropriate...but now we have options.

So, after buying the machine, we started slow and small in our brick production. We played around with our soil mixture and moisture content, the force required for compression, and the rhythm of many people working together to use the machine safely. We only produced 20-50 bricks per day in those first days. But steadily we improved our production to grow to roughly 200 per day! We also started using the Crix for small, low-risk structures to see how they would perform, how the masons would use them, and how others would like the look of them.

Two days worth of production in the early days

Our very first structure being built... a chicken coop

A privacy wall (left) and some small cookhouses (top and right)

We learned a lot along the way, and eventually found success in our small production and construction. And, everyone involved seemed to like the Crix! So, we started to ramp up the production in order to do bigger projects. 

First, we agreed to pay our workers per brick produced instead of per day of work, which took our daily production from 200 to over 400. But, it became hard to sift our soil fast enough to keep up with the brickmakers, so we built a rotary sifter to speed up that part of the process. We also realized that it was difficult and slow for the masons to cut the Crix, when laying them. So to help with this, we built a slicer to add on to our brick press, which slices the bricks before they have hardened, as they are being ejected from the press. 

Compressing a Crix

Approximately 400 Crix made in one day

Top: Dirt being shoveled into the rotary sifter
Bottom: Turning the crank on the end where the rocks are removed 

Nicely sifted dirt piling up

Brick slicer in action

After making these improvements we were able to build some larger projects with great success, including a 150-meter perimeter wall around hospital staff housing, and a new kitchen/dining area for the hospital.

150-meter wall made of roughly 9,000 Crix

New hospital kitchen and patient dining area under construction

This technology has proven itself to make a positive impact in the construction practices at Kibuye. But, if we zoom out and look at all of Burundi, then it is just a drop in the bucket. That’s why we recently took the opportunity to help facilitate a workshop in Bujumbura focused on this technology. I took seven of our workers who have been involved in making Crix to teach others what we have been learning over the past 8 months. It was awesome to see our guys – many of whom have not finished high school – teaching a group of architects, engineers, and professors about how to make and use Crix!! 

Our workers (in yellow shirts) attending the workshop

they were featured in the presentation

participants sifting soil

answering participants questions

everyone was excited by the first brick

All the participants and facilitators of the workshop

2020 in Kibuye: A journey towards flourishing?

(by Matt)

If you have ever been to Kibuye and attended family worship on Saturday evening, you have probably said the following words as part of the liturgy: “Thank you (Lord) for leading our steps even when we do not understand.” Lately, every time I read and speak these words they resonate with me a lot. I guess it is because there is a lot I do not understand about life in Burundi, the world, 2020 and its series of crises.

The year 2020 has been a very challenging year. It has showcased the vulnerability of mankind, our exposure to risks and the possibility to lose the things that give us a sense of security and safety such as democracy, economic stability, health, freedom, and fellowship with others…

While the impact of these challenges has been gentle in Burundi this year, I am still struggling with the sense of vulnerability that this uncertainty has revealed. I would like to shield myself against the possibility of losing anything I possess.

My work in Kibuye as the construction manager generally puts me in a position of authority. By default I am called to take actions and to make decisions that are executed immediately by those who are under my authority. My natural tendency in this position is to suppress any kind of vulnerability. But as Andy Crouch puts it in his book Strong and Weak, whenever authority and vulnerability are not held together, the result is withdrawal (no authority and no vulnerability), exploitation (authority without vulnerability) and suffering (vulnerability without authority).

I do not understand everything about 2020, but in my role as construction manager I have been learning that it is good to embrace both authority and vulnerability, because that is the way to flourishing. Here are some examples of how this principle has played out in my work:

1. When the temptation is to withdraw, remember you are part of the body. I have been learning that I am not a mercenary or expert sent to save/help Kibuye but rather part of the body of Christ sent to be with my brothers and sisters in Burundi so that together we can serve and take care of the part of the body that is hurting or needs my gifts. Being then doing. Being for me has come with personal and emotional involvement; I have been trying to be more deeply embedded in relationship and mutual dependence with the construction crew which makes me vulnerable in a way. For this reason the team has welcomed me as one of them but also as their leader. They started trusting me more than they did before.
   When we were finishing the kindergarten building, the director of the school approached me and told me that the school had decided to paint all exterior beams and columns of the kindergarten in a cream color. He did not expect any pushback from me but compliance. It was a simple request from the director who runs the school, a request that had no structural implication I needed to be worried about. It would have been easy to just paint the building and move on. But that would have been withdrawal. As a member of the community I was aware of the challenges we had with maintenance because of the lack of training, human resources and funds. It was my responsibility as an architect and a member of the community with authority to deliver a building that will serve the school and the community for years to come. I told the director that we were not going to paint exterior beams and columns because it would require regular maintenance, which the school could not afford. Instead I had designed it to be aesthetically pleasing and low maintenance. He was very disappointed in me but I thought it was worth pushing for. Now after two months of rain and mud the building still looks clean
   
   
   

   

   Kindergarten building

   
   

   

   View from the access road

   
   
2. When the temptation is to act without vulnerability (exploit), find ways to stay in relationships. Dependence on my team exposes me to the risk of failure and disappointment but it also empowers my team with the authority to take actions that could affect me directly. At times the authority given is misused, but most of the time it is used in a meaningful way. If my team or the project fails, I fail; if they succeed, their success is also mine. I do not always like this kind of vulnerability but God has been teaching me to embrace it.
   A few weeks ago, I had to get 4 self-contained rooms at the Octaplex ready for 4 new doctors to move in. I relied on and trusted a local contractor to make all the furniture for the rooms but in the end, they let me down because they couldn’t meet our deadline. I felt vulnerable and suffered because of their actions. If I had not trusted them in the first place maybe I would not have felt disappointed and hurt, but I would have reinforced a negative bias about Burundian culture and contractors. Maybe I trusted them because I started to learn the meaning of being, accepting the other who is different as my brother or sister; or maybe I was learning that change, transformation and healing come when we are together in a relationship. We trust and get hurt but we also use the authority we do have (authority is our “capacity for meaningful action” according to Crouch) to try again; and we hope that the power of love that comes from being together will change the other and us. Although I ended up doing the work with my team to meet the deadline, we kept the relationship with the local contractor and contracted him for other work hoping that they will be more reliable in the future.
   
   
   

   

   The Octaplex

   
   
3. When the temptation is to suffer out of fear of shame, take action together. I am learning that to be culturally appropriate does not mean to withdraw from taking meaningful action in order to avoid the possibility of loss or hurt. Instead, I think it means to communicate clearly in a respectful manner about the action that needs to be taken, while acknowledging that something valuable might be lost in the process.
   Last year, concrete test results for the paediatric building ramp were very bad. As a consequence, part of the ramp had to be demolished and recast. This was a very sensitive matter for leaders and members of the construction team. In this context, to demolish part of the ramp meant to accuse someone publicly of being incompetent at his or her work, a shameful rebuke in a shame-honour culture. I remember being asked several times if there was another course of action that would not require any demolition, but there was none. We had to demolish the ramp but we also were exposed to the possibility of hurt and a broken relationship with some leaders and members of the construction team. We decided to wait and demolish at a later date when everyone had come to peace with the decision. It was clear that no one wanted the ramp to endanger people’s lives by not taking care of the issue. Instead of using culture as an obstacle to good decision making and an excuse for inaction, we took action together and overcame shame and potential suffering.
   
   

   

   Paediatric Ward with the whole team
   

   
   

   

   View of the ramp

Now that I am at the end of my time in Kibuye as construction manager I can say thank you Lord for leading my steps to places of vulnerability where your spirit empowers me to take action in community and flourish.

I hope that in my journey I will gain more understanding of these words “I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for (the body of) Christ. For when I am vulnerable, then I am strong,” 2 Corinthians 12:10

A Day In My World, Construction Management In Kibuye

(by Matt)

Quinzaine: Engineer, we need you at the 8-plex.
Me: Sure, I will be there in 15 minutes.

It's 8:00AM, and I'm still at home trying to finish a contract agreement for a project in Congo. EMI Uganda needs this contract in order to review it and send it to the client representative, who in turn will send it to the president of their organisation and to the contractor.

Twenty-five minutes have already passed since I told Quinzaine I would meet him at the 8-plex site. I don’t like to keep our foreman waiting.

While I am meeting with Quinzaine, Sadiki needs me to meet with a clay pots supplier. We need clay pots for a vertical garden at the 8-plex. But the supplier is waiting for me at the kindergarten construction site for some reason.

I meet with the clay pots supplier and we reach a deal: we are getting 130 clay pots in two weeks. That’s a lot of pots.

Pamphile: Engineer, I need screws to attach the toilet seats at the ophthalmology bathroom under construction.
Me: Give me 10 minutes, and I will be there.

On my way to Pamphile, I meet Chadrack who is working on terrazzo trial. He wants to know if he can grout the surface. I need to see it first before I can give my approval.

But first I need to stop by the doctors’ offices that we are renovating. The electrician is busy installing lights, light switches and sockets. He also happens to be the one on the crew who installs louver window frames. He asks me for the supplies to complete this task for the newly painted window frames.

Me: I’ll get those to you, please remind me later today.
I know that I also need to demonstrate how I want the materials to be used.

Finally I meet with Pamphile and attend to his queries. I do a quick tour of the work in and around the bathroom. Junction boxes are almost done, covers are being made and Pamphile has installed the hand washbasin already.

My next stop is the workshop. Chadrack is there, waiting for instructions about grouting the terrazzo floor trial he has been grinding.

The floor looks good. It appears as if our trial is a success. There are a few holes here and there and that is why we need to grout the entire surface with our own homemade grout. We will regrind and polish the floor next week on Monday.

I haven’t been to B20 yet. There is a small team of workers painting the 2nd floor ceiling and a group of masons repointing the ramp parapet wall. I stop by to check in how they are doing, and it all looks great.

Desiré: We need you at the 8-plex.
Me: I am on my way there.

Desiré is installing roof trusses at the 8-plex, and he almost done. He is now working on front porch trusses.
Desiré: How do we attach the gutters? We will end up with so many downspouts.
Me: What do you suggest?
He is a creative welder, and his idea seems innovative.
Me: Give it a try.

As I inspect the ground floor of the 8-plex, there is a group of workers staring at a tree. I realize they are preparing to cut down pine trees that are too close to the structure. They also have suggestions on the direction to make the trees fall. I call for Quinzaine to get his opinion and he seems to agree with the crew.

Me: Alright, let's do it.

John: Hey Matt, I’m at the clinic already.
Me: Cool, I’ll be there in a minute.

I sent a few guys to help John install cabinets in the eye clinic OR we renovated a few days ago. They had a questionable approach that would use nails to hang 4 very heavy cabinets. John is having a hard time communicating with them, but he is not convinced of their idea.
Me: I’ve got a few anchor bolts. They should work.
John: Sweet. Do you need my help?
Me: No, we’ve got this.

Well the cabinets are heavy, and we need help to lift them up in order to attach them to the walls. It ends up taking a long time to complete the task.

My Jess: Hey love, our sink is not working.

Calling Pamphile:
Me: Hey, stop by my place, and fix my kitchen sink.
Pamphile: Yes sir, I’m heading there right now.

It’s 2:30pm, and we have just finished hanging the cabinets.

As I head down to the 8-plex to respond to another call from Desiré, I notice that one of the trees has slightly damaged the roof eaves on its way down. It is not a big deal, but we will need to replace that section. I get concerned because we still have 6 to 7 more trees to cut down, and some of them are leaning heavily toward the compound wall.

I watch in amazement as some of these crooked trees are taken down with just a machete and a rope, but nothing is damaged. Genius!

It’s now 4pm, and I haven’t eaten lunch yet. Maybe I can stop by my place and have something.

I try to go for my last round, but I don’t have time to visit all the project sites. The 8-plex and the kindergarten sites consume most of my time.

It is 5:30pm, the end of our workday. I did not yet respond to emails or send our material orders to suppliers. But I need to refresh my mind, so I go for a bike ride and then return back home to my computer.

I’ve reached the end of this workday.

Of wooden planks and boiled eggs

(By Jess Lembelembe)

Along with the rest of the team, I have enjoyed seeing incremental progress on the several building projects going on these days in Kibuye - the pediatric ward, the octoplex residence, maternity ward renovation. Since I happen to know the construction manager, I like asking for special guided tours when the crew has already gone home, so I can ask all my curiosity questions:

"How long does the concrete stay in the wooden forms before you remove the wood?"

"What will this room be used for when it is finished?"

 "Where will the stairs be?"

"Are you sure this platform is strong enough to hold me?"

One of the most amazing things to my untrained eye is to see how rough unfinished planks of wood, crooked pieces of timber and simple string are useful for producing perfectly flat and level concrete beams and columns. I comment on it almost every time I'm on site. Hopefully the photos below give you a sense of what I'm talking about.

When a pole is too short, the solution is simple: wedge a few piece of wood underneath.

And when the pole reach the top, they are attached to the bigger frame with random bits of wood, too.

But standing back, the point becomes clear... All those unfinished poles line up to support a flat concrete slab.

It isn't only wooden poles that will hold up the slab, because these wooden forms were already used to pour concrete columns.

I started to wonder why these building techniques fascinated me so much, and I realized these very imperfect bits of wood held a lesson for me.

I am a perfectionist, and I find it impossible to leave a task until it is completed to meet my (high-ish) standard of excellence. When I am unsure of my ability to complete a big, important task, I wish there was someone more qualified available to do it as it "should" be done. At times it is hard to believe that God not only can, but actually prefers, to use me in my weakness to be a part of his beautiful kingdom. My pride would prefer that I be called upon only in my moments of (perceived) strength.

In a team of committed and competent people, I know I am not the only one who finds it uncomfortable to live out of my weakness rather than strength. Whether it is the person preparing a sermon in a second language or a doctor who realizes their skills and strength alone are not capable of meeting the medical needs of all those who fill the hospital beds, I doubt many of us make it through a week without feeling about as impressive as a splintered bit of wood at least once.

A week ago I was walking around on top of the wooden frame that all those concrete columns and skinny wooden poles are holding up. Looking down from above, I saw just how many pieces are needed to build the platform, all of varying lengths and widths. But they are angled and attached with precision, and leveled out using string to ensure that they will eventually produce a straight beam and flat upper floor.

 When this complex arrangement is finally covered over with boards, the purpose becomes more clear. This structure is going to support a strong concrete slab in just a couple of days.

After all, the slab on the ground floor started with wooden forms, too, and the photo below shows just how pristine the result was.

God's Word reminds us that we are actually a body made up of many parts, and he makes us all fit together to cooperate and serve one another with the gifts he has placed in each of us. There is no need to look down on the parts that are less impressive, since they still are valuable in performing their particular role.

I recently volunteered to serve as one of those "modest" parts in the complex body that is the feeding program for malnourished children and their mothers. My job: boil 250 eggs to be distributed each Friday morning to the mothers. When I was in the middle of the actual boiling task, one question rose to the surface: This is a mundane job; should or could someone else do this? I'm happy to help, but if the rest of the food (specifically Busoma, a porridge mix made from several nutritious grains) that is given to these mothers is produced at the Busoma factory, shouldn't the staff there just take care of preparing the eggs, too?

The next day, when Matt and I carried all the eggs up to the Busoma staff in time for distribution, I caught a glimpse of the bigger operation that is actually going on. Staff at the factory were sifting grain to make more porridge mix, staff at the gate were ready to distribute it to the mothers enrolled in the program, who were already lined up outside. Others are responsible for procuring all the grain and even the eggs that I had boiled. Come to think of it, I hadn't even been the one to boil all these eggs. Acheri, the kitchen helper who works at our house, did most of the boiling. And there aren't electric hotplates or stoves just sitting around the hospital or in any of the surrounding homes. Entrusting Acheri with this small, but important work, and making my kitchen available, is actually contributing to the bigger ministry of offering hope and health to many families struggling with malnutrition.

Sometimes we can only see our crooked edges and rough surfaces and wonder what they are good for. Thankfully God has a bigger perspective, and He is actively working out a masterpiece we can only partially comprehend. When we do get a glimpse, the views are never short of beautiful.

Many of you reading these posts also play a significant supporting role in the mission of Kibuye Hope Hospital from a distance, and we are grateful for you. It is a privilege to be a part of this greater Body, working together for transformation in Burundi.

A View from the Construction Sites

Hello! My name is Jessica Lembelembe. My husband, Mathieu (Matt) and I are here in Kibuye for a 6 month season supporting construction at the hospital...and on a few other building sites nearby! We are happy to be here and share a bit about what's going on in our corner of Kibuye.

First a little more about us: Matt is an architect with Engineering Ministries International (EMI). Because we are based in East Africa, he had the chance to visit Kibuye on several short term project trips, when a team of engineers and architects have come to develop and flesh out the hospital masterplan. Since we met in 2016, Matt's been telling me about the project, and when we got married last year, he promised to bring me along to see this special community. We were happy when the position for a temporary construction manager in Kibuye opened up at a time when we were also available for a new assignment. So here we are!

Taking a tour through the blog archives, I found several posts that tell the story of how the hospital has expanded and already fulfilled parts of the 20 year growth plan. One of the earliest steps in the process was the development of a physical masterplan with the help of a team from EMI in 2013 (see post here). If you look at the Vision tab on the blog you'll see the picture below, showing how the hospital looked when the Serge team first arrived. It had about 100 beds and many medical students - but not many doctors.

Fast forward to 2019, and this is the view we saw when we arrived:

All of those new blue and red roofs represent growth in this community. And recently, the team celebrated the fact that there are now over 20 Burundian doctors serving alongside international doctors. God has been moving in this place!

From our vantage point, getting to dive into this movement of God midstream, it is so encouraging to look back and to look ahead with hope. Often, the daily work of building up institutions, and hospital wards, is slow and tedious. Transformation is hard to put your finger on. So we hope that this little tour of construction sites around Kibuye gives you a taste of the new life that is unfolding here.

Looking back, I found a post about the impact that new ORs have made on the hospital - allowing the staff to multiply the number of surgeries offered each month. Medical staff and patients are also benefitting from the new surgery patient ward (photo below), which Matt helped design on a previous project trip to Kibuye. Seeing it completed now is gratifying for the whole Kibuye team, and the EMI team, too!

Just next to the surgery patient ward is the future paediatric ward - which will soon be the biggest structure on campus.

The roof trusses are already installed, and soon, there will be more blue roofing sheets covering this three story building. We hope it will be open to serve kids by June next year. This will add 130 more beds to the hospital's capacity, bumping the total to 359! Why do we need so many beds? At the height of malaria season this year, there were 130 kids admitted to receive treatment by Alyssa and her team, but many were sharing beds with other patients, because the current ward is too small.

The muddy site above might not look like much now, but in a matter of months, it will be home to more doctors and their families who come to live and work in Kibuye. Part of the long term vision for the hospital, of course, is to ensure that Burundian medical staff, including specialists, are equipped to lead here. See the digital render of the future 8-unit residential building below.

Another fun ongoing project is the construction of a basketball court (below) in the nearby town of Bukirasazi. Clearly, Kibuye hospital provides essential services that are appreciated by families in the region, but recreation space for youth is also important to the community. So the Kibuye team is sponsoring this project to build stronger ties with our neighbors.

It's not only physical transformation of this village that encourages us. We can see God moving in the lives of the construction crew, too. Meet Quinzaine (red hat next to Matt below), the foreman of all the construction workers. He has served here faithfully for years, and is an expert brick layer. He is also a respected leader, and he coordinated the crew under him to contribute part of their salaries to purchase a drum set for our local church worship team. He traveled to Bujumbura himself to pick it up, and the gift was received by the congregation with much jubilation when it was unveiled for the first time on a Sunday morning.

I am encouraged to see such clear evidence of God's creativity and generosity in the crew of masons, welders and plumbers who work long hours to build this place, brick by brick. Their ownership of the hospital and the church assures me that the good work going on today will continue for generations to come.

Matt and I taking in the view of Kibuye from above.