The First Phase of Work on the Bridge to Afiri

We funded the bridge to Afiri to bring in the heavy drilling equipment needed for fresh water wells.

As it is built, it has become so much more: a spark for imagination and creativity, and an invitation for new people to help make a village.

Children can use it to go to school; the villagers can use it as a reliable link to medical care; it opens the door to markets for new businesses to help Afiri grow.

Most of all, it says “Welcome home” for the families who live here.

The old bridge remained for foot traffic only. Water still flowed under it during construction.

Lowering rocks into the hole.

Large stones underneath reinforced concrete will give the bridge strength and stability.

The Steel rods to reinforce the concrete are cut and assembled by hand.

A second layer of steel grid is built on top of a wooden frame to reinforce the concrete.

Concrete for the bridge is mixed and poured by hand.

Wheelbarrows full of concrete create the floor of the bridge.
The man on the lower left is smoothing the concrete over the steel grid.

Workers break large rocks into a smoother foundation for the bridge’s reinforced concrete floor.

The grid of steel bars is lowered to form the foundation for the bridge.