A lick of paint...

Wednesday began the 6 day long redecorating expedition and (unfortunately) the indefinite water shortage in St Matthews. We began by visiting the hostels to assess what we could manage before the strike came to an end. We were overwhelmed by the work that needed to be done, and quickly realised that to do a decent job we’d have to concentrate our efforts on a fairly small area. With the help of Emily and Jarvis we chose the halls and bathrooms in the senior hostel (for grades 11 and 12), basing our decision on the facts that it was fairest to improve communal areas, and that all years would eventually benefit (also we couldn’t find keys to the junior hostel, as Eric the man in charge of catering who had the keys had disappeared). Tim, Tom and I then travelled to King in convoy with Emily and Jarvis to buy materials (generously funded by the Calibar Foundation) in a shop called ‘Builders Depot’ (think B&Q, South Africa style). We collectively decided that a calming light blue would be the best colour to go for, as the walls were currently a dull grey, and so the blue would brighten it up without having to change the colour too much. We purchased the first of many pots, along with paint for the ceilings, many brushes and rollers, and much to Tom’s excitement, an electric sander!

Before heading back to Keiskam we stopped in at Avis (cleverly parking round the corner so the King branch didn’t spot ‘the beast’ we were now driving), to discuss apparent scratches they had found on the Corolla we had left back the previous Saturday. After promising Tom from the outset that I ‘wouldn’t sign anything’, Tom engaged in a half hour of heated debate with ‘Bernie’, which ended in me signing a statement saying that we were ‘in no way responsible’ for the scratches on the car, and ‘knew of no incident that could have caused them, other than reasonable wear and tear’. Fingers crossed we don’t have to pay.

Redecoration began in earnest on the Thursday morning by sanding down the walls, which took almost the entire day. Tom commented, (not for the last time), that due to the height of the ceilings ladder availability was going to be ‘the limiting factor’, so on Friday morning Tom and I headed back to King to buy another one. Friday was mostly consumed by ‘edging’, which involved painting round the many doors, skirting boards, and corners; pretty dull work but definitely worth it in the end.

Venetia had been feeling unwell since our return from Durham, and unfortunately had been unable to join in with painting. Keen for another worker, we arranged for her to see a friend of Eman’s who ran a private surgery in King. He gave her a quick examination on Friday evening, and recommended we visit him in his surgery the next day. Venetia and I therefore took another trip to King the next morning, and got some antibiotics, throat lozengers, and some vitamin C tablets. We also replenished our supply of white paint for the ceiling, and got some more rollers.
By Friday evening, having not showered since the Tuesday morning, I was beginning to feel (and smell) the effects of the water shortage. Venetia and I decided to decamp the next evening to ‘Lavender Leisure’, a guest house/restaurant where we had previously gone for lunch. I have to say that it was hands down the best shower I’ve ever had, and Venetia and I both enjoyed a relaxing evening away from St Matthews and the boys. Tim, Tom, and Hadrian meanwhile had a very cliché ‘steak night’, and watched a boy film with lots of fast cars and explosions. Refreshed the next day, and now with the help of Venetia, we began rolling the walls. It finally felt like all our hard work was paying off, and the project really started to come together.

Monday saw the projects first real disaster, as I stupidly bought 20l of the wrong colour paint, mistaking a B for a D in the mixing code. Fortunately Tom sped back to King and bought the correct colour, and so we weren’t too badly delayed. I spent an afternoon reminiscent of Candlemas, on my hands and knees with a kettle and a scrubbing pad trying to remove paint flecks from the hostel floor. The others got on with the finishing touches, and as the sunny weather broke, and the rain poured down we were finally finished! After a lot of hard work the end result was very satisfying. On Tuesday morning we hung a few framed photo collages, made up of photographs Tom had taken, and with the strike now finally at an end (well postponed at least) we eagerly awaited the learners reactions.

(Posted by Tom on behalf of Rachel Acheson)