The uphill boundary of this little farm was once used as a dump for the orphanage. The site is, I estimate, 80 feet above the grade of the adjoining street. I took 113 steps climbing to it. The trench for the retaining wall was excavated with shovels, and machetes to cut the roots of trees along the boundary. Mixed in the dirt piles are old shoes, toothbrushes, baby food jars, even a worn-out teddy bear.
We hadn't anticipated the scale of the project. Steel reinforcing bar frames for 23 pilasters are in place at two meter intervals, for a 44 meter wall with 10 or 11 courses of block, two concrete layers and a concrete cap. The block, sand, gravel and cement is all carried up the hill. Once concrete or mortar is mixed, it has to be carried by hand to where it's needed.
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