Tumwater builder plies trade in South Sudan
4 min readNATE HULINGS | Staff writer • Published August 05, 2011
Growing up on his family’s farm near Tumwater, Chris Low helped his dad build barns and cabins on the property.
“I’ve always loved to build,” said Low, who recently graduated from Washington State University with a degree in construction management.
He’s leaving the farm next week for Africa to build a school for a village in South Sudan that holds class under a tree.
Along with his background in construction, Low is bringing a manual brick press he designed out of scrap metal that is easy to operate and has interchangeable molds. Low tinkered with a hydraulic model in his Pullman garage and continued the work in his parents’ barn this week.
The press he makes in South Sudan will be lever-based, making for an easier fix if it breaks down. Low said using the compressed earth block technique is a cheaper option. The method also doesn’t require mortar or a fire heating process, meaning villagers don’t have to burn wood.
“Here we might use a more powerful machine to accomplish a job … there, it’s better to have a less expensive machine where you use more people,” he said.
He plans to leave the press with the villagers so they can use it on other projects and sell bricks.
He’ll spend most of his time in Khartima, a remote village. Low visited the village during his first trip to Sudan three years ago. After helping to build a temporary school in Yei, a city about 200 miles away, he went to Khartima, hitchhiking for three days.
Two pastors who work in the village will help him build the school, which Low estimates will cost about $22,000. Since returning from Africa in 2009, Low formed a nonprofit organization, Yokefellows, to help pay for his projects.
This time around, he’ll spend the first two months installing solar panels in Yei at a center run by Iris Ministries Sudan. the group that recruited him to work in Africa. The panels will provide energy for computers and small rechargeable LED lights children can use while studying. Current methods for light include kerosene lamps and fire, which can get expensive and are not sustainable, Low said.
His last trip to Sudan introduced him to the region’s food, disease and violence.
Every day, Low would eat corn-based dishes with the consistency of hard mashed potato mixed with broth, meat and vegetables, eaten by hand. It kept his stomach full and kept him energized for the job at hand.
He had several health setbacks, contracting malaria four times during his nine-month stay.
Each time he had to spend three or four days in bed, going through chills and sweats that made it impossible to work.
But perhaps the most dangerous aspect of traveling to South Sudan is the seemingly constant conflict that keeps everyone on edge.
The region, which last month saw the formation of South Sudan, continues to see clashes between the north and south armies and militia groups, according to the U.S. Department of State. The U.S. has placed travel warnings for the region.
Low’s last trip to Sudan brought to life those warnings.
During his stay in Yei, a Ugandan rebel group came into the outskirts of the city and killed about 10 people, Low said. He was staying about one mile from where the rebels entered the city but said he didn’t hear any gunfire or commotion.
Low said they attacked one family on the road, killing a mother of three. The center where Low was staying took in the children.
“It’s tough to understand what the motivation is behind that,” he said. “They didn’t take anything; they just caused destruction.”
Low said he remains vigilant while in the country but said the work he is doing is a calculated risk to better a people in need of help.
“I think education is a huge part of eradicating things like that,” Low said while describing how what’s called the Lord’s Resistance Army uses child soldiers.
“Creating education and ways so people understand how to counter that … how to counter that ideology is important,” he said.
The violence in the region is a reality that Low’s family also deals with while he is away.
His mother, Deb, said she has put her trust in God to keep her son safe.
“I kind of heard, ‘Trust me’ from God,” she said.
Deb said she also remembers asking her son if he’d like others to travel with him.
“He said, ‘You know, mom, it’s a little too dangerous; I don’t think I’d feel good bringing someone else there,’” she said.
The risk of the trip is balanced with his faith in God and knowing he’s doing the right thing.
“It’s definitely what motivates me,” he said. “It’s the idea of expressing love towards people and showing it in a tangible way.”
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