In fact, John began the
painstaking task of hammering the walls down back in December. He has since
dedicated more than 125 hours of hard labour to this personal challenge to
clear the way for our bigger, safer and more modern teaching space. I caught up
with John to find out what it’s like to take on such a daunting task.
What inspired you to take on this demolition project?
“I got the idea speaking with
HOOP’s Program Director, Ali. She mentioned that HOOP needed to get the school
demolished to make way for construction on the new community centre, and they
would need to find $2,500USD in their budget to get the job done. I couldn’t
donate that kind of money, but I thought I'd be able to help if I demolished
the school myself.”
How difficult were you expecting it to be?
“There were many unknowns going
into this project. I told Ali the only thing I can promise is I'll work hard.
My biggest worry was that the walls would be reinforced with steel bars, which
would have made it almost impossible to knock down with just a sledgehammer. It
would have meant more tools and a lot more effort. So I was very relieved the
first day when I hit the concrete wall with the hammer to find it wasn’t
reinforced, other than a few supporting columns in the corners.”
How much longer until you will be done?
“I hope to have it done in about
20 more hours, but it's difficult to predict because there have been some
unfortunate surprises.”
Were there any times when you just wanted to give up?
“No, I never wanted to give up,
but there have definitely been some frustrating times. I have a 5ft long metal
bar, which I use like a lever to force up concrete from the floor. It works
like this: I force the bar underneath the concrete and step on the bar to try
to raise the concrete a little, because when the concrete is raised even
slightly off the ground, it breaks much easier. Then, while still stepping on
the bar, I swing at the concrete with a 20lb sledgehammer. This usually works
pretty well, but when I had just one more area of floor to finish things got
really tough. The concrete was so thick that when I stepped on the bar, instead
of lifting the concrete, the bar began bending. The concrete wasn’t being
raised at all so when I struck it with the hammer, all of the energy just got
absorbed into the ground below. So it took me three days to finish just that
one patch of floor.”
Is there any music that helps motivate you?
“I've been listening to a lot of
Blue Mountain and Uncle Tupelo. Both bands mix country and folk elements with
rock and punk. For more aggressive music, say for a day I'm breaking up a
floor, I'll listen to Cows.”Were there any memorable moments?
“If I knock down a wall and break
up part of a floor, I could measure my day's work in square feet or square
meters. To me, this feels more rewarding than mental labor, which I can measure
by how many emails I send or how many pages of a report I write up. Mental
labor can be rewarding and very tiring in its own way. Any day where I've done
more than I expected feels good, and I have high expectations of myself. If I'm
not exhausted and in bed by 7pm, I know I could have done more that day.”
What do the people of Flora Tristan make of all your hard work?
“They’re keen to see how I’m getting
on. One of my main visitors is a HOOP student who would always be on my team
when we would play basketball after English class. She'd constantly ask to be
lifted up to dunk, which is actually quite tiring. One day I saw her and her
family and waved to her from the bus. About an hour later, they were at the
school wanting to see what's been going on.”
“There's also a black and white
dog owned by one of the students' families that follows me from the bus to the
school. If I let him into the school, he usually just eats some grass and falls
asleep despite all the noise.”
Have you become fitter and stronger?
“Of course! I've noticed my
stamina is better and I've adjusted to working at the high altitude.”
What do you prefer, teaching children English, or demolishing buildings?
“I like both! Maybe I could teach
kids how to demolish buildings in English!”
Not only has John saved HOOP more
than $2,500, he has also raised more than $700 through sponsorship making a
total of more than $3,200!
If like us, you’re in awe of
John’s strength, work ethic and generosity, you can sponsor him by donating on PayPal here (even if you don't have a PayPal account). Send your donation to volunteer@hoopperu.org
and quote ‘Man vs School’ in the notes box.