Far-flung frontier
This week, the focus was on Croydon as home to the world鈥檚 tallest modular building but a few years ago 黑洞社区 interviewed a resident of the south London borough who escaped to a remote destination.
Electrician Pete Dyer travelled to Mongolia to project manage the build of a 16-bed, straw bale clinic in the township of Tsenkhermandal for Raleigh International, with 42 young volunteers and five Mongolians. It was certainly a lifestyle change, kipping in sleeping bags on the bare floor of a local kindergarten, and washing in the local river. Dyer listed the cuisine highlights as: 鈥淔ermented mare鈥檚 milk, which is distilled to become more alcoholic. And we had what you might describe as kebabs in Cornish pasties.鈥�
The work proved challenging. 鈥淭he worst mistake was the 5.5m-long timbers needed for the rafters; the longest timber produced in Mongolia is only 4m.鈥� He resorted to nailing joining pieces to two lengths of timber, then jumping on them to test their strength. There was also a walk-out staged by the Mongolian members of the team.
However, these experiences didn鈥檛 put Dyer off 鈥� back home, he was already planning his next expedition, to Chile.
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