The Mapalo Cinderblock Company has announced that it now is open for business and is ready to begin selling cinder-blocks. The buildings have been completed, the drying slab is in place, workers have been hired and the pneumatic block press has cranked out its first three thousand blocks. It took a bit longer than expected because a number of test runs need to be performed on machinery as well as a precise “recipe” agreed upon before blocks went into production. The recipe consists creating a number of test blocks and sending them to labs that measure the consistency and strength before agreeing on the right mix and psi (pounds per square inch) applied from the press. It is an exciting time for Mapalo as is begins a business that will provide income and greater levels of self-sufficiency for the orphanage.
