When I was in Zimbabwe I spent a lot of my time helping my mom renovate her house. My brother, JJ, did most of the heavy lifting and we made good progress. I will share some of the projects on my Instagram.
Building materials are easy to find in Zimbabwe right now because a lot of people are building right now. Most areas that had open spaces are now built up in and around Harare. The only challenge I faced was dealing with sales people at hardware shops. Most of the sales people are men who hardly see women looking for tools and building materials, almost always they would tell me I should hire someone to do it for me. A lot of carpenters and painters wait in the shops looking for customers so when you walk in a shop they will come to you like they work in that shop. I found this very frustrating but I understand that they are trying to make a living.
To make this vase I used some left over cement that my mom had and I bought some sand. You can buy sand for $2 that will fit in a wheelbarrow. I mixed the sand and cement in the ratio 3:1 and then poured some water to the consistency that I liked. The cement bag will have the proportions that you should use and in other countries it will be mixed for you before buying.
I used a bucket for my mold and covered it in plastic If you do not mind breaking your bucket, then you will not need to cover with plastic.
Pour some of the concrete in the bottom, If you need a hole then you can put a small lid or paper in the middle.
Place a smaller bucket inside and pour concrete around it. Leave to dry for about three days.
When dry remove the outer bucket. This step will need two people so you do not break the vase.
Turn the vase over and remove the smaller bucket. Allow it dry completly.
I used the vase for my mom’s plant whose name I do not know. She found it on her father’s farm. It does not need a lot of water and does well in rocky soil that is why I added gravel to the soil.
