The work at Kraljevica

This was the first year that we had to source materials locally in Croatia in lieu of the Convoy lorry that would have usually travelled out in April to bring materials. Matt and Bob went to Croatia a couple of days before the main group, and we were able to ensure the necessary materials had been ordered, and to make some necessary preparatory works on site. Having spent two days at Kraljevica preparing the site for this year’s work, we travelled to Trieste airport on the 17th June, to greet the team with whom we were going to work on Mission Croatia 2009.

This year we were finally given the go ahead to tackle the main entrance and stairwell of the hospital. For many years this area has kept its somewhat institutionalised and dated appearance, whilst other areas have been improved around it. The main objective here was to brighten this area up and to give a good first impression for clients, staff and visitors to the premises.

The first day’s work consisted of the team being divided into small work groups to undertake the different projects around the hospital. Once again the railings were in need of the usual stripping of rust and old paint, ready for repainting. A survey of the site this year revealed a new project that required urgent attention, and this was to the rear of the hospital at sea level. Years of harsh weather had taken its toll on the rock forming the sea wall, and had eroded a large hole of around 2 square metres, undermining a service footpath around the rear of the hospital. A small team were initially tasked with rebuilding and re pointing the sea wall – A surprisingly unpleasant job given that it was next to a sewage outlet for the hospital!

A team also got stuck into preparation works in the main stairwell. Walls were sanded and scraped and the usual ritual of digging out the loose plaster took place. The remainder of the team were taken hostage by Matt in the basement, where some damp penetration had blown large areas of plaster in a food store room. These areas needed hacking off before re plastering. Before this was to be carried out however, we had planned to treat the walls and floor with some Bitumen paint that we had sourced previously. This would hopefully prevent any further damp penetration taking place in the future, although this will be for assessment next year!

After a successful first day, much preparation work was done, even the railings team managed to source some electricity for their Ipods and sanding tools, once Kirsty realised the extension leads needed to be plugged into the mains, and not themselves...

Friday saw the departure of our friends to Stancic, and the start of a week’s commuting to Selce for the other team. This reduced the working group to around 3 students due to some working on the wards, and some others in a teaching group, thanks to Jan’s terrible maths. This worked well however, as the main stair remained a busy circulation route for staff and clients, and so numbers working in this area had to be limited for safety. Filler began to be mixed and applied to cracks in the wall, and Bob started the awkward and complex task of refixing some plasterboard wall lining to the upper wall of the staircase. This was not helped by the condition of the wall behind, and the fixings that were available. With Matt on emergency plastering ‘call out’ to Selce, Bob managed to get two timber battens attached to the wall during the whole morning. To say his patience was wearing as thin as Matts hair was an understatement.

The next few days consisted of sanding walls, filling, sanding, filling and then sanding some more. With the weather this year being the worst for a long time on MC, the team were able to work into the afternoons because of the much cooler temperature. Some amusement was provided by Matt, Bob and Sam, in typical MC fashion, at the Vicars expense. Subsequently, a confused Ivor appeared one morning with 1 leg of his trademark denim shorts 6 inches shorter that the other.

By the middle of the week, spirits were flagging due to the continued preparation works required. Although the white basecoat was being applied to the upper walls and ceilings, the usual problem with flaking paint occurred due to lime content in the masonry. Louise managed to tip a whole paint tray onto herself whilst passing it to a very amused Matt on a scaffold tower. With trestles set up on the stairs (and not trellises as Clare named them, much to the annoyance of Matt & Bob) more painting was carried out around and up the stairs, including the new plasterboard wall lining that Bob managed to complete with some dedicated help from Sam, who welcomed the challenge.

Meanwhile in the basement, Bitumen had been applied to the walls and ‘Team Basement’ received Matt’s Master Plaster Class in ten seconds. All candidates passed with flying colours, and were chuffed with their newly acquired skills, although most had managed to cover themselves in plaster as well as the walls!

Spirits were then lifted toward the end of the first week when a warm yellow colour was chosen for the lower part of the walls. Instantly the entrance area started to look modern and welcoming. Paul Ingle, our ‘Stormin Storeman’ abandoned his emporium to help cut in around door frames, and even Matt stopped making a mess , and took to the scaffold tower to paint the high level areas, much to the delight of Josie, Amanda & Stacey who had spent the previous few days doing a superb job of clearing up after him. Bob then set up ‘Window Surgery’ and with the help of Claire, restored three sets of timber windows from the basement area, and this included re puttying and painting.

Toward the end of the week the weather began to improve, and a small team were led by Matt around to the sea wall to finish rebuilding the stonework below. Emily and Chris gained further skills from the rebuilding of the stonework, and did a fantastic job.

With our friends from Stancic and Selce back, the path level was broken out, and the crevasse beneath was filled with broken paving slabs which had to be moved from the rear of the hospital, and then topped with sand and cement to finish. Graham then continued with the help of Dan, Phil, Chris and Kathy to repoint the stone wall as best as possible. Railings were also successfully finished for another year.

Once again a very successful year. Everyone did Mission Croatia’s reputation proud. Needless to say, the hospital would like the warm yellow continued next year to the upper floors and along the corridor.

Special mentions this year go to:

• Claire for managing to distinguish a Trellis from a Trestle on the last day of the trip
• Louise for her bodyart attempts by tipping emulsion over herself, but also her determination on the morning that all her paint fell off the ceiling
• Amanda for re-branding a crab, saying it looked like a spider frog – whatever that was
• Sam’s superb cutting skills, both on plasterboard, and on the Vicars Shorts
• Kirsty’s new found understanding of how extension leads are supposed to work
• Jan’s apparent inability to get the numbers right for dinner, much to the frustration of the kitchen staff!
• Ivor’s great spirit, despite having to wander around DIY stores with odd length shorts
• Chris, for managing to get ready to go out in twenty minutes, instead of the usual hour it normally took him
• Team Basement – (Emily , Chris, Amy, & Stace) For the harsh lonely conditions they endured working in the food store room
• For everyone who believed Matt and Bob that there was a bird trapped in the roof, when all along Matt and Bob knew it was just a squeaky piece of loose metal

Bob & Matt