Aaaagh, they're taking over!

We have had another sneak invasion at the Literacy Center. We were sitting listening to a lesson about David when one of the men in the group says, "Did you see the termite mound under that cabinet?" Well, those termites had filled in the entire space under the cabinet and moved inside as well. Their construction was so solid that two of us tugging on the cabinet could not break it loose from the wall or the floor. Yuck! We had to leave it until the next day because we couldn't get to it. I dug some dirt from underneath and left it so the housekeeper would see it when she came to clean in the morning.





Impressive, isn't it?


Our housekeeper, Suna, chopped and hacked at that termite mound with a machete to break it up. She had already removed part of the dirt from around the edges before I arrived and took this picture. She still couldn't get the cabinet away from the wall though, so the majority of the termite mould was left so that you could see the fun we have. (Suellen heard that we had another major termite invasion so she loaned me her camera because mine isn't working. She said I had to get pictures of this one.) I eventually managed to pry it loose by tipping it first one way and then the other.



The other employees arrived and joined the fun as we found that the inside of the cabinet was also invaded. We are having training sessions right now, so we have extra people around too. They were all watching or helping with the removal.





Suna told me that she took out 8 of the trash cans full of termite dirt. Then she said, "And that's not counting what I just carried outside with the dustpan!" The poor woman spends a lot of her time on termite patrol. I even made her go check the building once a week when we were closed in the summer. If I hadn't, the office might have been filled to the brim before we opened again. Those termites are industrious little buggers!
I can't wait until our new office is built. It at least will be cement with solid cement floors. Our current building is cement walls with a dirt floor that was lightly coated with cement. There are many holes in the floor so the termites don't even have to work very hard to get in. Maybe by this time next year we will have our new building. Until then...the fight goes on.