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Saturday, August 23, 2014

WHAT ARE WE DOING AT THE ORPHANAGE?


The original goal was to help block the water from coming into the orphanage. 

Then I decided that there was something else that shouldn’t cost much, but would help with the interior of the rooms.  I had noticed that there was not any place to put things.  There were no shelves, no cupboards and no drawers.  The kids keep all their papers and scriptures on this broken chair.
 
 
There is one bed that they use to put everything on in the bedrooms.   In the outside cooking and eating area there is a rickety table and some interesting old rickety “shelves”. 
 
 
Originally, over two months ago, before the large project was conceived...  I asked Ed if we could please put in some shelves and hooks, in the kitchen and bedrooms, so they could have some place to put their things.  He said he could do that.  However, he said he wasn’t going to put new shelves on gross walls, so we would have to paint first.  Well, we didn’t want to use the cheap regular paint they have here, because all the previous “mildew” and dirt marks would bleed through.  Ed found a really good oil base undercoat that blocks everything from coming through… and then a good oil base top coat.  We started with painting the area we call the "kitchen".  (They cook outside, but they store food in this room and use it to eat in when it rains.) 
 
 
 
The plumbing situation is a disaster.  This is the existing toilet and bathing area. 



The stall on the left is where they “bathe” with a bucket of water.  The one on the right is the “hole in the ground” toilet.  The orphanage is lucky in that they have water that comes directly to a back corner of their property.  Most people have to walk a distance to get their water and carry it in.  Because it is handy, many neighbors help themselves to her water.  She has no way to stop them.  A few weeks ago, someone broke the tap off.  There is now no way to get water.  Ed said "The tap must be fixed… and while we are at it, let’s build a new toilet and shower (with water) and take the running water to the kitchen prep area."  (What a concept). 

There has been no electricity for years.  Philomen said that a neighbor stole the cable.  Ed said that they should have some electricity for security…. Even just one light bulb in each room and a couple on the outside.  This has ended up being a big electrical project.

There was a huge hole in the center of the front yard.  

It was a place for the water to drain when it rained.  It would fill up quickly and then the rest of the yard and the house would fill up with water.  We were afraid a child would fall in it and drown.  If we were able to build the new water barrier wall, we could get rid of the hole.  Let’s see… what can we fill it with?  Ed decided if we were to tear up all the gross crumbling concrete floors and the narrow strip of concrete in front of the house,


we could smash up the concrete and put it in the hole, and make drains in it and then cover it so it could be part of the play area for the children.  It really is a good solution.
Therefore, all of the floors get to have new concrete!   Whew!  What happened to a few shelves and hooks?

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