Work Projects Accomplished

Having the American work team here has been huge.  We've completed far more tasks than I would have though possible and I think the IVA students at least partially enjoyed the work.  Sarah and I took some pictures of work and finished products.  If you've been here, you'll see the marked improvement in our renovations.

Below Vlad does renovations on our sewer access.  Obviously this was not a job for which we had an abundance of volunteers.  The goal was to stop dirt from leaking between the bricks, clogging the sewer system.  After this was achieved, we replaced the sleeve and cover so that...

...they look slick and finished like the picture below.  Andrey, our camp director isn't afraid to jump right in.  He did the finishing for this concrete as well as helping to clean out the debris that had dropped into the sewer line during repairs.  That's true leadership.
Anyone who has been to HopeCenter will recognize these steps immediately.  During camps we spend a lot of time here just outside the dining hall with the kids waiting for the meals to start.  The steps were redone earlier but the team rebuilt the sides and finished them expertly.  If you look closely you can also see the new entry door.  I assure you that this made a big difference during those cold January days.

We put a few IVA guys on the sprayer to repaint the curbs around camp.  After a little practice they really got the hang of it. 

After constantly having to apologize for the junk tree that made getting trucks near our humanitarian aid storage nearly impossible, we finally cut the whole thing down yesterday.  This will be an ongoing project after the team is gone.  The pallets were necessary to protect an electrical line that we had to pull down in order to fell the tree.
Like the front steps to the dining hall, the sides of the back steps also got face lift.  Greg, a professional mason that came with the team did a good job of jumping from site to site to supervise and instruct all us amateurs; plus putting a professional finish on all the concrete work.

These are the steps of the guard shack and you can see how excited Jenya is about having a decent entryway.
For a few days I was on the back corner of the camp trying to maintain a burn on our emense amount of leaves, sticks and weeds.  They were only dry on the top so it was difficult to keep a actual flame going.
The steps of the medical building below were truly a disgrace.  They look really nice now.
This is the real pride of the team.  I posted pics of the old entry steps which was completely destroyed to make way for a functional patio.  It's longer and deeper than the original plus we did a frame for a roof, which will make it a great all-weather hangout for internationals.

Thanks so much to Rich, Carol, Tom, Darlene, Bob, Mickey, Greg and Jack; you have been a great temporary addition to the HopeCenter and pray that we'll see you all again soon.