Projects completed!

After the past few weeks of long work hours, late nights, and little rest we are happy to report that most of the work that we had hoped to get done before the rains came is now complete!  God has been good to give us the strength, energy, wisdom, help, and grace needed for each day and although all of us are quite tired (both from the intense heat and the long work hours) it is so nice to look around and see all that God has allowed to be brought to completion recently.

The Preschool

We are happy to report that the preschool is plastered, floor completed, windows and doors installed, door varnished, walls painted, shelves hung and stocked in the store room, and furniture complete.  Alyssa now has the classroom and store room set up almost exactly as she wants it and now all that is missing is the children.    Did I mention that all the furniture that is there had to be built by Alyssa and Jako?  It took several weeks to get from the raw, uncut, rough pieces of wood called “planks” to finished, planed, cut, routed, screwed and nailed, varnished furniture but now all is ready and perfectly fitted for the children that will start coming at the opening early February after our return from South Africa.

Alyssa’s Flat

Alyssa is also very happy to have officially moved into her newly completed flat.  Just like the preschool, lots of work went into installing doors and windows, painting, getting basic furniture, and making her place her own.  Now not only does she have her own “haven” to be able to do all her office work and rest at the end of a long day but now there is also additional accommodation available for any single ladies that may want to come and visit/help.

Visit Alyssa’s website at www.alyssabolles.blogspot.com in order to see more pictures of the completed flat and preschool and to hear more about it from her perspective.    

A new warehouse roof

And if those first two building projects were not enough to focus on these past several months, we recently decided that there was now a urgent need to put up a big outdoor carport/open warehouse roof in order to protect our vehicles, tractor, and various tractor implements and other things from the rain and mud this rainy season.  No small project considering the size of the roof that was needed was 8m x 15m (approx 24x45ft) and it was now the hottest time of the whole year – not the best time to be working in the full heat of the shade on top of shiny tin.  Needless to say there were lots of days where Jako was up early to work on it and then late into the night in order to make use of all the cool weather he could.  With time getting short before we had to leave there were days when we wondered if this would be completed in time but now we are happy to report that the roof is now up and complete.  Eventually we hope to close up at least some of the sides a bit and install a few shelves along the one wall but for now the vehicles, tractor, quad, and various big power tools (like the planer) and building materials are stored safely underneath.

Field and Crop Preparations

The last big “work” project that we felt we had to tackle before we left was to prepare the orphanage crop field for planting this year.  With everything else needing to be done we didn’t how we  were going to have time to get everything ready but God was good and provided Sakumbilla (one of our local part time general workers) with the ability and desire to be able to work the tractor for us.   With the help of Charles (our local foreman), this enabled Jako to keep working on the other projects (mainly the warehouse roof) while they tended to clearing and plowing the land, preparing it for the planting of the corn.  At the time of our leaving, there hadn’t yet been enough rain for us to plant the 1 1/2 hectares that had been prepared but plans are in place for Sakumbilla and Charles to do that at the appropriate time in our absence.  The local orphanage committee has pledged their help as well.  Please pray with us that God would provide the right amount of rain at the right time and both wisdom and discretion for the locals to know how to tend to this important task while we are gone.

Bugging Out!

Just on a fun note – as much as rainy season is often the favorite time of year for us as everything is new, fresh and breathes of “new life” it is often the time that the bugs seem to take over as well.  So, if bugs are not your favorite thing – you might want to consider another time of year to visit and help us.  However, if you like to see things beautiful and green – now is the time to come – and if you do – you might even be offered a tasty treat of the big flying termites (shown on our outside kitchen sink) nicely fried by the locals.  They are a true delicacy here.  Here are a few pictures of our recent bug invasion – both inside our house and in our outside kitchen.