A Complete Update from George Compound
Last January we visited a small Community School in George Compound -one of the poorest compounds in a very poor city. The only thing that resembled a school (as we know them) were the all the kids hanging around. There were 3 basic rooms with dirt floors, bare cement block walls, a sad toilet, and no water or sanitation.
That first meeting was on 9th January 2007. Over the next 12 months we slowly made progress to improving the school. When we went back to the states in June of 2007, we showed pictures and explained the improvements that needed to be made. All in all, we received donations totaling $2300 and 4 big boxes of school supplies.
All thanks to (in the order that I wrote down the names) Becca Yohnka, Bill and Jen Yohnka, Melanie Meents, Teresa Andersen, Lori Ashmore, Dode Ashmore, Lisa and Ryan Carruthers, Julianna Westgor, MaryAnn Westgor, Pat Schroeder, Lee Dundas, Kasi Keeling-Howell, Sue Hildebrand, The Whalens, Terry and Robin LaVoie, Richard and Kathy Meyer, Judy Palmier, Elaine Hebert, Dennis and Merlyn Fruin, Mary Fruin, Becky Fruin, Pat Merkle, Michele Hebert, John Fruin, Steven Fruin, Chris Hebert, Lisa Redenius, Dorthea Hanan, Michael Slate, Jane Slate. And special thanks to Karleen Yohnka for drumming up all kinds of support and to Eileen Keeling for sending all the school supplies to Zambia.
That "thank you" is overdue but I wanted to include an update with it. So here's the update.
We stated our renovation project on 21st December. After consulting with the local Lions Club and considering the amount of money that we raised, we decided to do a 3-phase project. The first phase is to lay cement floors in each of the 3 classrooms, in the school office. Then we will break out parts of the walls to insert 9 windows and air vents. When that is complete we will plaster the building inside and out along with finishing the cement walkway in front of the school. The goal is to complete one phase before moving on to the next. We want to avoid getting half way done and realizing that there is no more money. Based on estimates from the school and the lions, this work should exhaust the money that we have.
The 22nd was our first full day of work. I used a truck to move all of the desks and furniture out of the rooms so we would have open space to work. We piled them high and took off through the mud. On the first trip of about 1.5 miles I managed to get stuck twice. When the rains come it tuns bad roads into bad muddy roads. There are small lakes where you're never sure how deep or muddy they are on the bottom. My instinct is to always hug any land that I can see...which got me stuck the first time when the bottom of the car couldn't clear the berm. Douglas, one of the general workers from our project is helping me supervise, and some other guys pushed us free. Douglas says "just drive where your friends have driven" meaning that if there are tracks, follow them. This usually means "drive straight through the mud". So that's how we got stuck the second time (still on the first 1.5 mile trip). Its comparable to the mud bogging stuff you see on ESPN2. The driver is making overexagerated steering motions just to keep the vehicle moving.
On the next two trips we didn't get stuck once... I got the hang of it.
We will continue to have a problem with water. There is very little water in the compound so making wet and treating the dried cement is tough. Douglas and I fetched 4 big drums of water back by our house and delivered them. They should have enough water to last until Monday (Dec 24) when we will bring some more. Its strange the reception you receive when you show up with water.
We should have the floors done today and the plaster and windows started tomorrow (the 24th December). I can't upload pictures from here but I will soon. Thanks again to all of those that helped. I apologize if I left anyone out. If you want to donate please let me know. yohnka@gmail.com The plan is to complete this project and see if we can manage another couple upgrades at the school before we leave.
Thanks again. Bob and Michelle
That first meeting was on 9th January 2007. Over the next 12 months we slowly made progress to improving the school. When we went back to the states in June of 2007, we showed pictures and explained the improvements that needed to be made. All in all, we received donations totaling $2300 and 4 big boxes of school supplies.
All thanks to (in the order that I wrote down the names) Becca Yohnka, Bill and Jen Yohnka, Melanie Meents, Teresa Andersen, Lori Ashmore, Dode Ashmore, Lisa and Ryan Carruthers, Julianna Westgor, MaryAnn Westgor, Pat Schroeder, Lee Dundas, Kasi Keeling-Howell, Sue Hildebrand, The Whalens, Terry and Robin LaVoie, Richard and Kathy Meyer, Judy Palmier, Elaine Hebert, Dennis and Merlyn Fruin, Mary Fruin, Becky Fruin, Pat Merkle, Michele Hebert, John Fruin, Steven Fruin, Chris Hebert, Lisa Redenius, Dorthea Hanan, Michael Slate, Jane Slate. And special thanks to Karleen Yohnka for drumming up all kinds of support and to Eileen Keeling for sending all the school supplies to Zambia.
That "thank you" is overdue but I wanted to include an update with it. So here's the update.
We stated our renovation project on 21st December. After consulting with the local Lions Club and considering the amount of money that we raised, we decided to do a 3-phase project. The first phase is to lay cement floors in each of the 3 classrooms, in the school office. Then we will break out parts of the walls to insert 9 windows and air vents. When that is complete we will plaster the building inside and out along with finishing the cement walkway in front of the school. The goal is to complete one phase before moving on to the next. We want to avoid getting half way done and realizing that there is no more money. Based on estimates from the school and the lions, this work should exhaust the money that we have.
The 22nd was our first full day of work. I used a truck to move all of the desks and furniture out of the rooms so we would have open space to work. We piled them high and took off through the mud. On the first trip of about 1.5 miles I managed to get stuck twice. When the rains come it tuns bad roads into bad muddy roads. There are small lakes where you're never sure how deep or muddy they are on the bottom. My instinct is to always hug any land that I can see...which got me stuck the first time when the bottom of the car couldn't clear the berm. Douglas, one of the general workers from our project is helping me supervise, and some other guys pushed us free. Douglas says "just drive where your friends have driven" meaning that if there are tracks, follow them. This usually means "drive straight through the mud". So that's how we got stuck the second time (still on the first 1.5 mile trip). Its comparable to the mud bogging stuff you see on ESPN2. The driver is making overexagerated steering motions just to keep the vehicle moving.
On the next two trips we didn't get stuck once... I got the hang of it.
We will continue to have a problem with water. There is very little water in the compound so making wet and treating the dried cement is tough. Douglas and I fetched 4 big drums of water back by our house and delivered them. They should have enough water to last until Monday (Dec 24) when we will bring some more. Its strange the reception you receive when you show up with water.
We should have the floors done today and the plaster and windows started tomorrow (the 24th December). I can't upload pictures from here but I will soon. Thanks again to all of those that helped. I apologize if I left anyone out. If you want to donate please let me know. yohnka@gmail.com The plan is to complete this project and see if we can manage another couple upgrades at the school before we leave.
Thanks again. Bob and Michelle
posted by Michelle and Bob - Zambia @ 5:26 AM
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