Work day 7

Our work continued today with lots that got done. Though it was cloudy all day and the weather forcast called for rain we didn't see any. Which was helpful for our painters who just keep going like the energizer bunny. We have started preping the outside of the 2nd dormitory for a fresh coat of paint as well as continued to work on the dining facility. Our local plumber was on site today and gave us instructions this morning to get us started and it ended up taking all day to complete the tasks he gave us. We spent so many hours fixing the walls only to punch new lines in the bricks for all the plumbing pipes. We also had to punch holes through the concrete floors for the toilettes and showers. There were 7 bathrooms to punch out the wall bricks for the plumbing and 13 holes (paint can size) to punch through the floor. All without jack hammers and minimal help from power tools creating hard and messy work.
So here are some more pictures for all you followers...

As you can tell Rudy was back at it today, helping with many tasks, here filling holes in the 2nd dormitory before it can be painted.

Julie (above) and Ann (below) painting always with a smile on their faces. This was at the beginning of their day before they were tired of sitting on their bums, knees and squatting to get the bottom trim primed and painted.

Lloyd working on the upstairs wiring, should we be worried that he looks a little confused?

Dwight getting the last electrical box mortared in place.

Jeff starting with a saw to outline where the plumbing will go before we start chiselling out the bricks.

Wilf and Jeff, one just a titch dirtier then the other... it is a good thing that dirtiness does not solely determine how much work you have done.

Anita chiselling away, safety first of course.

And of course clean up is needed at the end of every day, Shirley (above) sweeping up around the 2nd dormitory and Byron (below) cleaning up all the concrete and mortar tools that were used throughout the day.

You may have noticed Jeanette missing in the working pictures today, she suffered from a sore back so decided to take a day to try and rest it in hopes that she can help again before out work time is up. Since she has been working harder then any other member of the team we decided to let it slide :)

A new friend we made today, an albino frog that seemed to sleep in this spot for hours and hours.

Please pray for continued safety and health as body's are starting to ache from all the hard physical labour as well as a cold seems to be making its way around the team. As our week will reach its middle tomorrow and there seems like so much work that could still be done pray that we can make the most of our time left and continue to be as productive as we have been to this point.

To God be the Glory!

Work day 6

Back to work we went for another productive day with great weather. We were able to finish up many of the small tasks from last week so that tomorrow we can start on plastering the walls. Half of the team spent the majority of the day mortaring the walls in preperation for the plastering.  The window sills are 100% done, the electrical is as done as we can do for now, and the prep/repair of the walls are 98% done. We also hope to have a plumber come and show us/help us with the plumbing tomorrow in the 3rd dormitory, our electricians will become our plumbers as of tomorrow. And of course we can't forget our faithful painters who just keep trucking away.

So here are a few pictures, you may notice we had one member missing from our team today. Rudy needed to make an unexpected visit to the dentist and God was awesome as He always is and an appointment was made promplty and easily for Rudy this afternoon. After a temporary fix he is feeling better and I am sure will be first on the bus to get back to work tomorrow. 

Anita was appointed mortar mixer for the day.

Jeanette showing off her other "trowel," her gloved hand that is easier to use for some of us.

Lloyd, Byron and Ron hoping to get the cement mixer fixed so that once we start plastering the walls we don't have to do all the mixing by hand.

At first you may wonder what Jeff is doing as he appears to just be standing there, but he is still working, holding a pipe in place that he just mortared into the floor.

Karen looking cheerful as she continues to paint.

Starting to prep the 2nd dormitory for its new paint job.

Camouflaged Ann working away.

Below and above are pictures of a completely repaired room ready to go for tomorrow. There are 7 in total in the 3rd dormitory that were finished up today. 

Thanks again for checking the blog and all your support.
To God be the Glory!

Day of rest

And that is exactly what we did, rest. Many of us slept in this morning. We met at 11:00 to go to the mall only to find out that it does not open till 2:00 on Sundays, many of the women think the men planned it that way. We then went to a Churrascaria (Brazilian BBQ) for lunch and enjoyed a feast before heading to the beach where we naped, walked and read the afternoon away. With a last stop for ice cream before heading back to the hotel to end our day. Here are just a few pictures...

That was one tasty pig, and we can say that as most of us had a piece of his rump.



We set up camp for the day.



We head back to work tomorrow so please keep praying for safety, productivity, good weather, and guidance as our week starts.
Just a quick shout out, Happy Birthday Mary Jane!!

Work day 5

Yet another successful and great day. We only worked till 3:00, as opposed to our usual 5:30. we then went out for a pizza supper where we all ate too much and enjoyed every possible kind of pizza imaginable, including a wide variety of dessert pizzas.
I promise these are new pictures from today, if you look closely most of our outfits are different even though our work remains very much the same. Next week we will be doing some different work as we are hoping to start plastering the walls of the 3rd dormitory.

Julie, Ann and Karen (below) doing their thing, could probably almost paint in their sleep by now.



 

Jeff above and Lloyd below finishing up their wiring.



 

Dwight mortaring the electrical boxes in place while Jeanette makes the perfect size brick to fit the empty hole in the wall.



Rudy putting in the last wood frame for the window sill. We were able to finish those to completion today.

Wilf had all the right tools today to get the toilettes working in the ladies bathroom in the dining hall.



After lunch we played a round of "guess the height of this bamboo."



Everyone taking a good look before getting their official guesses in.

After recording all the guesses the winner was...Julie. It measured exactly 50' 2" or 15.3 meters. Her guess was 50.' The guess that was off the most was 72' and therfore the next round of ice cream is on Jeanette.



With some tasks being completed the majority of the team joined in to finish the day up with some mortaring of the electrical pipes/boxes.

A group picture with Artur(CVM), Priscilla (CVM) and Ron (an American missionary in Florianopolis who translates for us). Lt to Rt: Wilf, Karen, Ron, Priscilla, Artur, Jeanette, Lloyd, Anita, Jeff, Julie, Byron, Dwight, Ann, Shirley, Rudy

We will not be heading to the rehab center tomorrow as it is a day of rest so we look forward to sleeping in and possibly soaking up some more sun and brazilian culture. We cannot thank you enough for all you support and your prayers.

To God be the Glory!

Work day 4

And the work continues. We had perfect weather today, cloudy in the morning but it cleared up late morning and didn't get too hot during the day. However, it did rain for some or most of last night so we arrived to a wet work site that didn't end up interfering with our work at all.

Our trench was filled with multiple puddles.



And the patched and primed walls looked wetter then we had left them yesterday.

Back to work at the same task as yesterday, Jeanette and Dwight continueing to repair the holes in the brick walls of the 3rd dormitory.



Julie and Ann continueing to prep and paint the walls of the dining hall.



Byron and Lloyd starting to feed the large wires into the plastic pipe that we dug the trench for.



Getting the wires all the way through the 45 meter plastic pipe required lots of assistance, 6 in total.



And then getting the pipe into the trench also required many hands.



Byron and Lloyd getting it through the tricky parts.



Everyone getting back to their previous tasks, Wilf and Shirley working on pouring the window sills.



Julie getting up to every height.



Karen getting in all the cracks and crannies.



And that was all before lunch. Lloyd taking his first post lunch nap of the trip.



Time to fill in the trench, Jeff getting started.

This is a room in the dormitory before the holes are filled and the sill is poured.

And this is a room that has been all patched except for the window sill that still has to be poured. Just to give you an idea of the difference. Shirley is sweeping the floors in this picture, even such simple tasks are needed to be done.

Over all we had a great day and we had no injuries, not even minor ones.

There is one story that is must be shared with you today. It was such an encouragement to hear and boosted the spirits of our team today. So please read on.

As most of you know the rehab center is not currently in operation due to government funding cuts as well as stimpulations implemented on the center for fire prevention and a laundry facility. It is different and odd to be working at the center with no residents working along side us, or eating lunches and coffee breaks with us. It is unknown exactly what the future of the center is though there are several positive possibilities. It can be discouraging at times to think all this time and money has been spent to help the center become the facility it is today yet it sits empty as we continue to work. After saying all that, here is the encouraging story...

We had concrete and a few other supplies delivered to the center today by a local hardware store. One of the delivery drivers came in while we were on our afternoon coffee break to let us know that 5 years ago he was a resident at the center and had completed the 9 month program offered by the center. He has been clean since that time with a job and expressed his gradatued for all we were doing and what the center did for him and his life. It was such a cool story, so often we will see the men at the center but have no idea how many will succeed once they leave the safety and support of the center. This man could tell us his success story, such an encouragement. So please pray for our work here, that it would be used as God intended it to be used and pray that the center will also be used as it was called to be used. Also pray for those in leadership at CVM, for guidance in what the next step is for the center. I apologize I did not think fast enough and get a picture of this man or his name to share with you.

Thanks for reading! 

To God be the Glory!