Many Hands . . . . Many Projects

 Where do we start with all the work that has been accomplished this week? It is always amazing the many talents people bring to the team along with a tremendous amount of energy to work on creating a better place for all the children.

The project team began the week talking to Mama Lupita about priorities — some of the work was electrical. They worked on putting some new switches in the bakery along with better lighting. In addition, all the fans in the dining area weren't working.

Our crack team got all the fans operational and lights up.

 New lights in the bakery to the right.

 The really big project was in the dish room in the kitchen. Due to a clog in the pipe, there was a place where the concrete had been taken up and water was draining into a large hole.

The team was able to replumb the drains.

Next, strong arms brought several wheelbarrows of concrete to fill in the hole.

 

After the concrete was poured and set, the final step was to add tile.


The best part of the repair is the team put in "clean outs" which will make it easier in the future to clear any future clogs in the pipes and eliminate the need to dig a hole.

This was a huge project and fits exactly with our goal to help create ways to increase the health and safety for the children at Casa Hogar.

The best part of all is the horrible smell that greeted us when we arrived is gone!

Our team members bring many skills and have acquired various nicknames along the way. Steve has several nicknames — "Calves" (he was our awesome goalie in the soccer game), "Señor Sparky (he did all the work on the dining room fans), and Dr. Baño (due to his ability to fix ailing toilets).

 Bill works in the concrete industry back in Minneapolis — what a blessing to have his talents on this trip. Here he is working with Mitch and Breckyn to create a catch basin out back to provide for more trouble-free drainage from the toilets.

 Finally, the team did a lot of tile work replacing broken tiles in the kitchen area.

It has been wonderful to have the extra time this week to get so many projects done.