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PL704
8th October 2017
We mentioned last week that Eugene, Rick and Clifton were away in various parts of India. Rick was in Delhi collecting a group of friends from Australia. Eugene was touring the Himalayas with John Poxon driving some of the worlds highest roads. Meanwhile Clifton & Priscilla went to attend the wedding of an old staff member in Lucknow. All three have now returned from their journeys and things have returned to 'normal' here on the mission.
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One of the beautiful photos that came home with Eugene,
this one was taken at nearly 15,000ft.
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A snap of the wedding in Lucknow.
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The team that Rick collected from Delhi was from Door of Hope in Launceston, Tasmania. They are great friends who come out to visit each year. In addition to building and strengthening relationships, visiting sponsor children and being an encouragement to our staff, the team normally choose to put their hands to work on a specific project.
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Joy getting into some 'Trouble' with the kids.
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Reading practice with Sarah.
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This year the project that the team has chosen to help out with is the renovation of our old Kindergarten, particularly the installation of new electrical fittings across the whole building. Those who follow us closely will know that it is our hope to construct a new Kindergarten for our school facility in the next few years, but until then we must make do with our current facility. And an update of that facility is sorely needed.
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The old Kindergarten.
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Rick at work in the Kindergarten.
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Over the coming months we will be doing around $15,000 worth of repairs and renovations to the facility: rooms will be gutted, restructured and repainted. Window sizes will be increased to allow more light and ventilation for our smallest students. New paved pathways will replace mud/grass paths. A playground will be installed along with gardens and trees. Most importantly the entire building, including a large open courtyard will receive a new tin roof (to solve leaks as well as reduce the heat inside the rooms).
The first step however is the electrical systems, and the team from Door of Hope, under Rick's guidance, have been working hard all week, first tearing out the old system then installing conduit, running wires and connecting lights and fans. Great job, everyone!
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Rick and Craig connecting ceiling fans and lights in the Kindergarten.
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The only benefit to low ceilings: no need for a ladder!
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Joy and Blanche wiring power sockets.
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BUSTED! Sitting down for 4 o'clock afternoon tea 10 minutes early!
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One of the team members has been quietly working on his own. 69-year-old retired minister, Wayne, has been a one man painting crew in an effort to help us finish off our Older Boys Bathroom project which was a part of our Bathroom of Terror fundraiser. The new bathroom will be completed early next week and we can't wait to show you the difference!
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Wayne painting one of the bathroom stalls.
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Cleaning up after a solid day of painting.
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As our tiler has finished up work in the Boys Bathroom his attention has turned to the Learning Resource Center, our largest construction project underway at the moment. New stone floors will be installed in the coming weeks, bringing a whole new look to the building!
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Stone floors being installed in the Computer Lab section of the LRC.
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Our school received an inspection from the Fire Department this week. Two officers turned up unexpectedly to make sure that extinguishers, smoke alarms and evacuation plans were installed as required. They were very happy with our systems and commented that we were the only school in the area to meet the requirements. Even with the positive result we decided to construct a fire bucket stand, in the event that a fire outbreak should occur. Sunny and the boys in the workshop quickly whipped one together.
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This color is appropriately labelled 'Fire Truck Red'.
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Last week we mentioned that construction on 8 new beds for our Small Boys Hostel was well underway. The new beds have now been completed and have joined their new home in the boys' rooms, ready to provide many a good nights sleep! As an added bonus, some additional funds were added from friends in Launceston and new mattresses were purchased for each of the beds!
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Our carpenter, Ganesh, putting the final screws into one of the beds.
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The new beds work as single or double deckers.
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Vishal loves his new bed!
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Elsewhere everything is running well on the mission. Our paddy crop is nearly ready to harvest, only a few weeks more to go. And our children have completed their mid-year examinations which is a big relief for them.
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Winnowing some of our old paddy ready to be ground into rice.
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Parwat studying for his final test with the support of Aunty Elsie
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With everything going on here this week, we are reminded once again of how much love and support surrounds us here at the Mission. Our Door Of Hope friends, who encourage us with their prayers and their financial resources all year long, are now here loving our kids and rewiring our nursery! The beds we've created were funded by generous donors world wide...as was the bathroom project that's wrapping up and the Learning Resource Center that's well under way. All of it was made possible by caring hearts who have chosen to make our children and our work a priority in their lives. For the record: We do not ever take this for granted and we can not thank you all enough.
One of our strongest supporters is the Samartha Saxena Foundation, and we'll close this week with a little celebration we threw in Sam's honor. For those who don't know this amazing young man's story, you can read about it here:
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Sam tragically passed away a few years ago, but his generous heart and his compassion for others is alive and well here at the Mission. Each year on his birthday, we throw a raucous party in his honor, to celebrate the difference one life can make, even a short one. A few pictures from this year's bash are included below. The children decorated the dining hall, special food was prepared and the laughter was so loud, we hope it is still echoing through the halls of heaven. Happy Birthday, Sam!
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The Small Boys are always up for a party!
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A wider view of the dining hall. The balloons were taking over!
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The nursery tables were amped up and ready to go.
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A view down the small girls' table. Looking sweet before they start to gobble.
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For prayer requests this week: Many of our children and staff have been struggling with a viral sickness that is making its way around the Mission. Several days of fever, dizziness, body ache and nausea have left too many of our family members in bed and feeling low. Your thoughts for each of them would be appreciated.
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Blessing on you,
Rick, Clifton, Eugene & Priscilla
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