Lessons in Construction...Liberian Style

Plumbers, masons, carpenters and everyone in between have a hand at making our place a home. It has been a long road to get to this point in the house renovations. It's not to be taken lightly by any means. Without Home Depot every project gets to looking a little more scary. However, the experts are the men themselves who have learned their trades well. They know how to do plumbing...

They know how to adapt and adjust where some of us would just give up. It has been fun to have these men work on our house, and see how they "get 'er done".

The windows frames were cemented into place...

then the security bars were cut from 3/4" galvanized steel pipe. They were then put between "iron wood" as they call it here, and cemented into place. A task that takes lots of braun... and a good eye to be sure every bar is level.

Oh did I forget to mention, that first you need to chip out the space to put the bars in first? Look closer at the man working here. That's where the braun comes in. These old houses at ELWA were built to last an eternity...not really, but the origional bricks that were used were almost solid cement. And it takes a long time to chisel a hole to put the new security bars in. My hats off to the origional builders of these homes.

5 of the 9 windows were completed today as the sun was setting. I am thankful for workers who go the extra mile to help us get moved in soon.

The view from our front porch is a blessing from the Lord. We look forward to spending many more evenings watching the sun go down out here. This is one of our favorite pass times; watching people, enjoying the culture and greeting folks as they pass by. Drinking in the sights, sounds and flavors of our new home at ELWA. Thank you for sending us here, keeping us here, and praying for us here.

The Roof Goes Up!!!

Dear family & friends;





We are so happy to see the new roof go up this Saturday. It makes the house renovating project look like it's on a roll. We are excited.





The aluminum roof was ordered from the factory in town, and delivered on Friday late afternoon. The beams and all supporting wood were all in place. Counting the pieces of aluminum as it came off the truck, and measuring to be sure they were cut to correct size was important. This is probably the most expensive part of the renovation.

















Brenda got to cut the tar tape that covers the nails used in the roof. Everyone got to have a hand in putting the roof up.







Matt was one of the taller men to help keep the aluminum going up to the workmen atop the rafters.










We were all happy and very tired when the roof was finished at the end of the day. It has rained heavy 3 times, and there were no leaks!!! We rejoice at the new roof. Next will be the windows, security bars and doors, and then we'll start on the inside of the house.



PRAISE THE LORD!

Slow internet is chronic

Dear family and friends;
We have been trying every day to upload pictures of the updates on our house. It is running so slow, we get knocked off before we can even download anything. Matt's facebook has been the only place we've had success adding pictures. So until we can get faster internet, you'll might have to look on his facebook for updates.

Todate, the beams that hold the house together have been cast, and are curing. They are building a small wall, and repairing where there were cracks. We have seen alot of rain. So every room is full of 3-4 inches of water. We removed loose tiles in the bedrooms, and kitchen while they were wet, and curling up.

Tomorrow we are told that they will start putting on the main beams of the roof. The wood arrived two days ago and it has been painted with tar of some kind. It helps keep the termites and "buggabug" from eating the wood.

Thank you for your prayers and encouragment. We know that this too shall pass. It has been a learning process. We have been able to see "small, small" progress on the house.