tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-320480702024-03-07T14:37:41.437-07:00The Youngs' JourneyIn August of 2005, Greg and Julie moved their family to Calgary, Alberta so Greg could join the staff of Engineering Ministries International Canada (EMI Canada). This blog, with its project updates, reports and links to a Photo Gallery (lots of trip photos!), is meant to take friends, family and supporters on a journey with the Youngs as Greg serves with EMI, Julie recounts her experiences on medical mission trips, and even as their kids experience mission opportunities.gregoriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07493011471903895803noreply@blogger.comBlogger60125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32048070.post-15127946585466845902018-03-23T14:04:00.001-06:002018-03-23T16:17:28.795-06:00Regeneration, Renewal, and Expansion of a K-12 CampusIn June of 2018 I have this great opportunity to serve again in the country where I went on my first project trip with EMI in 2001. That project trip happened within two weeks of 9/11 and so all of my international EMI experience has been "post-9/11". While the world has changed a lot in 17 years and EMI has grown and matured greatly as an organization, we continue the work of meeting "on-the-ground" needs all over the world, serving poor communities in order to bring Hope.<br />
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<a href="https://www.belizechristianacademy.com/" target="_blank">Belize Christian Academy</a> (BCA) is a K-12 international school with a rich history in Central America. The vision of <a href="http://teachbeyond.org/" target="_blank">TeachBeyond</a>, which now owns and operates BCA, is to introduce a new, over-arching master plan on this lush, 25 acre property and construct a new center for Learning and Administration. The long term result will be a school campus that supports academic excellence as well as community spirit.<br />
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BCA first opened its doors in September 1993 on the outskirts of Belmopan, the capital city of Belize in Central America. While the initial population of 38 students and 4 teachers was modest, 14 nationalities were represented in the student body. This large mix is due to the fact that many children from foreign embassies have made BCA their school home. Today, local children as well as those from 40 different countries have attended BCA.<br />
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Geographically, Belize lies along the western edge of the Caribbean Sea, is bordered to the north by Mexico, and west and south by Guatemala. The official language of Belize is English while Belizean Creole is an unofficial native language. Spanish is its second most-spoken language. BCA itself is situated on 25 acres, half of which is maintained for the school grounds while the other half is mostly forested. The existing school facility is a collection of mostly single-use buildings. While most are very serviceable, some older buildings will be slated for replacement in the coming years.<br />
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The project scope of the EMI team will be to review BCA's existing facilities and infrastructure, create an overall, phased master plan for new and facilities to be rebuilt/replaced, and incorporate a new Learning Centre and Administration Building. Future EMI teams will address future phases when phase one is complete and the needs of the next phase are determined.<br />
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Thank you to all our supporters and friends who make it possible for me to serve with EMI in this way! If you or anyone you know wish to learn how to join me on this project, please click <a href="https://emiworld.org/trips/90" target="_blank">here</a> to see the EMI project page.gregoriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07493011471903895803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32048070.post-28597916229161803422017-07-26T15:48:00.001-06:002017-07-27T08:08:37.663-06:00Bright Future Secondary School (Rwanda)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<b><br />Africa Harvest Mission</b> (AHM) was established shortly after the genocide of 1994 when more than one million people lost their lives in a hundred days. AHM began under a tree in a rural village in eastern Rwanda where Pastor Patrick preached "unity" and "hope". As AHM churches grew the ministry developed the capacity to establish social development programs for vulnerable women and later, Bright Future School for vulnerable children and orphans.</div>
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<b>Education.</b> However, simply providing education is not enough; delivering education without providing the basis of a moral compass can result in evil as easily as it can result in good. For this reason, the teachers and administrators of Bright Future School are proactive in building a generation “driven by Christian values of love and care to humanity”.<br />
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<strong>Getting Started.</strong> AHM started with the youngest children, operating four elementary schools in the rural eastern countryside. They recently purchased a parcel of land to establish a boarding school for secondary students (grades 7 – 12). The location, closer to the capital, is where they hope the students will be stimulated and motivated to use their education actively in their community and become Christ-centered leaders of tomorrow.<br />
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AHM’s boarding school will ultimately have three classes per grade with a capacity for over 700 students. The environment is to be as much about nurturing community as it is to be about imparting an education. It will be a place to foster discipline in life as much as discipline in the classroom.<br />
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<strong>Step By Step.</strong> To account for the fundraising process as well as gradually taking on children they are nurturing through elementary school, the secondary school will be built in phases and account for the increasingly sophisticated and complex nature of the education system as well as the construction industry in Rwanda.<br />
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Before navigating the labyrinth of building codes and district and industry requirements, AHM needed a team of design professionals to help establish a master plan and the character of the school; they needed to know each step taken and dollar spent will lead them toward their objectives. When AHM’s American partner, Africa Bright Future Ministries (ABFM), found out about EMI, they applied to receive one of our multi-disciplinary teams.<br />
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<strong>Partnership.</strong> Our EMI team consisted of architects as well civil, structural, electrical, and geomatics engineers from Rwanda, United States, and Canada. Our Rwandese members were instrumental in helping our team understand the local culture and the construction context. We enjoyed each other’s company and laughed a lot, but also worked side-by-side with professionalism to provide AHM the planning that it needs to operate an effective, cost-efficient, sustainable, and beautiful secondary school campus.<br />
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<strong>Deliverables.</strong> Now back in our respective homes, emails continue to fly across time zones as we coordinate our writing and drawing to produce our Final Report and Drawings. Empowered with new knowledge and confident their vision is achievable, AHM will use these documents, which capture our proposals and provide a variety of technical and budgetary options, to further engage local design professionals and government officials in the process toward constructing their new campus.<br />
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<strong>Photos.</strong> I have uploaded a series of photos of our time and work in Rwanda. Click <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/theyoungsatemi/albums/72157683062322604">here</a> to jump to the gallery.<br />
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<strong>Thank you for coming alongside EMI and our family.</strong> Your support enables me to lead such projects and in turn, my involvement creates opportunities for interns and volunteers and ultimately, impact is felt by the children, families, and communities served by the organizations with whom we partner.gregoriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07493011471903895803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32048070.post-15413274861256001682017-05-15T09:19:00.001-06:002017-05-15T09:19:24.302-06:00Continued Healing and Restoration<p>Africa Harvest Ministries (AHM) was established after the genocide that took place in Rwanda in 1994 that claimed more than one million lives in a hundred days. At that terrible time, Rwanda was completely destroyed spiritually, socially, and economically. There was hopelessness and fear everywhere, with orphans, widows and the disabled roaming the streets seeking to survive.</p>
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<p>It was at that time that God moved Pastor Patrick to begin a ministry that would restore “unity" and “hope". He began preaching this message under a tree in a village which led to the first of 13 Calvary Temple Churches and later the establishment of AHM.</p>
<p>Social development programs for vulnerable women were established as well as Bright Future School to educate underprivileged children and orphans. On this project trip, EMI will come alongside AHM to design a secondary school campus to complement their existing primary school. We will also design dormitories for boys and for girls for children who live too far to walk to school each day. This will expand the reach of the school to a wider community.</p>
<p>For more information on Africa Harvest Ministries, see their website <a href="http://africabrightfuture.org/">here</a>.</p>
<p><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Screen Shot 2017-05-15 at 9.14.30 AM.png" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig8bBoOgHF9zj5jZRtEKdcYmq6FmMH61brLzWnCLNtAT6uJsycuFighoJmHi8mBuOTAGJL-Sij0E_kkiMKJUiE2fbSdmCwXgQG58gnAovnpzDhrnD-ASuzJ3_TGmlg1JURrtGiSw/?imgmax=1600" alt="Screen Shot 2017 05 15 at 9 14 30 AM" width="400" height="261" border="0" /></p>
<p>On May 22nd, 2017 our team will travel directly to the Rwandan capital Kigali for our project and complete our trip by driving over the mountains to Uganda for a design review at the EMI Uganda office in Kajjansi, just south of Kampala. Please keep us in prayer as we travel in the air and on the ground.</p>
<p>Thank you to all our supporters and friends who make it possible for me to serve with EMI in this way!</p>gregoriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07493011471903895803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32048070.post-83934752751871699862017-05-11T14:42:00.001-06:002019-01-13T22:32:16.860-07:00When a Little Means a Lot<img alt="IMG 2674" border="0" height="333" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiltp8ninrXZtvXXX6d_MPgvNXKd1-lrBqdZQyOGTJkoR6Ih-V_ljJcn-VoFMETlFZNoeZYaynwbXMNjYvJh70VWH94TYmv_6vkE8-Y1OqxIooU0rMRCCzxsdnIJZwEVvdnSyQjSg/?imgmax=1600" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="IMG_2674.JPG" width="500" /><br />
<strong>A Mattress.</strong> How do I complain about household chores and maintenance when a senior in Uganda tells me about the miracle of receiving a mattress? Not a replacement mattress, like for Christmas to replace an old one, but a mattress as in “I’ve never had one before”. Or a small LED lamp to provide their only source of light at night. These are the stories we heard from seniors served by Reach One Touch One Ministries (ROTOM), the ministry in Uganda my EMI team served in September 2016.<br />
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<strong>Getting Hugs.</strong> If you’ve read my blogs before you’ve seen me post photos of being mobbed by laughing, happy kids. On this trip, for the first time, I was mobbed by laughing, happy seniors. We had barely made it out of our van! Frankly, the seniors knew little of the technicalities of our work, they just knew that after EMI showed up seven years ago, the result was ROTOM's medical clinic a facility that has improved their standard of health care.<br />
<img alt="ROTOM" border="0" height="335" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlhCK6Srz9aHuupD9adPKDunGdaC3ZPyqIxBl-1JOCM6z-THYrlo8C7gKjQuneLnD9uzrIfIQrvQZbSelXQWunT0uH4B6AtuX9UjjcpCz1M6lNqBBnkSx5vBr9sre1eWI6x3k8ww/?imgmax=1600" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="ROTOM.jpg" width="500" /><br />
<strong>Inpatient Care.</strong> The 1,000+ seniors that ROTOM serves often have medical conditions that require more attention than can be provided for in an outpatient clinic setting. When they need surgery or another form of longer term care, a medical facility needs the capacity and appropriate facilities for inpatient services; surgical rooms, recovery beds, and beds for longer stays. So our EMI team tweaked the initial master plan and designed a 30+ bed inpatient ward to facilitate life-saving or certainly life-improving surgeries.<br />
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<strong>Doing Life Together.</strong> Our team of eight came from Canada, USA, UK, and Nigeria. We came alongside ROTOM to increase their capacity to care and serve. What better reward than a hug from a grateful senior?<br />
<strong>Photos.</strong> Want to see built facilities that EMI designed back in 2009? How about more photos and stories of the seniors we met? A new set of photos has been placed in my Flickr Photo Gallery. Click <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/theyoungsatemi/albums/72157674350127123/with/30998536153/">here</a> to jump to the gallery.<br />
<strong>Thank you for coming alongside EMI and our family in 2016!</strong> Supporting us through prayer and finances, your partnership allows me to be remain a part of EMI and makes projects such as this possible.gregoriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07493011471903895803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32048070.post-44136097362374768212016-09-06T15:30:00.002-06:002016-09-06T15:37:01.806-06:00ROTOM - More of a Good ThingOn Wednesday, September 7th I will be travelling to Uganda with an EMI team to serve ROTOM with a Phase 2 project team.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;"><strong>Reach One Touch One Ministries</strong></span> is a ministry to the elderly in Mukono, Uganda. In 2003 the founder of ROTOM, Kenneth Mugayehwenkyi, discovered the need of the elderly when he sponsored two young children and learned that their parents had died of AIDS and that their lone caregiver was their grandmother. She had great need in caring for both herself and her grandchildren and she was not alone; AIDS, war, and other factors have left many elderly to care for their grandchildren.<br />
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<img alt="IMGP0597 1" border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyO7mDC1FB7IoAsG4jPgN4i_iFGutSA5MhDKc-oT-T9WEMDPgvqCKgjeOpQSpnxd7fM2b29dp1ZV3QG4Nzu8PafGKKMbO0cST6yFRo5l6zDnIRGfXLTaTqGUELF8m5kpf4BhcFXA/?imgmax=1600" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="IMGP0597 (1).jpg" width="400" /><br />
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In <span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;"><strong>2007</strong></span>, EMI Canada sent a team to Uganda to design an out-patient medical clinic and administrative offices for ROTOM. With the Project Report and drawings produced by that team, ROTOM was helped in its fundraising efforts and in the construction of these first facilities. In the master plan, EMI allocated space and resources to expand ROTOM’s capacity to serve the seniors, such as in-patient care, staff housing, and a community centre.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;"><strong>With the initial proposal constructed</strong></span> and with the care of seniors now ongoing, ROTOM is ready to pursue Phase 2 and EMI is ready to return to assist in their process of planning, fund-raising, and construction but putting vision to paper and dreams into constructible form.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;"><strong>I am extremely excited about the team</strong></span> God has put together during my recruitment efforts. Our architect, electrical engineer, and civil engineers are from the USA, our structural engineer is from the UK, our landscape architect is from Nigeria, and my two interns are from Canada. We are also looking forward to meeting and serve together with a Uganda architect who has helped ROTOM with detailed design and to navigate the local construction process.<br />
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For more information on ROTOM, see there introduction video by clicking <span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EglkrwWxPAQ"><strong>here</strong></a></span>.<br />
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To see EMI’s constructed first phase, see senior’s being care for, and learn more about the next phase, see the awesome video my colleague Braden put together <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFOHgWn1xlM"><strong>here</strong></a>.<br />
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Please keep us in prayer as we travel in the air and on the ground. We will first visit the EMI Uganda office in Kajjansi, where they share an office with Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF). We will then travel a little further, beyond the capital Kampala, to ROTOM’s location in Mukono.<br />
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Thank you to all our supporters and friends who make it possible for me to serve with EMI in this way!gregoriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07493011471903895803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32048070.post-53309176811662389082016-03-23T16:01:00.001-06:002016-05-09T16:56:19.414-06:00A Fresh Start<strong>Fresh Start. </strong>What does it really mean, to have a “fresh start”? No one expects a life without pain or unexpected suffering. But what if that pain and suffering is thrust upon us, willful acts by others, purely for their gain…and utterly at our expense? Packing anger, hurt, guilt, pain, and resentment down, deep inside for years often forges incredible hardness and profound hopelessness. What chance is there for hope, what hope is there for change, and what change can bring restoration?<br />
<img alt="Greg" border="0" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7ftNaR4lGBJMlTcw1zQINpZcO-Ul7jGbu62MG-XQZ7l-9gZOz9qDUUzIBJcNPxramSG1Y5iS-bD9NuLs_oc_yKnElJEW-dOKrSHPd3h71hjXOEBQ8w69ErxdOJiIvt0cmWGROXQ/?imgmax=1600" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Greg.jpg" width="400" /><br />
<strong>Change.</strong> Change is never easy, even when change means turning away from pain, because change often means moving toward the unknown, and perhaps a worse situation. When all one has heard and experienced for years are lies, to even recognize hope, sparked by a new promise, can be difficult. So, when women who have suffered abuse for years give hope a chance by entering the <strong>Ratanak Achievement Program</strong> (RAP), they have already “achieved”; they have taken the first and difficult step to embrace change.<br />
<img alt="Greg 1" border="0" height="264" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ARNx8mcIab8/VvMSNqgsIPI/AAAAAAAAAz0/jCD_L8Hmjnc/Greg%252520%2525281%252529.jpg?imgmax=1600" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Greg (1).jpg" width="400" /><br />
<strong>Challenges.</strong> However, even when those trapped in exploitation and human trafficking make a decision to seek wholeness and restoration, heart-break can still await. Years of subjectation can still trap both mind and body. A long anticipated reunion with family, following years of separation and suffering, may only bring scorn if returning home means failure to have gained financial security for the whole family.<br />
<img alt="Greg 8" border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7vIFrVMs5qFuCtCJR8VcNgoXqMOjmQw7ntNGgmDxnyYLFTlKx2Dz0YF10rTThx5aNjmSAJ4Hr1meJnbt0NMEe0lc8NlH4CwE-Xs35TPQOJflqS1vdhbUgTCv-miIqpKRDXKFqIA/?imgmax=1600" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Greg (8).jpg" width="400" /><br />
<strong>RAP.</strong> Understanding this, <a href="https://www.blogger.com/ratanak.org">Ratanak International</a> created RAP to be more than simply human effort or mere acts of kindness, as even the best of human intentions cannot heal what’s most deep inside, the human spirit. Instead, Ratanak staff love each woman deeply, as an expression and an extension of God’s love, and in recognition of her value as one who is “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14). Through advocacy, counselling, and vocational training, each woman can regain her bearings as an independent, productive member in society, and where RAP ends with the practical and the tangible, God’s promise of full restoration continues the work of healing the spirit.<br />
<img alt="Greg 7" border="0" height="407" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM_YLRyw46YfnAfynb6A_C2ofayxpmFY1FnQA2IaupJKuhJ6EfCst5i1dvgZOG63rMQacx9qMJfYKkJoTT-18tFo5BNSd3oJvuq4Kihyq3BlKVFwOaKKiBBIYYycbQn44Cm2Ovhw/?imgmax=1600" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Greg (7).jpg" width="270" /><br />
<strong>Partnership.</strong> In February of 2016, Ratanak International hosted an eMi team to come alongside, learn about Cambodia and Ratanak, gain an understanding of RAP, and design a facility that will help women in their journey through RAP. The facility is to embody an understanding of their circumstances, facilitate their physical needs, and provide spaces where healing and change will take place. Some of these spaces will be private and quiet for counselling and grieving while other spaces will nurture community and mutual support. All together, the facility will provide and embody dignity, privacy, and security.<br />
<img alt="Greg 30" border="0" height="266" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Fv2QKq0Tw10/VvMSLRYE1II/AAAAAAAAAzo/-wxU44BMcZE/Greg%252520%25252830%252529.jpg?imgmax=1600" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Greg (30).jpg" width="400" /><br />
<strong>The Facility.</strong> From absorbing the context that is post-Khmer Rouge Cambodia, visiting the current make-shift RAP facilities, listening to the leaders of RAP, and investigating various buildings under construction, the eMi team developed an understanding of the challenge and began to put pen to paper. As the facility took shape, the team integrated the characteristics of the property, accounted for privacy and security issues, and carefully arranged spaces for counselling, seminars and administration. Practical issues like making provision for back-up power generation, ensuring a fresh water supply, proper sanitation and storm water handling, and designing an efficient, economical building structure given localized conditions, were addressed.<br />
<img alt="RAP Program Model 1" border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB12WxHVNoZpqIcPsPK4evtasnr20ByuWOMzcGj-BUDRPlZwAT1I_VWapJqB92T-nuR6Dul-b3__r6WWDWEr7rbkgeeHXEV4mw9a4ZdIjO1A8oxJ0z8NMFieki1heFnA9zZkpymw/?imgmax=1600" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="RAP Program Model 1.jpg" width="400" /><br />
<strong>Next Steps.</strong> With the Final Presentation completed and members of the Ratanak staff satisfied that all key needs have been addressed, the eMi team has now returned to their respective homes to work remotely but together through communication toward a final Project Report and set of design drawings. Coordination will include the construction manager who will manage local building authorities in Phnom Penh, prepare the property and construct the building. For their part, Ratanak has quickly begun its fundraising efforts to see this proposed building become a reality as soon as possible.<br />
<img alt="RAP Program Model 4" border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4jxJwElEN_OFzRtOVR7pMmOF6V_N5idXMHPQGzqQ9QhbTMwpu97ljHTsDDvZknaEoLAfeWZsVfV2qjbGJfRsGvl38HVGp7SBCio3nC1yrgUKg3AyU353algqNU9jkC8pyvzadpQ/?imgmax=1600" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="RAP Program Model 4.jpg" width="400" /><br />
<strong>A Final Thought.</strong> The imminent challenge is both sad and wonderful; many internationally trafficked Cambodian women will return home in the coming days through repatriation agreements and RAP will be pushed to its limits. Though its need arises from crisis and the challenges are great, the opportunity for restored lives, to bring hope where it was essentially snuffed out, is exciting and a blessing.<br />
<img alt="Taylor 160" border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_D_-dMzQpClbXT3HJgZY6qwpd8-Qu0EGJXIQW92XK0H6XtrCQt8jkVw0c-RT3pHtzdQUoo9JeFfCu7L6_CcfzXvKDOXhBFKRBbOFdk76jl1hLkrWDcyyG-r7jIn-dvNP2BT39Tg/?imgmax=1600" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Taylor-160.JPG" width="400" /><br />
<strong>Photos. </strong>A new set of annotated photos has been placed in my Flickr Photo Gallery with various options to view it. If you want to browse the set, click <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/theyoungsatemi/albums/72157666158507351">here</a>.<br />
<strong>Thank you</strong> to all who make this work possible through your encouragement, prayer and financial support; you have been a part of making this project, and the resulting touched lives, a reality.<br />
<img alt="Greg 28" border="0" height="266" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-OW3vT6Mx6wo/VvMSKGS8liI/AAAAAAAAAzk/VMNVNDSQrRo/Greg%252520%25252828%252529.jpg?imgmax=1600" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Greg (28).jpg" width="400" />gregoriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07493011471903895803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32048070.post-41479488569752842552016-01-26T13:57:00.001-07:002016-01-26T14:03:06.052-07:00A New Home, A New Life<img alt="Angkor" border="0" height="266" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ow2eTe_u2RE/VqfdxiuPonI/AAAAAAAAAzE/TP2N8C-5uBY/Angkor.jpg?imgmax=800" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Angkor.jpg" width="400" /><br />
<strong>The History.</strong> Ratanak International has been ministering and providing compassion in post-genocide Cambodia for 25 years with a diverse collection of medical, agricultural and literacy programs, along with a particular focus on one of the most disadvantaged and traumatized segments of Cambodian society - young women trafficked and sold into the sex trade.<br />
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<strong>The Vision.</strong> After working almost exclusively with girls and young women rescued out the domestic sex trade, Ratanak is has now established a new program and is constructing a facility designed to provide a safe, live-in reintegration home for older girls and women being repatriated back to Cambodia after having been trafficked internationally.<br />
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<strong>The Project. </strong>Ratanak International has approached eMi to design a secure home for its RAP (Ratanak Achievement Program) for those escaping a life of abuse. It is where assessments will be conducted and where residents will receive an education, job and life skills training, enabling them to live independent and stable lives. This new centre will also be Ratanak's “home base”, containing administrative, counselling, and program offices from which it’s work at the forefront of the human trafficking challenge in Cambodia can grow.<br />
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<img alt="Ratanak" border="0" height="400" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4s-5Dsl5lj4/Vqfdwwe97BI/AAAAAAAAAzA/0BnjROB50xg/Ratanak.png?imgmax=800" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Ratanak.png" width="267" /><br />
<b>More Information. </b>To visit Ratanak’s website to read more about their work, click <a href="http://ratanak.org/projects/exploitation/">here</a>.<br />
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Please keep us in prayer as we travel in the air and on the ground first in the capital Phnom Penh and later in Siem Reap, centre of Ratanak’s upcountry work.<br />
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Thank you to all our supporters and friends who make it possible for me to serve with eMi in this way!gregoriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07493011471903895803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32048070.post-16020307686885960022015-03-04T17:14:00.001-07:002015-03-04T17:22:01.188-07:00Caring for Abandoned Babies<strong>Impact Ministries.</strong> For more than a decade Impact Ministries has been furthering education, providing local health services and establishing churches in communities around the town of Tactic in rural Guatemala. Today, some of the teachers and administrators of these schools are themselves graduates of these schools. And while education and medical care have been the key development components of Impact Ministries, one major need has not been addressed: the need to care for abandoned babies.<br />
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<img alt="Impact 2 1" border="0" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-N_hvZ-q5qVA/VPef0g1TpwI/AAAAAAAAAvE/FwULSc36mbE/Impact%2525202%252520%2525281%252529.jpg?imgmax=800" height="266" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Impact 2 (1).jpg" width="400" /><br />
<strong>The Challenge. </strong>Extreme poverty and already large family sizes have resulted in newborn babies being abandoned at hospitals (or even thrown out with the trash) once the mom has given birth. These babies enter the care of Guatemala’s social services with no guarantee of proper care, a chance for adoption or access to proper education and future opportunities. So in 2013, Impact Ministries assembled a committee to develop a proposal for an orphanage. In the fall of 2014, a parcel of land was purchased for the orphanage and immediately, eMi was contacted about providing a design team. On February 6th of 2015, our team of 13 arrived in Guatemala City and after resting their for one evening, made our way to Tactic.<br />
<img alt="Impact 22" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcfphNAOcUdD_S1LNPvFGlHHTT_YwiprfDmmYBC8G4dBgYcnIPA9v0Qr7Md2MT-I-8ezfdfdLjSKZzpwWRt5_OXkAUHVbC1edB6L56GAbpLuJ9tNZTeVXgpcRluixfjx6Mk3CZtQ/?imgmax=800" height="87" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Impact 22.jpg" width="400" /><br />
<strong>Getting Started. </strong>Walking the land and simply getting to know Impact Ministries were our first tasks. Context is everything so we listened intently as we learned about the Guatemalan culture, witnessed the every day life of families, discovered the rules and regulations that govern the care of abandoned children and connected personally with the Guatemalan members of Impact Ministry’s Orphanage Committee.<br />
<img alt="Impact 38" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOpA2dgCiwijHyuUOu1pXOFlTLksCBAXgGJt286dxg-3p723XjkMti78NWaeDhAb7dej4xnPwN4zOaIega8q27FPjZYQfKiBzoqVx50Fm9ewTsFtC-mQmWota0R3SGST4A5pkSoQ/?imgmax=800" height="264" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Impact 38.jpg" width="400" /><br />
<strong>Meeting the Kids. </strong>Morning devotion at 7:00 am at an Impact Ministries school was where we met students and heard their stories. In Canada we joke about walking miles barefoot through snow to school but for many of the children, if not for the one pair of shoes they receive through child-sponsorship, they would indeed walk barefoot for miles to school, through rain and mud from their small shack home on a distant hill. And yet they smile big toothy smiles, express their thanks to God for their school, worship with songs sung at the top of their voices and give us bear hugs around our waist in thanks for coming from afar so that orphans, children even worse off than they, could be cared for.<br />
<img alt="Impact 66" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaYkd2PySqeMcu6TGHb3AF3xXWxvi27EELhlpeszQhwyXY052cHudsd5AwfQWt6Da-V4ATdWY9XNZpWAg4e8evwXUYgAOqZlrAAro43CoTTOZDfynVceBx_9_5wbgeotb4w-tRbQ/?imgmax=800" height="299" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Impact 66.jpg" width="400" /><br />
<strong>My Travel Buddy</strong>. Having Cameron with me on this trip was special. In 2011 Caitlin came to Haiti with me and now it was Cam’s turn. Cam and I have been travel buddies to his soccer tournaments for years. But this trip was for him to see what dad does; the reason we left family and friends behind in Vancouver ten years ago to join eMi in Calgary. If he was nervous, he didn’t let on…too much.<br />
<img alt="Impact 42" border="0" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-KdhyWvwZDuY/VPef5QD1opI/AAAAAAAAAvs/DE7CK6Te7X8/Impact%25252042.jpg?imgmax=800" height="400" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Impact 42.jpg" width="264" /><br />
<strong>Lay of the Land.</strong> Land surveying is a demanding job. It is physical and conditions change with the weather (hot/cold/wet/dry), terrain (hilly/flat) and plant cover (trees/brush). Tactic is hilly and cool but for most of our time there, it remained dry. Hiking boots and fleece is not usually a part of Cam’s “urban” wear but he was a great sport, never complained and became a solid help to David, navigating tough terrain and standing still despite the many spiders he encountered along the way. Dad stopped by every once in a while to provide a "beef jerky break”.<br />
<img alt="Impact 32" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieax1ROSdMH56kgu865Lpcl1j0VUwBBUPBqhUlhorApiXVHur1DBUfdjutziiEozFWf1IgCT6VPhSff6S-6lsNcMKpnaVJGTr74wrlCb6o-Usrr77QVuIr2uKwcLWXdqQeS26kJQ/?imgmax=800" height="266" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Impact 32.jpg" width="400" /><br />
<strong>The Orphanage Committee.</strong> The Committee is made up of mostly Guatemalans who are already involved with Impact Ministries but who also have a burden in their heart to care for abandoned babies. Sandra, a member of our team who also attends Foothills Alliance Church (my home church) in Calgary, is a many-time volunteer with Impact Ministries. She has also been on the Orphanage Committee and so became both a catalyst for our conversations as well as our team’s translator of both language and culture. We had both an envisioning meeting as well as a follow-up meeting during the week with the Orphanage Committee. By week’s end at the Final Presentation, what they saw presented was a weaving of ideas from both the eMi team and the Orphanage Committee.<br />
<img alt="Impact 4 1" border="0" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-sflGmIHTxS0/VPef7dMuBfI/AAAAAAAAAv8/6ctrIn0xiME/Impact%2525204%252520%2525281%252529.jpg?imgmax=800" height="266" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Impact 4 (1).jpg" width="400" /><br />
<strong>It’s About the Kids.</strong> The eMi team proposed a phased development, a master plan that unfolds as the children grow and Impact Ministries welcomes a few more children into its care each year. Each year new house parents are trained and the land that is now quiet will come to life. Community will grow and together, children and house parents will dwell in the goodness and sufficiency of Christ; in Him they have hope and life and in Him they will represent this hope and life to their community and far beyond.<br />
<img alt="Impact 1 1" border="0" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-xvd9Ib7Uysw/VPef8pmNkXI/AAAAAAAAAwE/ake_2I1o13k/Impact%2525201%252520%2525281%252529.jpg?imgmax=800" height="266" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Impact 1 (1).jpg" width="400" /><br />
<strong>Final Presentation.</strong> Our Final Presentation was held on a Saturday morning following six days of master planning, surveying, designing and redesigning building layouts, digging & watering soakage pits, analyzing water & power supply distribution and establishing a structural design approach to combat earthquakes. Whew! When we see tears...of joy…in the eyes of those we came to serve, we are thankful and relieved. God is good!<br />
<img alt="Tactic Commons Ext 2 13" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8v_mkgW8rY5M_OPa-SdarXpGNDxNycgx4Kx9fcXXlUS3Un1Pp04FL2ZE9q6VT4tGJfkNM8ZQ0x2gUFDU0g5nMcfBuuKNbhVYL0ZDFk09f_3ZE_zPQG6WJKLjvcgvKcibgKhQqJQ/?imgmax=800" height="217" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Tactic Commons Ext 2.13.jpg" width="400" /><br />
<strong>A Final Thought.</strong> For our debriefing time, souvenir shopping and general winding down day we ended our week with a couple nights in Antigua, the old capital of Guatemala. Quaint and picturesque though it was, it was impossible to miss the evidence of forced colonial rule, syncretic beliefs and clashing cultures: colourful, laid-back latin ambience set against an imposed order, a rigid grid of streets. But I realize that this represents me as well because I too am a mixture of brokeness and hope, a story of what was, what is becoming and what could be. Although our past may be unalterable, our future is not set, our stories are not complete. I’m glad this part of my journey included my son, good friends and an opportunity to serve an amazing ministry and the beautiful people of Guatemala.<br />
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<strong>Photos.</strong> A new set of annotated photos has been placed in my Flickr Photo Gallery with various options to view it. If you want to browse the set, click <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/theyoungsatemi/sets/72157651080220246/">here</a>.<br />
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<strong>Thank you</strong> to all who make this work possible through your encouragement, prayer and financial support; you have been a part of making this project, and the resulting touched lives, a reality.gregoriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07493011471903895803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32048070.post-82238140944160094782015-01-23T11:48:00.002-07:002015-01-23T11:48:38.886-07:00Homes For Kids With Impact<br />
<b><span style="color: #b45f06;">From schools to homes.</span></b> Impact Ministries has spent more than a decade establishing rural schools and agricultural programs, bringing healthcare and planting churches in rural Guatemala. All the while they have been training and employing Guatemalan teachers, farmers, pastors and administrators.<br />
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In recent years they have seen their students graduate and find employment or attend university, some returning to become teachers for the next generation. Now, after two years of planning, they have the land and resources to address a long-known need, establishing an orphanage to care for abandoned children in poor, rural Guatemala. The task for our eMi team will be to master plan this new property and design the first facilities, a “baby house”, along with all the required water supply, sanitation and power infrastructure.<br />
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<a href="https://lh6.ggpht.com/-dlmOq3LxOsI/VMKQP0wcsBI/AAAAAAAAAuM/f8MKwecED-0/Tactic%252520%2525282%252529.jpg?imgmax=800" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Tactic 2" border="0" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-dlmOq3LxOsI/VMKQP0wcsBI/AAAAAAAAAuM/f8MKwecED-0/Tactic%252520%2525282%252529.jpg?imgmax=800" height="224" style="display: block;" title="Tactic (2).jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<b><span style="color: #b45f06;">Back to Central America.</span></b> This will be my first project lead in Central America and my first project in a Spanish speaking country since serving in Honduras as an eMi volunteer 12 years ago, when Julie joined me for an eMi project experience. This is eMi Canada’s second project with Impact Ministries (the first was a school exactly 10 years ago) and my home church in Calgary has many ties to Impact Ministries so I’m excited to be serving a ministry that in many ways is both “close to home” and a wonderful example of “walking alongside”; encouraging, enabling and growing the capacity of the local Guatemalan people.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5376_FfgmrG8D1gYuFirTV5QC46AKR1q_qIio1BZ4zU7LRNjrvHGdY0QvMkO4JVEXSBR0WrhIvWWPH8CNRU94QtsPKqSyFRgX0K_qj9GnnZnno4-5mmxXN72_Jkj4mWYo6_Ojug/?imgmax=800" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Tactic 1" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5376_FfgmrG8D1gYuFirTV5QC46AKR1q_qIio1BZ4zU7LRNjrvHGdY0QvMkO4JVEXSBR0WrhIvWWPH8CNRU94QtsPKqSyFRgX0K_qj9GnnZnno4-5mmxXN72_Jkj4mWYo6_Ojug/?imgmax=800" height="224" style="display: block;" title="Tactic (1).jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<b><span style="color: #b45f06;">Added Bonus.</span></b> An added element of joy and excitement is that Cameron, my 15 year old son, will join me for an eMi project trip for the first time. He and I have been looking forward to this since Caitlin (now 17) joined me for a project in Haiti in 2011. As part of the team Cameron will join the survey crew to document the 40 acre parcel of land. He will also have a chance to interact with the local children...especially looking forward to playing soccer with them!<br />
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To read more about this eMi project click <a href="http://www.emicanada.org/projects/projectprofile_10050.shtml" target="_blank">here</a>. To visit the Impact Ministries website click <a href="http://www.impactministries.ca/" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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Please keep us in prayer as we travel in the air and on the ground in rural Guatemala and also remember all team member families while we are away. Thank you to all our supporters and friends who make it possible for me to do this work!
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Our team had an awesome time and learned a lot about God’s work in the communities we visited. We had opportunities to be involved in many different ministries like when our team organized and led a children’s program using balloon animals, face painting and fingernail painting. We also unloaded Operation Christmas Child [OCC] shoeboxes from a container and did a distribution of the shoeboxes and also Toms shoes.<br />
<img alt="TeamwithKids" border="0" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-Fkcr4v6ssKU/U8_EA7nhfNI/AAAAAAAAAsA/ZINOmAaMYvc/TeamwithKids.jpg?imgmax=800" height="300" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="TeamwithKids.jpg" width="225" /><br />
The majority of the work we did was on a construction site, pouring concrete to create bleacher seating for a local school’s future gym. A few of us also put on an anti-bullying presentation at that same school.<br />
<img alt="Team" border="0" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-Kwe4rIRQhas/U8_EBnMxjaI/AAAAAAAAAsM/0H0whHtXGfY/Team.jpg?imgmax=800" height="225" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Team.jpg" width="350" /><br />
During this trip, I was impacted by the willingness of the people to serve the Lord in their community and their sense of gratitude for the things they had as well as the things they received from us. I am so thankful for the people who supported me on this journey. Their generosity and sacrifice blessed me and the people of Costa Rica.gregoriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07493011471903895803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32048070.post-52400013599795932372014-03-14T12:58:00.001-06:002014-03-15T00:07:05.866-06:00A School to Give Children a Chance<img alt="Foothills 294" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD2slbGIZ8eIIJdgn229vIw0rbStrRrT9TAROz0IiXJvt7sBCHRLkigDZ4puh4vo104N2voBC82ozOea8W7qVnnq3FVJkjql_crpCbuErVcy3EtgIpsZQLpL17NTshHsHSsV_vbQ/?imgmax=800" height="236" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Foothills 294.jpg" width="500" /><br />
<strong>STEP. </strong> The Society for Transformation, Education and Progress (STEP) was established by second-generation Indian Christians in Odisha state, a part of India that is very hostile to the Gospel. In fact, in 1999 a Christian missionary, Graham Staines, who had spent many years establishing schools and community development projects was burnt alive along with his two sons in their car. But from that tragedy the Indians whose lives were positively touched by their efforts established STEP to carry on the work of the Staines to love the people of this region.<br />
<img alt="Foothills 302" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG5k7nmFM0x9eP4HDulRVIuALcGQcli84-WnZKYDZxC-qoVCh5VP0dyZov-NZawrl1x822E4QHOO1m7f4NS6Nh4Co7T75OgQmnbMjzl-CRSUf7CnhebXxcNb1HcHTAUwX3EKlTOg/?imgmax=800" height="275" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Foothills 302.jpg" width="500" /><br />
<strong>The Location.</strong> In early February our team of seven, with team members who call Canada, USA, Scotland and India (Delhi) home, arrived by SUV into the rural village of Hatigarh, five hours north of Bhubaneswar, the state capital of Odisha. In this village off the beaten track from the main highway, most houses are built with traditional mud brick, mud plastered walls and grass roofs. Our task was to design a K-7 school, some children’s residences for those who live too far to walk to school and housing for staff and teachers.<br />
<img alt="Foothills 297" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4RmmRh0QGQwquW4VzWtVlxCYxHYUEYohtmYkfoqk5ntq5r8l9MwECbKcrt8q4k9HLvxdpmPdN0VspPzD70fn9OgutirzIOQQai1aN_zE9LNIjZJPPomCeOyixgdbb0jKIUujDzw/?imgmax=800" height="278" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Foothills 297.jpg" width="500" /><br />
<strong>The School. </strong> The goal of STEP in building this school is to provide over 500 rural children from families of all castes and religions a chance to receive a good education and have hope for the future. Children in this very disadvantaged area of Odisha in eastern India attend public schools where it is common to find 100 students in each class. So one vision is to build a school with affordable tuition (even public schools charge fees for books and uniforms) where classes will be 35 students per teacher.<br />
<img alt="Foothills 301" border="0" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-25AbX1r8qmE/UyNRUhZkENI/AAAAAAAAAq8/-N3-_G-VmfU/Foothills%252520301.jpg?imgmax=800" height="244" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Foothills 301.jpg" width="500" /><br />
<strong>Sewing Class. </strong> STEP also recognizes that vocational training and employment opportunities are very hard to find in a place where most families rely on subsistence farming on small plots of land. So STEP started a sewing school for women. Our team was able to not only attend the graduation of the first sewing class but we were invited to the opening of a tailor shop so the women would have employment. I was given the immense privilege of cutting the ribbon!<br />
<img alt="Foothills 300" border="0" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-sr-MHhKLCYI/UyNRVXrQuqI/AAAAAAAAArE/VP1gEh0H80w/Foothills%252520300.jpg?imgmax=800" height="282" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Foothills 300.jpg" width="500" /><br />
<strong>Love of Jesus. </strong> At the root of all their efforts STEP is motivated by love; their love for God and for the people of India. While the school and all vocational training opportunities are open to all faiths and castes, it is no secret that living out the love of Jesus is a foundational motivation for the work of STEP. And the people are not complaining. Certainly not the ladies in the first graduation class who gladly told us with joy how their new skills and employment would greatly help their family and how much they looked forward to having a school of quality for their children.<br />
<img alt="Foothills 303" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGcXCopQfe2HMUW3TTnQF6RKUcMnfgTHEuya3wV30MKygsKJKjXp2biCJT8Yp-_OsjhsvQx6MY8NEdxPQriIDNuJtfl3A2wBAdWb77qYhVRC119jl0Y-0FiJ0d6cm1qtYdn6XD-A/?imgmax=800" height="313" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Foothills 303.jpg" width="500" /><br />
<strong>Our Work.</strong> On the long, narrow STEP property (until they acquire more land for Phase 2) we developed a school with a multi-purpose auditorium and a library, both of which will not only serve the school but the community as well. India requires all school children to receive one meal each day at school so there is a cafeteria and of course, open space for the children to play.<br />
<img alt="Foothills 299" border="0" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-6_VlScuo5Ec/UyNRWt00BoI/AAAAAAAAArU/Up01Jd8mRbo/Foothills%252520299.jpg?imgmax=800" height="245" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Foothills 299.jpg" width="500" /><br />
Further into the property will be residences for teachers and staff adjacent to medical clinic. At the rear of the property will be STEP’s guesthouse and boarding residences for children who live to far to walk to school each day.<br />
<img alt="PrimarySW" border="0" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-QhziknqK5Es/UyNRXN_h8YI/AAAAAAAAArc/e4UzcBS_ugE/PrimarySW.jpg?imgmax=800" height="265" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="PrimarySW.jpg" width="500" /><br />
<strong>Project Photos.</strong> A new project video has been added to the right-side menu and a new set of annotated photos has been placed in my Photo Gallery with various options to view it. If you want to browse the set, click <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/theyoungsatemi/sets/72157641831148104/">here</a>. If you want to see the titles and read the captions of each photo, click <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/theyoungsatemi/12915859984/in/set-72157641831148104/">here</a>.<br />
<img alt="StuSEV" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGMg8xaVEtBGwAiu28WnVVN5m0VMYlVQfGSE4siMDl8nVgmGX1JSTCJJkrbhLA-Qi1KZR9hboWSi0o9NzfiYOw17poDf38dtIrLn8rGDlCNqGBLuvkYYkl1V3tmKbyBmDkZyyh8Q/?imgmax=800" height="228" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="StuSEV.jpg" width="500" /><br />
<strong>Thank you</strong> to all who make this work possible through your encouragement, prayer and financial support; you have been a part of making this project, and the resulting touched lives, a reality.gregoriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07493011471903895803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32048070.post-28568572847268201382014-01-07T16:30:00.001-07:002014-01-07T16:33:45.534-07:00Children's School and Home in India<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><strong>The Ministry.</strong></span> STEP exists to impact people (Society) with the gospel (Transformation), knowledge (Education) and hope for social mobility (Progress).<br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><strong>The Need.</strong></span> Government schools are located in larger centres and in poorer states, even when they exist they often provide very poor quality of education. The poor are unable to afford school fees or the transportation costs when they live in remote villages. Compounding the issue is if a family is from a lower caste as they are highly discriminated against.<br />
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<img alt="Cropped cropped INDIA NEPAL 2008 C 399" border="0" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/--xE2IZWbGEM/UsyOAd40P4I/AAAAAAAAApk/wPTPYkDTPW8/cropped-cropped-INDIA-NEPAL-2008-C-399.jpg?imgmax=800" height="100" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="cropped-cropped-INDIA-NEPAL-2008-C-399.jpg" width="400" /><br />
<strong>The Solution. </strong> STEP seeks to break down class and economic barriers to education and opportunity. Their goal is to positively touch the lives of destitute children and their families regardless of their income or social standing…and regardless is the child is a boy or a girl. In fact, their website explicitly states that special consideration will be given to girls and those from persecuted groups due to their vulnerability. Children who attend this school from families with more finances will subsidize children from poor families through school scholarships.<br />
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<strong>eMi Involvement.</strong> Our team of engineers and architects will be designing a K-7 school as well as a residence for 100 children who’s families live too far away and who do not have daily transportation options. No status (high or low caste) will be maintained and children of any caste will learn and live together.<br />
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To read more about this eMi project click <a href="http://www.emicanada.org/projects/projectprofile_10042.shtml">here</a>. To visit the STEP website click <a href="http://www.stepministriesindia.com/">here</a>.<br />
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Please keep us in prayer as we travel in the air and on the ground and also remember all team member families as we are away for this project. Thank you to all our supporters and friends who make it possible for me to do this work.gregoriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07493011471903895803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32048070.post-41854308749771125342013-06-20T17:50:00.001-06:002013-07-04T22:36:32.965-06:00The Hope of a New Home<strong>The Place.</strong> Haiti has come a long way since January 2011 when a massive earthquake rocked this small Caribbean nation. Slowly but surely the slabs of broken concrete have been chipped to rubble, mostly by hand, and carted away and reconstruction began soon after in the midst of sprawling tent cities. Street clearing programs established to remove mountains of rubble have transitioned into street cleaning programs, with a noticeable positive effect on the look and feel in many parts of the city.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3t-qQ8WxKlkDysPU9nQpStIuXY1x3NNvk-wSSbBUeex4kf93Ovt4WHBWu6Qd5JCX3Mch9e1FVqqpimpqh634W-R1iklHqsqe3TYnkbzlsjqnIL-poMQJBTScoIZrsR_SzG0sV3A/s1600/DSCN1966.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3t-qQ8WxKlkDysPU9nQpStIuXY1x3NNvk-wSSbBUeex4kf93Ovt4WHBWu6Qd5JCX3Mch9e1FVqqpimpqh634W-R1iklHqsqe3TYnkbzlsjqnIL-poMQJBTScoIZrsR_SzG0sV3A/s1600/DSCN1966.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Driving through Port au Prince</td></tr>
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<strong>Resilience and Faith.</strong> The people of Haiti are resilient. Surviving 200 years of bitter living conditions first under colonialism and even through independence, from one corrupt leader to another, it often seems little is left but to be resilient. But there is more going on then is first easily seen. From its voodoo past, Haiti is slowly transforming into a hopeful country. Many decades of Christian missions, embodied in often small scale neighbourhood level efforts, provides a marked counter-point to the despair and discontent one might expect to find.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="DSCN1946" border="0" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-82phtBIsZ1s/UcOVQIxd8SI/AAAAAAAAAn4/Wmo0q882m4I/DSCN1946.jpg?imgmax=800" height="266" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="DSCN1946.jpg" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Children from Life is Hope 'B' greeting us in song</td></tr>
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<strong>Hope.</strong> It is true: many (if not most) missions have the word "hope" in their names. So many, in fact, that one can hardly be faulted for getting their names mixed up. But hope is in there for a reason, because Christian missions, when done well in a culturally sensitive, patient, "long perspective" way brings hope not just for education, jobs and material betterment but hope to the soul as well.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="DSC0047 Version 2" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS13nQIpKGq7iBleVS1tfeBE9_p5khxiCaKQbpVCQJy7rhs98mNFoGklxxInowMHJfcOZLNT9ASjc8mQ1Md9LSLKQoW4G-bqOJ1URIeLfTHV8H1nM_NtjIMlLq6_vMyZ3nA7iOvg/?imgmax=800" height="365" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_DSC0047 - Version 2.jpg" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The current conditions in the rented home are more crowded than ideal</td></tr>
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<strong>Life is Hope Orphanage. </strong> This orphanage was started by Haitian pastor Jean Larochel as a response to orphaned children, not necessarily of parents who have passed away but of parents unable to feed, house and care for them. Through no fault of their own these children face the potential of abandonment but often worse; becoming indentured servants to other, slightly better off households willing to buy their services. These children (often referred to as "restaveks", Creole for the French "reste avec" or "to stay with") seldom get schooling, are often abused and receive the worst morsels of food in often already poor households. These children grow up with little hope for a productive future…but Pastor Jean wants to change that.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="DSCF2175" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH_wY_UfvnvUbKDmYId3QN7ndCdPfDFEcgld9ceY6hUvJ3dVMKvbgTsWE7oo_pmhIjbKHcUTcgPJkhS9PBLOX0laWbVIypHIiTqr3oT9xh4ZcFgt7jeCG_F21px2VRvITAVqG-wg/?imgmax=800" height="300" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="DSCF2175.JPG" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our first meeting listening and learning about the Life if Hope vision from Pastor Jean Larochel</td></tr>
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<strong>A Place to Call Home.</strong> Life is Hope Orphanage was established before the earthquake and quickly grew in numbers after the earthquake. Almost 170 children now live in two rented facilities but these are not suited or large enough for the children. Renting is also an unstable situation, with tenants suffering at the whim of landlords. So Praying Pelican Missions has come alongside to help by purchasing a parcel of land and inviting eMi to master plan their property.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Haiti 133" border="0" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-7cOIF_n3pvo/UcOVT1awqzI/AAAAAAAAAoY/cLU38AsMa-8/Haiti%252520133.jpg?imgmax=800" height="266" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Haiti 133.jpg" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rod, our civil engineer conducting the survey chats with a boy from the neighbourhood</td></tr>
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<strong>Re-uniting Families. </strong> But while we were tasked to design an orphanage, a loving and caring home for such children, the intent is not for these children to be adopted away from Haiti. In fact, a major goal is to reunite them with their birth families. But the only way to achieve this is if the parents can be able to afford to take them back. So the orphanage is step one, the next step in Pastor Jean's vision include providing vocational training for adults, many of them the parents of these children. Another part of the vision is to establish a school and community centre, where children receive a good education and families come to build community.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="IMG 2445" border="0" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-X13O12SdVUE/UcOVU2kowCI/AAAAAAAAAog/8pySoWg714E/IMG_2445.jpg?imgmax=800" height="266" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="IMG_2445.jpg" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our team at work and in discussions with Pastor Jean during our week of work</td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32048070" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><strong>Baby Steps First.</strong> But the first step is to build the orphanage and an adjacent guesthouse. This guesthouse will provide visiting teams (such as eMi!) a place to stay but also become a funding source for the orphanage and a place where skill and job training can happen.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Site 4" border="0" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-i0o_kxfWx7w/UcOVWMs33vI/AAAAAAAAAoo/jQRTViIjVJE/Site-4.jpg?imgmax=800" height="185" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Site-4.jpg" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SketchUp model of the proposed orphanage (foreground) and guesthouse</td></tr>
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<strong>Project Photos.</strong> A new project video has been added to the right-side menu and a new set of annotated photos has been placed in my Photo Gallery with various options to view it. If you want to browse the set, click <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/theyoungsatemi/sets/72157634208569942/">here</a>. If you want to see the titles and read the captions of each photo, click <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/theyoungsatemi/9081192828/in/set-72157634208569942">here</a>.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="4 ISO 1stFLR" border="0" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-0wDtHBQdHgc/UcOVX2LSkSI/AAAAAAAAAo4/Cg6howQpkWE/4-ISO%252520-%2525201stFLR.jpg?imgmax=800" height="186" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="4-ISO - 1stFLR.jpg" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cut-away of the ground level of the orphanage</td></tr>
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<strong>Thank you</strong> to all who have made this work possible through your financial support, encouragement and prayer; you have been a part of making this project, and the resulting touched lives, a reality.gregoriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07493011471903895803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32048070.post-69618137633320576702013-05-24T16:58:00.001-06:002013-05-24T17:03:03.905-06:00Life is Hope Orphanage - Haiti<strong>The Ministry.</strong> In the days following the January 2010 earthquake, few orphanages in Haiti escaped a swell in the number of children they cared for. Such was the case for <a href="http://www.lifeishopesouth.org/">Life is Hope Orphanage</a> in the neighbourhood of Croix des Bouquets on the eastern edge of Port au Prince, the capital city. With 100 children living where there was formerly 60 and with the realization that few families were able or even alive to claim the children, the orphanage began to make plans to better care for the children.<br />
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<strong>A Partner.</strong> As a ministry operating under a family of Haitian Baptist churches, Life is Hope Orphanage received hope for its future when church leaders invited an American missions organization called <a href="http://www.prayingpelicanmissions.org/">Praying Pelican</a> to become involved. Praying Pelican is an organization that arranges short term mission opportunities for American churches and so began a relationship where mission teams began to visit Life is Hope Orphanage to help meet some of their needs.<br />
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<img alt="Featuredpic" border="0" height="185" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-DpaZmPCNcXE/UZ_wdd9sGKI/AAAAAAAAAng/hyz6sDi3Nxc/featuredpic.jpg?imgmax=800" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="featuredpic.jpg" width="400" /><br />
<strong>The Need. </strong> It didn't take long to realize that the current facilities of the orphanage had become inadequate to house and feed the children and have adequate facilities to provide schooling for all the children. The leader of Life is Hope Orphanage, Pastor Jean Larochel, began to search for land to purchase and found it on the northeast edge of Port au Prince. These underdeveloped land was spacious but had no services and utilities; it became clear that a construction project with little in-house understanding of planning and construction would be a great challenge to overcome.<br />
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<strong>eMi Canada Comes Aboard.</strong> eMi Canada first received an email inquiry from a Board member of Life is Hope in November 2012. After further emails, phone calls and a completed eMi Canada Project Application, the project was approved to receive an eMi team. I will be jumping in to help with the architectural design, leading a team with two interns (U of Manitoba, Ball State) and volunteers that will include an architect (North Carolina), an electrical engineer (Saskatchewan), a structural engineer (California), two civil engineers (Illinois and New York) along with two spouses who will join us to help the team and spend time at the orphanage.<br />
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<img alt="IMG 5252" border="0" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaplqTWMumaXNCGim1KsQeaokcCbf63N1c7gtxwOyOdobD_fs19j7Hc2zcf6oNy4ll6CmgGArGbvWpms4gjGrbr8J0z1-t72QZiAkCPFVLs8hTLfnBfHwJEwIapW-gHbU-ONuYRw/?imgmax=800" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="IMG_5252.jpg" width="400" /><br />
<strong>The Project. </strong> eMi Canada will be there to develop a master plan, design all the facilities needed house, feed and care for the children. Also, there will be enough land for school buildings and a guesthouse for visiting teams. As donations are raised to purchase more land, Life is Hope has a vision to build adjacent vocational training facilities so as the children grow up, they can be taught practical skills of a trade.<br />
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To read more about the project on the eMi Canada website click here: <a href="http://www.emicanada.org/projects/projectprofile_10038.shtml">Project 10038 - Life is Hope Orphanage</a><br />
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Please keep us in prayer as we travel in the air one the ground and also remember all team member families as we are away for this project. Thank you to all our supporters and friends who are making it possible for me to do this work. I will update this blog as I am able in Haiti but for sure will provide a follow-up upon our return.gregoriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07493011471903895803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32048070.post-28105517563690469522013-03-15T16:33:00.001-06:002013-03-15T22:10:21.334-06:00Building a Bigger Vision<strong>Hot and Muggy.</strong> The climate on the west coast of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) did not slow the pace of our work. Thoughts for a reworked master plan came quick as we had twice-a-day meetings with senior school administrators while our intrepid survey crew toiled in the heat, their only consolation being a beautiful view down toward the historical city of Boma and its surrounding hilly landscape, stretching out below the series of ridges on which our project location was perched.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="DR Congo Feb 2013 274" border="0" height="137" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-qNj6blWEEBA/UUOhhSAi8fI/AAAAAAAAAl4/AkPLMOblTjA/DR%252520Congo%252520Feb%2525202013%252520274.jpg?imgmax=800" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="DR Congo Feb 2013 274.jpg" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking west toward Boma below and the Atlantic Ocean beyond.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong>Phase 1.</strong> In 2008 eMi sent a team to FACTEB Bible Seminary to re-master plan and extend the life of an aging campus, anticipating a future pastoral training population of 300 students. Along with the new master plan the team designed a new Library/Classroom building and a quadplex for married students with families. This standardized design was intended to be used several times to eventually replace several aging and poorly service residences.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="IGP0510" border="0" height="285" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-juOleSDnpZU/UUOhif00CoI/AAAAAAAAAmA/rGIG_FyML0E/_IGP0510.jpg?imgmax=800" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_IGP0510.jpg" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Almost complete quadplex designed by eMi in 2008.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong>Phase 2.</strong> In February 2013 our second team now visited the same campus for Phase 2, knowing that the campus had been renamed University of the Alliance in Congo (UAC), to recognize two new programs; business management and IT management/technical services). With this new, broadened vision for the university the anticipated campus population on any given day almost tripled in size. As we listened to the expanded vision of the school, it was a great encouragement to learn that in its first year implementing pilot courses, the new classes have already become very popular and well attended.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="IGP0565" border="0" height="266" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-xt5feoPWO6c/UUOhjnvafEI/AAAAAAAAAmI/orl65tM_MMw/_IGP0565.jpg?imgmax=800" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_IGP0565.jpg" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meeting with senior campus administrators.</td></tr>
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<strong>Progress.</strong> The ground floor of the new Library is operational with classrooms at this time and the first quadplex is nearly complete. When eMi was invited back to design Phase 2 the priority was to tweak the master plan for more classrooms, provide direction for the renovation of a large, decrepit Meeting Hall building and revisit power and sanitation requirements throughout the campus.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="IGP0574" border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAMtQGWKf5xtupddtCtIwO4iElDHeZV11GhgmYaP0SXleyv6ql1WMoEhuPmNMj98sHw5HODY_U1j6IR7K2piTWdw09oGYVC-URXz_PXv0y-WjHIpSPgSXtkO2glfOMok8GP_pNdg/?imgmax=800" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_IGP0574.jpg" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lower portion of new library designed by eMi in 2008. Upper level are classrooms.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong>Family Hospitality.</strong> Not only was the school administration excited to receive the eMi team but we were given a formal greeting by the student body who sang and danced their welcome to us. What an honour and how truly humbling it was! Each day as we walked the campus we were greeted with big smiles and accepted as a part of the campus family. So when our work of surveying, investigations and meetings was complete, we left a community that had embraced us and welcomed our partnership.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="VID 20130205 00008" border="0" height="240" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-Ku9Ic8m99sA/UUOhlQybuUI/AAAAAAAAAmY/7F2AwCN1cPI/VID-20130205-00008.jpg?imgmax=800" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="VID-20130205-00008.jpg" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We are formally greeted by students and faculty with song and dance.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong>Sensitivity.</strong> Many of the students who will train at the University of the Alliance in Congo will never travel to Canada or the United States. Most will never step foot on a university campus here and while we do not wish to impose our opinions, aesthetic or cultural baggage on UAC, we will pray that what we do bring as a design resource will transfer the best of what we have learned to their learning environment so UAC will become a thriving place of learning, discovery and discipleship.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="IGP0791" border="0" height="264" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-6ZxAXrHXk7c/UUOhmsLRgqI/AAAAAAAAAmg/3TwBRX57mbU/_IGP0791.jpg?imgmax=800" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="_IGP0791.jpg" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Final presentation of our remaster plan and building designs.</td></tr>
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<strong>Final Presentation.</strong> The presentation was not a typical one (what's really "typical" at eMi?). The "presentation" was gathering around a supper table with the former Rector Dr. Kenzo and his wife Lau and two senior administrators. We shared our vision for the central academic core, a reinvigorated Meeting Hall, proposed how there could be enough classrooms to meet the teaching load and various approaches to increasing faculty and guest housing.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Draft 4" border="0" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhifUO4G4x74rP6CeczVXrqEKGiEpa6KM_LWwSFHpigLTxCkuZsbyJPYoHBNOjkXzvvWLmuRIGL2Ot2luhoTNuY0xDKxfnEMMq7lNgBm8-YtjGCk13oskvmFyncdyJUZkBxjSpP8g/?imgmax=800" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="draft 4.jpg" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Remaster planned academic core of the campus.</td></tr>
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<strong>Next Steps.</strong> The next phase of construction will see the renovation of the Meeting Hall, repurposing of the existing Library building to be classrooms with a second level and flanking faculty office wings. As before we have promised to return to Boma as needed in a few years to review their progress and once again sit down with them to envision the next steps for the campus.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Draft mp" border="0" height="308" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/--bYZPGeVgp0/UUOho4PwnpI/AAAAAAAAAmw/kn2Mdb1rP3M/draft%252520mp.jpg?imgmax=800" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="draft mp.jpg" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">To be renovated Meeting Hall (right) with new Cafeteria/Student Centre (left)</td></tr>
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<strong>Project Photos.</strong> A new set of annotated photos has been placed in my Photo Gallery with various options to view it. If you want to browse the set, click <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/theyoungsatemi/sets/72157632993347931/">here</a>. If you wish to see a slideshow of the photos, click <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/theyoungsatemi/sets/72157632993347931/show/">here.</a> If you want to see the titles and read the captions of each photo, click <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/theyoungsatemi/sets/72157632993347931/detail/">here</a>.<br />
Thank you to all who have contributed to this work through your financial support, encouragement and prayer; you have been a part of making this project, and the resulting touched lives, a reality.gregoriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07493011471903895803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32048070.post-37290864156702318112013-01-30T15:48:00.001-07:002013-01-30T16:10:07.163-07:00New Facilities for Broadening Education<b>I am heading back to the Democratic Republic of Congo</b> on February 2nd with a seven-person eMi team. Not to the north-eastern reaches where ongoing unrest continues with rebel forces but rather to the far west, on the Atlantic shores of Boma, one of the earliest cities settled by Europeans in western Africa. Despite its rich history and stability because of its strategic location by the ocean and its proximity to the capital city Kinshasa inland, the standard of living in the region for many citizens is still quite low.<br />
<img alt="Mother Child" border="0" height="428" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-SqJMOfJww9k/UQmjVfhz05I/AAAAAAAAAlg/Y9sfJe122E8/Mother%252526Child.jpg?imgmax=800" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Mother&Child.jpg" width="400" /><br />
<b><b>Our first team</b> in 2008 </b>prepared a new master plan for FACTEB seminary with the goal to enlarge and enliven the aging campus. To this end the team designed a new <a href="http://www.facteb.org/en/projects/infrastructure/28-new-library-project">library</a> building and <a href="http://www.facteb.org/en/projects/infrastructure/34-married-student-residences">married student housing</a> quadplexes that will eventually replace the current poorly-serviced housing units. The first level of the library is now built and in use, awaiting final funding to complete the upper classroom and faculty office level. The first married student housing building will be completed for occupancy some time in 2013 with more buildings to be constructed as funds become available.<br />
<img alt="Facteb mai 2010 040 1600x1200" border="0" height="300" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-llonLQBEwbg/UQmjTiuqJ3I/AAAAAAAAAlQ/d8Pbpo76ZeE/facteb%252520mai%2525202010%252520040%252520%25255B1600x1200%25255D.JPG?imgmax=800" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="facteb mai 2010 040 [1600x1200].JPG" width="400" /><br />
<b>This Phase 2 Project</b> will revisit the master plan and incorporate new ideas to match the now broader mandate of the school. In the intervening years of our visits, the Congolese leadership decided the school would go beyond seminary training for pastoral vocations to include technical and management training. The school is now to be called the University of the Alliance in Congo (UAC).<br />
<img alt="DSC01625 Kopie" border="0" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGQVuN8T8lg_tyJ03wPG2fBn98H0xgawJZTIvz9FXzuh2M9DlbXSXkWU0rU1HXAKQq400-T3djRx02ODNbZQHV1i3fD6B9VpQ9KrWobJT4sKSdr1xOh6CcrfSfEce-14GQ6GUbJg/?imgmax=800" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="DSC01625 (Kopie).JPG" width="400" /><br />
<b>The new assignment</b> for our team will include designing a new roof for an aging meeting hall to extend its usefulness, designing new faculty and guest housing, designing administration offices and developing plans to replace the large, single-space meeting hall with a multi-purpose, multi-room conference centre. These additional spaces will increase the capacity of UAC to offer a greater range of courses and welcome more guest professors and trainers.<br />
<img alt="Site Plan" border="0" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-15eb2DcSvvA/UQmjWSj6RwI/AAAAAAAAAlo/vOrjO0tOydY/Site%252520Plan.jpg?imgmax=800" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Site Plan.jpg" /><br />
<b>Our team of seven</b> will include an Architect/Campus Planner (Florida), Civil Engineer (California), Structural Engineer (Calgary), CAD Drafter (California), a Civil Engineering Tech student experienced in conducting topographic surveys (Loyalist College, Ontario) and an eMi Intern who is a civil engineering graduate (Cal Tech). Following the project trip we will also have the assistance of an electrical engineer (Kentucky) and a structural designer/drafter (Ohio). What a team!<br />
<br />
To read more about this project on the eMi Canada website click here: <a href="http://www.emicanada.org/projects/projectprofile_10036.shtml">Project 10036: University of the Alliance in Congo</a><br />
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Please keep us in prayer as we travel in the air and on the ground and also remember my family and the families of each of our seven team members as we are away for this project. Thank you to all our supporters and friends who are making it possible for me to do this work. I will update this blog as I am able in the DRC but for sure will provide a follow-up upon our return.gregoriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07493011471903895803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32048070.post-17886345698942913772012-08-23T16:37:00.001-06:002012-08-23T16:37:54.545-06:00Seven full years and counting...<p><strong>Seven Full Years.</strong> August 2012 marks the beginning of my eighth year on staff with eMi Canada and our eighth year in Calgary as a family. From arriving with three young children under 8 to now having two teenagers and from transitioning from my main role as a project leader to becoming eMi Canada's director, to say a lot has happened would truly be an understatement.</p><p>After a slow and challenging start as strangers in a new city, our family now no longer feels alien on this lee side of the Rocky Mountains. From church to school to work to sports & recreational programs, we have established friendships and found community. And in each step the Lord has shown His faithfulness. The hope and strength we find each day to forge this new life away from established friendships and all our family in Vancouver has come from the Lord's promise to always be our Help.</p><p><em>"I lift my eyes up to the mountains, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth." Psalm 121:1-2</em></p><p>We have leaned hard on the Lord in times of loneliness and uncertainty and He was our strength. With that strength we learned to serve, extend friendship and love. And in the Lord's economy, these have been returned to us in ways more abundant than we can imagine or dare to ask.</p><p><strong>Designing a World of Hope.</strong> My role at eMi began as a project leader and although I now wear many more "hats", project work continues to be a significant part of my service with eMi. The teams of interns and volunteers I travel with for projects often start out as a group of strangers but quickly, subtly a transformation happens and these strangers become brothers and sisters, many becoming friends I will value for life.</p><p>For many volunteers their time with eMi fills a special longing to apply their professional skills to missions and so it is that our projects do bless those who serve as well as those being served. And those being served have been many and very diverse:</p><p>- New moms with little education and even fewer means in Niger, on the edge of the Sahara Desert, visiting <a href="http://www.emicanada.org/projects/project_archive/projectprofile_5445.shtml">SIM's Galmi Hospital</a> clinic for newborns and receiving medical attention and an education in nutrition for mother, child and their whole family</p><p>- Children orphaned by AIDS in Cambodia but who have been raised with love and in community at Place of Rescue orphanage who now can live in the <a href="http://emicanada.org/projects/projectprofile_10006.shtml">House of New Dreams</a> transition home in the capital with familiar friends while attending university or attending vocational training</p><p>- Men with little education and few skills to find work to support their families can now attend <a href="http://emicanada.org/projects/projectprofile_10026.shtml">Haiti Arise Vocational Training School</a> and learn a trade, learn English and learn about Jesus so they can take care of their family's many needs</p><p>- Pastors serving in a region hateful of Christians in Patna, India who nonetheless wants to love their neighbours by operating <a href="http://emi2.org/project_trips/projectprofile_8189.shtm">Transform India Movement</a> and <a href="http://emi2.org/project_trips/projectprofile_8188.shtm">Emmanuel Christian Fellowship Centre</a>, provide skills training, education for local children and training local pastors</p><p>These are some of the people for whom we design a world of hope.</p><p><strong>Staying the Course. </strong> There is no "end game" in sight. The path of eMi continues to run into the future and opportunities to serve this ministry and be a part of its mandate to serve others only continues to grow. One day the Lord will bring another person to fill my chair. I'm OK with that. But today the chair is mine to fill and with the support of brothers and sisters, friends of mine and of this ministry, I will simply continue to obey and say "Yes, Lord".</p><p>Thank you for praying. Thank you for your encouragement. Thank you for providing financial support that takes care of our family and allows me to continue serving with eMi. Each life touched by my efforts is as much your doing as it is mine because without our team of partners I would not be here and many of these projects would simply not be done.</p><p>But let us not forget, this is not my work or even our work. It is the Lord's work and He will see it done whether we step forward or not. But isn't it amazing to take that step and become a part of God's work to redeem the world? And, as my church here in Calgary puts it, in our own way we each can glorify God and change the world that is into the world that ought to be.</p><p>Thank you,</p><p>Greg, Julie, Caitlin, Cameron and Connor</p>gregoriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07493011471903895803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32048070.post-21099013766826094622012-07-17T16:55:00.000-06:002012-07-17T16:55:31.508-06:00A Fresh Perspective on Education<style>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGbhzxoevxSHBjRr1Gdq32OQ1h4Am69Q9ahzmcVFReagZlU2KWbPFrGRMQlffmcEQbV6PdacQscX_xVdkAvz7ZJvcbjDgxxlhfYYMiMuPfd7SO6gcqnqBJh_LU2ou3c_RYFZkzDg/s1600/DSC04643.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGbhzxoevxSHBjRr1Gdq32OQ1h4Am69Q9ahzmcVFReagZlU2KWbPFrGRMQlffmcEQbV6PdacQscX_xVdkAvz7ZJvcbjDgxxlhfYYMiMuPfd7SO6gcqnqBJh_LU2ou3c_RYFZkzDg/s400/DSC04643.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kigali is often described as the "Eden" of Africa</td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Going Beyond The Three R’s.</span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Education that transforms a person and a
nation requires more than teaching the basics of Reading, wRiting and
aRithmetic: it requires instilling character, discipline and an understanding
of the individual in the context of the larger world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rwanda continues to rebuild its country in
the years following the 1994 genocide, its goal being the reduction of poverty
and a transformation into being a knowledge-based economy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, while quality Christian values-based
education has been accepted as a key to this transformation, lack of resources
means classes are still over-crowded, many teachers lack proper and ongoing
training and most receive inadequate pay.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwKjowR0xFhMN3wLzcYOatrCJsFQuaSW30SKLzP4W7qr_zlktYXyLZ5A2zuU-wHZh5XGlvwYvFhVE-UonUQmyXeBbNvtNTTQm_-YHB6eKpiENun-Q652R8RbOT5AMaHJE1TpZA7w/s1600/DSC04726.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwKjowR0xFhMN3wLzcYOatrCJsFQuaSW30SKLzP4W7qr_zlktYXyLZ5A2zuU-wHZh5XGlvwYvFhVE-UonUQmyXeBbNvtNTTQm_-YHB6eKpiENun-Q652R8RbOT5AMaHJE1TpZA7w/s320/DSC04726.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Even in the capital, many families still live below the poverty line.</td></tr>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">The
Mission.</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In 2004, Wellspring Foundation for Education began its mission of
facilitating the development of schools and empowering Rwandan teachers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To begin, Wellspring established a
high-quality school, Wellspring Academy, in the capital Kigali as a model for
its training.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 2005 Wellspring began to demonstrate how this success can be brought to other schools with
in-service teacher and leadership training.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wellspring Academy</td></tr>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">The Mission.</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Today, Wellspring is partnering with 40 schools in the Gasabo District,
providing teacher training, training for school administrators and leaders, and
training to Parent Teacher committees to foster community involvement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wellspring has also been continually
supporting the development of the Association of Christian Teachers, Rwanda,
which is a grassroots association of more than 800 believers nationwide who
want to encourage each other to be faithful to the Lord through their
profession as educators.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Exploring he new Wellspring Center property</td></tr>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">eMi
Engagement</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 2011 Wellspring contacted eMi Canada and
began discussions about engaging an eMi team to design a new guesthouse and
conference facility, known as the Wellspring Center, to serve as a platform to host and connect international donors and partners with the
work done being done by Wellspring in Rwanda.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>On a new piece of undeveloped land this guesthouse and conference
facility would be phase one in what would be a multi-phased development that
would later include Wellspring’s administration offices and apartments for
long-term volunteers and trainers.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dave (CE) investigating construction materials and methods</td></tr>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">The
Work Begins.</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On June 1<sup>st</sup>,
2012 a team of 7 volunteers, 2 interns, one eMi East Africa Long Term Volunteer and I arrived in the capital Kigali to begin designing Phase One.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The team stayed on the Wellspring Academy
School campus that shares its land with Christian Life Assembly Church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the Wellspring Academy campus the team set up its work base and then ventured out to investigate common
Rwandan construction practices, visited local buildings under construction and perused with
building supply markets to see common materials and their prices.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As Emma (Intern) surveys, she attracts a young audience</td></tr>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">The
Property.</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>About 25
minutes away from the Wellspring Academy campus, on the edge of Kigali, the team visited the new Wellspring Center
property.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There the team found a 4.5 acre
hillside site that showed obvious signs of previous terraced agriculture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The views from the site were beautiful and so
the setting is ideal for a guesthouse and conference facility.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqwjs_RBQolNAXVDsX6168eY-qY3bqcSm8RI0y2wRnNqK7DJQzf6QPobmXHYO9gQQ53Wq60SDuOsz1yu7B6YWn5FwduIMpzJGn27NSudppIcXG7S1KBhQ_5S9DsQXFQ0lmE8boGQ/s1600/IMGP4664.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqwjs_RBQolNAXVDsX6168eY-qY3bqcSm8RI0y2wRnNqK7DJQzf6QPobmXHYO9gQQ53Wq60SDuOsz1yu7B6YWn5FwduIMpzJGn27NSudppIcXG7S1KBhQ_5S9DsQXFQ0lmE8boGQ/s320/IMGP4664.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Site investigation by Emma (Intern), Dave (CE) and Bill (EE)</td></tr>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Site
Investigation.</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The civil engineers and techs on the
team surveyed the property, dug and tested percolation pits and examined the soil for its bearing capacity in
supporting the new structure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once the
parameters of the site were established they were translated by computer to produce a property plan showing boundaries and topographic grading.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The eMi team working in a spare Wellspring Academy classroom</td></tr>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Designing
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plan to begin laying out the Wellspring Center by understanding its potential
size, establishing site-lines to desirable views, choosing appropriate local
building materials for its structure and exterior finish and locating roads,
paths and service buildings that will support the main function of the Center.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wellspring Center (foreground) and Conference Facility (background)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><b>3D Imagery. </b> To help with the visualization of the proposed
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main building.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once their fieldwork was
complete the civil engineers and electrical engineers began their
calculations for fresh water supply and storage needs and the handling of sanitary waste and surface water drainage which can be significant because of heavy seasonal rains.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me drawing "old school"...fun!</td></tr>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Final
Presentation.</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During the week Jeff ensured we had a good work environment with power, internet,
great meals and delicious African tea (similar to chai tea).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had many excellent planning and design
discussions with our team so that, as is our goal on all projects, what was
shown during our Final Presentation was the culmination of a week of dialog and
was never a surprise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was even able to put
my “old school” skills to use by drawing a Site Master Plan by hand.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2M5TfSLcutzqL2Rx6wB4yNpic0bVgvrRRZjfSk1olHfXE_lJjZpYog0-w156iMw7BWems72JFB-8BbUiIk1fn9jpMTwQvwnozO6Pqav7qoirmlVOuaaDkn63oA9HXPP9MfSu1WQ/s1600/Wellspring+site.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2M5TfSLcutzqL2Rx6wB4yNpic0bVgvrRRZjfSk1olHfXE_lJjZpYog0-w156iMw7BWems72JFB-8BbUiIk1fn9jpMTwQvwnozO6Pqav7qoirmlVOuaaDkn63oA9HXPP9MfSu1WQ/s400/Wellspring+site.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Completed Site Master Plan</td></tr>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Project
Photos.</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A new set of annotated photos has been placed in my Photo Gallery with
various options to view it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you want
to browse the set, click <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/theyoungsatemi/sets/72157630357328914/" target="_blank">here</a>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you
wish to see a slideshow of the photos, click <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/theyoungsatemi/sets/72157630357328914/show/" target="_blank">here</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">. </span>If you want to see the titles and read the
captions of each photos, click <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/theyoungsatemi/7473184776/in/set-72157630357328914/" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SketchUp Model of the Wellspring Center</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Thank you to all who have contributed to this work
through your financial support, encouragement and prayer; you have been a part
of making this project, and the resulting touched lives, a reality.</span></div>
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<br /></div>gregoriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07493011471903895803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32048070.post-91974094334774280452012-05-24T15:45:00.000-06:002012-05-24T15:45:31.422-06:00Furthering Education in Rwanda<br />
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<a href="http://www.thewellspringfoundation.com/sites/default/files/shared/Nyakabanda_083.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Students at Nyakabanda School" border="0" height="213" src="http://www.thewellspringfoundation.com/sites/default/files/shared/Nyakabanda_083.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Following a spring filled with mission conferences, an office
move to larger premises and project development/approvals for the rest of the year and
into the future, I am ready to strike out with a team overseas once again.</div>
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And so on May 31<sup>st</sup> I will lead a
brand new project team to Rwanda to serve The Wellspring Foundation for
Education as they seek design assistance for a new administration, teaching and guesthouse facility to complement their existing Wellspring Academy school.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.thewellspringfoundation.com/sites/default/files/shared/Inception_Meeting_041_0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Teachers working together" border="0" height="213" src="http://www.thewellspringfoundation.com/sites/default/files/shared/Inception_Meeting_041_0.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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This will be my third trip into Rwanda and it’s wonderful to
go to this beautiful country where I now have friends and where I know amazing
ministry is taking place.</div>
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The groups eMi has partnered with in Rwanda seek to be locally sustainable by building capacity within the local
people to own the work (i.e. the trained become trainers), create value (i.e.
fostering employable skills) and be locally integrated (i.e. plugged into the
local business, government or education system). The Wellspring Foundation for Education is not only about educating children, they are providing training for teachers throughout the Rwandan education system.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.thewellspringfoundation.com/sites/default/files/shared/Beginning_of_2008_020.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The Wellspring Academy" border="0" src="http://www.thewellspringfoundation.com/sites/default/files/shared/Beginning_of_2008_020.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wellspring Academy in Kigali, Rwanda</td></tr>
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Our team will include five volunteers from Canada; two civil
engineers and a structural engineer from Calgary, an eMi Canada civil engineer intern (UBC
Okanagan) and a Nigerian architect who now lives in Calgary.</div>
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It will also include five volunteers from the US; a civil
engineer/master planner from New York, an electrical engineer from Seattle, a
graduate architecture student (Virginia Tech), an eMi Canada architectural intern (Texas
A&M) and a construction manager who is currently an eMi Long Term Volunteer
in our eMi East Africa office in Uganda.</div>
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Quite a diverse group! I’m really forward to experiencing how the Lord will knit this group of strangers into a unified team.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.thewellspringfoundation.com/images/stories/page/headers/about.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Wellspring Program Team" border="0" height="120" src="http://www.thewellspringfoundation.com/images/stories/page/headers/about.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Teachers trained at the Wellspring Academy</span></td></tr>
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Want to learn a little more about what we will be doing? A write-up for the project is on our website here: <a href="http://www.emicanada.org/projects/projectprofile_10031.shtm">Project 10031</a>.</div>
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Here is a link to the ministry's website: <a href="http://www.thewellspringfoundation.com/">The Wellspring Foundation for Education</a>.</div>
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At the end of the project I will travel with a part of the team overland to Kampala, Uganda to visit and deliver survey equipment to the eMi East Africa office. The donated survey gear will aid in the survey practicum (eMi Canada Project 10030) to be run in July by Patrick Cochrane, a member of the eMi Canada Board of Trustees.</div>
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Please keep us in prayer as we travel in the air and on the
ground and also remember my family and the families of each of our group of
eleven as we are away for this project.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>gregoriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07493011471903895803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32048070.post-48475444842632250792011-10-20T09:35:00.003-06:002012-05-24T15:45:45.668-06:00Arising From the Dust of an Earthquake<strong>Back to Haiti.</strong> For the first time as a team leader, I went to the same location on back-to-back project trips. We even served the same ministry in Grand Goave, Haiti but this time it was to design vocational training facilities for another property owned by Haiti Arise to replace one that was damaged during the earthquake. In addition to this, we served a second ministry, Heart to Heart Haiti, to design a new church on their orphanage property which was also damaged beyond repair during the earthquake.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="IMGP0080" border="0" height="300" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-gEseIx-Gb_Q/TqA_r3wUeqI/AAAAAAAAAhc/g8GBAmK4kaY/IMGP0080.JPG?imgmax=800" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="IMGP0080.JPG" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cleaned up but hardly rebuilt. Presidential palace in the background.</td></tr>
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<strong>Broken Walls.</strong> The cracked and broken walls of the Haiti Arise vocational training centre and the Heart to Heart Haiti church told a tale of powerful destruction. The vocational training centre was deemed irreparable by an eMi disaster response, structural evaluation team and torn down within weeks of the earthquake but the church, located at the main gate of the orphanage remains, a reminder of brokeness in the midst of life that must move on. (Part of our work was to provide a demolition plan to bring down this large structure in a safe manner.)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="IMGP0124" border="0" height="400" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-Aw9TpybgXKo/TqA_zl5R0sI/AAAAAAAAAiU/NVIM2V4ABVg/IMGP0124.JPG?imgmax=800" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="IMGP0124.JPG" width="281" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the two ministries we served.</td></tr>
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<strong>The Quake.</strong> As an organization we at eMi are beginning to build up a body of knowledge about designing in post-earthquake Haiti. The project I led there in 2009 incorporated structural detailing to address earthquakes but nobody, not even the typically conservative structural engineers, could have imagined the massive destructive power of the 2010 earthquake. In fact, scientists didn't even know about the hidden fault-line at the base of the sea that caused the massive quake alongside the island that is home to Haiti and the Dominican Republic.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="IMG 1036" border="0" height="300" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-vq91KKW5koY/TqA_tXuSS0I/AAAAAAAAAhk/oOH2XdiqxJE/IMG_1036.JPG?imgmax=800" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="IMG_1036.JPG" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A broken building that will be replaced with additional classrooms and added functions.</td></tr>
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<strong>Repairer of Broken Walls.</strong> Our team came to Haiti to be a "...repairer of broken walls..." (Isaiah 58:12), addressing the need at both properties. What will rise from the dust of the destruction will be new classrooms, dorms and workshops for a growing vocational, language and bible training centre and a new two-storey multi-use building that will host Sunday church services but also be a children's school during weekdays, a meeting centre for large group conferences and a community hall for all manner of events.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsi99FB6ANlBXVfT1qH2m0vUOlKtheZoSXlviU7MLAafekelZh7Tc3A4ruVfj23Hs-Ihrx72mFxjmf-hTi4jTDkyT1U8kM_-pfQKU-UXUDnok7rXE-H0cxlxK1Yi27NtN7iQWCfw/s1600/IMG_4776.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsi99FB6ANlBXVfT1qH2m0vUOlKtheZoSXlviU7MLAafekelZh7Tc3A4ruVfj23Hs-Ihrx72mFxjmf-hTi4jTDkyT1U8kM_-pfQKU-UXUDnok7rXE-H0cxlxK1Yi27NtN7iQWCfw/s400/IMG_4776.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dirk explains the new multi-use building to replace the broken church building.</td></tr>
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<strong>Discovering Opportunities. </strong> The expanded usage of these facilities is an example that even in times of crisis one can discover opportunity. For Haiti Arise the opportunity was to re-masterplan the property where they started their ministry to be a specialized training facility with classrooms, workshops, administration and dormitories. For Heart to Heart Haiti the opportunity was to increase the usability of this large building by incorporating classrooms in addition to the main church function.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="IMG 1146" border="0" height="300" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-hCuTEpTetMk/TqA_wsX3iUI/AAAAAAAAAh8/Nvbh4LGI9JI/IMG_1146.JPG?imgmax=800" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="IMG_1146.JPG" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">BBQ lobster on the beach with butter and a fork for $8 each!</td></tr>
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<strong>A Little R&R.</strong> After days of working in the heat and humidity the team took a break to visit a local beach where we swam in the ocean and bargained for live lobsters that were then BBQ'd before our eyes right on the beach. That $8 was very delicious!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="H2H Pitched Roof Exterior" border="0" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD5GwFdCQorRM1XBgzU09VivGqRTfY3KU2nVqfPU5A5Ks9JsM3a1hcCQKzRheZAurHAmqEy6lq1ArL5-IIHeHnL4YEVivkKxQYCvy3f8fLdByER4YOazwgPY4A959AHAwKUTG_Dg/?imgmax=800" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="H2H Pitched Roof Exterior.jpg" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Newly proposed replacement church/classroom building.</td></tr>
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<strong>Project Photos.</strong> A new set of photos has been placed in my Photo Gallery and you have options to view it. If you want to browse the set, click <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/theyoungsatemi/sets/72157627771687999/">here</a>. If you wish to see a slideshow of the photos, click <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/theyoungsatemi/sets/72157627771687999/show/">here</a>. If you want to see the titles and read the captions of each photo, click <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/theyoungsatemi/sets/72157627771687999/detail/">here</a>.<br />
Thank you to all those who have donated to this work through your financial support, encouragement and prayer; you have made this project a reality.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="HaitiArise Model 1" border="0" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZw5mezVfiLkdTB_9GaZX9T8f5H6iR-OPkgmEDRLBcHh_lysMTMiP6EdhX9QiwLLqNhryH_7gi2NJJa2DZauTN6HtIZz0rIr_fI1zoX2GJu54gdcVXk294Y8mQ7asP2RM6PF7qdA/?imgmax=800" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="HaitiArise Model 1.jpg" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Newly re-master planned campus for the Haiti Arise Technical Training Centre</td></tr>
</tbody></table>gregoriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07493011471903895803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32048070.post-1289252371352773232011-09-10T23:15:00.001-06:002011-09-10T23:15:55.931-06:00Vocational Training Centre and a New Church in Haiti<p>After a summer filled with many hours of travel by mini-van with the family, I'm stepping onto an airplane once again to fly to Haiti. This will be a return trip to serve Haiti Arise, this time to provide a new master plan along with new building and infrastructure (water, sanitation, power) design for their existing vocational training centre which sustained some severe damage during the earthquake of 2010.</p><p><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="m P2030043.JPG" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3vtTzRgk9baZrnYdci7NQ_BTlLcXX4_ZQHNJqsuAxEiZIzii6tkHGaTGQB_vVQvj6TzxH6HjhgJeKNKxUo1yYEhb99tcL5WxPQwqPTx_OAgO6v2Hdu7WaOPsuNz8zKM_fYfEeCQ/?imgmax=800" border="0" alt="M P2030043" width="350" height="209" /></p><p>The bonus to this trip is that our team will also be there to provide a new design for a large church in the same city that was destroyed in the 2010 earthquake. The facilities for Heart to Heart Children's Home were badly damaged, some beyond repair and they have rebuilt or repaired most of it. But their large church/conference/training centre is a large, two storey structure that took years to build and minutes to render useless by the powerful quake.</p><p><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="10024_sitephoto.jpg" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-YfplMDLtAQU/TmxEA-ESirI/AAAAAAAAAhM/DZ2sVXPtuMk/10024_sitephoto.jpg?imgmax=800" border="0" alt="10024 sitephoto" width="340" height="255" /></p><p>It will be a little odd to return to the same location in Haiti without Caitlin with me. I had an amazing time travelling with her (see her blog entry below this one) and know that it was a good way for her what I do on project trips and see the work of eMi first hand. It also did wonders in expanding the borders of her world beyond what she knows in Canada.</p><p><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="10024_inset.jpg" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-qPwvcCXax1M/TmxEBSKzcSI/AAAAAAAAAhQ/m-p3U545K08/10024_inset.jpg?imgmax=800" border="0" alt="10024 inset" width="246" height="125" /></p><p>We will once again visit the construction site for the new school that El Shaddai Baptist Church is building in Bon Repos. This construction has received attention by Haitian building professionals and has been visited by Haiti's Ministry of Buildings and Works. They have even declared it to be an example of good construction practice for the future of Haiti. I'm so proud of the work of that team!</p><p><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="IMGP3849_2.JPG" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnZ3FvqndOxojIXFXUJPJKfXHI3UmeEA1Xq6TLGdP3_cHTMeaxPUaloQ-TSmAvi4elYv0Ng9X0cdxHulnQt9DpSlJwBRBZTXnYs0lOyK3qIu96cuxzBqvGoVxJ2fuTnrFgm_1RJQ/?imgmax=800" border="0" alt="IMGP3849 2" width="350" height="231" /></p><p>Please keep us in prayer as we travel in the air and on the ground and also remember my family and the families of each of our eleven team members as we are away for this project.</p><p>You can visit the following links to see the two projects:</p><p>http://www.emicanada.org/projects/projectprofile_10024.shtm</p><p>http://emicanada.org/projects/projectprofile_10026.shtm</p>gregoriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07493011471903895803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32048070.post-28524641204702208802011-06-24T15:54:00.005-06:002011-06-24T17:08:01.573-06:00Caitlin's Haiti Reflections<img alt="DSCF3279" border="0" height="300" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-kZQJwWK71Bo/TgUHfHb1aPI/AAAAAAAAAgw/NwM_LtFVyJs/DSCF3279.JPG?imgmax=800" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="DSCF3279.JPG" width="400" /><br />
<strong style="font-size: 13px;">Caitlin's Haiti Reflections</strong>:<br />
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"My experience in Haiti was eye opening. Going into the trip, I didn't really know what to expect. I have heard of the devastation that had happened a year ago, and seen pictures, but nothing could prepare me for the reality of Haiti. You could see every picture from every angle in the highest quality, and you would still miss out on the experience, the smells and sounds and the presence of the people.<br />
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The environment was completely different and the culture shock was strange, but what surprised me more were the people. I was totally shell-shocked. On the Sunday we were there, we went to a local church. Their worship was amazing. I could've taken an Ultra HD video, recorded the highest possible sound quality and played it on an HD 3D RGBY TV, and you still couldn't experience the passion that they had when they worshipped.<br />
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<img alt="IMGP3818" border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRNF6HgTHNxf4ENZUoeR3epUWKyAqBpb193CkpJwNxxC9O8o_Jo3bOiIRiMV6CoHg2NXIt2Q0hGOEQGrtM_azzVmGvMfrAXSd8Z951U00XO84YdU69TyhfrmdBw0TyqzXFjFsngg/?imgmax=800" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="IMGP3818.JPG" width="400" /><br />
These people were in a mere skeleton of a building, nothing more than wooden sticks with a tin roof. But these people were joyful and spirited! Though the songs were in Creole, I could literally feel their elation in the praise and the Holy Spirit in that place. It was truly amazing.<br />
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For most of the week, Aysha, Jen and I worked with the kids who attended a school nearby. Everyday we would do crafts with them. We had a blast planning and playing with the kids. They were so sweet! No matter what we did, no matter how confused we were with the language they always smiled as us. My personal favourite was finger painting with the first year preschool kids (approx. 3 years old).<br />
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<img alt="DSC 0161" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOzQ3OIkPSO09uin8PAJmAHU-mF05ANuFM0BqLdF2M39iUMtc41ygyssvfcju-7gtBI5dJ8rOwq95dNh4oY2kqhwoKNgUtJ7ny0_dkfYXKD4RymN3ZCQww37OvEXcr3k3xOOdJxw/?imgmax=800" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="DSC_0161.jpg" width="265" /><br />
We gave them oversized t-shirts, and they looked so cute wearing them because the shirts went down to their ankles. They were <em>so</em> grateful and happy, and wore those t-shirts with pride! Some kids really got into the finger painting and we joined in too!<br />
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So my time in Haiti was extraordinary. We saw not only poverty and hardship, but also a people who were joyful all the same. Amidst all their loss and suffering, they could still sing Hallelujah! It was inspiring!<br />
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<img alt="IMGP3849" border="0" height="264" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-S0f8adT3GvU/TgUHhc7Gg9I/AAAAAAAAAg8/kmLse6qctO8/IMGP3849.JPG?imgmax=800" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="IMGP3849.JPG" width="400" /><br />
Am I glad to be back? Yes. Even though I've got exams to study for and teachers to deal with, I'm glad to be back home.<br />
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Am I glad I went to Haiti? Definitely. It was an extraordinary experience." - Caitlin Young<br />
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<div style="font-size: 13px;"><strong>Serving with my Daughter:</strong><br />
<strong><br />
</strong></div>What an amazing privilege it was to not only serve alongside an amazing team of professionals but to do it for the first time with my daughter made in very special indeed! Caitlin and I had talked about it since she was three when I went on my first eMi trip that someday, when she was at least 13, I would take her on a trip with me. That was exactly ten years ago.<br />
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I was so proud of how mature she was throughout the trip in the hot, muggy conditions, dealing with mosquitos and strange, mysterious insects that you didn't know were friend or foe. I think from her reflections she definitely gets what a big God we serve and how His ways are not our ways and that He can make good even out of the most devastating circumstances.<br />
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<img alt="IMGP3883 2" border="0" height="311" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-DD8XpgYkP0I/TgUHiL2toHI/AAAAAAAAAhA/gSwkY7r_9Xk/IMGP3883_2.JPG?imgmax=800" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="IMGP3883_2.JPG" width="400" /><br />
<div style="font-size: 13px;"><strong>Project Photos and More:</strong><br />
<strong><br />
</strong></div><strong></strong>To read more details about the group we served click the link for Haiti ARISE Children's Village to the right under Greg's eMi Project Archive. A new set of annotated photos has been place my Photo Gallery and you have options to view it. If you want to browse the set, click <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/theyoungsatemi/sets/72157626885624827/">here</a>. If you wish to see a slideshow of the photos, click <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/theyoungsatemi/sets/72157626885624827/show/">here</a>. If you want to see the titles and read the captions of each photo, click <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/theyoungsatemi/sets/72157626885624827/detail/">here</a>.<br />
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Thank you to all who have donated to this work through your financial support, encouragement and prayer: you have made this project a reality and it could never have happened without you. This is your investment as much as it is ours.gregoriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07493011471903895803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32048070.post-88529135393747550322011-05-30T16:17:00.002-06:002011-06-24T15:51:31.971-06:00New Children's Village in Haiti - Greg and Caitlin's Haiti AdventureFrom the months of January to May of 2010, after an earthquake devastated large parts of Haiti, almost a dozen eMi disaster response teams went there to conduct structural assessments of damaged buildings and work together with Samaritan's Purse and Food for the Hungry to design camps for displace people and set up emergency water purification stations. By May we were ready to begin reconstruction assignments and so that month I went there with the first eMi redevelopment design team. Today a new K-12 school is under construction (and to come a medical clinic and a church) as a result of the efforts of that team. On June 4th, I will touch down with my next project team in Port au Prince. Our first stop after leaving the airport will be to visit the property of the new school (rendering below) in order to evaluate its progress.<br />
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<img alt="Finalrender6" border="0" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6LsFsPoAZlcrIeGbpSWW6FbrMLNKgw6Jfv8BBm7efBZ0qnR925g_BQVq0VGOeoIMG7p7fEfYxiey6TR6ItbELqDxKlYvkADKNEtzb-y8DI6yLY2_TqMCfIWUP-IlmhyTpuochmA/?imgmax=800" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="finalrender6.jpg" width="600" /><br />
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Following the visit to a past project, the new project will take our team west of Port au Prince to the historic town of Grand-Goave, one of the oldest towns in Haiti. Estimates of the damage caused to major buildings by the quake in Grand-Goave have been as high as 90%. We will have a chance to see some of this damage as we arrive to serve the ministry of Haiti ARISE. At Haiti ARISE we will also see an example of a well-constructed building, and stay in it, when we see their two storey dormitory building that survived the quake remarkably well.<br />
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Haiti ARISE Ministries began its work in Haiti in 2002. Their first initiative was to establish a technical training school and related living facilities, constructed on a 2 acre parcel of land. This was followed by a church which has grown from 45 members to over 400 members. Over the years more land has been purchased and the work has included ESL training, monthly rice and clothing distributions, a half-acre community garden and Bible School classes.<br />
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<img alt="NewImage" border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxI-0cR_rwaaJyc1y4Xb2iYArvdya-5LE2V-cBrizyNLBG4lhy6i0tg3tzOhhCnppTQYnF4hEmgMfBzAGadktTl2wBc9H0bRXeR8CW2e-MSOP64zN4Up0DZ_yLP-rm4yQHiWBcpw/?imgmax=800" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="NewImage.png" width="400" /><br />
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The work of our eMi team will be to master plan an undeveloped 7 acre parcel of land (below) across the street from the main campus and design the buildings for a children's village (orphanage), a new permanent school and a church/multi-function conference centre. The bottom photo is the current temporary plywood and tin roof school, built by Haiti ARISE on their property after many other local schools collapsed in the quake.<br />
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Our team will also take a little bit of time to investigate damage to buildings suffered at another orphanage nearby. This orphanage, where the founder of Haiti ARISE grew up, will be the recipient of an eMi team in the fall term to turn our investigation into a full design project.<br />
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<img alt="P1010052" border="0" height="450" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-nvzEUhK7GtY/TeQXT5_xMVI/AAAAAAAAAgc/uF0PVqL8v54/P1010052.JPG?imgmax=800" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="P1010052.JPG" width="600" /><br />
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We always say that every project and every project team is unique. This one will be particularly special for me because this time Caitlin will be joining my team. Ten years ago I went on my first eMi mission as a volunteer to Belize where the eMi leader brought his 13 year old son Zach. Now ten years later Caitlin, who is 13 (turning 14 in July), will be on my team. This will be Caitlin's first journey outside of Canada and the United States. I look forward to sharing this experience with my daughter as she explores and expands her world and sees the amazing things God is doing in even the most challenging places.<br />
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Caitlin will be joined by a good friend from school who's father will be the architect volunteer for our team. A third teenager, the daughter of our civil engineer, will also join our team and round out the trio who will be volunteering at the elementary school operated by Haiti ARISE as well as helping with their other community service initiatives.<br />
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<img alt="NewImage" border="0" height="450" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-E_qwIuVUL_8/TeQXRc4Gp9I/AAAAAAAAAgU/rfjTIyC4O1M/NewImage.png?imgmax=800" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="NewImage.png" width="600" /><br />
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Please pray for our travel safety and good health throughout the trip and remember our families at home as they carry on busy schedules without the help of us who are on this project team. We'll see if we have a chance to post an entry during our trip, perhaps along with some photos. It will depend on a satellite internet link and some electrical power (never a sure thing in Haiti). Besides being able to update our blog, we are hoping we will get some news or even see some high-lights of the Stanley Cup Finals. Go Canucks!gregoriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07493011471903895803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32048070.post-2404368151295819792011-03-10T15:05:00.001-07:002011-03-10T15:05:34.051-07:00Striving to Touch 90 Million People<p><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="IMGP2669.JPG" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_mDo82qWrL34/TXlKaCwmgKI/AAAAAAAAAe8/rEE6A_hpwic/IMGP2669.JPG?imgmax=800" border="0" alt="IMGP2669" width="400" height="266" /></p><p><strong>Our destination.</strong> The Indian state of Bihar is not a destination for tourists. Most Indians consider it backward, lowly and not worthwhile. Whenever I or others on my team mentioned our final destination to someone familiar to India (like fellow airline passengers) it was invariably met with "why would you ever go there?"</p><p><strong>The statistics. </strong> Bihar is India''s 12th largest state but has its 3rd largest population: 90 million people. Close to 85% of the population live in villages and almost 85% of the population is under the age of 25. All these people live in a state that is slightly smaller than the US state of Kentucky and twice the size of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. While the estimated level of poverty (living on under $1.00 per day) for the country of India is 24.3%, it is 41% in Bihar.</p><p><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="IMG_2779.JPG" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmsynJFwPhnPL7acgWGeWEzZJ_l_U6ijCgLDrH6W2L8D-97QpVbtQ9OHR_ix4Z2wipTWLW6S3MKrcnRmjfVUrutDBqx14edS3_aoLkzyBrjPwqq_JeCvPOZ9vbWjd9lZDsP5CwJw/?imgmax=800" border="0" alt="IMG 2779" width="400" height="244" /></p><p><strong>The context.</strong> The majority religion is Hindu (83%) followed by Islam (16%). This leaves 1% for "others", including Buddhism which was once prominent (Buddha is said to have found enlightenment in this state), but was forcibly pushed aside a few centuries ago by Islam. Christianity barely makes a mark here as this region of India has often been referred to as the "graveyard of missions", both figuratively and literally.</p><p><strong>The ministries.</strong> However, in recent years there have been new efforts to live out the love of Jesus as Christian ministries have begun to operate schools, dig many wells, advocate and provide vocational training for women without status (widows & single mothers), open orphanages, build community by establishing churches and train local pastors. Our eMi team helped two such groups: <a href="http://www.emi2southasia.org/project_trips/projectprofile_8189.shtm">Transform India Movement</a> (TIM) led by Pastor Biju Thomas and <a href="http://www.emi2southasia.org/project_trips/projectprofile_8188.shtm">Emmanuel Christian Fellowship Center</a> (ECFC) led by Rev. EA Abraham.</p><p><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="P2151501.JPG" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht6rGvQVEr0O4tq-4tS4IqsB9ySykGe7XEEX3tUcS3byeSWSoNIGM-D063pglVCY43At882y6JbHXQ3t7pW-fzG13vorcnolTQ7YnvRq0JSnzFsJD59o4tj2o2aB8Bv1zHCPJ0ZA/?imgmax=800" border="0" alt="P2151501" width="400" height="225" /></p><p><strong>Impressions.</strong> Our team landed in Delhi and took an overnight train to Patna, the state capital of Bihar. What struck me as I travelled by train, plane, car, and rickshaw through India is that even 60 years after independence from Britain, India remains an interesting and unmistakable blend of Indian culture and its colonial past.</p><p><strong>The food. </strong> I found the food to be amazing and any thought that I would lose weight on this project trip (an easy "diet plan"), soon disappeared. Fresh baked naan, varied spicy curries and basmati rice, all of it was good and affordable everywhere we went.</p><p><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="IMGP2658.JPG" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_mDo82qWrL34/TXlK6UijD7I/AAAAAAAAAfU/WQ88CevsiMQ/IMGP2658.JPG?imgmax=800" border="0" alt="IMGP2658" width="400" height="266" /></p><p><strong>The project properties.</strong> Both ministries were looking for a design to house key ministry functions: administration, teaching and housing. But while one property was on an urban, small lot (TIM) the other was on a rural property surrounded by farms (ECFC). We had brought one team to design both facilities. We had Angie (civil engineer - water and sanitation), Ty (structural engineer), Dan and Dirk (architects), Jason (architecture student intern), Stephen (civil engineer student intern), Ivy (architect and eMi2 staff) and me.</p><p><strong>Our headquarters.</strong> We stayed in a local hotel as our office for the week and went to each property to measure them, dig investigative pits to understand the soil type and bearing capacity and even poured water into them to learn about absorption rates in order to design surface drainage and underground waste water treatment (septic tanks).</p><p><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="IMGP2670.JPG" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs7AXwXruI0lWg0BbPjBhVmAYktEMzD-autC6K_010T2PFYifjk41iMYsqafWfW0FzOqbP96nCXeAMAiIVJqN9y2sieIFqUB-H6OaJ8djel5gl7LdIuVzcSf6EPNzYfNJuza9LtA/?imgmax=800" border="0" alt="IMGP2670" width="266" height="400" /></p><p><strong>Our work.</strong> Round after round of discussions with the ministry leaders and within our team resulted in master plans, building designs, structural design for each building and service design for the handling of both fresh water and waste water. A week after we started, we gave a final presentations of our designs to each organization, each one tailored specifically to meet the needs of the ministry and for the specific challenges and opportunities of each property.</p><p><strong>Being there…priceless.</strong> Both groups we served expressed their deep appreciation that a group of professionals would travel so far in order to be so intentional in meeting their individual and specific needs. We could never have accomplished this by sitting at our desks in North America and they would never have been able to receive this level of service in an environment where the culture does not value what they value and where corruption would result in poor quality service at a greatly inflated price. ECFC waited two years for eMi to be available to provide this assistance.</p><p><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="IMG_2804.JPG" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_mDo82qWrL34/TXlLEKHtOQI/AAAAAAAAAf4/f6q_QSgHGIc/IMG_2804.JPG?imgmax=800" border="0" alt="IMG 2804" width="400" height="286" /></p><p><strong>Visiting the local church.</strong> Since we served two ministries, we took turns attending their churches on successive Sundays. At each I had a chance to speak and shared about our oneness in God's family. Addressing one another as "brother" and "sister" is not merely an attempt at being polite, it is an acknowledgement of the unity we share in our brokeness, our need for redemption from that brokeness through Jesus and the grace, forgiveness, wholeness and new life we now have.</p><p><strong>Visiting established schools.</strong> ECFC was established 26 years ago by Rev. EA Abraham who is from South India. Several of us had an opportunity to visit a few of his established schools and orphan homes. The principle of the largest school we visited is a woman with a graduate degree in public administration. It is a clear statement of the equality of women (and indeed all people in Christianity) that in this highly segregated traditional community, she has received this position of authority and prominence. (BTW in the photo below, Angie is singing and playing the hokey pokey with the girls….they loved it!)</p><p><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="IMGP2787.JPG" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_mDo82qWrL34/TXlLFsIyqoI/AAAAAAAAAf8/GgIQcigmLME/IMGP2787.JPG?imgmax=800" border="0" alt="IMGP2787" width="400" height="266" /></p><p><strong>A visit to Mussoorie.</strong> After the projects were completed most of our team took the opportunity of being in India to visit the eMi2 office in Mussoorie, about 8 hours north of Delhi. Another night train and a very windy road up the mountain brought us to Oaklands, at the foothills of the Himalayas and home of eMi in India for 13 years. Besides resting and visiting, we held a design review of both projects with their office staff. Later this year, this office will move down the mountain to Delhi, to begin a new chapter of eMi's work and presence in India.</p><p><strong>Project Photos.</strong> A new set of photos has been place in my Photo Gallery and you have three options to view it. If you want to browse the set, click <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/theyoungsatemi/sets/72157626233792216/">here</a>. If you wish to see a slideshow of the photos, click <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/theyoungsatemi/sets/72157626233792216/show/">here</a>. If you want to see the titles and read the captions of each photo, click <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/theyoungsatemi/sets/72157626233792216/detail/">here</a>.</p><p>Thank you to all those who have donated to this work through your financial support, encouragement and prayer: you have made this project a reality.</p><p><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="IMGP2915.JPG" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqyLhNs9JJGgYp4_9SZaX6zG18RULZ0uycD43UWpPVARpTBWgIw-3S7vGapsneac4SXLacgoG9xz1rtGUFeCWnJmwxkj9uMpVaNSGd5N3_b-wMIe7A2n0pPDUB5sJxIqUXQ2y-Vg/?imgmax=800" border="0" alt="IMGP2915" width="266" height="400" /></p>gregoriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07493011471903895803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32048070.post-21834414694572009062011-02-07T14:59:00.003-07:002011-02-07T15:06:23.606-07:00India Bound in FebruaryTradition says that St. Thomas (yes, "doubting" Thomas) was the first Christian in the 1st century to sail to India to spread the Good News to the Jewish diaspora in that region. In the late 1700's, William Carey, sometimes referred to as "the father and founder of modern missions", was very impactful in India both in missional as well as benevolent endeavours. Today there are scattered communities of Indian Christians throughout the country and for my next project trip I will be leading a team to Patna, Bihar in northeastern India to serve two local ministries.<br />
<img alt="TIM Gate" border="0" height="449" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheyADQ-x74M5FvHU0VIXcNm65RoX1AN1l0z6Txet1MIXb9PiLRNHHoDPv2NnbAHkhyphenhyphenH7duhwrWk-GSzUzlNpshyphenhyphenEMlNFocWwf_sKB-l98j3qpA7lHvVHcoHTaMA2oyAjT7TlRc8Q/?imgmax=800" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="IMG_2159.jpg" width="600" /><br />
Rev. EA Abraham of Emmanuel Christian Fellowship Center (ECFC) and Rev. Biju Thomas of Transform India Movement (TIM) both have established programs in medical care, education, leadership training, vocational training and children's homes. Each are operating in scattered rented facilities and both have acquired parcels of land to construct new centres for their work. Our team will visit them in Patna to master plan and design the buildings and infrastructure (water, sanitation, power) for these new centers.<br />
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This project is being undertaken in conjunction with the eMi Southeast Asia office in India, commonly referred to as eMi2 (it was eMi's second office). This will be one team with a set of engineers and two architects, each to take on a separate ministry. In this way, we will serve two ministries in the time it normally takes to serve just one. The goal of our team is to complete two sets of preliminary design master plans, building designs and preliminary engineering recommendations. The eMi2 office will complete the remainder of the work after our time at the project locations is complete.<br />
<img alt="P1090261" border="0" height="449" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjamKn1446CuJCHkUF66S9q1gdvBo40oyosUQuTTMVWqWmDVsjk8_PJCYpm6TD7DlQ2e0WPIRtSxR8bQ4on_t3kwiQ6DI7260G-Q9r9D1QVAj0qtW28saRth5ExibTxijD_tAqQIA/?imgmax=800" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="P1090261.jpg" width="600" /><br />
This is my first trip into India and I'm thankful to have Ivy Coffey, an architect on staff with eMi2, participating on our team. Ivy will provide much needed insight into the local culture and how we can function and serve in the most effective manner possible. You can read more about the projects by visiting the links under Greg's Upcoming Projects at the top of the right side bar of this blog.<br />
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Our team will be flying into Delhi on February 11th and for the next 14 days will be travelling by planes, trains, automobiles, buses and pedicabs plus even a little trekking with our own two feet as we do the design work in Patna and afterward make a brief visit to the eMi2 office in Mussoorie (in the foothills of the Himalayas) to conduct a design review of our project with their staff.<br />
<img alt="IMG 2161" border="0" height="431" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY2yIR93q1sc6MYrPxv1bfbOQSar5yIkhm_JKz0YH_kywCZbSkhVIPuhF4_PwOyhajI8D7I7BrA9ibAcBpUGMm0ZgBGlonX1nQw46COVHRg_TS3PjvUxAhg1MNbAOkKYQpHjiFZg/?imgmax=800" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="IMG_2161.jpg" width="575" /><br />
Pray for our travel safety and good health throughout the trip. We also desire to have open minds to learn, listening ears to understand the needs and soft hearts to come alongside our Indian brothers and sisters to serve them in a way that will be most beneficial to their work.<br />
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We also ask for prayer for our families at home who need to handle the ongoing busyness of life without those of us on the team. Thank you to all supporters and friends who are making it possible for me to do this work. I will update this blog as I am able in India but for sure will provide a follow-up upon our return.gregoriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07493011471903895803noreply@blogger.com0