We are in Benson AZ until Feb 6th, then we can go to our project in Sahuarita, AZ. It is rather cool today--only in the 50's--last night was in the upper 30's. Cool but much warmer than MN.
Many of you have asked, “what do you do on the projects?” So I thought I would give you a copy of the work summaries that the other SOWERs have written about the Sahuarita Christian Academy in Sahuarita, AZ (this is our February 2009 project).
The first summary is from February 2008 (eight couples). The men built student cubicles; removed and replaced the gutters on the school. They finished the inside of the new storage shed with electricity, shelves and plumbing for a future washing machine; built a wood storage lean-to; cleaned out storage container and moved items to new storage shed. They removed the old fence poles and replaced with new poles and fencing across the back of the school property; painted sheds, cubicles and fencing; set up clothesline poles for the SOWERS; spread gravel; and did other miscellaneous repair jobs in and around the school. Women spent their days working for the school--tutoring students, correcting papers, answering questions, copying lessons, scanning pages, and being an encouragement.
The second summary is from November 2008 (three couples). The men tore down a shed, insulated some water pipes, put a barrier around a water hydrant, and cleaned and serviced all the heating and air conditioning units. They installed a telephone line, put up a fence around the school, put pipes in the ground for a hoops game, and replaced a broken window. They moved all the cement parking curbs, and moved stones for RV sites. They made and painted new lettering for the school’s address. The ladies worked in the school helping teachers--correcting papers, correlating lessons, data entry and prepared a huge mailing.
The third summary is from December 2008 (six couples). The men put up a 42 x 48 canopy over the playground area. They made horses for tables to be used at a Community Outreach Fair, made 4 clothes racks, and made a gate for the driveway. They fenced in the play area to make it more secure, and painted pipes in the play area yellow. They constructed a lean-to to the outside of one of the sheds for an outside work area. The ladies worked in the school helping teachers with grading and playground monitoring.
I hope these summaries will give you a better idea of the wide range of tasks that may be done on a project. In February there will be six couples. We don't know what we will be doing.
I will write about our April project later.
I am using my cell phone for the Internet connection, no pictures this time. nlsower
Why leave such a beautiful wonderland and go to AZ to work?
Patio at Christmas--
Of course we couldn't stop with just the back yard and the addition, so we went on to make a mess out of the front yard too. We had to remove old timbers and then excavate for retaining walls, patio and water falls.
No project is complete without neighborhood supervisors. Grandson is the shy one way in the back. He has been my helper all summer. He has been collecting rocks for the water falls and stream.
This is a view of the front yard from the front door. 2009 will involve planting and finishing water falls, stream, patio, steps and walkway. Plus new driveway etc.
It has been a fun summer--working and getting to know the grandkids. Memories!!!!!!!!!!!!
