Paul has been diligently working away at a couple different building projects here in Tansen. One of them is coming along swimmingly...the one that involves a dedicated team of skilled workers from Kathmandu who have a deadline after which they will lose money on the contract. He is more of a consultant for that job. The other project, the building of a new nursing station for the medical ward, is being done by the hospital workshop staff, and it isn't coming along quite so quickly. Paul gets asked regularly how much longer it will be before it's done. If he could keep workers there for more than an hour or two at one time, it would really help!
That isn't to say there isn't progress being made. A few months ago they were working at chiseling away (by hand!) the extensive rock that needed to be removed before the building could even start. Eventually someone figured out that if they held a blowtorch to the rock for a few minutes and then poured cold water on it the rock would break faster. It was a little frightening to see the fragments of rock start flying everywhere, but thankfully there were no injuries!
Now the foundations have been laid, the walls built (the gaps are where large windows will go), and the roof trusses built, welded, and secured in place. The bathrooms have been tiled, and the tiles for the rest of the nursing station have been ordered. There remains the installation of windows, tiling the whole place, designing, building, and installing the cabinets, countertops, and shelves, as well as some other things. Theoretically this is doable by the end of April (when we come home for a few months...more on that later), but given the challenges along the way, we're not sure what will happen.
A typical day for Paul:
-9:30 am go down to the job site, where 2 or 3 workers are ready for the day's work. Instructions given, as best as he can give in Nepali, and work started.
-10:00 am - one or more of the workers gets called away for one reason or another. Perhaps they need to haul some oxygen cylinders somewhere, or repair a leaking pipe, or paint the house of someone who will be moving in the next week, or any number of other things. Paul is left with one worker (if he's lucky!)
-10:30 am - Paul gets called to a surprise meeting that could have been planned in advance, but advance planning doesn't seem to be a familiar concept here in Nepal. The meeting takes the rest of the morning.
-12:45 pm - Paul goes back to the building site to check in before lunch. The workers have left for lunch 15 minutes early, and Paul sees that the tiles, which had been going in straight while he was directly overseeing the tiling, are now uneven and crooked and need to be re-done.
-1-1:30 pm - Lunchtime, during which we often pray desperately for some kind of progress to be made for the rest of the afternoon
-1:45 pm - the workers come back from lunch (10-15 minutes late). Thankfully there are now 2 of them. The other one is busy with something else for the rest of the day. Paul explains to them that they need to redo a lot of the work they had done in the morning. The funny thing is, they KNEW the tiles weren't level...but maybe they thought it didn't matter.
-1:45 pm to 5 pm - Amazingly, they are able to focus on work for the afternoon (okay, so perhaps not so typical a day!), and so after removing the crooked tiles and replacing them, they are able to make some progress with the tiles.
-5 pm - Paul is explaining what the plan will be for tomorrow, when one of the workers tells him, "Oh by the way, I'm taking leave tomorrow." Again...advanced planning is a non-concept here. No wait...that IS advanced planning - they told him the evening before!
It is no wonder Paul's hair is greyer than it was when we arrived! Ideally, this project needs to be done before we leave in late April. Without his direct supervision, it may never get done. Pray that they are able to meet the deadline.
Why the deadline? Well, our exciting news is that we're expecting a baby in July, so we will be returning home for a few months to have the baby and adjust to being a family of 3 before coming back to Nepal, Lord-willing, in late October. Jessica is now into her second trimester and is doing well. We do appreciate prayers for this time of transition, and for a safe and healthy pregnancy and delivery.
That isn't to say there isn't progress being made. A few months ago they were working at chiseling away (by hand!) the extensive rock that needed to be removed before the building could even start. Eventually someone figured out that if they held a blowtorch to the rock for a few minutes and then poured cold water on it the rock would break faster. It was a little frightening to see the fragments of rock start flying everywhere, but thankfully there were no injuries!
Now the foundations have been laid, the walls built (the gaps are where large windows will go), and the roof trusses built, welded, and secured in place. The bathrooms have been tiled, and the tiles for the rest of the nursing station have been ordered. There remains the installation of windows, tiling the whole place, designing, building, and installing the cabinets, countertops, and shelves, as well as some other things. Theoretically this is doable by the end of April (when we come home for a few months...more on that later), but given the challenges along the way, we're not sure what will happen.
A typical day for Paul:
-9:30 am go down to the job site, where 2 or 3 workers are ready for the day's work. Instructions given, as best as he can give in Nepali, and work started.
-10:00 am - one or more of the workers gets called away for one reason or another. Perhaps they need to haul some oxygen cylinders somewhere, or repair a leaking pipe, or paint the house of someone who will be moving in the next week, or any number of other things. Paul is left with one worker (if he's lucky!)
-10:30 am - Paul gets called to a surprise meeting that could have been planned in advance, but advance planning doesn't seem to be a familiar concept here in Nepal. The meeting takes the rest of the morning.
-12:45 pm - Paul goes back to the building site to check in before lunch. The workers have left for lunch 15 minutes early, and Paul sees that the tiles, which had been going in straight while he was directly overseeing the tiling, are now uneven and crooked and need to be re-done.
-1-1:30 pm - Lunchtime, during which we often pray desperately for some kind of progress to be made for the rest of the afternoon
-1:45 pm - the workers come back from lunch (10-15 minutes late). Thankfully there are now 2 of them. The other one is busy with something else for the rest of the day. Paul explains to them that they need to redo a lot of the work they had done in the morning. The funny thing is, they KNEW the tiles weren't level...but maybe they thought it didn't matter.
-1:45 pm to 5 pm - Amazingly, they are able to focus on work for the afternoon (okay, so perhaps not so typical a day!), and so after removing the crooked tiles and replacing them, they are able to make some progress with the tiles.
-5 pm - Paul is explaining what the plan will be for tomorrow, when one of the workers tells him, "Oh by the way, I'm taking leave tomorrow." Again...advanced planning is a non-concept here. No wait...that IS advanced planning - they told him the evening before!
It is no wonder Paul's hair is greyer than it was when we arrived! Ideally, this project needs to be done before we leave in late April. Without his direct supervision, it may never get done. Pray that they are able to meet the deadline.
Why the deadline? Well, our exciting news is that we're expecting a baby in July, so we will be returning home for a few months to have the baby and adjust to being a family of 3 before coming back to Nepal, Lord-willing, in late October. Jessica is now into her second trimester and is doing well. We do appreciate prayers for this time of transition, and for a safe and healthy pregnancy and delivery.
So I guess both of you need prayer for patients/patience. Thank you for the view into your lives and ministries.
ReplyDeleteBoth you and your husband are doing amazing work. While attending a medical missions conference at my church, World Medical Missions brought you up and sent me to read your blog after discovering that I am also a McMaster medical student and one that is applying for General Surgery.
ReplyDeleteThis blog is amazing. Very encouraging stuff! Hope you and your husband are doing well and continue doing the Lord's work faithfully! All the best!
Congratulations! What wonderful news!
ReplyDeleteYou probably won't remember me, but I came to Tansen last March-May on my Medical elective.There was another UK Medical student there at the same time, also called Abbie, Tansen and all the patients and staff there are always in my prayers and I dream about 1 day going back. I'm now about halfway through my first year, currently doing a respiratory job and loving it. If you have any advice for the training years at home when you feel you might be being called abroad, I'd be very grateful to hear them. I'm sure you're very busy though, so don't worry if you don't have time.
Abbie