Gicumbi Nursery Report #2

Nursery Under Contruction

Gicumbi Nursery construction is progressing well.

The church congregation members flattened the sloped land. (Photos below) The way the work was done was impressive. The pastor Innocent and several church members were proud of their work. This work was done approximately three weeks ago.

After the construction budget was established, the foundation work began. The pastor supervised the construction work himself. Apparently, he studied construction management skills for four years at his secondary school. On average, he is hiring 20-30 people, including skilled workers and helpers. Most of the helpers are believed to be the church members. So this construction project is helping the church members in their income also. Moreover, some non-church members begin to attend the church after this type of work. So it is also an evangelical opportunity! Praise the Lord!

They dug up the dirt and laid gravels and rocks to strengthen the foundation and put concrete and metal beams to frame the columns. We found the foundation work completed when we visited on January 17th.

We made the fifth visit on January 24th and found the building start taking shape with the brick walls rising. In Rwanda people tend to think leaving bare brick walls is not a good idea. So they put additional cement on top of brick walls. This is not only costly but also hazardous to health, particularly children. We made it clear that the brick walls will be left uncovered. So the brick wall quality is kept pretty clean. I suspect that the idea may have come from contractors for their commercial motive. Brick walls look just beautiful to me as you can find in the photos below.

Church members working

In the next two weeks or so, all brick-laying work is scheduled to complete. Then, the roofing work will begin. The frame for roofing will be done with wooden materials. The pastor has already secured a bunch of trees on the land right across from the Nursery construction site. So that he could save the transportation cost. Clever!

I felt grateful for the way the construction has been progressing. A friend of mine, who is a missionary from Korea and has done many construction projects was pleasantly surprised at the pace and quality of the work that is being done. We praise the Lord who has been exceedingly gracious to us on this project. We prayed for the pastor and the workers before we left. We plan to visit again next week.

Flattened ground

Flattened ground

The remaining work includes roofing, doors and windows, plumbing work, electrical work, furnishing and securing supplies. Up these works are hardware works. The real challenge is to get the operational and administrative work to be done. So it still is a long way to go.

Foundation corner

Foundation work done

Building under contruction

People carrying materials

Thank you for standing with us in this project through your support and prayer. May God bless you richly! - Kristin