Week two of the Build Sept. 7 - 9

We set out for Week Two as scheduled on Monday morning.  Monday was a successful day as the first coat of plaster was finished on all rooms, the second coat was started on all rooms and the third coat as finished on one room.  One door was installed over the weekend and four other doors were delivered.  The exterior door was painted.  Progress is being made!

In the photo above, notice the different colors of the blocks.  The foundation and basement were started 25 years ago (and they still live in the basement with an outhouse for a toilet).  A few years ago, the walls of the first floor were built.  And in the past year, the metal roof and the walls of the attic were added.  The family is very excited to have Fuller Center helping them with the house.  The one room where the third coat of plaster was put on yesterday will be painted and they will move some of their things into that room this week.  And there is another Fuller Center team of volunteers coming this fall to help finish the interior to the point where it is livable and professionals will be hired (with a loan from Fuller Center) to install the bathroom.  The photo below shows the front stairs to the house.

Ella (a local Fuller Center employee) applying the third coat of plaster; she has completely done her own home

On Tuesday, progress continued. The homeowners and extended family members installed more doors, one room is ready for painting, other rooms will be nearly ready for painting by the time we finish tomorrow. There are tasks we think we could do, but for various reasons they are having professionals do out of the money that Fuller Center is loaning the homeowners.

They will fill in the space around the door and cover it with molding

This is the neighbor's vineyard across the street

This is the neighbor's home diagonally across the street.

This shows how the neighbor built a ramp into the garage/storage room

This is the ramp/stairway up into the back door in the kitchen, and on the left, the access to the basement where they now live

This is the owners vineyard, mini orchard and garden in the back of the house

Now there is just this pile of dirt up to the garage/storage room door - they will need to build a ramp like the neighbors have built.

Riya, her husband, her son, her son's wife and the son's two children will all live in the house.  This is Riya and one of her grandchildren

On Wednesday, the second coat of plastering was completed, the third and final coat was partially done in the large room where we now eat lunch.  The house was cleaned as well as possible.  And then we stopped.

Our final lunch was a celebration of our time there.  We received certificates of thanks and gifts from Fuller Center.  And family got to say thanks to us.

While the son is working in Russia, the five members of the family are happy with what has been done.  I think they will be moving some of their things up from the basement to the one room that has been finished except for the space around the door frame.  Another Fuller Center Global Team of volunteers will be here in October, plus more work for local contractors and volunteers will finish the inside of the home so that by the Christmas season, they should be moved upstairs in the home.