School Room Renovations

A few weeks ago, we posted about our plans to renovate our garage and turn it into a classroom for our little school. This is helpful because: A. It has more space, B. People don't have to come into our house to visit the school, which is better for security, privacy, and is also more professional, and C. It would have lots of light and in general be a better classroom. So, after about a month of work, and thanks to some generous contributions from individuals and congregations, we are done with the renovations!

The before picture I shared some time ago. Note the collapsing door, the shuttered up windows, the rough flooring and the ceiling. 

Work started with removing the door and building a wall. We hired a mason who is a brother in Christ to help us. 

The old ceiling had to be torn off and a new ceiling framed up. 

The floor was very rough and prone to sweating, so we decided to put down tiles. These are easier to keep clean and also, unlike a plain concrete floor, doesn't sweet, which is important in a place as wet and damp as Buea is. It also looks really good. 

Some of the work we did ourselves, like touching up some painting. I'm not a terrific handyman, but it was fun to do.

Our kids are always happy to help out with the ministry! Hannah helped me clean up paint drippings from paining.

"Over here, no... over there... well maybe not..." George and I helped set up the furniture, arranging and rearranging it to get the best use and look out of our classroom. 

The "end product" (as far as renovations go) looks pretty sharp! We are still working on organizing and arranging. We can easily fit 8 student in here, and in time 10 (12 if we REALLY squeezed it). That means that it can fit our whole school for the next couple of years! 

We already have 7 students (including our kids) lined up for the coming school year. We are really excited to be able to start teaching and transforming lives! 

As you can see, a lot has been done, in addition to the renovations, we've also gotten desks made! A few things remain:
1- Getting chairs. We'd like to get 8 matching, good quality chairs. They are about $30 a piece.
2- A white board. We've already gotten funds for this, and hope to get one in the next week or two when I go to Douala.
3- A computer and computer desk. This has also been funded, and I hope to get one next time I go to Douala, as the prices there are better!
4- A photocopier. This has been partially funded, but we are still saving up, as they are very expensive here (about $1500... we are 1/3rd of the way there).

We plan to start full-time classes in September! Thanks for all the prayers and support, and we will keep you posted with updates!