This is a blog about the needs of Hospital Loma de Luz; the blue collar ones. For all of us regular guys. A list of projects that we believe would be beneficial to what God's doing here at the hospital and associated ministries.
Most of these projects are 'team projects' meaning that you come and provide the labor. With most projects we ask that you raise the necessary funding prior to coming. There may also be special tools or materials that we'll ask you to bring. Also on this blog you will find a wish list of tools and materials that we can't get here in Honduras.
When you've found the project your interested in contact Mike Yost, the head of construction and maintenance, at yostmp@lomadeluz.net.
Most of these projects are 'team projects' meaning that you come and provide the labor. With most projects we ask that you raise the necessary funding prior to coming. There may also be special tools or materials that we'll ask you to bring. Also on this blog you will find a wish list of tools and materials that we can't get here in Honduras.
When you've found the project your interested in contact Mike Yost, the head of construction and maintenance, at yostmp@lomadeluz.net.
Tractor Engine Rebuild Completed Dec. 2010
Our farm tractor(a John Deere 5400) is in need of an engine rebuild. It's to the point of filling it up with oil and checking the fuel. We will need someone who really knows his stuff, and can bring his own tools. You'll be working with Mike and Brad, both competent mechanics. We'll have all the materials, but we'll need ring compressors, and everything to lap valves.
Persons: 1
Time: 1 week
Materials/Tools: Contact us
Cost: $1,000
Farm Trailer
With all the agricultural aspects of the hospital we are in need of a farm trailer. Something we can use for palm, rice, corn, plantain, banana, and cocoa harvests. A 2-ton trailer with high ground clearance, a low deck, and removable stake sides. Should be fun. Materials will come from in country. What we'll need is a team of 4. Two who can weld and use a torch well, and two more who can lift.
Persons: 4
Time: 1 week
Materials/Tools: auto shade welding helmet and cutting torch goggles
Cost: $2,500
Chicken Tractors Completed April 2010
The hospital will be running free-range chickens in with our cropping/grazing program. We will be needing mobile nesting boxes to accomplish this. This project would keep 4 busy for a week.
Persons: 4
Time: 1 week
Materials: 1 cordless drill set
Cost: $1'200
Green House Completed November 2010
Subsistence farming makes up the vast majority of local agriculture. Unfortunately this slash and burn style of cropping only leaves the ground viable for 4 years, and is causing rapid deforestation. In an effort to promote more sustainable, ecologically friendly, and more lucrative farming the hospital will be doing some Agra-forestry. That is planting saleable hardwoods in existing forests for a planned lumber harvest and shade cropping cocoa. These green houses will be used to start everything from seed.
The footers and stub walls will be built before the team arrives, and a team 6-10 will be building the hoops, covering the structures with mesh, framing in end walls and hanging some doors. For this project we will need 6 to 10 people who don't mind working in the heat. There will be some basic wood framing and construction skills required of 1 or 2 individuals.
Persons: 6 to 10
Materials:
Time: 1 week
Cost: $3,600
School Gardens Completed April 2010
There is a decided lack of fresh vegetables in the local diet. Although most veggies grow very well here household gardens are not common, and they are rather pricey to purchase. We are hoping to help improve local diet by planting gardens in local schools. With the gardens the kids will learn the basics of soil and water management, and a healthy way to provide for themselves. And hear the Gospel along the way. These projects will be great for anyone who wants to get out into the towns and villages in our area and work with kids.
Persons: 4
Materials: vegetable seeds
Time: 1 week per garden
Cost: $100 per garden
Public Restrooms at the Front Gate
The hospital gate is a busy place, it serves as a bus stop for employees and visitors, a guard station, and an overflow for triage. Plans for the facilities include a foundation with a built in septic tank. And at ground level a toilet with a sink, shower, and a pila (a place to hand wash clothes). The floor and walls will be built upon arrival. The team will be framing, decking, and installing clay tile on the roof. Running electrical from the panel out, installing light fixtures and sockets, tiling shower walls and floor, hanging doors, painting interior and exterior walls, and installing plumbing fixtures. Your team will need to have an electrician and several handymen.
Persons: 4
Materials:
Time: 1 week
Cost: $3,000
Trim Doors and Paint Completed October 2010
Many Thanks to the Roger McCallister team
With the humidity and the termite load here in the tropics wood doesn't last long. The interior doors in the hospital need new trim and repainted. This is a week long project for five people. The team will need a few handymen and some who like to paint.
Persons: 5
Time: 1 week
Materials:
Cost: $1,500
Generator Fence, Paint, and Stairs Completed Feb 2011
In this project the team will be making concrete stairs from the generator room to the driveway, fence around the transformers, and paint the interior and exterior walls. The team will need someone who can weld, someone who's familiar with concrete work, and a couple of able bodies. This is a great father and son project.
Persons: 4
Time: 1 week
Materials: auto darkening welding shield, and a 4 inch grinder
Cost:$2,500
Splitting The Fuel Tank
Brad the Ag guy has a plan to make bio diesel for hospital use. This works out especially well for us because the hospitals' fuel tank is much to large. We never fill it up and it's too long for the slab it sits on, leaving us no room for a retaining wall in case of leaks. So we are planning to split the tank into two smaller tanks, and move the fuel pump; giving us an economical solution. We love win-win outcomes! The team will be fabricating tanks and stands, moving the fuel pump, and painting the finished product. This project will require a professional welder, someone experienced with tanks, another who is good with a cutting torch, and an able body or two.
Persons: 4
Time: 1 week
Materials:
Cost: $1,000
Hospital Drinking Fountains and Chlorine Feeders
The hospital is in need of hard mounted drinking fountains in 4 locations. And the children's Center needs their water system chlorinated. This project will require at least two plumbers and 2 helpers for a week. The drinking fountains will have to come from the states, but fortunately they are small enough to fit in luggage.
Persons: 4
Time: 1 week
Materials: 4 Halsey Taylor Model 4540 drinking fountains, 1 chlorine tester
Cost: $2,200 including drinking fountains
Red House Electrical
A couple years ago we remodeled a large home into three apartments. They have worked out very well, providing for the missionary community's growth. The only issue being that we have no way to meter the power that each unit is using. The plan is to split the electrical service into three private meters and install a generator hook up panel. This project will require a team of 2 electricians and an assistant or two.
Persons: 3 to 4
Time: 1 week
Materials:
Cost: $2,500
Reupholster Waiting Room Chairs Completed March 2011
The chairs in the waiting room of the hospital are more duct tape than fabric, and we're running short of duct tape. It's time to re-cover them, and there's a pile of them. Fabric and some fasteners are available in country. This project would require a team of 4 for one week.
Persons: 4
Time: 1 week
Materials:
Cost: $500
New Concrete Water Tank
The hospital's need for water has grown along with it. If the water system should break down the 17,000 gallons of water storage we currently have is only enough for a day. And the original tank that has served us well over the years is in need of major repair, now is the time to upgrade to a larger tank. What we have planned is an 80,000 gallon concrete tank. This project can be broken down into five parts each taking a team of seven to ten experienced concrete guys ten days to complete.
Paint Exterior Of Children's Center
The Children's Center is a short term home for Honduran children. Some need medical care but live outside of the area. Some need asylum from any multitude of bad things. And some are orphans. You wouldn't think it but it's a happy place full to the bursting point of smiling kids. Everything is finished except for the exterior paint. For this project we will need a team of 5 who can build wooden scaffolding, and paint. We plan to pressure wash, prime, and get two coats of paint on in ten days.
Persons: 5
Time: 2 weeks
Materials:
Cost: $3,000
Dinning Area At Kitchen
We are planning an extension off the hospital kitchen to serve as a dinning room for hospital employees. Local masons will do the concrete work. When the team arrives the project will be ready for rafters, a roof, electric run from the panel out, tile bathroom walls, plumbing fixtures, and painting. The team should consist of an electrician, a couple of carpenters, two handy guys.
Persons: 5 to 6
Time: 2 weeks
Materials:
Cost: $8,000
