May 31 A Bee Hive of Activity

The hostel was a bee hive of activity this afternoon.  Outside, scaffolding was up on the front, while they plastered the outside walls; inside, walls are also being plastered while a saw buzzed away, cutting ceiling panels and pounding of nails in ceilings on the 2 top floors. 

balconies off the student bedrooms

Looking up the steps at the living room, nearly complete.

Ceilings on the main floor nearly done - and being painted.  Two of the 4 top level bedrooms have ceilings in as does the bathroom on the top level.

May 24 Lower Apartment Plumbing

The apartment on the lower level is looking great == tile floor is in, walls painted a bright white. 
Entering the house through the front door, we're standing in the living / dining room, looking at the kitchen to the right, where some work is being done, down the hall at the left straight into the bedroom.

The first door on the left is the bathroom.   Oh but woops, the plumming fixtures were not in yet.
So, the freshly painted walls were chipped away to make way for pipes.  Then plastered up again.  Ah well, that's the way it's done here. 

plumming fixtures put in place after the walls were painted.  At least the flooring hadn't yet been installed.

If this had been Ron's primary or only job, he probably would have caught this before the plastering and paint had been done.  But we learn to live with less than perfection. 

Continue down the hall to the end, in the bedroom, turn around and this is the view.

Inside the bedroom: door to the right is storage, to the left is an office, and then the entrance to the hall.

May 24 Nailing in the Ceilings

The ceiling got nailed up in the dining room on Thurs. May 24.  The bright light to the left is the door to the mud room that leads to the front entrance.  Even up on the scaffolding, this looks like break neck work!

Other ceilings had been nailed up in the hostel parents bedroom...

Hostel parents bedroom with ceiling in.

and over the deck just outside the living room and hostel parent's bedroom...

The deck with ceiling

and in the closet, bathroom, office, and in the kitchen...

Looking into the kitchen from the dining room.  Ceiling is done!

Oh look, you can see the base for kitchen cupboards on the floor.  Go on in and take a look out that window straight ahead...

View out one of the 2 kitchen windows

May 17 - Lower Apartment Takes Shape

The back balconies are taking shape!  Down on the lower level, it's beginning to look alot like an apartment. 

On the lower balcony workers were mixing cement this afternoon, to use in laying tile inside the apartment.

Walk around to the other side of the balcony and  you can see that the short wall around it is now plastered.  Just at the left edge of this picture is the apartment's front door.

A look inside that door reveals that the inside is painted, and tile going down on the floor!  Stokers plan to move their furniture in before they go to the US this summer for a year of home assignment.

May 3

It's been raining nearly every night here in Yaounde, so it's a good thing the roof is completely up!  Now the majority of the work is inside. 

View from the RFIS side of the wall -- now the whole roof is up!

From the front gate, the hostel doesn't look much different. 




Roof covers the upper and lower levels.  Preparations being made for a stairway to the front door.

 Plastering the ceilings on the lower levels, putting up a ceiling in the living area on the upper level, and continueing with window frames and door frames.

Ceiling of Stoker's apartment gets plastered.

Upstairs, the living room and dining room area have been taken over by scaffolding.  Ron says it's there to facilitate putting in the ceiling.  I see they're also chipping away at the concrete block walls, making way for electrical wiring etc.

Work continues in the living / dining room

 Today the 6th graders visited Rain Forest International School (RFIS) in the morning for orientation, visit classrooms, and lunch.  Since Ben and his friend had soccer practise there in the afternoon, they stayed, and I met them -- so we checked out the hostel.  Ben and his friend found the construction site a fun place to explore.

Hi Andre & Ben!  Don't fall!  They may not find it as much fun when the short wall goes up around the balcony.