Trip to Gorobi, March 25th

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Gorobi is a relatively large community on a rise in a large mountain basin northwest of Jimeta. The town has two District churches located on either side of the rise. They report that they do not have a borehole in the town. They have the structure built for a water stand but no tanks. It was built back in the 1990’s or earlier. They have multiple hand dug wells which dry up or have low productivity in the dry season. They also have several low places where they dig down into or next to a dry stream bed to reach water.  We looked at 6 of the wells and two of the water holes. I had visited Gorobi in 2008 when I spent 10 weeks learning about Nigeria, the water needs and the people. Not much has changed. My 2008 visit was at the end of a long day of visiting villages and was fairly brief the visited the large waterhole near the community and a couple wells.

Yakubu Bulama, Ruben and I left a little later than we wanted to and drove to Mayo Belwa. There we dropped Ruben off to go and repair a pump in a nearby village. The town water committee chair met him and the road off on a motorbike. We continued on through Mayo Belwa, out of Adamawa State into Taraba State to the town of Zing. There we headed west on a dirt road for 25 minutes and back into Adamawa State to Gorobi. We met with most of the Water Committee that has been formed under a tree near the school. They had elected officers and members. The members include two women and two “youth”. In Nigeria, a Youth is anyone under 30. It is common that a community will only include male elders in their committees. The Water Program encourages the inclusion of women and youth.

They have taken as census to the number of families on each side of the town, about 200 on each side. Bulama has visited several times and the town has not made much progress. This was an improvement over previous visits. He went through the program with them again and emphasized that the next step is to have a geo-technical survey done by a geologist at a cost of 50,000 Naira. It is the community responsibility to pay for the survey. This will determine the next step in the project. With the census, community maps and the geotechnical survey date the Water Program can recommend various courses of action to help the community with water, sanitation and hygiene. It will be up to the community to determine what they want to do and how they want to pay for the work. Currently, the program requires that the community provide a minimum of 20 percent of the funding (not including the geotechnical survey).

After meeting under the trees near the school we all piled into the Water Truck and toured most of their water sources. Since we got a late start, I did not have a chance to wander about the town and look at the water sources they did not show us.

The first well was dug on the east side of the community near a seasonal stream. It was flooded and never cleaned out. It is now towards the end of the dry season. There normally not enough rainfall to effect the groundwater levels until June. Most of the wells had a little water at the bottom. They could all use cleanout and deepening.

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As we approached one well I saw these children resting in the shade of a mango tree. 

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As we got closer I noticed a pair of sandals in the branches.

A young man was enjoying the shade and breeze in the leaves.

The first water hole we looked at was south of Gogobi the same one I had seen in 2008. The hole is a little bigger now. I was there later in the dry season (May 9^th, 2008) and there were many more people at the water hole waiting their turn. The wells were almost all dry so this was their main water source. Today they are able to still fetch water from some of the wells. Since the water at the bottom of the wells are only a couple inches deep it takes a lot of skill and persistence to fill a container of water.

Water hole south of Gorobi

The last place we stopped was northwest of town about a kilometer. This was the former farm of the Gongola State Water Board Manager. It had a large water tank and the remains of several borehole. Gongola State has been split into Adamawa and Taraba States. I suspect that when the government approved the building of this large water supply it was for the people of Gorobi. It is approximately, 100 feet below the town in elevation and about 1 kilometer to the center of town. 

The chairman of the water committee said that he wanted to drill a new borehole and then pipe the water to the town. I tried to explain to him that it will take a big generator and big pumps to pump the water up the hill through a kilometer of pipes. There were some boys loading water jugs onto a push cart. I asked him how hard would it be for him or me to push the heavy cart to the top of the hill. We agreed that people our age could not do it. I told him it is the same for the pump. We need a powerful pump to push many carts of water up the hill every day. It would cost a lot of money for the pipes and a lot of money each month for the fuel.

 Today was a windy day here as the rainy season approaches the winds tend to pick up. I asked the chairman about the winds. He said they are strong today because of the storms building. I asked about other times. He said the winds are always blowing in this valley. Where they are located, the valley narrows and rises. The valley is a break through the mountains that the river flows through. This area could be a candidate for having a small scale solar – wind combination system.  Could be an interesting project.

We headed back to Mayo Belwa and stopped for a late lunch or early dinner at Twin Sisters’ Restaurant. This is a small place with 4 tables inside and 4 tables outside. This is the third or fourth time I have eaten here. Today they had pounded corn and a soup (sauce) made from pounded melon seeds with two small pieces of meat (Beef most likely, I do not ask.)

After lunch/dinner we got back to Jimeta about the same time Rubin was getting back. The pump he had repaired was only two months old and the seals were worn out. He said there was not signs of sediment and that he had tested the pump before they had installed it two months ago. I he says it was new. The sellers of pumps here are not trustworthy or not knowledgeable in their product. I suspect the former. There are a lot of pump cylinders here that have been cleaned and re-painted. The seals may work well when you test it in a bucket of water but when you inspect them closely the seals are old and worn. In this village they pump on the one borehole from before sunup to after midnight. Good seals will need to be replaced every year or sooner with this heavy of use.

Later in the week I check Google Earth and there are possibly three separate shallow water table around Gorobi. I suspect the highest on is to the south of town.   There is a seasonal stream that has a relatively large catchment area to the south. The stream flow to the west when it encounters the hill that Gorobi is on.  Southwest of Gorobi there appears to be a natural restriction between the hill to the southwest and the hill that Gorobi sits on. You can never be sure what is occurring underground but this restriction may caused a natural underground lake.

The Twin

The seasonal stream to the east of Gorobi appears to be 20 to 30 feet lower than the seasonal stream to the south. After this restriction the stream flows to the north and west and goes the water hole where the abandoned farm is. This area appears to be almost a hundred feet lower than the area south of town. Google Earth’s elevation data is not very accurate. It estimates that the water hole to the south is only 10 feet lower than the center of the town. I would guess it is closer to 30 or 40 feet.  If I am still here when they do the geotechnical survey and I am able to go along I will take my GPS with a barometer and take some elevations readings based on air pressure difference. If they are taken within a few minutes of each other the estimated elevation difference is fairly accurate. My new Nikon has both a GPS and a barometer in it. The GPS locations are recorded with the pictures but the barometric pressure is not.

Blessing of the Foundation, Cathedral Deaf Church, March 26th

Below is a short video of the Deaf Sunday Service from March 30th at the LCCN Deaf Centre, in the LCCN Mission Quarters, Jimeta, Nigeria, The video is only bits and pieces of the service. It took two hours to upload this 5 minute video. I hope you enjoy it. 

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Bishop Amos starting the Blessing Ceremon

The above video is a four minute version of the 25 to 30 minute Blessing of the foundation for the Cathedral Deaf Church. It is as big as the blogger would allow. I will put the 8 minute version up on U-Tube when I go to the internet cafe. (I went to the internet cafe and the 8 minute video is too large for them. They have a limit of 150MB and it is over 200.)

Children in blue are students at the LCCN Deaf Centre

This was a formal ceremony officiated by Bishop Amos Yakubu of the Yola Dioceses. It was mostly in Hausa so I did not understand what was being spoken. I am told the blessing is to pray that the foundation will build a strong and fruitful church. Also that the congregation will find the funds to complete the church. Many churches take several years to build once the foundation is started. They will build until they run out of money. Then save money until they can build the next part of the church.

Pastor Ruth in trench as Bishop gives his remarks.

The ceremony opened with a prayer and a hymn. There were several readings from what I am calling the book. I believe it is a book that has the blessings and prayers to be offered on most occasions. The ceremony was started outside the foundation and after a while the Bishop got into the trench and continued reading from the book, read some scripture and prayed. Then he laid the first concrete block. Reitred Bishop William Lautai laid the second block to form the corner. Bishop Lautai was instrumental in convincing the Cathedral and the Diocese to build the church. His wife is a former Danish missionary and is helping to coordinate the funds from Denmark. Pastor Ruth then laid the third block.

Mr Yakubu Bulama givng remarks.
My house is in the back left.

After a final prayer and the Lord's Prayer. Bishop Amos gave a short informal address and asked Mr. Yakubu Bulama to also say a few words. Yakubu Bulama is the Secretary of the Cathedral Deaf Church Building Committee but he is not a member of the Cathedral Church. He is also the Water Program Coordinator for the Health Services Board, the LCCN Projects Coordinator (volunteer position), and too many other volunteer assignments to name. He spoke on how he thought the Deaf Church would help the Deaf Community of not only Jimeta and Yola but of all of Adamawa State and Northeast Nigeria. He also slipped in a pitch to the Cathedral and the Bishop that the Cathedral and the Dioceses at some point should help financially.

After Mr. Bulama spoke Bishop Lautai spoke a little more briefly and more direct to my camera. Thanking the supports in American and Denmark for their support of the Deaf in Jimeta and this project. After the informal speeches some Malta and Maltina beverages were given out and my bag of M&M with peanuts was consumed.

Retired Bishop William Lautai remarks.

By the end of the day the Engineer and Mason has laid out all of the corners. The next step in the process will be to start the support columns and continue the foundation blocks.

Currently, they have enough money to continue another week or two of construction. There is a money transfer from Denmark in the process. When it is received they will be able to continue working and complete the foundation, wall columns, bring the foundation blocks up to floor level, fill the foundation and complete the floors. Work will then stop until they receive more money to build the walls.

Pastor Ruth giving out the last of the M&M's.

There are three ways you can contribute to the building of the walls. You can mail a check to Mount Calvary Lutheran Church, 301 County Road 18, Excelsior, MN 55331. Be sure to write Deaf Church Fund in the Memo line. 

The second way is to click the link below and contribute online with Go Fund Me.

Go Fund Me, Deaf Church Walls or click on the picture below.

The third way is for those in Denmark.
Man kan støtte byggeriet gennem Mission Afrika på dette nummer: 5061 1060018 og øremærke gaven Døves Kirke konto 2114. DER ER BRUG FOR DIN HJÆLP.

Beyond contributions you can help by praying for completion of the church, sharing this posting on your Facebook page or Twitter account, of just email it to all of your friends.

Click to go to Go Fund Me

Corner Block have been laid on march 27th,

LCCN Deaf Church Foundation and Wall Construction

Note: I will be adding photos and video as the project proceeds to this blog entry.

Click on picture to do the the donation site.

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Update March 31st.

The video above was added March 31st. It is of the March 30th, Sunday Service at the LCCN Deaf Centre, near where the new church is being built. The video shows small portions of most parts of the service. I was late coming over from the Cathedral service and arrived during the last Scripture reading. After the service two teachers from the public school came over with a young deaf boy. He is a student at the public school but they cannot teach him. He does not seem to know sign.

As of today they are almost finished with the foundation. They have two small sections left to pour. This is Pastor Ruth in her office. The masons made a couple errors at the back of the building. They did not include the exterior part of the columns one is in the wrong place. Based on my old draft plans the office wall is off by a meter. The exterior column sections can be added easily. The column that is in the wrong place may be close enough. She will have a smaller office, larger lobby and large utility room outside the toilet room. We still do not have final drawings.

NW Corner of LCCN Mission Quarters, Jimeta

Front and Back View of the Chruch

The construction of the Cathedral Deaf Church is started with the digging of the foundation trenches and the pouring of the spread footings for the walls. On Wdnesday March 26th they will have the formal dedication of the foundation by the Bishop of the Yola Dicocese. Then masons will start the block work.

When money which has been collected in Denmark is transferred to Nigeria we will have enough funds to complete the substructure of foundations and floors. Work will stop at that point until enough money is collected to bring the mason back to erect the walls. We are working in the United States and Denmark to raise the money for the walls. In Denmark you can follow these instructions: Man kan støtte byggeriet gennem Mission Afrika på dette nummer: 5061 1060018 og øremærke gaven Døves Kirke konto 2114. DER ER BRUG FOR DIN HJÆLP.

In most countries you can use your debit or credit card at the Go Fund Me site.

.Go Fund Me, Deaf Church Wall Construction Link

Digging the trenches for the foundation 20 March 2014

I started a Go Fund Me site with a goal of $5,000 for individuals to donate part of the money needed for building the walls.

My home church, Mount Calvary Lutheran Church, 301 County Road 19, Excelsior, MN 55331 has agreed to accept, accumulate and disperse donations for this project. Write Deaf Church in the memo line of your check and mail it today.

Footings for Block Foundation poured 21 March 2014

I have requests to two small foundation for grants for the other $5,000. If the foundation gives the maximum and Go Fund Me reaches its goal we will have enough to finish the walls and have some left over to fund the roof. The rains are expected to start in April with small showers infrequent showers. (March 26 rain update, we had heavy dusty winds followed by a very light rain. There was enough to drop temperature and dust.) The Boabob tree here in the Mission Quarter has started to leaf out. This is usually an indication that the rains are coming. These early rains usually have more wind than rain. By July there will be rains almost daily.

If we can get the funds for the walls in April and start a campaign to fund the roof we have a chance to have the roof on before the worst part of the rainy season.


If you want to help this project send you tax deductible donation to:

Concrete and mortar mixing area. 

 Mount Calvary Lutheran Church,
301 County Road 19, Excelsior, MN, 55331
write Deaf Church Fund in the Memo line.

If you would rather use Go Fund Me you can click on graphic below. They take Visa and Mastercard.

Click on picture to do the the donation site.

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If you want to set up a lemonade stand and raise money for the Deaf Church. Go for it. All efforts will be appreciated.

A concrete block is only $0.67. We will need 3,300 for the walls. A bag of Portland Cement is $12 we will need 110 bags. We will need five truck loads of sand, one truck of gravel, re-bar, wood for forms, nails stirrups and a lot of manual labor.

If do donate then please hit one of the share buttons below and tell your friends that you have donated and you encourage them to also.

If you cannot donate at this time please hit one of the share buttons below and keep this posting traveling around the internet.

Tour of the House

This post is a tour of the house I live in at the LCCN Jimeta Mission Quarters. Today is Sunday morning. My breakfast did not stay down so I decided to skip church and nibble on bread and sip tea for a while. Probably the anti-malarial pill on an empty stomach. It is suppose to be taken 1 hour before eating but that upsets my stomach too much. I may have taken too long to shower, shave and fix breakfast this morning after taking the pill and then ate too fast.

Click on Pictures to Enlarge.

The house is an old mud brick mission house built in the 1950's. There used to be two big Neem trees shading the front of the house. They were getting rotten and the roots were breaking up the porch. The Neem trees to the back of the house shade it in the afternoon. The back bedroom stays a little cooler than the front room.

 I am the only one that stays in the house for any period of time. Occasionally, it has been used by people when there is a convention at the Cathedral. People coming from far away and cannot afford a hotel room sleep on mats and mattresses around the compound. This last year it has been used for a monthly meeting a team from the Community Based Public Health Program.

In 2010 I purchased tool kits to work on pumps for the Water Program. One of there tool kits was stolen out of the house. I small child was caught taking a broken pump cylinder out of the house through a broken window. The tool kit was too big to fit through the bars on the windows. Someone with a key took the kit out the front door.

The house is connected to the same power as the church. Whenever, the National Power Holding Company  (NEPA is the old name but everyone still uses it) provides power to this section of town I have power. When the church is holding a service and their big Perkins Diesel Generator is on I have power. When these are out I have a switch that disconnects the house from the Church and connects it to the generator. I just have to carry it outside, check the oil and fill the fuel tank.

I have made two major purchases to make my stay here more comfortable. The little generator and the little refrigerator. The generator is big enough to run the lights, ceiling fans, my computer, charge a cell phone or two and most important run the refrigerator. It is a Parsun 1900DX, 900watt, 220VAC 50 hz. I noticed that the Parsun 1900
DX and the 2900DX had the same gasoline motor. I figured the 1900DX would be easier on the motor and last longer. So far this year I have only run the gen for 3 hours. I was working on reviewing the first draft design of the proposed Deaf Church when the evening meeting at the Cathedral ended. I wanted to continue so I started the gen.

The refrigerator is a typical (2.2 cubic feet, 62 liter)counter top model
 . It is small but meets most of my needs. When running is uses only 80 watts. When starting the refrigerator after the compressor has not run for a while the generator bogs down for a second then recovers. I have been advised to install a larger starting capacitor on the compressor.

If you click on the pictures they get bigger. In the freezer section I have three 750 ml bottles of water. Behind the coffee cup filled with cold tea is a small loaf of bread. Bread in this heat only last a day or two before molding. Under the cold tea is leftovers from last night. Under the freezer are 500 ml sachets (bags) of water and a bottle of Schweppes' Bitter Lemon. On  the bottom is my two pounds of M&M's (unopened), a mango, some opened tomato paste, and more water. In the door is a Malta, some bottles of Nutri-C drink mixes, half a can of peach slices in grape juice. more water and a partial bottle of Schweepes'. The bottled water cost about 50 naira each when bought by the case. The sachets of water cost about 3.5 naira each when you buy a bag or 20. The sachets say 50cl. But I can almost put two into a 75 cl water bottle. The Schweepes' and Malta are my treats. I like them but they make me a little thirsty afterwards. The Nutri-C drink mixes are little packets of powder that is recommmended to be mixed with 250 ml of water. I use closer to 500 ml. If I want it cold right away I use a sachet from the fridge. Otherwise, I use the boiled filtered water and cool it in the fridge.

View from Kitchen

This is a view of the front room. The kitchen is to the rigjt out of the picture. The door leads to a hallway with the bathroom to right and the bedroom straight back. I have pulled the round table under the window and where I get a cross breeze from the back room. In previous years I had used the table for the computer. Then I used the same power plug for the refrigerator and the computer. The front room is in an L shape with and alcove on the left. The back part of room through the arch is where we store the tools, pipes, and other equipment for pump repair. The refrigerator is at the edge of the alcove with the coils next to the windows that seems to have the most air movement. In addition to the heat of the sun on the roof this rooms gets the heat from the refrigerator, my computer and the ceiling fan that always on when there is power.

My A/C

View from NE corner of room

Yesterday it got to 102 degrees F (39C) inside the front room. Higher outside. I took a small dish towel soaked it in water and put it over my face and shoulders and took a nap in the chair. It was much cooler under the towel. Bature air conditioning. Right now at 9:15 AM it is 92 in the front room. When in the house I spend the most time in the front room.

View from Front Room

The kitchen and bathroom looks like an addition to the original house on the northside. The sun is currently to the south so it gets a lot of solar heat. The sink it no longer connected to the drain to the outside. The counter top is rotted around the sink. I use the purple (might look blue in the picture) tub to do dishes. The gas burner is where I boil water for my tea and my oatmeal in a teapot and also where I make my one pot meals in a little aluminum pan shown in the wash tub. I repaired the small electric oven but it 1200 watts. I have not tried using it with only the bottom element at 600 watts with my 900 watt generator. I would have to turn off all the lights. The tall aluminium cylinder is an old water filter. Three ceramic filters are in the top section. When I boil water I use it first for tea and oatmeal then I fill a thermos with hot water for later cups of tea. The remaining water I let cool then pour into the top. The water is filtered down to the bottom. I use this water for mixing with Nutri-C drink mix, rinsing food, cleaning my hands, and rinsing dishes (I will use the hot water from the kettle if it is still hot to rinse dishes also.)

The pantry and cupboard is the cleanest place in the kitchen.
This is where I prepare my meals.
The food in the top (pantry) is about three weeks worth of canned foods, rice, milk powder, and oatmeal. I have one can of Salmon. Cans of makeral in tomato sauce, sardines in tomato sauce, tuna in sunflower oil, hotdogs in brine, baked beans, fruit cocktail in fruit juice. Tonight's planned meal is beans and weanies with the rest of the tomato paste from last nights meal. If I feel better I will walk out and buy some onions to add in. I may start with a little boiled rice and then add in the beans and hotdogs. I live a simple life. I forgot my spices. Curry powder, thyme, salt, sliced dried ginger, dried peppers. I also will by the local version of ramon noodles.

The little light on top of the old broken refrigerator is my power indicator light. You can see the power disconnect switch behind the light. If the power is out and I am on the generator this light will come on when the power returns. Before added this light I would have to notice that there was lights on in the other house in the compound. The light is on in the picture from the front room of the kitchen.

Next is the hallway between the front room and the bedroom. There is a wardrobe. When it is over 100 degrees,  I wish I could step through it to Narnia. I keep my shirts and pants in the wardrobe and drawing equipment, foot powder and other small items on the shelves. The little bookcase is from my two pairs of shoes and my airport bag of meds, toothpaste and toothbrush.

The bathroom is to the right off to the hallway. The water is not connected to the house. The two barrels are where I store my water. The first barrel does not have a top. That is for washing, showering, The second barrel has a top on it. That is the water I use for boiling water. When I fill the barrels of water I add a touch of bleach to the boiling water barrel. The green bucket is my shower bucket I dip water from the washing barrel into the green bucket. I step into the shower and use a tin cup with a hole in it to pour water over my head. The hole just happens to be in the cup. If you hold the cup wrong the tiny stream of water flows into your face. The purple bucket in front of the barrel is the toilet flushing bucket. When I wash my hands the water goes into this bucket. When the dish water get dirty it goes in this bucket. When I wash some socks of underwear in the green bucket the dirty water and rinse water goes in the toilet flushing bucket.

The bedroom is in the back of the house to the west. On the left there used to be a bed with no mattresses. Now there are the two mattresses that I used to have on my bed. On top in my large bag where I keep my underwear, socks, medical supplies, chargers and other stuff. I live out of the bag and the wardrobe.

That is the tour of my house. It is livable for short stays and not in the rainy season. The roof leaks a little. A bad leak is into the kitchen mud brick wall which is expanding. It will not last many more rainy seasons without some fix. There is a committee looking at the future of the Mission Quarter. They want to turn it into a source of income for the LCCN. I think a guest house with some kitchenette rooms for visitors like me would be a good idea. I designed one on my 2011 trip. The bottom floor was the offices and warehouse for the Water and Sanitation Program, a Classroom, a water testing room, a pump repair room and a warehouse for pumps and pipes. The top floor was a guest house with two kitchenette rooms, a restaurant, and a patio on the west side where pumps can be mounted that go down into the warehouse where the pump cylinders are in barrels of water. Pump repairmen can be trained under controlled conditions. That was my dream of a West Africa Pump Repair Training Center. Maybe I should crowd source the $200,000 it would cost to build.


It is now 10:30. The rest of my oatmeal seems to be staying down. I guess it was just the pill. The English service is still going on. Hope it was not a combined service or I will loose power soon. The Hausa service will keep my power on for another 2 hours.
 My third cup of tea went into the refrigerator. It will need another hour to get cold.

Pastor Ruth and a public school teacher who had studied sign with Ruth came by after their service was over. Ruth brought over a bag a mangos. The are mostly green so they will last a few days. I have one ripe one in my fridge. I showed her my concept of how we can change the Deaf Church design so she can have an entrance into the sanctuary from behind the Altar.

I had a lot of problems posting this due the network going up and down. I also think my phone is overheated from the use of it as a hot spot. The room temperature is now 98F as we approach noon and 2 more hours to the heat of  the day.

March 13th, Women Cooking for Women's Convention, Deaf Church Design Review

As I was walking over to the little Lutheran Youth Fellowship Shop at the Cathedral I passed these women,e working hard. I think the pot had gotten too hot. They had just pulled the smoking log on the upper left out from under the pot. They were busy stirring this like this for several minutes. When I came back 15 minutes later they were packaging the pounded yams up into individual servings in plastic wrap. The portions will be stored in an insulated container and will stay hot for a long time. They will be served with the beef that was cooked yesterday and a soup. In the US we would call their soup a sauce. It can be a tomato base or greens based. I lot of times it is thickened with a little pot ash.

Deaf Church Design Review

Today has been mostly working on review of the design of the Deaf Church. I got the plans from Buluma last night. I had been told that new plans were coming last week so I assumed these were the new plans. They were not. It turns out these were the first draft. The committee had given the architect directions for changes and he has not yet provided the new plans. Tomorrow I will print up my comments and have Buluma review them and then give them to the committee to see if they want to pass them on to the architect.

Click to Enlarge

This top sketch is my interpretation of the architect's drawing. The pastor stand on the floor in front on then Altar. The Audience is on benches. There are two rows of benches on the floor and two rows on each of the three step going up to the back of the church. The second picture has the Altar reduced to two steps. I understand this was requested by the building committee when they reviewed the first draft.
The bottom sketch is my idea to change the first Altar step into a stage. The first step is widened and extended out towards the audience and acts as a stage. The light colored area is 1.5 meter (4' 11") deep stage. The set of lines shows the stage area extended out to 2 meters.

In the picture above there is a grey door. This leads back into Pastor Ruth's Office.

Late in the afternoon, Pastor Ruth said she would like to have the entrance from her office come in from behind the Altar. I spent the rest of the evening until power went out creating this sketch to show that it is possible. Her office and store room will be smaller and the WC would be moved to the center. This may add a thousand dollars to the construction.

 Currently, they have raised less than $10,000 for this project. This will allow them to start the foundation and walls. They are currently buying the materials for the foundation. They may have enough money to build the foundation here in Nigeria. When the money collected in Denmark is forwarded they will start the walls. When more money is collected and forwarded they will add the roof. This is typical construction here in Nigeria. I have seen smaller churches take three years to build.

Their current funds will not be enough to put a roof on it before the rainy season. They will need another $15,000 to $20,000 for the roof. The roof is one of the more complex and expensive parts of the building. The current cost estimate is for the completed building to cost between 6 and 6.5 Million Naira. At current exchange rates this is about $36,000 to $39,000.

There is a small group of people working on raising money in Denmark. The BOLD Church in Minneapolis, a small Deaf Church, has raised $500 and Citizens Into Action has designated $1,100 from its last two Fair Trade Fair donations to this project. I have committed to a 2014 goal to raise $10,000 from the US.

I am not a professional fund raiser. Anyone who wants to help or has some advice can comment to this blog or email me at jaycia@mchsi.com.  I need to get a 501 C 3 organization to start a fund to accept money in the United States. I will ask if out local synod if they will do this or one of our local churches.

My trip to the bush on Saturday to flush a new borehole that is giving cloudy water has been cancelled. There was no need for a team to go. Adams will accompany the driller.