By Ken Potter, REVOLUTION Construction Manager

We now have two of our seven building sections “under roof”. This process of form work, rebar work, concrete work, and then curing is taking a little longer than a month, especially with rains that have been occurring almost daily.

While the roof concrete has been underway, the stucco workers have been very busy with our first section of the building and at this point they are down to only the detail work – outside corners, etc. This step has really transformed the building from a raw block structure into a real-looking building! There is an amazing amount of labor required in this stucco work, starting with a very rough coat that is literally thrown on the wall with a trowel, then a base coat that is applied in specific spots or lines that are then stringed so they create a flat plane, and then a long 1×4 is used to screed or spread the stucco in between these areas. This is then followed by the finish coat using sand that has been shoveled through a screen so only proper size sand is used. All of this requires strong shoulders, elbows, and arms in general, especially the finish coat that is rubbed down smooth with water and a sponge. Finally once it has dried, this stucco will be dry-rubbed so it becomes even smoother.

With all of this underway, we are to the point where we will need finish materials, so some of the items we have been looking at are the windows and doors. There are many more finish items and materials we will be needing and SRI has sent a list to everyone asking for any connections to suppliers. Please email kpotter@solidrockinternational.org with any leads!

At the end of the video below, you will also see that we are working on our 30,000 gallon water sistern and installing our main drain pipe with manholes for accessing this pipe. The stucco work is underway in the second section with the rough coat being applied and it will soon be followed with many workers applying the stucco. We will be “jumping” across the main section of the building which has higher walls to the remaining part of the building that has the same elevation walls as where we started. This will make the carpentry and other work be able to be a little more efficient.

We recently had two representatives from IMEC (International Medical Equipment Collaborative) spend two days with us reviewing the building and discussing exactly what services we are wanting to provide to the poorest of the poor. These two gentlemen were amazing people full of knowledge and driven by the words of Jesus Christ to serve others.

Mark Heydenburg has visited 104 countries doing this type of work and has an unbelievable understanding of what is needed for any type of medical procedure, how to best set up and install this equipment, knowledge of the historical progression, and types of equipment, and finally knowledge of how to use and repair the equipment. I look forward to his help training the bio-med technicians we will have here at the hospital. Even though this is Mark’s occupation, he said he looks at every trip as mission work working to fulfill God’s call.

Mark’s “boss” is Orlando Vargas. Orlando has been doing mission work since his teenage years and grew up here in the DR. He has fantastic connections with catholic bishops, churches, government officials, businesses, and more who can all help us get things properly done. After these two days I truly understand the concept of drinking from a firehose, an incredible wealth of information was provided and it is only the start. It was a perfect time to make some minor adjustments to the building so that it and the equipment will best fit together. A project such as this is only possible having IMEC as a partner who can supply the equipment we need with the amazing knowledge base of their people.

Below is a short video of what things look like.

Thanks for taking the time to read and view this update. Thanks for your financial support of the project. Thanks for your prayers!

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