Extreme Makeover Miriam Center Edition

The end of August and the first few weeks of September has been super busy working on the Miriam Center Makeover. We are not even close to being done because it is a HUGE project. It consists of 3 phases…

Phase 1- REPAINTING

Repainting the entire inside of the Miriam Center and the courtyard area. The Miriam Center has not been painted in a longtime and was in need a makeover.  I decided that It was logical to repaint before we tiled. We did not have funding for this so after some prayer I decided to fund this project. It has ended up costing triple what I expected but so worth it! We decided to get good oil based paint from PAP and are using bright, vibrant colors. It is so much more cheery around her :-) I never realized how BIG the Miriam Center was till you try to start painting the entire thing!

Phase 1 is about 75% done. We have been painting for tirelessly. Some days 8 hours a day working our way through the Miriam Center for over 3 weeks.  It has truly became a team project in which so many have helped…all the missionaries on campus helped, some of the MC staff & even family members, some of the Miriam Home kids as well as the orphans, as well as Alcana & Salandue. It has been awesome to work with so many to better the Miriam Center!!!  IT is challenging because when you run out of paint you can’t just jump in the car & go to the store as the paint store is an 8-10 hour bus trip 1 way away. We have run out of paint 2 times already…Also because we are using oil base paint & the cost of gas we are having to buy new brushes and roller heads everyday that we paint. So many challenges & roadblocks BUT we are jumping every hurdle slowly but surely!

Phase 2- INVERTER

Getting an inverter, hooking it up, running new wires to each room so that when we do not have power we can run lights and fans throughout the Miriam Center is the next big project. We have purchased fans from PAP for each room to have 3-4 fans to help increase airflow inside the Miriam Center. Many of our children have seizures which are increased with the heat. Our hope is that the fans will help decrease seizure activity in the hottest months, increase amount of sleep/quality of sleep the kids get and just provide overall increase comfort. An extra blessing is the fans came with lights attached for little night lights for the kids. The inverter is also HUGE in being able to run the oxygen machine when children are sick & need to be on oxygen throughout the night when there is not power.

Phase 2 is about 50% complete…We have 6 batteries so far on the inverter and it gives us ~5 hours of power when the power is off when running the oxygen machine and when not running the oxygen machine we can run fans throughout the night. We have realized we need 6 more batteries to be able to run the oxygen machine through the entire night. We need ~ $1,000 more to buy 6 more batteries. The inverter has already been a huge blessing in providing oxygen to Rachel & Derson when they were sick & needed oxygen. The children in the little guys room are also enjoying their fans & night lights. We are so thankful for Justin who is rewiring the entire Miriam Center and hooking up the fans/lights. What a HUGE blessing!!!!! This is a BIG project with A LOT of rewiring for Justin!

Phase 3- TILING

Tiling the entire Miriam Center that is not tiled already (which is the majority). This has been a dream of mine for years. Tile will increase sanitation so much. It will make it easier to keep the floors bleached & clean, It will also decrease sores on the children’s knees/legs while crawling, and overall be a HUGE asset to the Miriam Center.  We are still a few thousand dollars short for this project but we are trusting God will provide.

Phase 3- We are about 10% done with this project. Nahum & Stephanie shopped for tile in PAP. It is delicate as we want textured tile so not slippery but it can’t be too textured as we have so many kids who crawl. They brought 2 options back with prices. We then decided to check in PdP to see what tile they had & prices (although usually much more expensive). We were surprised that tile was cheaper in PdP and we were able to find 1 of the tiles we liked in PAP there. We have ordered the stone looking tile for the hallways, birdcage & kitchen as it is coming from DR and will take a few weeks. We have talked to the guys who will be installing the tile and are ready to start any day. We are going to start in the classroom so that we will have a transition room to use when other areas are being tiled!!! We are all so EXCITED!!!!

THE HALLWAYS & KITCHEN

THE ITTY BITTY ROOM 

THE OUTDOOR PATIO

THE BIRDCAGE

PAINT & FANS

 TILE...SO EXCITING!!!!