March - In like a Lion

Dear All,

It has been so long, and I think the best way for me to catch up is several short posts from where I last left off, nearing the end of February. Tumpal has indeed proven to be a real gift from God, and he shared with the staff one morning his call to work for SP, after a time of soul searching. He has successfully mobilized our beneficiaries to overcome the problem of finding carpenters. With the work of the logistics staff to procure enough materials, we finally got started in quickly constructing our first batch of houses. Tumpal is an engineer, which has proved helpful in modifying our house design to suit individual land issues, etc. For example, one house is wall-to-wall with the neighbours, and another is on a 15 degree grade. The big adaptation in March has been the realization that even if the UNHCR free wood does arrive, it will not be of sufficient quantity in time to keep on target. Rather than waiting longer, we have met with beneficiaries about building houses from cinder blocks. We then visited the shelter project in Meulaboh, Aceh, where SP is building 80 houses per month out of blocks that we make ourselves. I have ordered the block press machines, and we will start a similar production to build our own materials. This has the exciting ability to turn into a microfinance project, where we do a rent-to-own program with the presses, so that the staff we train can start their own business.

The middle of March came all too soon, and with it the monthly meeting in Medan. This meeting was really full, as we have several new staff. Doug Wilson, the manager for our shelter project in Meulaboh is leaving in April. Doug has been very busy lately, as our second shelter project in Panga is also managed by him, and he was the ad hoc base manager there as well. Finally, in February our base manager Meulaboh, Larry Vaughan, had heart surgery and returned to the US for convalescence. Doug is being replaced by three people! My good friend Duncan, who has been building schools in Panga, will manage the housing project as well, and take care of base management. Tim Hereford, a young newlywed, has arrived with his wife Abbey to manage the Meulaboh shelter project. Eric, a long time resident of Indonesia, will take over the base manager responsibilities in Meulaboh, and finally Steven, an MK who grew up in Indonesia will be moving to Nias in April, to help me with the base management responsibilities, freeing me to concentrate on building houses. I am really excited about this change, and the possibilities it brings for catching up in our project here. In short, Steven will be responsible for the staff house, warehouse, vehicles, and administration, while I will be responsible for the materials and construction of the houses.