Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Finishing the Translation office

When the cyclone hit, it tore down much of the siding for our Translation office, but it was able to be fixed back up and now the office and toolshed have exterior walls.  The office has a roof now as well made of thatch.  Here's the siding process:
 Jenita is the local diamond pattern master for bamboo siding.  It's pretty complicated to get all the slats in the right order!  We told everyone to just put it in the normal way so it would be faster and easier, but they insisted that it had to be diamond pattern or it would look "rubbish".  :)
 They just measured the wall with sticks and the window space too to weave the walls before putting them up.
 Elder Harre cleaning up bamboo slats to be woven into the walls.
 George and Jenita counting and checking their work.
The older guy here, Totang, has been so helpful in all village projects lately.  He used to be a chief in the village many years ago, but then moved to Vila for work (as a builder, among other things).  He came out to Ambrym to visit and ended up staying several months.




And the roof just got put up fully a month or so ago so the office is fully functional and usable now, including power that was run over from the house. 
Here's the roofing process.  This roof should last 5 years or more, and Houghton lined the inside so when it does degrade, it won't fall down into the office. 

Awesome to have a completed office to work in and get translating the Bible in!