- Banda Aceh Playground
- The tsunami of 2004 was the result of the second strongest earthquake ever recorded. The province of Aceh in Indonesia was the hardest hit area of any in southeast Asia. Over 125,000 Acehnese were killed and that many more were missing. Compassion Frisco was formed as a humanitarian agency to work among the tsunami survivors. Mayor Simpson and the city council sent a proclamation to the mayor of Banda Aceh declaring our city's sympathy, and affirming Compassion Frisco as an organization wanting to provide long term service with partners there. Compassion Frisco was birthed out of Preston Trail Community Church. Over the past four years teams have gone to work with partners on the ground there in wholistic community development, empowering women, medical care, trauma counseling and athletics. For the next two weeks John Taylor and Dudley Raymond will be in Aceh to oversee the installation of complex playground equipment to be installed in a new park in Banda Aceh. The equipment was bought and shipped to Aceh from the states. Pray for them in these efforts.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Thursday Evening - Indo Time....
Hi all,
So sorry not to get to this yesterday. We had our second day in a row focused on digging holes, pouring cement, organizing our equipment to be installed and trying to stay hydrated! We did get the holes for the main part of the Playground System finished - 3'' - 4''footings poured in some 25 holes that were dug about 23 - 25" deep - we were blessed to have 4 of Aceh's finest working tirelessly with us!! We hope that we will be able to post some pictures tonight that will give you an idea of what we are up to.... I think Dudley mentioned it is HOT!!!
We celebrated last night by going out to the local Pizza Hut - amazing - the nicest PH that I have ever experienced!!
Today - Thursday - our day started with some GREAT concern. As Dudley and the A Team (Acehanese Helpers) were getting the first posts ready to assemble, I was going thru the boxes of nuts and bolts - each box has ALOT of plastic bags filled with daunting assortments of the steel objects.... and each with a 6 digit # that corresponded to the part of the Playground that was to be assembled - this is all convieniently described in the 70 page Manual that I am happy to put away at the end of the day! Anyway, before we got too far along, it seemed evident that we were missing ALOT of the necesary nuts and bolts. Dudley and Vaughn went back to the Mayor's storage area to look around (they did find some PG parts that had been overlooked by the Officials that transported the equipment to the site - but did not find any more N&B's that we needed. I had organized what we had by the time they returned. We decided to see what we could get assembled and then do an inventory of what was left and see if GameTime could ship them over - we were not happy campers!
As the day progressed, we experienced several learning curves - we got the hang of assembling the parts in a specific order and accomplished much more in the afternoon than we had before lunch - our prayers and hopes were that we would get the superstructure up before finding we did not have the necesary N&Bs to finish at least this part. What we learned was that the Manufacturer plays mind games with first-time Installers (at least that is what we believe tonight). It seems they pack large bags of a wide assortment of N&B's that one does not need all at once. But you get the opportunity to go thru the bag to find the 6 or 8 items you need. The good news in this exercise is that I became much more comfortable with where to find certain N&B's for various Playground Parts. I imagine I will be pretty good at it by the time we are done....
While I played with the small stuff, Dudley worked with the A Team in bolting alot of stuff together! We all worked together in the afternoon when I finally got my act together. The good news is that the superstructure is up - there is much to attach to it in the next few days - and we have alot of N&B's left! Praise God!! Vaughn and I were talking at a break in the afternoon and reflecting on the course of the day. He said that he and Dudley had prayed that if we did not find the N&B's that we needed, that God would multipy what we had. I must admit, that prayer had been on my mind as well! Regardless, we know that God blessed us with another wonderful day!
We hope that we can get some of the pictures posted. They should give you an idea of the past 4 days here in Banda! Our new friends - the A Team - are great guys. They are such hard workers and always smiling and laughing. Today they pretty much wanted to take over the construction. Quick learners and willing to do more than we expect - what a blessing! The last picture is of our first 2 children that came by late in the afternoon. We tried to bribe them to not play on the equipment yet - with a couple Tootsie Roll Pops we brought on the trip. We'll see....
Please keep praying for us - that our relationships with the guys we are with will continue to deepen - that we will remain safe and healthy - and that God will continue to show us where to look for the N&B's. Thanks for your interest in this incredible project!
So sorry not to get to this yesterday. We had our second day in a row focused on digging holes, pouring cement, organizing our equipment to be installed and trying to stay hydrated! We did get the holes for the main part of the Playground System finished - 3'' - 4''footings poured in some 25 holes that were dug about 23 - 25" deep - we were blessed to have 4 of Aceh's finest working tirelessly with us!! We hope that we will be able to post some pictures tonight that will give you an idea of what we are up to.... I think Dudley mentioned it is HOT!!!
We celebrated last night by going out to the local Pizza Hut - amazing - the nicest PH that I have ever experienced!!
Today - Thursday - our day started with some GREAT concern. As Dudley and the A Team (Acehanese Helpers) were getting the first posts ready to assemble, I was going thru the boxes of nuts and bolts - each box has ALOT of plastic bags filled with daunting assortments of the steel objects.... and each with a 6 digit # that corresponded to the part of the Playground that was to be assembled - this is all convieniently described in the 70 page Manual that I am happy to put away at the end of the day! Anyway, before we got too far along, it seemed evident that we were missing ALOT of the necesary nuts and bolts. Dudley and Vaughn went back to the Mayor's storage area to look around (they did find some PG parts that had been overlooked by the Officials that transported the equipment to the site - but did not find any more N&B's that we needed. I had organized what we had by the time they returned. We decided to see what we could get assembled and then do an inventory of what was left and see if GameTime could ship them over - we were not happy campers!
As the day progressed, we experienced several learning curves - we got the hang of assembling the parts in a specific order and accomplished much more in the afternoon than we had before lunch - our prayers and hopes were that we would get the superstructure up before finding we did not have the necesary N&Bs to finish at least this part. What we learned was that the Manufacturer plays mind games with first-time Installers (at least that is what we believe tonight). It seems they pack large bags of a wide assortment of N&B's that one does not need all at once. But you get the opportunity to go thru the bag to find the 6 or 8 items you need. The good news in this exercise is that I became much more comfortable with where to find certain N&B's for various Playground Parts. I imagine I will be pretty good at it by the time we are done....
While I played with the small stuff, Dudley worked with the A Team in bolting alot of stuff together! We all worked together in the afternoon when I finally got my act together. The good news is that the superstructure is up - there is much to attach to it in the next few days - and we have alot of N&B's left! Praise God!! Vaughn and I were talking at a break in the afternoon and reflecting on the course of the day. He said that he and Dudley had prayed that if we did not find the N&B's that we needed, that God would multipy what we had. I must admit, that prayer had been on my mind as well! Regardless, we know that God blessed us with another wonderful day!
We hope that we can get some of the pictures posted. They should give you an idea of the past 4 days here in Banda! Our new friends - the A Team - are great guys. They are such hard workers and always smiling and laughing. Today they pretty much wanted to take over the construction. Quick learners and willing to do more than we expect - what a blessing! The last picture is of our first 2 children that came by late in the afternoon. We tried to bribe them to not play on the equipment yet - with a couple Tootsie Roll Pops we brought on the trip. We'll see....
Please keep praying for us - that our relationships with the guys we are with will continue to deepen - that we will remain safe and healthy - and that God will continue to show us where to look for the N&B's. Thanks for your interest in this incredible project!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
hot and slow
All
on Monday we arrived in Banda Aceh at around 1:30. Vaughn Thomas picked us up from the airport and transported us to the guest house where we had lunch with Lizapple White. Then we went to visit the mayor as well as look at the equipment in storage. The meeting with the mayor went well although they would slip in and out of Achenese So in reality I am not too sure what they were saying a good portion of the time.
Then we went to visit Vaughn's farm. He is doing demonstration as well as research and testing to help the locals lean different farming practices that are sustainable and transferable. He has about 2 hecters with chickens, several fish ponds where they are raising fish, compost piles, garden plots, a compressed earth block factory, cattle where the waist is captured and the methane gas is refined and used to for a cook stove, as small store, they are growing timber, and goats. It is truly amazing.
Today Tuesday
We started at about 8:00. We showed up at the mayors office where the equipment was stored at waited and waited. Finally we called to see where the men were that were going to help us and learned they had already loaded the equipment to the site.
While John and I were unloading the equipment and getting organized, Vaughn started to dig the first hole, that's when we heard the very distinct sound of post hole diggers hitting rock. He was only 1/2 inch down and hit the first rock. He gave up and moved to the second hole. Well as luck would have it he met the same fate. Uh Oh
Today, with the help of 3 locals we dug a grand total of 14 holes. You must use a rock bar to loosen the soil and rocks enough to get it out with the post hole diggers. It seams as if the soil is compacted well and is made up of 50% soil and 50% rock. The rocks are rather large in some cases. We have 46 holes to dig in total.
Did I mention that it is HOT HOT HOT. We are thankful for what we could accomplish today and know that tomorrow will be a good day as well.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Hi all,
We arrived in Moscow an hour early - yeah - now we have a 2 1/2 hour layover! Singapore Air is fabulous in service - the seats are a bit hard, but we were able to get some sleep. On to Singapore in a bit - 10 more hours - then a couple puddlejumpers. Wish we had some time here in Moscow - wierd to be here and not be able to explore this part of the World. Have a wonderful Sunday!
John
We arrived in Moscow an hour early - yeah - now we have a 2 1/2 hour layover! Singapore Air is fabulous in service - the seats are a bit hard, but we were able to get some sleep. On to Singapore in a bit - 10 more hours - then a couple puddlejumpers. Wish we had some time here in Moscow - wierd to be here and not be able to explore this part of the World. Have a wonderful Sunday!
John
Saturday, April 25 just after 3:30 PM –
Dudlley and I are 5 hours and 57 minutes into our trip – and awaiting our boarding call (in an hour) for Singapore Air to Singapore (via Moscow) and sitting here in Houston (been here since 11 AM)…. Just practicing for our 2 – 10 hour flights… - o’yeah, then the short flights to Medan, Indonesia and then on to Banda, Aceh – total trip time… roughly 36 hours from Dallas - whooowhooo!!
We are pumped! We got thru checkin and security with our 2 bags of clothes, etc and two bags of tools. We were ready to explain, but nobody asked…. Just as we were checking in to Singapore Air, a friend of Dudley’s from Frisco, called out his name. Josh, a 26 year old weight lifter – boxer – arm wrestler – and various other body strength abilities – is on our flight (we are safe!) enroute to Thailand to continue his professional career in kick-boxing. Josh has a wonderful heart for the Lord, with a bent on beating on people in a cage….Our trip has taken it’s first very interesting turn.
Dudlley and I are 5 hours and 57 minutes into our trip – and awaiting our boarding call (in an hour) for Singapore Air to Singapore (via Moscow) and sitting here in Houston (been here since 11 AM)…. Just practicing for our 2 – 10 hour flights… - o’yeah, then the short flights to Medan, Indonesia and then on to Banda, Aceh – total trip time… roughly 36 hours from Dallas - whooowhooo!!
We are pumped! We got thru checkin and security with our 2 bags of clothes, etc and two bags of tools. We were ready to explain, but nobody asked…. Just as we were checking in to Singapore Air, a friend of Dudley’s from Frisco, called out his name. Josh, a 26 year old weight lifter – boxer – arm wrestler – and various other body strength abilities – is on our flight (we are safe!) enroute to Thailand to continue his professional career in kick-boxing. Josh has a wonderful heart for the Lord, with a bent on beating on people in a cage….Our trip has taken it’s first very interesting turn.
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