Build a small group home for orphans in Ukraine

We were almost late getting this report uploaded because we were waiting on this bit of good news (and the accompanying pictures).

If you've been following our progress then you already know getting electricity to our building site has been a bit of a nightmare. During this past quarter we've finally been able to sign a contract with the village and with the electric company to secure power. Two days ago we were able to see the progress for the first time!!

Power poles and most of the wire has been run more than one kilometer to our building site. We expect to have power on-site as early as mid-April.

We also have all of the final approvals to begin building two staff cottages next to the Blossom Cottage property. At a meeting with our contractor today we talked about breaking ground for the cottages soon as well as continuing work on Blossom Cottage. Because the exchange rate is wildly fluctuating right now we intend to purchase all of our sheetrock and most of our flooring (tiles) for later use.

As always, thank you for your support. Now that winter has broken we expect to see a lot of progress during this new quarter.

We finally have some progress to report!

Our Phase 2 Contractor began work in October. They are plumbing Blossom Cottage which includes running water from the Well to the house, then running pipes to all the necessary locations (bathrooms, utility rooms, and kitchen), plus the major job of installing under-floor piping that will be part of the HVAC system.

In Ukraine, it's not unusual to run pipes and wires above a first level of concrete foundation, and then covered by another layer. As an American, that sounded risky to me (what if something breaks), but it's a very common practice here.

We were also told last week that the power company is ready to build the necessary infrastructure to get electricity to our site. In practice, that means they will contract with the village to extend power and transformers to our location and we will pay for the work. They are supposed to tell us this week how we can pay. It will cost approximately $24,000 and thanks to your generosity (and the recent Passport to Purpose campaign, we have the money on-hand.

After plumbing (which should be finished any day now), the contractor will wire the whole house. Next will probably be the remainder of the HVAC system which will be our next major expense. After that, we should be able to start indoor finishes (flooring, sheetrock, ceiling) and maybe we can host volunteer teams in the Spring to help with that work.

Look for us in a few weeks to participate in GlobalGiving's Giving Tuesday campaign!