All the false ceilings have now been poured, and our shell builders are working quickly inside, putting up partition walls and filling joints with mortar. Precision and caution are particularly important here. Thank you for continuing to support this project in your prayers!
Philipp Trenz, who has been leading our German-Peruvian construction team since last year, is currently visiting the campus. He is preparing for a longer assignment for some of the construction team members in Peru. Being on site regularly is extremely important for good cooperation within our international team. Philipp's first stop was a tour of the construction site with the electrical and plumbing crews. Listening, talking, explaining, and asking questions on an equal footing are essential for reaching good joint decisions. Thank you for accompanying us with your prayers!
The final countdown to Christmas is now underway: everyone is pitching in and mustering their last reserves of energy before the well-deserved holiday break. This means that the formwork can be prepared so that the last false ceiling on the upper floor can be poured before Christmas! We are very excited to see if everything will work out.
About seven days ago, our workers began digging channels for electrical cables and sanitary pipes on the ground floor. The floor will then be leveled and concreted. Of course, we also experience minor delays from time to time. But progress is being made and the first rooms are taking shape. We are very grateful for this!
Of course, all children who come to therapy or for consultations using a wheelchair, walker, or other walking aid must and should be able to access the children's therapy center via a convenient ramp. This construction phase is therefore absolutely essential for casayohana.
This week, our workers were able to pour most of the next floor slab between a few rain showers. But then a break was necessary. After the rain, however, work continued rapidly until the floor slab was completed. A tremendous amount of work has now been accomplished.
Since we have a sloping property and our new building is being constructed relatively close to the wall separating us from our neighbors, drainage along the wall is urgently needed. This will eliminate two hazards for the children's therapy center: first, the collapse of the wall, which is endangered by water and soil. Second, water entering the new building and causing damage. The drainage was completed this week – just in time before the rain set in. At the same time, the fire escape staircase was also installed as a "shell". We are very grateful for both.
On Friday, shortly before the end of the working day, the time had come: a topping-out ceremony with words of thanks, prayers, and sweets for our super-active workers. But anyone who thought that it was now time for a break was mistaken. Immediately after the ceiling was completed, work began on the concrete pillars for the third floor! The goal: to complete the shell of the building with the roof as quickly as possible! Really great! If you are interested in craftsmanship:
This week, despite shortages of cement and other building materials, our workers were able to quickly erect the beams on the sides and already lay parts of the walls. Now, a few days before casayohana's 10th birthday on October 11, the pouring of the third floor is imminent. We very much hope that we will get enough cement for this. That is a big challenge here in Peru at the moment! We cordially invite you to join us via livestream for our anniversary celebration on October 13 at 4:30 p.m.! You are also welcome to log in via the following link: www.casayohana.org/live
Since the middle of the week, the exterior walls have been bricked up, as have the interior walls. This means you can already see where the rooms will be located. The picture shows the work being done on the office of Bine, the director of casayohana. This step will certainly take some time. We will, of course, keep you up to date.
True to the motto "After the party is before the party," all the cornerstones for the exterior and interior walls were poured last week. Once again, it was fascinating to see how the whole team worked hand in hand to fill the "pillar shells" with concrete in such a short time.
Another difference between Peru and Germany is that in Peru, many small "topping-out ceremonies" are celebrated whenever an important step is completed. Usually, the schnapps flows freely at these celebrations. At casayohana, we celebrate with delicious sweets, a symbolic groundbreaking ceremony by the boss Bine and her representative Victor, and a thank-you speech for the workers with prayer and blessings! Why? Ultimately, God has kept his hands over this project and brought it this far – we are very grateful for that!
And the result is impressive – we are very happy and grateful for this further big step!
Unlike in Germany, almost everything here in Peru is done by craftsmen, including pouring the floor slab from the ground floor to the first floor: Wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow is diligently filled with concrete, then brought up to the ceiling and poured out. This meant that the entire area could be poured on Friday/Saturday. Unbelievable!
It's incredible what can be achieved on a construction site in just one week: concrete delivered, then into the mixer, holes filled, and finally the steel girders installed! Almost all of it is craftsmanship. It's amazing what can be done!
The time has finally come: excavators and heavy equipment squeezed through our entrance gate onto the campus and dug up the first layers of earth. The steel has also been delivered. In addition, deeper holes measuring 2x2x2m were dug for the foundation. This marks the official start of our major project, "Construction of the Children's Therapy House"!
And now the practical work is starting very quickly: our workers are clearing the site where our new children's therapy center will be built. There is a lot to do! And it is very moving after the long planning phase!
We recently met with all the companies involved in the shell construction for an initial working lunch. These include the construction company, the electricians, the plumbers, and the civil engineer. We got to know each other over a "German" breakfast and had a lot of fundamental issues to discuss. At the end, we prayed together for the success of our project.
After less than a week of waiting and praying, we have now officially received the building permit! We are relieved, infinitely grateful to God, and overjoyed! The next steps will not be long in coming. We will keep you up to date!
Finally, the time has come: all the changes resulting from the purchase of the land have been incorporated into the construction plans. The plans have then been adapted to Peruvian law. And another milestone: we submitted the two folders containing the plans to the city administration. And now? Now it's time to wait and pray that the construction plans will be approved without any objections.
Our men worked hard all week to fence in the new site. First, they used heavy equipment and hand tools to remove large roots and debris, then they prepared the ground, dug holes for the posts, poured concrete foundations for the posts, and then worked together to erect the fence around the property. The result is impressive. It is particularly great that the path from the paved road for our families and children has already been fenced in. This means that everyone can get to the casayohana campus much more safely. This is another very important milestone!
After two hours of suspense, the new tank for supplying water to the houses was successfully hoisted onto the water tower with the combined muscle power of 13 men. We are relieved and very grateful that everything went well and that our workers remained unharmed!
Here in Peru, it is important to immediately build a fence or wall around newly acquired land. This makes it clear that this land has a legitimate owner. So yesterday, the first building materials were delivered to us. Today we are starting with the fence: slats are being cemented in place and a chain-link fence is being attached. The final large wall will have to wait a little longer. This is because we need the updated construction plan for the new site. Only then will we know where the doors and gates will go.
The time has finally come—casayohana has a second piece of land! We started this special project at the beginning of April, searched extensively, negotiated, prayed, waited—and then: a whole day at the notary's office—all the necessary signatures have been signed! What a miracle! We are thrilled about the new acquisition and sooo grateful! This was only possible thanks to many additional individual donations and the incredible support from the communities: we have raised €300,000 for the land and only a small portion still needs to be covered by general donations! Hallelujah! God is incredible!
Welding work has now begun on our new XXL water tank: high up on the water tower, a three-meter extension is first being built for the new tank. This extension is necessary to ensure that the water pressure is sufficient in the new buildings, as they are located at a higher elevation. The workers are highly motivated and diligently working until sunset.
Construction preparations are entering the next phase: this week, the new water tank arrived on site. It holds four times as much water as our current tank: 10,000 liters. Why is this necessary? We will need significantly more water for the construction and supply of the new buildings. And it is not always possible to simply obtain this from the public water supply. Due to its enormous size, it just about fit through our gate. Now it is waiting in the garden until the steel framework on the water tower has been built, then it will be transported upwards. But more on that later.
Matthias März—our civil engineer and architect from Germany—has arrived and set up his office. Together with Enrique, our Peruvian site manager, he is currently making the final adjustments to the construction plans, which then have to be submitted and approved.
Things are now visibly getting underway on site: toilets and changing rooms were set up on site for our construction workers this week. This means that the actual start of construction is now within reach. We are excited and very eager!
The construction plans from the engineering firm have arrived. As we review them, we realize how incredible it is that we are finally able to build for our children and families. Bine now has to sign all the pages. Then all the necessary documents will be prepared and compiled so that the official building permit can be applied for. Experience has shown that it takes about 14 days after submission before construction can actually begin. It's all very exciting!
The owner of an adjacent property is willing to sell us an additional 1,500 square meters of land. The planned new building will make our site feel cramped—perhaps even too cramped for some of the things that give our children and families joy and quality of life.
However, as construction is set to begin in May, we only have four weeks to raise the necessary sum of around €300,000 in donations.
That's why we're hoping for your support! You now have the opportunity to sponsor one or more square meters of the new property and thus make the expansion possible!
Thanks to Annette and Friedemann, we now have a flyer that provides information on all the important aspects of the construction project. It will soon be used at the first events!
...but to do that, we first need to reach all interested parties. That's why we met to discuss the current status of the project. Based on this information, we plan to create a flyer to inform all potential interested parties about the project.
In the wake of the pandemic and political unrest in Peru, the number of children and families we care for has increased enormously. The number of work areas and the size of our events are also growing steadily. That's why we need more space!
It has been in the works for a long time, and now the time has come: our new therapy building is set to be constructed this year. Preparations are already in full swing, and construction is scheduled to begin in May! In this diary, we will take you along on the journey.
