Thursday, July 11, 2019
After our usual breakfast and devotions, we left base camp shortly before 8 am to continue the work at the same houses we were at the previous day.
Abe modified a bi-fold door and then built out a few door frames to match the wall thicknesses, so that they could be ‘ trimmed ‘ properly. He also went to the ‘ Walter ‘ house to install some of the kitchen countertops. When he returned, he started to build covers for the electrical panels.
John completed the bulk of the trim work and installed a baseboard heater.
His wife, Will ( Wilhelmina ) joined our crew to paint the doors.
I continued the tile work progress around the shower.
Petra, the local case worker for Radek, stopped by the house and joined us for lunch and talked to us about some of the situations in the area since the flood.
Most of the workers had been at the ‘ Redding ‘ house this week, insulating and installing vapour barrier with acoustic sealant in preparation for the insulation inspection.
We returned to camp at the normal time, had our showers, ate supper and reviewed the work at each of the locations, as well as a few stories about things that had happened during the day. The local residents have been very kind to us. Ike shared that he had received special service when he went to fill his car at a gas station. An elderly gentleman mentioned to him that the residents are happy that we are here helping with the rebuilds and want to show their appreciation.
After dessert, we had a crew leader’s meeting and then Ike and I drove to the ‘ Walter ‘ house to check out a few things in preparation for the work on Friday.
Four of the long term volunteers are part of the ‘ Sheep & Goats MDS Service Bursary ‘. This Bursary is awarded to pre-qualified undergraduate students enrolled in at least 24 credit hours of studies at CMU’s Shaftesbury Campus. This scholarship opportunity is not limited to only one year but must be applied for each year. The amount of the Bursary is 100% of the $CDN tuition of qualifying students. One major criteria for receiving this bursary is that the applicants must complete a minimum of 8 weeks of volunteer field work with Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS). There are 4 students that are spending 8 weeks at this MDS project in Grand Forks, in order to complete the requirements for the bursary. They are Samuel Dyck, Abby Thompson, Justin Marchand and John Wiebe.
Ralf Hamm 
The Service Bursary program sounds like a wonderful program!
I agree. It is a great program.