Project Update

There is now about one month left of my internship with eMi. I have been down here in Central America for about 5 months now. Its funny how much one can learn from being away from home, even from being gone for almost half a year.

Agros Foundation Project
Anyhow, the projects that we started this February in Guatemala have really been coming along. The design work for the project located in Nebaj, Guatemala with the Agros Foundation is just about completed! The development center will be called, “Center Ixll- Agros Foundation.” Our design package includes the master site plan for the overall layout of the buildings on site, the water distribution system, the storm and wastewater design, grading and road design, electrical distribution design for the entire site, and lastly the architectural and structural plans for the carpentry shop. We are also including a design report with everything translated to Spanish.

I have been working on helping with the structural drawings for the buildings. We currently have 5 drawings for the structural plans and 19 drawings total. I have learned a lot about how structural and architectural drawings are put together and what are needed within them. I have also had the opportunity to work on part of the truss design and design of the structural connections within the buildings. Ali has worked countless hours on translating the entire design report and all of the drawings into Spanish. Her Spanish expertise has really helped. Brad and Josh have been working on helping with the grading, road, and electrical designs.

This project should be completed by next week. Since materials have already been ordered, construction is going to start as soon as possible. I am very excited to see the outcome of this center and how it is going to impact and help the local community to come together and learn practical skills.

Casa Bernabe Orphanage
We are also currently working on the design project for the orphanage located in Guatemala City. For this project, we are completing the architectural and structural design for a new school, and a new water distribution system for the orphanage. We are hoping to finish this project as well.

Haiti Orphanage
Besides these two projects, there are also a couple of projects from previous trips that haven’t been completed. One project is for an orphanage located in Haiti. This project is a design for an entire orphanage campus with boy and girl houses, a school, recreation area, a dining hall, and administration buildings. Most of the overall design is completed, but we are working on finishing up the structural and architectural drawings.

Spring of Hope Ministries
Another project has just started near Atitlan Lake in Guatemala, called the Spring of Hope. This ministry is run by Promised Land Ministries, where they work with the locals to provide financial aid for children to get education, to counsel children and parents, to encourage physical, intellectual, and spiritual development in a child, and to train children into a trade. They have started a child sponsorship program called “Plan Padrino,” check out their website at: http://www.plmmissions.org. This ministry has contacted eMi to help them design and build a feeding center (in which they feed one meal/day, five days a week to hundreds of children), a school, a counseling center, and a multipurpose building equipped for medical and dental care. So for this project eMi is going do the overall site layout, water systems, grading, roads, and design for the buildings.

Seriously cheers for eMi!!

(Us interns with two staff members John and Sharon at their going away dinner)
(This is the view from the hill above our office...our office is on the second floor of that blue building in the middle of the picture.)