Arrival in Jinja / Projects

Our time in Jinja has been great over all. As we said we first arrived on Thursday, September 4th, so we have been here less than one week. There are a total of four interns here in Jinja. The other interns on team eMi Jinja are Gabe and Anna Kalmbacher, a married couple from Holand, Michigan. The long-term eMi staff here in Jinja are John and Paula Sauder and their two adorable boys Zane (3 years) and Zach (7 months). We are very excited to be here with them.

To acclimate us to our surroundings, John and Paula set us out on ‘The Amazing Race, Jinja’, much like the T.V. show. For those who are unfamiliar with the T.V. show, our goal was to beat the other couple to the final destination, spend the least amount of money and accomplish each task that was given to us. We started at the Arise Africa Guest house, which is were we will be living for the next 3 ½ months. Our first task was to give our spouse a malaria test. Good news, Lindsey does not have malaria. From there we hopped on the back of a motorcycle aka boda-boda (the most common form of transportation) down town and had to find our future office. We then had to locate a Sidhi’s barber shop and get Peter a straight razor shave. From there we traveled to a local café for our next clue. Our next clue led us to the local market where we bargained for some REALLY strange foods-flying flies, grasshoppers and small dried fish. It was quite the experience, but I know in the future we’ll enjoy interacting with the locals at the market. Our final destination was a restaurant called ‘Ginger on the Nile”. At this picturesque little restaurant we had our last orientation meeting sitting next to the Nile River.

At the meeting we were given an outline of our project descriptions, which we are both very excited about!!! Both of us will be partnering with Arise Africa International (AAI).
Here is a summary of our projects:


Lindsey:
Project: AAI Children’s Center Organizational and Educational Program Development
Objectives:
· Revise questionnaire and research active nursery school and childcare programs around the Jinja Area
· Help create activities for the first phase of the Children’s Center, which will be put in the Operations Manual. For example, generate the daily menu and supplies for the Babies Home and Nursery School. I will also create daily curriculum/activites for the schools and set up activities and routine tasks for the employees.
· Contribute to the creation of the Policies Manual:
o Set up a sponsorship program for the orphanage by defining the government approval process, regulations for extended family visitation, and the process for re-entry of the children into extended families or guardianships.

Peter:
Project 1: Structural Engineering for AAI Ministry Center Auditorium
Objectives:
· Design and construct scaffolding system for auditorium renovations.
· Draft as built drawings of the auditorium building, including existing truss profiles.
· Design and prepare structural drawings to include:
o End-gable wall demolition and restoration
o Bracing and demolition details
o Truss repair
o Reinforcement of existing lintels
· Assist with any other design and drafting as needed for Ministry Center renovations.
· Submit drawings for the signature of a local structural engineer.
· Submit signed drawings to the Jinja City Counsel for approval, and respond to any comments.
· Assist with construction management of the demolition/renovation work.


Project 2: Structural Detailing for Bukaleba Children’s Center, Phase 1
Objectives:
· Design and prepare structural shop-drawings to include:
o Truss Design and Connections
o Steel column and beam connections
· Oversee local fabrication of wood trusses and all connections as required.

Project 3: Sironko Quarry Management
Objectives:
· Monitor the progress and quality of work on a weekly basis at the quarry in Sironko.
· Calculate amounts of cut stone and generate weekly payroll requests.
· Update project accounts.
· Manage transportation of stone from quarry to site.