New Construction

The New Asunción de Maria Seniors’ Home, Under Construction

Originally posted on Monday, December 15, 2014

In the previous page, I told you more about the community involvement at the Asunción de Maria Seniors’ Home in Guadalajara, Mexico:  volunteer visits, donations, Christmas programs, etc.  I showed you pictures of our visits from Eduardo, the founder of Proyecto de Vida for abused and abandoned children in the city of Querétaro, and my old roommate, Leslie, who is from Guadalajara.  When Eduardo and Leslie were with us, they received a tour of the new Asunción de Maria Seniors’ Home currently under construction.  Today, I invite you to come along as well as I give you the tour in pictures and show you the work in progress.

I would like to begin with some photos from July 2013, when Project Brotherhood Society came to Guadalajara with a group of enthusiastic teens to help with the construction of the new seniors' home (from Project Brotherhood Society's 2013 photos of Asunción de Maria Seniors' Home).

Canadian teens with the Project Brotherhood Society Summer Program in July 2013

Canadian and Mexican teens worked together outside the seniors' home

They also worked inside, where the rooms were nothing more than bricks and dirt

Part of the structure from the inside, with no garden and nothing inside the rooms.

Parts of the building were in place, but there was so much more work that still needed to be done!

The front of the building shows the concrete shell of summer 2013

Having these pictures from summer 2013 gives me the opportunity to show you the progress since then.  I will also show you exactly how the money donated to Project Brotherhood Society for this project has been used.  And now, let's begin the tour of the new Asunción de Maria Seniors’ Home as it looks nearly one and a half years later!

November 2013 when I arrived--exterior finishing and window installation in progress

This is a huge building that is designed to house 110 seniors in most need, both men and women, who have no place else to go.  The construction has taken place unhurriedly over several years.  Why?  Administrator Jaime explained it to me this way:  Although a lot of materials are donated, many are not.  The money being donated for construction arrives a little at a time, so fewer workers are hired (I never saw more than 6 workers there at one time).  With fewer workers, less direct supervision has been needed, and the quality of the work has remained very high, as you're about to see.

Plans for the second floor

Plans for the main entry on the 2nd floor show a reception area with private rooms for consultation

Let's go in the front door

Administrator Jaime starts the tour

From the roof, you can see the garden below.  A closer look reveals flowers, trees and new plants:

From the plans, we can see that the garden will be beautiful.  But what else can we see?

The walkways are lined with donated cement...

...and donated tiles

In the empty waiting room, there are lots of beautiful donated mattresses--but they're all for double beds!

Sr. Felisa welcomes the neighbours to trade with her so that everyone gets what they need

The whole family gets involved

The neighbours get a bigger bed, and Sr. Felisa will get two single beds

As we continue to walk, we pass some nice visitors' bathrooms

Next is the laundry room, where the electricity and plumbing are ready to care for the clothes of many seniors

Installing windows in the laundry room

Next, we find a passageway which will go the the chapel

The land for the chapel is there, but the money is not (not yet!)

Sr. Felisa has already been blessed with many things for the chapel

The chapel will seat 200 people: residents, family & guests

As we go around the corner, the next stop is the kitchen.  The plans look easy, but the work is not.

Tiling the kitchen walls, step #1--make sure tiles will line up

Step #2--Measure

Step #3--Mix adhesive

Step #4--Spread adhesive on wall

Step #5--Pound tile securely in place

Step #6--Add more tiles

Welcome to a beautiful kitchen!

It's now ready for the ovens to be installed.

Now we'll head up to the third floor to check out more rooms.  We're taking the stairs, but there are also ramps and an elevator will be installed as well.

Plans for the third floor.  The garden is visible from there, too.

When I arrived, there were no inside windows upstairs yet, but that was about to change!

Lots of windows went in while I was there, and the work was hard.

The windows were not donated--they had to be purchased

Where did the money come from to buy all these windows?

A lot of the money comes from Spain, some comes from Mexico, and the rest... 

...the rest comes from Canada!!!  Thank you, Project Brotherhood Society donors!

The transformation of the rooms from rough concrete to gorgeous happens like this:

First, the rooms look like this--rough concrete.

Then tile is put on the floor

The first coats of primer go on...

A cheery coat of yellow is added and the windows are put in

Lots of lights in the ceiling, too

And soon, you have a room that looks like this multi-purpose room!  The chapel will be here until the real chapel is ready.

Plan for the multi-purpose room and medical clinic

The clinic has lots of natural light

From the clinic, you can see across to one of six large dorm rooms.  Let's check it out!

Plan for one of the large dorm rooms

Welcome to the dorm

Jaime, Sr. Felisa and Eduardo, visiting from Proyecto de Vida in Querétaro

Jaime gives Eduardo a tour of the dorm and bathroom

The showers are modern

Outside, Jaime and Sr. Felisa discuss options for barriers to prevent the seniors from falling.  All are expensive.
The walkways will be glassed in to keep out the rain and the cold.

Next, the tour takes us up to the roof.

The view is very nice

But we're not here for the view

There is a lot of room up here

Room for tanks for hot water, with the plumbing ready for much hoped-for solar panels!

After the trip to the room, it's time to look at the outside.  At this time, the first floor is storage, but eventually, there will be a garage and a few other rooms as well.

The scaffolding is up on the front exterior of the building

The rough bricks need to be covered and prepared for painting.  This is done is two layers. 

The first round looks like mud, but afterwards, the wall is ready for finer concrete

When the workers want to move to a new area, the scaffolding must be adjusted

This is not a job for the faint-hearted

Once the scaffolding is in place, the process begins with mixing:

The bucket must be passed down for more cement and then back up to the workers:

The layer of cement is applied:

The workers prepare to move to a new area:

Finally, the plastic is removed from around the windows:

During my visit to Guadalajara, the exterior of the building went from this:

Before

To this!

After!

Very soon, it will be painted.

God has given Sr. Felisa the wonderful mission of gathering and caring for abandoned seniors as they get closer to making their final journey from this life.  Her work, God's work, is as important as it is amazing.
 

If you live in Canada and would like to help the construction of the new Asunción de Maria Seniors’ Home, tax-deductible donations may be made through Project Brotherhood Society.  There are two ways to do this:

1. Cheques may be mailed directly to Project Brotherhood Society, 10869 - 155A Street, Surrey, BC   V3R 0H7, with "Asunción de Maria Seniors’ Home" written in the memo.  A tax receipt will be mailed by Project Brotherhood with your donations for the year.
2. Online donations may be made through Project Brotherhood's Canada Helps page at Project Brotherhood Canada Helps page.  After you type in your donation amount, "Asunción de Maria Seniors’ Home" is first on the drop-down menu of projects, so it's easy to find.  You will be issued a tax receipt by Canada Helps.

Another great way to help is to go to Guadalajara and experience the Asunción de Maria Seniors’ Home for yourself.  If you live in the Vancouver area and have a desire to serve those in great need, and if you're interested in Project Brotherhood Society's summer program in Mexico in July 2015, you can email me at kathy.project.brotherhood@gmail.com, or contract Project Brotherhood chairperson Mario at gardunom@projectbrotherhood.com.

For more information, visit the Project Brotherhood Society Website:  projectbrotherhood.info

In page from my blog , I'll show you a few pictures of the beauty of Guadalajara, which exists in the scenery, the churches, the museums, the culture, and especially, in the hearts of the people.  See you soon!