Spring 2024 NOMADS Project at Sumatanga – Week Two

April 7, 2024

Monday morning of week two after devotion, we went to Cabin 3 to work on the leaking roof. It’s a tin roof and several of the screws were either missing or were not tight. We replaced all the missing and loose screws with larger screws and put roof sealant where needed. The rest of the week we had a little rain and there were no leaks but it is predicted we will have heavy rain several days this next week so hopefully the cabin will remain dry.

We replaced a few hundred screws on Cabin 3’s roof. Hopefully it won’t leak anymore.

After finishing up at Cabin 3, we rejoined the rest of the team back at cabin 6. We completed that work Tuesday before lunch and then moved to the Administration building to reinstall exterior ceiling panels that were removed when there was a leak in the fire suppression system. Some painting is still needed at the Admin building and we will probably have enough rainy days this week to get that work done.

After working on the roof of Cabin 3 we helped remove the ductwork and furnace from the third cabin (Cabin 6) bathroom we were asked to demo.

Last cabin shower area ready for the contractors

Last cabin toilet area ready for the contractors.

We were able to reuse the roof panels on the admin building porch.

After we tacked the panels up with a nail gun we went back and secured them with screws.

Wednesday and Thursday we worked on the small building where the high ropes course gear is stored and the playground. We removed the shingles and decking from the gear building and then redecked and put on a tin roof. The playground was installed after the 1994 Palm Sunday tornado hit Goshen United Methodist Church in Piedmont, AL. Twenty church members lost their life in that storm including Pastor Kelly Clem’s young daughter, Hannah. The playground is a memorial to Hannah placed by Kelly and her husband. We’ve been working to replace some of the broken pieces of the playground equipment. It’s been a difficult job as we try to match new and older pieces of the playground, but it is also a work of love and brings back many memories of all the tornadoes we worked over the 22 years Max worked as Emergency Management Director. Hopefully we will get enough good weather this week to complete this work.