The Guest House

Before leaving South Africa in May our main project had been completing the efficiency guest house.  When we were first laying plans for Restoring Hope Village we knew it would be necessary to build housing for all the teams and short-term helpers we have.  Our initial plan was to build one house for all our short-term needs.  But after we began cleaning the property in May/June 2010 we found that the 3 foundations already built were in great condition.  We had known they were there but covered with rubble as they were we anticipated that they would be worthless.  God provided these three foundations and saved us several thousand dollars and much work.  We just had to redo our plans for team housing.

After looking at our needs and comparing those to the 3 foundations we made the following plans.  The smallest foundation would become what we call and efficiency flat - a single room with beds, kitchenette, and sitting area with its own private bathroom.  We plan to use this for people who come for several weeks to several months and intend to take care of their own food preparation.  The middle foundation became a team bunkhouse that has two bedrooms along with two bath facilities.  The third foundation is a combo kitchen/lounge/multipurpose building.  It can be used both for teams as well as for normal Village activities when needed.

When our family left Welkom the shell of the bunkhouse and multipurpose buildings had been built, and the efficiency flat was almost finished except for the bathroom and kitchen.  Of course, anyone who has ever built anything knows the bath and kitchen are the toughest jobs.  Brian Niehoff has been working like crazy to finish the efficiency flat and the bunkhouse for teams that are at The Village this summer.  Squeezed into that is all his ordinary responsibilities, overseeing some of the duties that we left behind, and completing a good section of the playground.  We are so thankful for Brian's work in completing these projects.  If you'd like to send an encouraging note to Brian and Lois, please email them at bniehoff@restoringhopeint.org.

Here are a few photos of the inside of the efficiency flat.