This month our main project was renovating a two room house in the red light district. SFI and Mary Wanless Hospital are working with the local CSWs (Commercial Street Workers) or the local women who sell themselves for money. This place is going to be used for the women who have come out the that life to make jewelry, dresses and other things to sell for their basic necessities.
It was a huge project, which surprised me. I mean, two rooms? That shouldn’t take very long, right?
Well, here is a step by step look at what we did for two straight weeks:
Step 1: Sand and scrape off all of the old paint. One word: disgusting.
Step 2: Paint primer over all the old paint you couldn’t get off.
Step 3: Paint the wall pink, and the ledges dark pink. Then spend hours fixing the edges so the two don’t overlap.
Step 4: Jacinda also painted two murals, so those had to be done by the 23rd too.
Step 5: Paint the outside, put up a fence and paint that too, and then open it up for everyone!
We even got to cut the ribbon as a team 🙂
And we had a small service with the CSWs, prayed over them, had lunch with them and gave them free sarees (traditional dresses).
The saturday before, Jacinda and I actually saw a couple transactions happen. Men came up, gave the CSW the money, she made change with the head CSW, and then they went into her corresponding room and shut the door. It was horrifying, but working on this project and seeing the harsh realities around me gave me drive to finish the Z-House with zeal. I am so happy that these women have a place to feel safe.
Overall, it was a wonderful success! Today, Jessica went by the Z-House and found some of the women already working on projects in the rooms! We only completed it on Monday, and it is already glorifying God!
It was really hard work, but it was all worth it in the end.
Alrighty. This should be one of the last blogs I have on the Race! We have the final video, which is ready but I am holding off for a little while, and I think that may be it.
Thank you again for reading and loving on me the past 11 months. It has meant the world to me.
