Accomplishments at ECHO

The work is finished at ECHO for the NOMAD team. All of the team members will be traveling home or going to other projects. For us, we will be traveling back to the Tundra known as Wisconsin.

Can you believe we are leaving this for the snow of the north country? The facilities for our stay at ECHO were fabulous. All of the amenities you would want, electric, water, sewer connection, trash was picked up every day from the site, concrete pad, wifi connection, and close to our work site. We were able to stay in the Seminole RV Resort. 

Today we had a summary meeting with the CEO, Stan Doer to review our accomplishments and for him to wish us safe travels onward. He also was open about the financial situation at ECHO, namely that donations are down and the organization is faced with making severe cuts. So what did we accomplish? 

The administration buildings, sidewalks and wooden bridges were power washed. Mold and mildew are common problems in Florida so power washing is an annual event. The wooden bridges were then treated with preservative to provide some protection. The dormitories were also power washed. 

The dormitories and intern rooms were painted and cleaned. A total of 8 bedrooms and 8 bathrooms were painted. The paint team had their challenges in accomplishing this task. They also prepared and painted the trim on the Price Center (Administration Building). 

New display and sorting tables were built for the nursery. This required the construction of 7 tables, removal of the old structures, and installation of the irrigation system. 

A major project was the renovation of the mail room. This included the installation of a wall, changing the doorway, building and installing cabinets and counter tops, and painting the room and cabinets. In addition to making the changes in the mail room, the restroom doors opened into a hallway and this created a hazard, so the doors were reversed. 

A storage barn on the farm was painted. 

ECHO does grow fruit and vegetables so a washing table was built and installed. This was another major project. 

The team worked very had to complete the task list.In addition n to the hard work, there were opportunities for fellowship and spiritual growth during the week. The team will be separating tomorrow morning, but the relationships that have been built will last a very long time. Most are looking for opportunities to do more projects where they will be working with some of the same people. 

For Linda and I our next project will be in May and will be preparing a campground for the summer camping season. We will be at Pine Village Campground in Indiana. We will post more about this in the near future. 

Last Day

Tomorrow will be the last day we will be working at ECHO. It has been a rewarding experience in many ways. Friday morning we will begin our trek back to the Tundra known as Wisconsin. Once we get home, another post will be made to the blog.

Please pray for us as we make our way back north.

Week 3: The Final Act

The third week of our stay at ECHO brings us to the end of our project. Painting of the dormitories and housing continues, the nursery work is completed and the main project is to renovate the mail room. The renovation included adding a wall to divide the area, new cabinets, new counter tops, closing one door and making another door, and changing the reception counter. I was assigned to install the new wall and to close the one door. "Appropriate Technologies" department. I will get the opportunity to explore some little techniques that can be used by small scale farmers to make life a little easier for the farmers. Little things like how to make a simple methane unit so even farms with just 2 cows can produce gas to cook with or light their home with. How about using an empty clear 2 liter soda or water bottle to improve the lighting in the living quarters. The pulverized leaves of a plant that will remove the sediment water and then a way to use ultraviolet light to kill the bacteria in the water. The rest of the week should be interesting.

Monday evening all of the group gathered at our campsite for Wisconsin Cheese and Brats. Everyone brought a dish and fun and fellowship was enjoyed by all. Meredith Tarbell will celebrate her 74th birthday on Wednesday so this provided us with an opportunity to celebrate her birthday.

  Fellowship and fun are a very important part of NOMADS. The hard work is made easier by the friendship and knowing that someone will benefit greatly from the tasks we do!

Weekend Is Over, Back to Work

The weekend (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) provided us with a time to do our weekly chores and to have some time to relax. Our weekend involved shopping, housecleaning and the usual housekeeping chores. We did make a visit to a Matinee  Park to observe the large creatures, a walk through a nature preserve.

Tice United Methodist Church had some events this weekend the NOMADS participated in. A walk for hunger to raise money for the food bank was one of the activities. Sheri & Charlie walked for the NOMADS and we all sponsored their walk. The walk raised $5000 for the food bank. The church also had a Meatloaf dinner on Saturday evening to raise money to pay the insurance on the church and again people were generous and the event raised over $2700. This is a small church but it no doubt one of the most friendly churches we have ever attended. The church is certainly spirit filled.

After the service on Sunday, Linda and commented how we are going to miss attending this church.

This week we will be focusing on finishing the projects we have started and everyone will be off to another project someplace.

Monday night will be Wisconsin Night at the campsite. We are hosting all of the NOMADS for Brats and Cheese!

Week Two Finished!

Progress is being made on the projects that NOMADS have been assigned at ECHO. As our work week ended the Seed Bank that exists at ECHO was explained.

The seed bank multiplies seeds that are unique and could be used in developing countries. The seed bank harvests the seeds, cleans the seeds, and makes the seeds available to people who are working in developing countries. Seed packets are distributed either without cost or for a very nominal cost. The recipients are asked in return to provide feed back based on their use, germination, yield and other relevant information about the performance of the seeds.

At the end of the week Linda and I joined the LEO club (Let's Eat Out).

 Linda's Brother, Frank Fischer visited us on Thursday Night. Since his birthday, Linda's birthday and my birthday are all in a very close window, we decided to visit Pincher's Crab Shack for dinner. As you can see Linda is enjoying a meal of snow crab. The dinner was enjoyed by all, just one of the small rewards we issued to ourselves for the work we are doing.

The last week of our assignment is drawing near. This will mean we must push to complete some of the projects that have been scheduled and prepare to make the trek back to Wisconsin.

NOMADS Team at ECHO

Nomads at ECHO Period 1, 2-13

There are 11 NOMADS at the ECHO project site in Florida. The team members  are (Front row)  Sheri Simpson  (Second Row) Charlie Simpson, Ruth Allford, Meredith Tarbell, Linda Whitelock, (Third Row) Jack Fenn, Mike Allford, Bill Tarbell, Lindell Whitelock, (Back Row) Arlene Fenn, Bob Smith. The team members are from Texas, Virginia, South Dakota, Indiana, and Wisconsin. 

Two Weeks Since We Left Wisconsin

On New Years Day we left Wisconsin on our trek to Florida. It does not seem like that long ago and we are certainly enjoying the weather in Florida. The work is not bad either! I remember how cold it was getting hitched to tre trailer and then traveling on the road with all of the snow and ice on top. We did not loose the last of our Wisconsin reminder until we arrived in Valdosta, GA. Yes two days later when we had lunch south of Atlanta we still had snow on the top of the trailer. Hopefully it will be a little nicer in Wisconsin when we return. 

Each morning we have a devotion time for the group. Each team member is expected to prepare a devotional program for the group. On Monday the entire ECHO staff is assembled for a devotional program. These programs are really inspiring. This week we had a presentation by a minister about the Biblical character Ehub (Judges 3). The programs always leave you thinking about how God's people have always turned away from him, but he'd send someone to care for them. 

As for the work, the tables and renovation of the nursery area is complete and I have moved on to remodeling one of the offices. The work included a lot of heavy lifting and construction, so at the end of each day I was exhausted, especially since the temperatures were in the 80's each day and I was working in the sun.

Removing the old structures was not much of a challenge, most of the material was so rotten it just fell apart, but it had to be hauled out so the new items could be placed in the nursery area.

The finished product, 4 tables strategically placed in the nursery area. After the tables were placed, then irrigation pipes were installed so the plants can be automatically watered periodically.

The good news is that Linda has moved up the ladder and is on her way to being a skilled successful painter!

Yesterday Linda was the clean up crew of one for the painters and was riding the back seat of the chariot! I am sure her mother was looking down and laughing and probably saying to herself "Keep scrubbing Princess! But fame and fortune came to the Princess today!

Today Linda moved up to "Painter". She was actually given a paint brush and paint! AND

She was promoted to Chariot driver for the team! Yes, NOMADS is a lot of work, but is also a lot of fun. This has been a wonderful experience and we are already looking to our next assignment, and that will probably come in May!