Behind the Scenes

Overseas mission work is supposed to be exotic and inspirational right?

Well, the type of work that engineers and architects do here at eMi is not often very glamorous or noticeable.  The fact is, the people being served by our ministry partner overseas will never know what we did.  Most people don't want to know how a building was designed, they just want to see it built.  But that's quite all right, since we are not working for recognition from others.  The important thing is that more people in need can be reached with God's love as a result of our work.

May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us;
establish the work of our hands for us -
yes, establish the work of our hands.

Psalm 90:17

Ever since returning from our earthbag training workshop in Thailand, I have been working on designs for a new medical clinic building for the Free Burma Rangers.  The clinic will have an operating room, ICU, X-ray imaging, and laboratory.  With its location in a remote area of the Burmese jungle, it will likely be the only medical facility for many miles.  FBR doctors and medics will be able to treat victims of attacks by the Burma army and other displaced people who are sick or injured.

Besides drawings and calculations, much of my time has involved putting together a design manual with the help of my project team members.  This includes detailed instructions, diagrams, and explanations for construction that will take place in Burma, beginning as soon as January.  It's been a very unique and interesting project from an engineering perspective - a hospital made of dirt was not covered in any of my classes at Calvin, surprisingly enough.  Keeping everything sterile requires some innovative solutions.  But the biggest challenge has been considering the fact that every building material will have to be carried to the site, a 6 day journey by foot.  This means that not only is there a huge emphasis on minimizing these materials, but also everything from doors to counters will be custom made onsite in the jungle.

Structural modeling of the HyPar roof for earthquake and wind load testing

Communication has been a huge factor for the project so far.  I've been contacting several people in Thailand on a regular basis including our volunteer architect, FBR missionary doctor, and an earthbag building expert who coincidentally lives there.  The only problem is we are never working at the same time due to the 12 hour time difference.  I've also had a lot of help from our structural engineer in Arkansas, as well as the eMi staff here in Colorado.  

There has been a lot of thought and bouncing ideas back and forth for this seemingly simple clinic building.  I really think we will have a great design for them when all is said and done.  We are pushing to get everything completed by the end of my time here in December (which is rapidly approaching), so that FBR will be able to start and finish building during the dry season in Burma.  I'm excited to have the finished design to hand over to the FBR team.

But there's still a lot more exotic and inspirational work to do before then.

The floor plan, approved by the missionary doctor and the earthbag expert

Although a little strange looking, it will get the job done