This is a video tour of the office showing the progress to date including the down stairs, upstairs guest room, office, and porch area.
Progress as of Feb. 09
The major construction is done, and all that is left now is finishing work: painting, plastering, etc. The electric went in early February and a crew should be coming in to dig a well soon. We're hoping we strike clean water, which may be tough so close to the coast.
Jos is hoping to re-setup our office in the next week or two, and our first guest is scheduled to arrive April first, so hopefully Pak Hamit will have most of the work done by the time we get back at the end of this month.
Possible Hang Up
We received word recently that the BBR (branch of the Indonesian government overseeing all the relief efforts in Aceh) may be claiming eminent domain and demolishing our office as part of the construction of the access road in front of it. This isn't a new issue, but we thought we had it worked out before we began the renovations. Our contract with the building owner protects our investment, but we are still hoping that other arrangements can be made.
Almost Complete
The latest report from our teammates in Calang is that renovations of the office are almost complete. The main things left are installing the ceiling and painting.
Early Renovations
I contacted our good friend Pak Hamit, the builder who turned our back porch in to a kitchen, and he agreed to be forman for the project. He put a crew together and they began working on the renovations:
It All Began at a Wedding
We'd been looking for an office for a while. One day, while sitting at a wedding, the older brother of the groom leaned over to a guy sitting a cross from me and said, "Hey, if Jason fixes up that building, you'll give it to him rent free for three years right!" The man chuckled and said, "Sure!" This is the building he was referring to:
I laughed to and didn't think much about it, but the building is a stone's through from our house, so I mentioned the idea to Elissa. She liked it, which really surprised me. I asked around to try and get an idea of how much it would cost to repair. Turned out it could be renovated for about what it would have cost to rent a place for a couple of years.
Interestingly, it was also one of only three buildings in the entire city to survived the tsunami. Despite the fact that it had in recent days become a rain shelter for cows and goats, it seemed like a significant part of Calang's history. We decided we'd rather rebuild it then throw money into rent .
...At the very least, it had a nice view from the roof:
As we began the renovations, the owner came by and said with a chuckle, "The water buffalo that was dead has been raised to life!"
I laughed to and didn't think much about it, but the building is a stone's through from our house, so I mentioned the idea to Elissa. She liked it, which really surprised me. I asked around to try and get an idea of how much it would cost to repair. Turned out it could be renovated for about what it would have cost to rent a place for a couple of years.
Interestingly, it was also one of only three buildings in the entire city to survived the tsunami. Despite the fact that it had in recent days become a rain shelter for cows and goats, it seemed like a significant part of Calang's history. We decided we'd rather rebuild it then throw money into rent .
...At the very least, it had a nice view from the roof:
As we began the renovations, the owner came by and said with a chuckle, "The water buffalo that was dead has been raised to life!"
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