Update on school in Verhovina

Dear Friends

Many of you will remember the project we talked about in former letters, at the school in Verhovina near the border of Romania. I am happy to say that the Installing of flush toilets in the school is about to begin on November the 22nd. God willing.

For those who might have forgotten the details of this project, I will recap for you.

A number of years ago, may be 3 now. We were told of this school and that we would be welcome to visit it with Bibles and the gospel.

We travelled the two and a half hours through the mountains to this forgotten part of Ukraine. We found a very run down community with a large school that also boarded students weekly, who travelled from the mountains surrounding the town. The administrator Oxana received us warmly and arranged for us to speak to large numbers of students.

The school has 430-450 students, 250 who board there all week.

There are basically 5 buildings on the property, a 2 story school building, two dormitories, a kitchen/ dining room and a heating building. This town does not have gas, everything must be heated by wood. There are washroom in the dormitories but NO washrooms or even water, in the school building. The students AND STAFF must use the disgusting outside toilets shown in three of the pictures above. The smell is so bad that neighbours in  an apartment have complained.

The original plan was to build onto the school some washrooms. A contractor gave a plan and estimate of $10,000US. When we went to see Oxana about the plan, she told us that they had remembered they had two store rooms in the same area as the plan and we could we see if they would do? Those are the other pictures in the above list. The rooms are full of junk and school records which they will remove. We measured the rooms and we can get 3 toilets in each room and one closed toilet for staff, plus wash basins.

Approximately $5.000CDN has been made available and may pay for all the materials. Pipes, toilets, basins and ceramic tile for the floors and partway up the walls.

Our driver who is also an elder in the Lviv assembly. is going to oversee the project. He has done this with other projects and is very trustworthy and a good worker.  He thinks it will take two weeks to complete with the plumber and tile man and a labourer. Oxana has offered to house and feed the men while they are there at no cost. We are looking to the lord to supply the funds for the worker’s salaries while there as well as transportation costs.

Please pray that everything will go well. The engineer at the school has volunteered to dig the trench to bring water in and the town will put in the sewer.

I will not be there to oversee the work but will be kept in touch daily.

Thank you for your interest in this poverty stricken part of Ukraine with an open ear for the Gospel, both in students AND staff.

Malcolm Stanley

Galatians 6v10