The Sahelian

Remember the far corner of the Sahel campus by the river and the gardens - where the snakes lived and the brush was piled? Well, now a beautiful new house has filled that area, turning that side of the campus into what is now very much a staff residential area.

Ground was broken on the house in the late fall of ‘06 and the work progressed quickly under the supervision of Jonathan Moore. The goal was to have it finished by the end of June so that our family could start to move in during the summer while school was on break. They finished right on schedule; the first of July, my husband Brian and Chad Winsor started to do the inside finishing wood work. They built the closets and bathroom vanities, then our family started moving in. Once we had beds in place, we started to sleep there and used the Whites house in the duplex for cooking. The guys worked hard for two weeks straight and in that time were able to do all the woodwork, finishing up with the kitchen cupboards. Thankfully, my parents came to visit and help as there was much more work to do such as sanding, varnishing, raking rocks from the yard, leveling ground, gardening, moving, cleaning, etc. We worked all summer trying to get settled and once school started felt pretty much moved in. We still have more work in the yard and various finishing touches to take care of in the house, but the major things are finished.

We absolutely love our new house! It is great to be so close to school. We can all just walk over to school; no more 15 minute drives (on a good day) to school and back every day. It is a beautiful house and beautiful setting. There is a terrace facing the river with a refreshing river view. The terrace is already one of our favorite places. We love to just sit there soaking up the beauty around us and the river flowing by. It is a nice size house with a very open feel. One thing we really wanted was a living area big enough to entertain a crowd. The house had its first crowd test on Wednesday as we hosted a welcome party for Zoe, our youth pastor’s new baby girl. There were around 50 people there to celebrate and use the new terrace - it didn’t feel too crowded at all! We are very thankful for the privilege of getting to live in such a beautiful house. We are still working on making it look finished as we plant grass, flowers, hedges etc. So, how about a visit? You would be surprised how quickly a corner can change in a short amount of time! You are welcome, so come stop by for a cup of tea and a tour! ~Aunt Cathy

This entry was posted on Monday, August 20th, 2007 at 8:54 am and is filed under Sahel Families, Sahel Academy, Current News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.