eMi's work on Myanmar Mission College or "Designing Hope"

Bringing a Vision to Life

In my previous post I shared about the vision that David and Nancy have for Myanmar Mission College - to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to the whole nation through the training and sending of the people of Myanmar.  Engineering Ministries International was requested to help bring that vision to life in a very practical way through the development and design of a master plan for the college site.  My hope is to share a quick summary of what our team was able to create in our week with the people of Myanmar.

Meet the Team

Each eMi project team is comprised of volunteers, staff members and interns from across the world, having the common goal of using the talents and gifts given by God in assisting these ministries to achieve their vision.  Our team was comprised of 8 professionals from Canada and the States, a unique mixture of architects, planners and engineers.  Here's the team.

Kevin Wiens, P.Eng (eMi Project Leader) - our wise and experienced project leader, Kevin is the staff engineer in the Canada office and led our team with a steady, supportive hand throughout our time in Myanmar.

Kevin Wiens - looking reflective on the train.

Mark Hicks (Architect) - Mark hails from Orangeville Ontario and was largely responsible for the design of the buildings we developed during our time in Myanmar.  A veteran of several eMi trips, was a huge blessing to have such an experienced lead architect to help our team.

Gabriel Chou (Master Planner) - Another veteran volunteer for eMi from Colorado, Gabe has the unique training of being both a planner and architect.  He was an invaluable communicator for us as a liaison with David and Nancy - knowing how to broach different subjects and slowly but surely develop a relationship with our 'client'.

Mark and Gabe planning up a storm.

Wes Snihur, P.Eng. (Structural Engineer) - Wes had energy to spare!  As a structural engineer Wes took investigating the existing building to heart, literally pounding through a concrete slab to get the best understanding of how things are built in Myanmar.

Wes Snihur completing some morning devotionals in the 'office'.

Ben Van Liere, P.Eng. (Mechanical Engineer) - This was Ben's second volunteer trip with eMi and he quickly asserted himself as a jack of all trades.  From surveying to fixing our electricity to preaching an amazing message of the gospel on Sunday, 'big Ben' was invaluable to our group.

'Big Ben' smiling during an air conditioned train ride.

Stacy Chu (Structural Engineering E.I.T.) - Stacy, a native Texan, became our social butterfly and photographer extraordinaire during our time in Myanmar.  She befriended many of the students and staff at the college and helped us know the people of Myanmar better.  She was also the shortest person on our team (and Ben was quite tall!)

Stacy showing just how tall Ben is!

The Interns - Katey Patterson and Ben Scott (Architect and Engineer respectively)  Last but not least we have the interns.  Katey became our go to SketchUp drafts person, creating the conceptual models of the buildings we were designing.  I ended up surveying the site and helped to develop the existing site plan which was used for our new design, with some structural design checks to boot.  It was great to be a part of this team the the LORD brought together.

Interns Katey and Ben looking classy. (and working hard)

A Full Week of Work

It was such a privilege to do engineering work in Myanmar.  At times I had to stop and remind myself of not only what I was doing but where I was doing it.  Our first job was to get a lay of the land, as all our design work would be based on how well we knew where we were.  Initially, we used a handheld GPS unit to 'snap' important locations on the site - corners of buildings, centre lines of roads and water features for instance.  When importing our co-ordinates into the computer however, we found that the accuracy of our GPS was, well, awful.  Fortunately, we had access to the internet in town and some long measuring tapes, so with some help with Google Maps and accurate measuring work from Kevin, Ben and Wes - we had a solid site plan by the end of Monday (phew!)

Using the GPS to map out the site.

Back to basics with leveling and taping the site.

Working hard to finish the as-built drawings. (and Katey making a face....)

Now that we had a clearer sense of where we were, Gabe and Mark started discussing with David how the site could be used to create the campus.  What resulted from several meetings was a five step master plan to transform the site into an integrated Christian community.  Highlights of the site included a new chapel, a 'rescue village' for human trafficking victims, an elementary school and finished college campus.  When David and Nancy saw the finished results, he stated it was 'better than their dreams'  Here are some photos of the team working and the finished product!

Wes figuring out how thick the existing concrete slab is.  It was quite thin....

Adding details to the existing drawing plan.

Office shelf, complete with goodies, water and a thermometer - temperature at 27 already at 7AM!

The Architect and Planning team hard at work.

One of my favourite shots from the week.  Joy on the faces of those we were serving.

Brainstorming of how to use the site.

Our office.

Master Plan final proposed view.

Rendering of the future college building and administration centre.

The unique octagonal shaped chapel at the centre of the site.  Great work Mark and Katey!

Presenting to the College

Without a doubt, our experience in presenting to the college was one of the great joys of being in Myanmar.  David was so excited about the work we had done, he went to town and came back with two large posters with our work strewn across them.  It was great to see the buildings at that scale after being on small laptop screens all week!

The vision - but BIGGER!

The big reveal at the presentation.

We were also requested to dress up for the presentation.  The men were given Longyi - the traditional men's bottoms in Myanmar.  They were quite comfortable and we had a blast further integrating into the culture of Myanmar.  The children and students faces lit up when they saw us enter into the presentation room!

Longyi!

I was asked to give a short devotional before we started our presentation and shared from Psalm 127:1 - "Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labour in vain.  Unless the LORD watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain."  What a timely reminder that God is the ultimate builder, not only of His Kingdom on earth but the structures we design.  It was our prayer that the plans we had laid out for the college would be approved by God, the ultimate designer.

I think Mark put it best, the kids reaction to seeing the new building designs were similar to the of the minions from the recent Despicable Me films.  Many "ooohs" and "ahhhs".  I had the unique angle of seeing their reactions throughout the presentation as I was running the PowerPoint.  The wonder and joy on their faces made all the trials and hardships of the week wash away in an instant.  We had many many fans at the end of the night!

Devos to open up the night.

So many happy faces!

Mark showing the future chapel.

Sorry for the fuzz, but this 'clearly' shows the overall response to the event.

All in all, being able to do this sort of work was the best.  It was unique opportunity to work directly with the ministry and share with them how their land could be developed and used for the glory of God.  We not only designed buildings but provided recommendations on how to safely construct them (go structural engineers!), access clean drinking water, properly dispose of waste, improve drainage and electricity access.  Our remaining work in Calgary is to finish what was started by providing the college with a complete drawing set and fleshed out report.

P.S.  I'm uploading a quick video tour of our office and dining room up so you have a better sense of our working world.  There is no useful audio and can thus be ignored.  The shot shows the classroom and girls orphan house with us taking residence in the boy's orphan house for the week.  A generous group of boys!  The movie was shot as we were transitioning from a morning of work to lunch.