3L Foundation

The dining sala is taking shape! Wonderful news about the progress of 3L’s project to build a dining sala for the children of the CPDC to have place of beauty for meals, activities and fellowship.

But first, let me apologize for having taken so long to provide regular updates to our dining sala project in Pattaya. Upon returning home from our last trip to Thailand, I almost immediately had to deal with a medical emergency in my family that essentially required  my attention most of the summer. As such, I was unable to go on my follow-up trip in June back to Thailand for a week to keep up on the dining sala’s building progress. Additionally, Pam’s and Ashley’s time was at a premium on their trip in July.

We now have a great new chapter in our project to tell you about. Plans are already set for Pam and Ashley to return to Thailand this fall and I hope to return as well. But from the end of our last trip all together in May to Pam and Ashley’s return just a couple of weeks ago, here is the news of our dining sala project.

Since we broke ground in May for the dining sala, we have been witnessing steady progress. At first, only the excavation and foundations were visible, as the rainy season soon made further work on the structure difficult. The foundation and excavation plan was modified somewhat to include various ideas to add to the usefulness of the building. As many of you saw in our video of the dining sala project, heavy rain and flooding is pretty common in Thailand. All three of us encountered this when we were together last time in Thailand. Water would pool around the building and evening with attempts at drainage ditches, the water would pool, especially around the steps. The dining sala now incorporates a cistern under the building to collect this perimeter water to be later used for irrigation of plants in dry seasons.

Once the rainy seasons began to relent, more work on the structure was started. Wood and metal forms were put in place and liquid stone was poured to form the floors and support columns. The footprint of the building was them much more evident. Now, the steel was brought in, cut, assembled, bolted and welded to form the skeleton of the sala. While things like foundations and floors are certainly as essential as they are unglamorous, they are the stage for the dramatic structure that depends on them.

Surrounded by buildings that house the children of the CPDC and those who care for them, the dining sala begins to be a recognizable edifice. It is a physical manifestation of our intent and commitment to provide those who reside at the CPDC village with a safe, beautiful place for meals, fellowship and belonging.

This building as it stands now has been build with many different things. None of the bricks, concrete or steel would be there and in place were it not for the planning, the commitment and the financial resources provided to make it happen. All this out of the love we have for the kids. We are great for for all of you that have contributed to make this possible. Our commitment has always been to see this project through and to continue our commitment to raise the needed funds to complete this last phase of the project.