Home Improvement Ideas 2012

Considering the size of their living space, it's no wonder that Paola's family declined our offer to buy them a bookcase. They simply would have no place to put it!

To try and put Paola's home into perspective, the photo below shows the total size of the tiny bedroom where the family lives/sleeps. (The "family" means the five individuals in the photo, plus Rosa's boyfriend.) The white, glowing area in the center of the photo is the room's one "window" - an small area where some of the bricks were knocked out with a blunt object.

This video shows the sum of "other" space that the family has to work with. Basically, a narrow, dark hallway + another very small room where the family keeps a clothes washing machine (the round, metal thing in the video, a couple of wheelbarrows, and some shelves containing vegetables (and flies).

As far as home improvements for Paola's upcoming Aura's House fundraiser ...

The family has requested a refridgerator and metal cabinet for storing dishes/dry food. They will set these two items in the hallway between the wardrobe and the propane stove.

There is a possible issue with the fridge, which will need to be explored further. Paola's family steals their electricity by illegally tapping into the local power supply (having electricity routed to them legally is not feasible at this time). Running a fridge off of this stolen electricity may not be advisable. Two possible solutions to the problem are:

1. They would only connect the refridgerator at night.

2. We could purchase a smaller unit, rather than a full-sized model.

Now, here's some good news. It has been decided that although the family does not own the land or the house, we can still make improvements to the existing structure. This means that we cannot build anything new, but we can repair or improve upon anything that is already constructed. Some ideas about projects we could finance are:

1. Put a real window in the place of the hole.

2. Install better doors with screens to keep out the flies.

3. Replace the roof (which leaks terribly) with one that will connect to the brick walls without leaving gaps.

4. Purchase some kind of bug zapper (if possible) to help control the flies.

The house is FULL of flies. I'd hate to see how many more show up in the summertime!

*Please speak up if you have any questions/comments/ideas about a home improvement SNG!*