10 Days in Trinidad

The view from my porch at Victory Heights

After arriving late Thursday evening, we held an opening time of prayer and team testimonies before heading on a camp tour with Joe, the head of the executive committee for the camp board.  Victory Heights Bible Camp sits on a 30 acre hillside, with only about 7 or so easily accessible acres atop the hill.  The camp consists of 4 dorms, an auditorium/dining hall, a pool and villa/conference room, a cricket pitch, and a playground and basketball court (More pictures on my Victory Heights page).  It has a capacity of about 300 but usually has groups of around 100 as well as hosts retreats and sports groups. The hillside has beautiful views of the surrounding mountains and is well loved by the 14 supporting churches and groups who regularly visit. This year marks the campuses 50th anniversary and much of the property/buildings are in dire need of renovation.  In order to stay financially viable the camp is actively seeking ways to reinvigorate its campus and expand its facilities to generate revenue and growth.  We knew heading in that they desired our team to develop a master plan and design a multi-purpose building (MPB) with enough space for 800-1000 for weddings, conferences, or concerts, etc.  But we had no idea of the scope of their vision for a master plan they could use for development for decades to come.

Taking a camp tour

The team that I got to work with in country was incredible.  Our team leader Rex has led over 40 projects with EMI over the years and has been to at least as as many countries.  Jim, our lead architect has designed master plans for well over 100 camps and is well known as one of the best camp designers in the US.  Brent, another architect, along with his son Gabe brought along a drone that was able to fly above the campus taking thousands of photos and creating a highly realistic 3D survey of the campus, complimenting the survey that local Trinidad engineers had already performed for us.  We also had 2 electrical engineers, a civil engineer, a cad manager, and another great architect along with Jacob and I (the 2 interns with backgrounds in mechanical and civil engineering).

Flying the Drone

Virtual Reality Googles allowing you to see what the drone sees.  We photobombed everyone wearing them.  

What engineers at work look like. :)

I primarily assisted Jim, the licensed civil engineer, as we tested/evaluated the current water supply, septic systems, and soil properties of the camp and future possible locations of the MPB. It was amazing to see so much of the design process unfold in only a week and a half span.  Observing the architects work was incredible as they proposed ideas and quickly sketched concepts.  We hosted a meeting with the camp board and Trinidad engineers every few days to bounce off ideas and hear more from their vision and with each meeting new changes and additions were added to our list of concepts for the master plan.  By the time Wednesday rolled around we had finished our site evaluation and finally nailed down our plan to develop.  The next 48 hours were a blur as we modeled, drafted, sketched, and rendered how the future of the camp might look in years to come in perpetration for our presentation before the ministry Friday evening. The picture below shows our team standing behind the final Master Plan we presented to the camp.

We had a lot fun during the trip as well!  The camp had an amazing cook and we got to try a lot of local foods and drinks including fried shark sandwiches.   On Saturday we got to spend a restful and celebratory day at the beach, going zip lining, and debriefing. Now that we are back we have a lot of design drawings and report writing to finalize in the office and send back to Victory Heights!