ICC In Focus

Las Palmas Experimenting with Hydrogen Gas as a Fuel Source

February 4th, 2010

Here’s an interesting report from Rick Fleck…

I witnessed something very interesting here in the Dominican Republic. One of our employees in the office, Noel Williams, has been experimenting with the use of hydrogen as a fuel for vehicles. He got information off the Internet and from a friend at the university and has successfully implemented the use of hydrogen as a supplement to fuel. He installed this in a small gasoline powered car, and the result so far is that the car used half the fuel as before.

They called me to witness an experiment they conducted with our diesel electric generator power plant for the campus. As you might know, hydrogen gas can easily be produced from water by the process of electrolysis when an electric current is passed through water. What he did was to make a container with six-inch PVC pipe about 10 inches high. Into this he rigged up a system of metal plates similar to what you might see in a car battery with two wires coming out the top. The positive and negative plates are in close proximity to each other but don’t actually touch. The wires are then connected to a car battery. When the electrical current reaches those plates, some of the current passes through the water and produces the electrolysis effect which separates the hydrogen and oxygen atoms, and the gas rises to the surface. He has a plastic tube coming out the lid which goes to the carburetor of the engine. This combination of hydrogen and oxygen gas combines with the diesel fuel in the carburetor and the mixture is used as fuel. He actually made two of these small hydrogen-producing containers and combined them into one tube.

Containers

Metal Plates

Plates in Container

They ran the engine for 20 minutes and verified that it consumed only half the diesel that it would normally consume. He also cut off completely the supply of diesel to the engine, and it ran for 11 minutes. He believes it will run indefinitely on the hydrogen given adequate supply of hydrogen. He merely needs a larger plate system in a larger container to produce more.

The gas mixture combines in the combustion chamber of the engine, actually combining back into water, thus the exhaust contains water vapor.

The implications of this are fantastic. We might possibly be able to produce electricity for our campus practically free of cost. We’ll see how this experiment progresses. He also plans to implement this for fueling the tractor.

Posted in Dominican Republic - Las Palmas, Project Updates | Comments Off

El Oasis Spared from Flood

January 28th, 2010

Recent heavy rains in Baja California, Mexico have caused extensive damage to the the village of Valle which is where the ICC children at the El Oasis project attend school. According to Daniel Ixcot, development director, it was a miracle that the buildings at the school are still standing. The main entrance gate was washed away and there was heavy damage to the new wire fence. The pump house was destroyed.

: One of the main streets in Valle

It was reported that 8 inches of rain fell on the area during a four day period. The waters flowed down the surrounding mountains and caused flash flooding. We praise God that the El Oasis Children’s village was spared damage. However, power was lost and has only recently been restored. The project was without water for some time because electricity is needed to run the pumps in the well. Also the parts of the road between El Oasis and Valle was washed away as can be seen in this picture.

It will take some time for Valle and the surrounding region to recover from this tragedy. Many farms were totally flooded and facilities were damaged or destroyed.

Posted in Mexico, Project Updates | Comments Off

ICC Children’s Village Opens in Nicaragua

December 30th, 2009

: New Entry Gate

This has been a very special Christmas for the children at ICC’s Fountain of Life Children’s Village in Nicaragua. After a decade of waiting for a permanent home, ICC’s children in Nicaragua now have a beautiful campus and beautiful homes in which to live. Rick and Sharon Fleck were able to attend the official inauguration and share in the Christmas festivities which included a piñata.

In 1998, Hurricane Mitch brought death and destruction to this country in Central America. Many children became orphaned. Felix Almendarez, a Seventh-day Adventist Businessman, and his wife took on the care of about 30 orphans. Since then, the children have lived in a dormitory setting. Now the children have real family homes to call their own.

On the new campus, there are four children’s homes. There is plenty of land for further development including more children’s homes, a church, a school and industry.

Congratulations go to ICC’s children and staff in Nicaragua. Welcome to your new homes!

: Children’s Homes

: Children at the Inauguration

ICC Child in Nicaragua

ICC President, Rick Fleck, Speaking at Inauguration

Fun with a Piñata

Posted in Nicaragua - Fountain of Life, Project Updates | Comments Off

Graduation Celebrated at ICAP

December 2nd, 2009

Graduates

The weekend of November 27-29, 2009 was a special time for some of ICC’s kids in Guatemala. Seven from the Guatemala Los Pinos Children’s Village graduated from the Instituto de Capacitacion Adventista del Peten otherwise know as ICAP. ICAP is the secondary and vocational training school that is adjacent to the ICC project in Guatemala. Three additional kids from ICC’s project in Nicaragua also graduated bringing the total of ICC graduates to 10. One of ICC’s kids also received a medal for achieving the highest grades in the graduating class.

It’s thrilling to observe ICC kids growing and preparing themselves for life on their own. Congratulations to these graduates for this achievement.

Posted in Guatemala - Los Pinos, Project Updates | Comments Off

First Ambassador for ICC Belgium

November 17th, 2009

Tommy Pootemans, volunteer and Public Relations assistant for ICC Belgium and also nephew of Ann Peremans-Buelens, founder of ICC Belgium, has brought in our first Ambassador for ICC Belgium.

In the Spring of 2009, Tommy made contact with Danaë Van Oeteren, an actress and singer in the Flemish part of Belgium, to ask her if she would be prepared to take on the Ambassadorship for ICC Belgium. Danaë met with Tommy and Ronny Van Dessel, president of ICC Belgium. After some time of reflecting on the position and after attending our concert in Brussels in October where she saw the ICC Romanian children perform, she officially accepted the invitation to become our first Ambassador.

Danaë played some important roles in several Flemish television programs and also played an important role in a Belgian movie production. She sings and has her own music group and has also recorded an album.

ICC Belgium is very happy with the decision Danaë has made and hopes that she can become a well known face for our organization and that she can also find some other well known public figures to join ICC.

Danaë & Tommy

Posted in ICC Belgium, Partner Updates | Comments Off

Clothing Manufacturer Supports ICC

November 14th, 2009

Recently, Lunter Textiel, a Dutch clothing manufacturer, decided to support ICC Netherlands. Lunter Textiek has created a new design of baby clothes. This design is made from bright, cheerful colors and designs and is call Puk Design. The first summer collection of Puk Design, made for babies from zero to eighteen months, was made entirely from organic cotton. It will be delivered in December 2009.

Puk Design will promote ICC to its customers. On each garment is a special hangtag that features ICC. The manufacturer will also donate clothes from its production facility in India to the ICC children’s village in India. In this way Puk Design hopes got give some color into the lives of these children.

The first child who got dressed in Puk Design clothes was the newest member of the ICC family in Congo. Lambro Triantos, Director of ICC Netherlands, was visiting the ICC Patmos children village in September. Puk Design had given him the very first sample of the new design. According to Lambro, the baby was very happy with his new outfit.

Lambro with Baby Dressed in Puk Design

Posted in Congo (DRC), ICC Netherlands - (IKN), Partner Updates, Project Updates | Comments Off

Letter From ICC Boy in Congo

November 12th, 2009

The following letter was given to Rick Fleck during his recent visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is from one of the older boys in our ICC project there. He is in secondary school taking technology.

Posted in Congo (DRC), Project Updates | Comments Off

ASML Foundation Supports Orphans in India

November 8th, 2009

ASML Foundation from the Netherlands has decided to continue their support for the work of ICC in 2010. The Dutch foundation will help with the educational costs of 72 children in India.

In the ICC children’s village in India, ICC has a total of 76 children. Seventy-two of them are going to the elementary school nearby. ICC feels it is very important that children can have a good education. It costs $240 for one child to enjoy a year of education.

Recently ASML Foundation decided to donate for the total cost of all 72 children, a total of $17.280. ASML Foundation also believes that it is important for children to have a good education. Just like ICC, they believe that for the long term, good education for children will help move society forward.

Lambro Triantos (left), Director of ICC Netherlands, Visits ASML Foundation

Posted in ICC Netherlands - (IKN), India - DEWS Sweet Home, Partner Updates, Project Updates | Comments Off

Romanian Children’s Choir goes to Europe

November 5th, 2009

Romanian Children's Choir

During the weekend of October 10 and 11, the ICC Romania Children’s Choir performed at concerts in Belgium and the Netherlands. In the afternoon of October 10, the children sang in Vianen, which is close to Utrecht, the Netherlands. In the evening they performed in Brussels, the capital of Belgium.

Choir concert in Brussels

The next morning the children sang at a retirement center in Huis ter Heide, again near Utrecht. In the afternoon they had another performance in Rotterdam. This last concert was for ICC Netherlands 15^th year anniversary party.

Lambro Triantos, ICC Netherlands Director remarked that, “It is a great miracle to see these children singing.” Most of the children in the choir were abandoned. However, ICC has given them a home and a sense of security. Now, several years later, they are making beautiful music and have performed far beyond the borders of their homeland.

ICC has been changing the lives of orphaned and abandoned children since 1978. With your support we can do even more.

Posted in ICC Belgium, ICC Netherlands - (IKN), Partner Updates, Project Updates, Romania | Comments Off

Congo Update

November 2nd, 2009

Patmos Island Children's Village

For several years, travel to the ICC Patmos Island Children’s Village in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has been very difficult because of civil unrest. Recently Rick and Sharon Fleck lead a group of ICC personnel on a trip to this project. Here is a report from that visit.

Building progress

Désiré Murhima (Project Director) is leading the village very well. At this moment there are 165 children.

Since 2003, eight houses have been built, as well as some temporary buildings for a primary school and a church. There are also agricultural activities (pineapples, cassava).

During the visit, there were two special open house programs. Gilbert Dewinter (President of ICC Swiss) opened a children’s home that was built with funds from a Swiss donor. Lambro Triantos (Director of ICC Netherlands) opened a children’s home which was built by Dutch donors and the Dutch government. Lambro also laid the first brick for another children’s home, which he is seeking to provide funding for from Dutch donors and the Dutch government. Rick Fleck had the honor of opening the new church.

Situation of the children

The children were very happy to welcome the ICC visitors. There was a lot of singing and dancing. The children organized a concert. On the day of the inauguration of the houses and the church, they spontaneously started to sing and dance. This was a great experience for the visitors. There are about three choirs on the campus, and there are some great singing talents among them.

The boys like to play soccer. They have their own referee, and they are very disciplined in their play.

According to Sharon Fleck, ICC’s children’s services director, the children are a lot happier than when she visited last time.

Education

The primary school is progressing well. The visitors were able to view some of the classes in session.

Désiré has made significant steps to realizing the construction of the secondary school. It is interesting that project staff are able to make the bricks themselves. This is saving a lot money They use local clay. They put the clay in a form and bake it in the sun. Then they put them in special brick ovens to bake. There is also a tailor in the village, who makes school uniforms and other things.

Update on the Newest Family Member

On the 11^th of June 2009 the ICC in Focus blog informed about a baby who was found. We can tell you now that he is doing fine. On the picture below you can see him with his ICC mother. So far they have not been able to find his real mother. When he was found in May 2009, he was cold and needed food. Today he is well fed. His new brothers and sisters are fond of him. And this is what basically is the most important thing- that a homeless child finds a family who loves him.

Special meeting with the King

On Wednesday the 16^th of September the King and other leaders from the island were part of the inauguration of the houses and the church. At the ceremonies the King specially thanked all the donors from the US and Europe. He asked to bring his thank you to the donors. He said that the help of ICC is making a difference. Although a lot has been done, the island of Idwji continues to need support. So please don’t stop giving was the King’s wish for the donors.

Here are Some of the Major Challenges Facing ICC Patmos Children’s Village

1. Erosion problem

There are three major causes. The houses can’t regulate all the water coming off the roofs. Also, the soil on the property doesn’t absorb the water, because many trees and buses have been cut. The last reason is that, in the land above ICC’s property, there is a lot of agriculture going on. This is results in less trees so more water and soil come down through ICC’s property. ICC needs around $9,400 to correct this problem.

2. Two to three children sharing one bed.

Because of the lack of enough houses, there is still a major challenge for enough beds for the kids. In a lot of cases they sleep with two children in a bed, sometimes even three. To build a new house ICC Congo needs around $56.000.

3. Clean and running water for the homes

It is also still a problem to get clean water to the children’s homes. The source for water is about 3 miles (5 km) away. A donor had given money to start this project, but it is not finished yet. They are half way now.

4. Kitchens for the homes

The housemothers are cooking with wood. This also impacts the erosion problem. It takes them a lot of time and it is bad for their health. New kitchens for the homes will cost around $11.000.

Cooking Facilities

If you would like to help with any of these needs please contact the ICC office at 800-ICC-PRAY.

Note: Lambro Triantos, Director of ICC Netherlands, contributed to this report.