One of the great blessings of the 2018 Work Team to LOJA was the work done by Tony Zurolo, with the assistance of his family members (wife Elaine and daughter Elizabeth), and Santiago Noriega.
SPECIAL NOTE: we are asking all our Lion of Judah Academy friends to pray for the Zurolo Family…please see the prayer request at the end of this post.
This was Tony’s third trip to the school. He has worked extensively on developing two projects in particular:
1 – a system to monitor how much water is in the school’s 25,000 gallon water storage tank, to make it easier for school personnel to avoid allowing the school to run out of water
2 – lighting systems for the school which would provide study lighting in select areas of dorms and classrooms when the power grid goes down in the evenings…something which happens fairly regularly and leaves our 850 students in a real bind with no light to study or do homework
Tony has been working on these projects (as well as a couple of others) for several years. Through experimentation, trial and error and success, he went over in July with systems he hoped would finally resolve these issues. And what a success it proved to be! They are working wonderfully!
He installed seven lighting systems…those were added to two already functioning systems he had designed and which had previously been installed. These lighting systems now provide amazing amounts of light to the school campus so that, even when the power grid shuts down, the students have study rooms where they can do their homework, projects, study for exams and so forth.
Tony has designed these systems from scratch, using highly efficient LED light strips and batteries which charge when the power grid is operational. When the power grid shuts down each system can detect if it is light or dark outside, and if there is anyone in the room, and the system automatically turns itself on! When the power grid goes back on…or when it is light outside…or when there is no activity in the room…the system automatically shuts itself off and recharges the batteries! It is amazing. And so much light is produced!
Likewise the water monitoring system has been a huge blessing. This system, especially, required extensive trial and error development. But it has been worth it! The system provides multiple alert systems to school personnel. In the pump room there is a graphic display showing the pump manager how much water is in the tank…this never existed before and the pump operator had to guess when the turn the pump on and off. Now he can see at a glance just how much water is in the tank and whether the pump needs to be turned on or off.
In addition, there is a site on the internet which any staff member can check from their phone to see, in a moment, an up to date display of the water level and whether it is going up, down, or remaining steady.
Finally, the system is able to send text messages to select staff members warning them if the water level is dropping below a certain point (indicating a potential low water problem) or is exceeding a certain level (indicating it might be in danger of overflowing).
We’ve put together an album highlighting these two projects, as well as a couple of other important water projects which were carried out by the 2018 team.
Here is a larger album of photos from the 2018 Team. If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out.
We extend hearty thanks to Tony, his Family, Santiago, and all our friends at Windsor Locks Congregational Church (where the Zurolo’s are members, and Santiago is chairman of the missions committee). This Church has faithfully supported The Lion of Judah Academy for nearly 20 years, and their support of these projects and team members has been wonderful.
Now…we have an urgent and very important request for prayer: Please pray for The Zurolo Family, and especially their adult daughter, Danielle Marois. Just a couple of weeks ago Danielle was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. Danielle is 33 years old, married to Brad, and they have a three year old son. They are a family of deep faith and confidence in God. Please pray for them, and most especially for Danielle’s full and complete healing from this disease. The need is great…but our God is greater. Nothing is too difficult for Him!
Here is Danielle’s CaringBridge site: https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/daniellemarois
