Rolf Bartel Visit 2019 Sponsored by SVS

Our dear friend, Rolf Bartel, has been helping JLSS upgrade central heating systems since 2013. He volunteered yet again this year during his holiday to come and help us continue upgrading and adjusting energy systems.
An important aspect of his visits is training local staff in the maintenance and precise adjustment of boilers and solar systems. This provides better heating and saves enormous amounts of money. It also helps protect the environment by reducing emissions and preventing unnecessary air pollution.
The travel cost of his visit this year was kindly sponsored by our Swiss partners SVS (Schweizer Verein für die Schneller Schulen im Nahen Osten).
Rolf knew from previous visits how much he is needed in JLSS, so he stayed three additional days this trip to accomplish more work.
He arrived on Friday 4 and stayed until Sunday 13 October 2019.
Together with Shadi Naim and Eliyya Salloum, maintenance of all boilers was achieved.
All solar systems were also inspected and adjusted relatively easily, but the one in the girls' boarding building was a very big challenge.
The last boiler room to have a very old system was that of Hermann Schneller Haus (Director's House). Although it was not the plan to have it renovated, upon inspecting the damage caused last winter, it was decided to do the job this time.
It was not easy to accomplish this task in the short time we had. Rolf quickly made the design for the new boiler system based on his calculations for the needs of the house. The challenge was getting all the needed parts and to have the work done before he leaves on Sunday.
Hage Group in Beirut supplied us with the needed boiler and burner the following day.
Three days later we received the domestic hot water tank and all the needed parts.
We only had two days left to accomplish the task before Rolf travelled back to Germany.
The impossible task was achieved in two days with Rolf, Shadi and his assistant Abou Salim, and Eliyya working around the clock to achieve the task.
The new boiler was running for the first time at 9:00 PM on Saturday to the delight of everyone.
The exhausted team was standing outside Hermann Schneller Haus feeling very good about their wonderful accomplishment when they heard the sound of water coming from the roof. It was a last minute hitch that annoyed everyone.
Upon inspecting the attic, it was revealed that the old open circulation system had three additional pipes that were leaking water.
The old rusted pipes had to be unscrewed and sealed to allow the new closed circulation system to buildup pressure to work properly.
Working in an old attic on three old rusted pipes was no easy task for Abou Salim after two days of working none-stop. The task was daunting and seemed impossible at times.
Mohammad al-Khodor who lives in JLSS since the Syrian war started heard about the commotion. He rushed to our rescue going up the attic to help Abou Salim achieve the seemingly impossible task.
After about an hour of work, the job was accomplished and it was time to run the system again. This time it worked perfectly.
Rolf worked to the very last minute before he travelled back to Germany.
Although the plan was that he would have a day to visit Baalbek and Anjar, he kindly decided to continue working to do more for JLSS.
We express our most sincere gratitude to Rolf Bartel for the fantastic work he did in JLSS this year. We also thank him for all the work he has been doing for JLSS since 2013.
We hope we can make it up for him during his next visit when we will take him to see Baalbek, Anjar and other tourist attractions in Lebanon.
We sincerely thank SVS for sponsoring the travel costs of his trip this year.