Population:
9 million 2 million displaced 300,000 killed in the quake 7/25/10 Woke up to the sound of singing. `Rod, Donny, Skip, and I went to investigate. There was a small group of people holding church. We stayed for a little. We held a small service of our own. We sang some choruses and Pete talked with us about God's work here in Haiti. After lunch we went to work on a building. We finished putting 5 trusses in place and most of the purlin. It still needs bracing and the metal roof. Before we left, Pastor Solon had us form a circle, alternating American and Haitian. We held hands and sang and prayed. Then he gave each member of our team a piece of the rubble as a momento. On the way home, I stood on the bumper of the tap-tap Because I was looking over the top of the cap, I had a great view of the city. Peter was a young child that hopped on to the tap-tap on our way to th site. He stayed for the day and rode most of the way back with us at the end of the day. To avoid having him follow us home, we stopped and bought him a soda and a hotdog.. Awesome turkey lasagna for supper. 7/26/10 Today we rode in the van to the dock, Moved luggage and some lumber. The 12 mile boat ride across the bay took longer than I expected. Then there was a short ride on a wagon to the Wesleyan Hospital compound. As soon as we arrived, I turned my ankle in a ditch in the yard. I am hoping that I will be useful in setting poles Tuesday. On the ride in, Rod mentioned that this is one of the poorest, most depraved areas in Haiti. I was resting while everyone else took a short tour o the hospital. Donny said that the saw people living in stick huts and babies lying in the dirt. Tomorrow, we will send most of our team up the mountain to set poles. The rest will take the boat back for the rest of the lumber. The thought that this is all that these people have every seen hit home today. They live here and have always lived here. This is all they know. 7/27/10 We got off to a good start today. After driving the two pickups up the goat path we started setting poles. There were not enough poles so we had some free time while waited for the other part of our group. Somehow, 4 poles walked off during transport. By the end of the day, we had set all of the existing poles and started on making trusses. Four of our team travelled to the mainland to bring more lumber. They had quite a journey. `The dolphins played n the wake of the boat. They made good time getting things loaded. The truck drive up the mountain was an adventure. Apparently the art of packing a load has been lost in Haiti. They brought the truck up the steep hill. At least 4 times, the lumber and metal fell off the back and needed to be re loaded. During the free time, Adam and Skip played with the children. The danced, sang, and chased each other around the yard. Skip can make many good, loud animal noises. Yes - loud and obnoxious. One of the locals braded Adam’s hair. Once again I find that my world view is different than normal. The place was extremely crowded. The people are curious, interested, and want to help. I see them as being in the way. But we are here to serve them. All the others are excited about learning the language and trying to interact, but I have exactly zero interest. That is not say that I am not frustrated by the language barrier. 7/28/10 Worked hard today. We put up the apron and braces. We also assembled the remaining trusses. We still need to flip and finish 5 more. There seemed to be more people at the school today. Jimmy and Matt played soccer for a long time. At the end of the day, we put a lot of lumber in the truck and travelled down the mountain. I have no idea how the truck survives the abuse. 7/29/10 Today was a good work day. We finished everything but the metal roof. Flipping the trusses up was easier than I expected. The difficult part was convincing the help to leave it hang vertically. Most of the day, I helped with putting up trusses and purlin. In the afternoon, I picked up the arduous task of drilling bolt holes. We needed 34 holes. This required drilling through metal with a very dull bit, then finishing the job with a paddle bit. Pretty exhausting. There was a young Haitian named Jon. I would guess that he is 15. All week he worked non stop with us. Early in the week, I was annoyed because he was just in the way. He wanted to help, but didn't know how. He would hold a pole to support it, and keep on holding it. We would have to move him out of the way, so we could move ladders and attach braces. Today, He was one of the most helpful people there. He had learned how to look around and be in the right place at the right time with the right tool. We gave him the job of flipping trusses. He did it well and efficiently all morning. He didn't seem to have any tools of his own. I intended to give him my entire tool belt at the end of the day, but Mark beat me to it. You should have seen his face light up when he realized what Mark was giving him and why. At the end of the day, we spent some time taking group pictures with the semi-completed building. Then the Haitians sang and prayed and did some well wishing. They seemed very appreciative. The metal roof material is not here and we do not have time to install it anyway. Tomorrow morning we plan to tour the orphanage here. Apparently there are 60 orphans. Then we will load the boat and head back to the mainland. 7/30/10 This morning, we visited the orphanage in Anse-A-Galets. There are 60 children there. I would guess that there are a few more girls than boys. Pretty rugged place to live. All solid concrete with bars on the windows. Like every other place here. The children have almost no personal belongings. Each room has a bed or three. Some rooms have a small shelf with books or toys. One little girl was playing with a handful of mega blocks. They sleep on beds that are just plywood because the wet the mattresses faster than they can be cleaned. The children sang for us and we gave each of them a hug. Some were a little shy. Others wrapped their arms around and gave us a great big squeeze. After getting packed up, we spent 1.5 hours on a boat and 2.5 hours sitting on lumber in the back of the Conter, Which is a big truck with a metal roof and cage. I would rather have been working in the hot sun all day. On the bright side, I was able to swim in the bay for a few minutes and we got to watch a thunder storm. Also, we had some fantastic chili for supper. 7/31/10 When we go home people will ask about my trip. I need to answer. Focus on the audiance and pick the appropriate response. I think that having a few pictures with associated stories would be a nice way to do that. I can tell one short story or a couple. Our impact here is bigger than I first thought. Dan says that everyone on the island knows that there is a brand new, beautiful structure up on the mountain because we were here. This is the first thing they have seen built in 6 months. Until now, all they see are things coming down. This success brings attention to the church. This in turn, gives the church power for change. The vodoo influence is huge in Haiti. They were embarrassed because they could do nothing about the earth quake. They are embarrassed because the Christian church is the first to do any re building. Spiritual warfare is epic in Haiti. We need to pray for the conference this week. They will be electing a new leader. |
Mais Gate Church
As a team of American workers, we felt it necessary to get some work done the first day that we were there. What we didn't realize at the time is that this is the only day of rest that the missionaries had. We did get quite a bit of work done on the roof of the church though.
Traveling to and From La Gonave Island
Building the La Fontina Wesleyan Church
Orphanage in Anse-A-Galets
Here is a map of the locations that we worked.
View Haiti in a larger map