Haiti G.O. Team 2016 Day 4

Posted on February 8, 2016

Today we worked on the house. We met up at 7:30 and crossed over to The Community through an opening in the wall. We wound our way down dirt paths between tin-walled homes, and it took 90 seconds to get to the spot where the foundation had been laid for the walls. We gathered on the site, and Ton Ton, the job foreman, introduced the beneficiary family members. It is a tiny woman with 7 children. The girls were all introduced as "Cheri"... and their name. Mason told us this means Sweetie, or Missy. Then Ton Ton, aka Bob, prayed.

We worked steadily until noon, at which time the white people all went to lunch. The workers and members of the beneficiary family kept at it, though they seemed to just peel off for a while. We were grateful to get out of the sun and were fed a delicious traditional Haitian meal for lunch by Wawa's wife Josette.

It was fun working with the people and learning their words for cement, mortar, string, hammer, pliers and blocks. When we knocked off, all the walls were up, and it felt like an amazing accomplishment.
The children are a delight to talk to, and are just like any other kids. Most adults are happy to engage, as well, though the language barrier prevents us from exchanging much information.

Today members of our team also met with the leaders from Vision d'Antioche about the coffee project and how we can coordinate between Haiti and the US.

Tonight we are grateful for showers, clouds, teamwork, sanitized water and safekeeping. We will all sleep very well!

Gathering before building walls