The Summer

Gracious!  A lot has happened since I last posted!

First of all, tropical storm Isaac did pass near us but we actually fared quite well.  We got some really nice rains out of it - nothing strong and destructive, just long and gentle.  We did get some winds that got a bit strong at one point but they did not last too long and, all in all, I have not heard that they caused any damage in the community.  Thank you to all those who were praying for us.  

I (Judy) arrived back in Haiti on August 1... and cannot believe that 26 days have gone by since!  My parents, brother and sister-in-law, niece and a family friend flew back with me.  My mom's cousin and his son joined us a week later.  It was quite a full two weeks with lots to get done and me trying to catch up on everything after being away for two months.  In addition to helping Manis and I with our house*, the team worked on fixing the electrical system on the campus, preparing Manis's office, and doing all kinds of odd jobs. 

 Mom worked with one of the girls, Rose-Mathe, teaching her to do nails.  She is already known as one of the best girls to do hair.  Being able to do nails as well can mean an extra income for her. 

 When I got back I was pleasantly surprised to find some of the girls I had worked with through the year and the two who had been in school in PauP had formed a team and were doing all the cooking and cleaning for the summer.  Krischelle had worked with them quite a bit and things they had started to learn they now can do all by themselves... like making bread!  

I haven't made one loaf of bread since I got back!  It's been great!

 The guys who had been away at school have also been working through the summer.  

In addition to their regular jobs of water trees, filling cisterns and that sort of thing they have also done some masonry work!  Manis needed a little wall built and felt it was the perfect project for them to learn on. They did a great job! 

  They also did the rock area in front of Manis' office.  

Another exciting thing as I arrived back was to see all the progress on the school.  The walls are up!  The next step is to tie the tops of the walls with rebar and cement. Then we can put on the roofs!  After that, the conduit for the electrical has to be put in and the floor poured.  At that point we can begin using the classrooms!  I am waiting to get an approximate price on the roofs.  Once I have that I will be able to finish a budget for these next steps.  If you would be interested in receiving this once it is done please let me know (judy.dilus@lemuelministries.org).




*Manis and I are in the process of building our own house and will be turning the Lemuel house over to Bonita Sparling who will be joining our team in November.  More on that in the next few months...

School Construction Update

Yesterday I got the exciting news from Manis that they have begun putting up blocks in the school!  I don't have any pictures yet but here are a few from last week when the kids were carrying the blocks from where they make them to closer to the school.  I have also included some of the top of the cistern being poured.

Time to work and they're still smiling!

 

 Kids can make anything into a game.

 Enjoying crackers and juice after working so hard.

 Cistern Top/Classroom Floor!

Been a While... Blocks and a Party!

About a month ago our internet on the Plateau went down.  A week ago I got here to the US with great plans to update the blog right away... then I got sick... again!  Well, no more excuses!  Here we go...

One of the most exciting recent developments is the BLOCK MACHINE!!!  We now have a motorized block maker that can make blocks much faster and much higher quality than the old way.

 The "old way" with one form and one shovel... pounding the cement into the form.

On May 22 we were finally able to crank her up!  We had a trainer from the company that makes the machine come out and teach our guys.

Before they could start we had to get a group of ladies to wash the sand!  It had too much dirt in it so they had to pass loads from one wheelbarrow to the next to get it "clean" enough to use.  

It was great to be able to give these ladies work, even if just for a few days 

(they now get "cleaner" sand from another place).

Another group of guys had to sift the sand and limestone to get the bigger rocks out of it.  

The sand and limestone is then mixed with the cement powder and a little water.

Then... since I am now in the land of super-fast internet I can SHOW you the machine at work!  

This is a video of the first blocks being made.

 Isn't that amazing!

 They've made thousands of blocks and already have people wanting to buy them!

In other news...

 ...the girls in the Young Girls' Group put on a special presentation for their moms for Mother's Day.

 Let me back up a bit though because I am not sure I have told you about the girls' group. Back in November I started working with 8 girls between the ages of 13 and 16. 
 

The girls back in November with their binders and the first cookies they learned to make.

Every Saturday we met for two hours.  The first hour is Bible Study. 

 Part of an activity from one of the Bible studies where they learned that we cannot simply "tie" the fruit of the Spirit onto our lives... just like you can't tie fruit onto a tree.  The fruit of the Spirit must stem from His work in our lives, not our efforts to "look Christian."

  During the second hour they learn to do or make something.  Some of they things they learned this year are how to make cookies, bread, and meat filling, how to set a table, and how to cross-stitch.  They each cross-stitched a lady holding a basket on her head.  

 Making and decorating cookies for the Christmas Program.  They gave out plates of cookies to eight lucky winners who found a paper taped under their seat!

Making my favorite cookies!

 Learning cross-stitch

 Working so hard on their cross-stitch projects.

 
So, to finish out the year, we decided to put everything they had learned together and throw a great party for their moms.  They made rolls, chicken filling, macaroni salad (with a bit of help on this one since they were learning it for the first time), popcorn, two kinds of cookies and acerola cherry juice.  They set the table and decorated the front of the house.  They shared what they had learned through the year and sang a few special songs for their moms.

Manis shared some words of encouragement with the moms and challenged the girls to not just treat their mothers well on Mother's Day, but to respect them and love them all year round.

The girls then served their mothers the meal they had prepared for them.

 To wrap up the evening the girls each presented a gift their mothers.  In order to be able to give these gifts, each of the girls had to work for me for fifteen hours total (3 hours, 5 times).  

In return I sent to the city to get special gifts for their moms.

May 1 Activities

May 1 is an Agricultural holiday here in Haiti.  To celebrate, the school decided to have the kids plant trees along the road.  Will they survive the goats, droughts, motorcycles, donkeys, people, etc...?  Who knows?  But, even if only a few make it, it will be an improvement over the current conditions!

Picking up their trees.

On their way to plant!

Smiling all the way :)

 

The teachers helped, but the kids did most of the work themselves.

 Even little Isabel got in on the action!

Rain!!!

Yesterday we had RAIN!!!  It started around 8:30 and poured for almost two hours.  Then it kept coming and going for the rest of the day.  All together we got 6.5 inches!!!  We have never seen that much rain in one day since I moved here in 2006.

Manis and Samuel make canals in the rocks so that the water will go to the trees.

Streams in our front yard!

 Just a pretty shot.

 I love the look of raindrops on leaves.  It is like a sign of hope to me.

While the rain brought great joy and will soon be bringing much green, it also wreaked a bit of havoc in the area.  Some people had parts of their gardens washed away.  Others lost livestock.  The torrents of water took along anything in its path and unfortunately there were some livestock out to pasture near the ravines.  

The ravine that normally carries rain water down from the mountains overflowed.
The water then flowed down the main road (shown here) making it a second river.
These I took today, but you can see where the water went through. 

Inside the gate at the Lemuel garden was pure mud.  

You can see how the water rushed through here too.  

Water still standing under some of the plantain trees.  

 The water that turned the main road into a river reached all the way past Lemuel's gate and actually ripped the gate right off. If someone had not been there to catch it before the other side ripped off the water would have carried the whole thing away. 

One of the biggest discouragements, despite our joy over the rain, is that the ground on the north side of one of the school cisterns caved in allowing water to seep through the footers and put enormous  pressure against the north wall.  The walls were designed to withstand pressure from the inside out, not the outside in. The wall eventually collapsed.  We have thought through how to fix this problem and we are happy it happened now and not after it was covered, etc... but it is still disappointing. 

When we went to see it yesterday afternoon it was only a third way full.
It rained a few times after that and the water seeped in all night and now it is almost completely full... not exactly the way we were planing on filling it, though!

Thank you to all of you who have, and continue to, so faithfully pray for rain.
Despite the set-backs, everyone is smiling today and full of hope for what the next harvest might bring.

P.S. I have had a LOT of computer, email and internet issues over the past few weeks.  If you have tried to contact me and have not heard back, please try again.  I may not have gotten your email, or you may not have gotten my response.  Thank you!