Roofs... Doors... Footer...

Well, work has begun on the roofs and doors and continues on the school. Please pray for health and safety for all those working!

Monday: Mme Tiferne's House

Daniel marking the plate before the last truss goes on

Mark bending the rebar while Russ marks his side

Lifting the last truss into place

Lucson, Gilbert, Daniel, Russ, Mark, Allen and Bruce

Bendji brought Russ a melon to thank him for the gifts Russ brought his family.

Tuesday: Doors and Footer
They also started on Mme Obert's house but I didn't get any pictures

Mark, Daniel and Jean Robert putting in a frame to hold the doors

Russ and some of the guys working on another door

One door almost in!

School Footer (I finally learned the right term!):

This PVC will go into the underground cistern

Wednesday: Mme Obert's House

Daniel on Mme Obert's house

Getting ready for the last truss

Pulling the back truss into place

Bendji up in the rafters :)

My Favorite Tropical Storm Ever

Thank you all for you prayers regarding TS Emily. We got about 4 hours of nice light rain, no wind, no flooding rains! Emily was definitely my favorite storm ever! We also heard that Port-au-Prince had only a little wind - no rain! This is a wonderful things as so many people are still in tents.

School Foundation Progress

Monday:

The plan for the day was just to clean out the water from the foundation - for the second time!

There was a LOT of water!

Lots of people from the church showed up to help.

After several hours they had all the water out.

Then they decided with all the rains and a hurricane coming they didn't want it filling up with water for a third time! So the same day they started laying rock in the foundation.

Some mixed cement...

..some hauled rocks.

...some carried the cement to the foundation...

...and others laid the rock and poured the cement in layers.

They left holes for where the pillars will go.

Tuesday:

Tuesday morning about 40 people showed up at 6am and worked till 6pm. Mezou and his group were responsible for hauling water and sacks of cement to the work site.

While others continued mixing cement and layering it with the rocks, another group began work on the rebar for the pillars.

Wednesday:

Today they put in all the pillars.

The masons put in a pillar while others look on, taking a break from mixing and hauling.

They also began work on the base. Please forgive my lack of knowledge of the correct terms... I know them in Creole but I don't think that would do much good here.

They finished one whole side of the school... that's 100 feet!

Tonight or tomorrow tropical storm Emily is due to hit Haiti. Please pray for this country that it will be spared the strong winds and flooding rains and the destruction they bring.

Update

It has been way too long since I last updated the blog!

Here is a bit of what is going on these days:

The School Foundation!

I can hardly believe it! The school that we have hoped and planned to build for so long is finally under way! Through the generosity of one man, the cost of the foundation and underground cisterns has been covered and work has begun! Last week the men dug the foundation. Then on Sunday we had the heaviest rain I have ever seen here. For a little over half an hour it poured. And when I say poured I mean seriously POURED. Everyone is so excited about the rain, though it dig do some damage to the foundation that had just been dug. At least the foundation collected water that can be used to mix the cement! Construction of the foundation will probably start on Monday.

The Dunk Family

Bruce and Cathy Dunk and their children, Russell and Athena, are here for a month. Bruce has already fixed a bunch of things (including the diesel generator- yay!), laid out the foundation for the school building, and is working on the gable ends of the church and the drop ceiling in the offices. Needless to say he has been busy! Cathy has helped out with various projects including cleaning out and sorting everything in the big steel container/depot. She and Russell are also teaching English to some children in the area each morning. Athena has been getting to know a lot of the young people around here and has been busy visiting families, talking with new friends and playing soccer. The main reason they are here, however, is to see if it would work for them to come long term. Please be in prayer for the Dunk family as they decide where God is leading them for the next 10-15 years.

Roofing Team

Three of the guys who came back in January to put roofs on three houses are coming back next week to do the remaining three houses. We are so excited to have them back again! David and Ginger Muchmore will also be coming to help out with various projects.

Wind Pump!

So much has happened over the past month that I have not had time to write about all of it! One of the most exciting things that has happened is that the wind pump is working!

You may remember that a group came last year to built the cistern which would collect the water pumped by the wind pump. They had also intended to get the wind pump installed but too much wind had prevented them from putting the head on. The well that we had originally intended to put it on was also blocked from a pipe that dropped down in it... so everything was on hold.

In the meantime we were able to get an older, better well cleaned out. The man who sold us the wind pump also agreed to come down and finish the installation!

So, last month Ed Leid (from whom we bought the wind pump), his wife Renae, their son Justin, and Vince and Bruce from Rotary (who financed the project) came down to see to project completed.

In preparation for the group the guys built the wall where the people would come to get water.

Ed, Justin, and men from the community first moved the tower to the new well.

They then put the head together...

...and lifted it up with a pulley system.

Justin was willing to be the one to climb all the way to the top!

And VOILA! Our new, functioning wind pump!

Prayer dedication service

The wind pump pumps the water into this cistern.

From there it goes to these spigots where the people can get water without pumping by hand!

There was much joy the first day as people filled the first buckets from the new system.

Manis with the Leid family.

Manis with Vince and Bruce from the Rotary Club that financed the project. While on the Plateau Bruce (an electrician) and Vince also finished installing an electrical system in the guest house and fixed the system to the Lemuel house.