HAITI - January 10 - Construction Team

Another awesome day in Haiti! God has blessed us with splendid weather, sunny but not too terribly hot, and the work is progressing at a fast pace. The septic team finished scooping out the "bad" dirt and then dug the septic tank hole. They hit ground water at about 18 inches, but had all the depth they needed to put the septic tank in. Believe it or not, there will be enough "good" fill dirt in between the house and the back wall to cover the entire septic tank up to the inspection hatches.

Meanwhile, no rest for the rebar team, with Chris bending rings and John wiring up the posts we will need for the first floor of the house. The Haitians actually came over and complemented John's work, saying that he might have started out as an "apprentice" but now he is a "Bos" (Master) ironworker!

The ladies came back from VBS at noon and pitched right in. Who knew Wanda and the other ladies had such a talent for sifting sand! They were so good they even got the job of mixing mortar for the guys, which freed them up to work faster on the blocks.

Some of the guys got the un-enviable job of attacking a mountain of coarse fill (lots of rocks) and carting it in wheel barrows to the house, and also spreading it out as a ramp for more trucks to come in. They worked on it all day long and it didn't seem to get any smaller. But finally they conquered it and it is no more.

Despite working the mountain all day, Harrison had time for futbol with the neighborhood kids. We gave them two balls, and had to promise to bring two more back tomorrow.

The House team, in addition to putting coarse fill in the house foundation to support the first floor slab, laid the rest of the blocks to bring everything up to the 4 block level where the slab floor will be.

The Wall team continued work on the front wall, then turned the corner and started working on the side.

We decided to have the Haitian masons start on the front wall on the other side of the bridge, and they caught up fast with the "blancs." It's a race to see who will make it to the back wall first!

The entire front wall is now finished up to the six block level, where we will pour a reinforced concrete bond beam for strength.

We had ample opportunity to witness to the neighbors and are building a good relationship with them. The ladies did a mini-VBS after lunch with the neighborhood kids at Pastor Edmond's church nearby, and Charlie gave his English New Testament to an English-speaking Haitian neighbor who is not saved. Hopefully he will be back tomorrow to get a whole Bible and to hear more of the Word.

God has truly blessed us in every way, and we feel His presence here as we seek to follow where He is leading us. Praise His Holy Name!