Celebrating a Concrete Roof!

I know it may be shocking to some to see another entry so soon! I think this will be the first time we have posted twice in one week. I guess you can call it making up for the weeks when we didn’t have any entry.

Things are moving quickly here these days. Tomorrow is Saturday and the workers are ready to pour the concrete roof on the house. It is amazing to me that only two weeks ago the foundation was being poured. Now we have new walls with window and door openings, and we’re about to have a roof! From what we understand it will be an impressive display. There will be 17 workers according to the “Boss,” but we hear there will likely be more like 30. Apparently when something like this is going on men will just walk in off the street to help, hoping to get a meal or a little pay.

We found out yesterday we are to provide two meals for the workers as it will be an intense, all-day project. So Jared, Will, Gevy (our tutor and friend) and two boys we hire frequently are going to the market as I write to pick up supplies for rice and beans (diri ak pwa) and spaghetti (spagette). The boss will hire three ladies to cook the food under a tree in kettles using charcoal fires. It’s pretty close to how the school lunch program is run.

So far today six loads of sand and three loads of gravel have come in by truck. I think there is more gravel on the way. I have to take a moment to explain how the gravel is made here. Ladies from town walk up the mountain to retrieve chunks of rock (weighing maybe 25-30 pounds, I am totally guessing) which they carry on their heads back down. They then take a hammer, or another rock if no hammer is available, and start breaking the big rock apart. Thus gravel is made for concrete. Down the road from us there is a portion of the street where you can find gravel of all sizes in piles outside the ladies’ homes. I cannot imagine having to support my family this way. Fortunately for them construction projects seem to be moving along and for now they have a way of making some money.

The workers coming in tomorrow will blend the sand, gravel and concrete mix with shovels in piles on the ground. Then they will be hoisted, one bucket at a time, onto the “roof,” now only sheets of plywood supported by a mixture of timbers cobbled together with nails, and a few steel supports. I keep saying OSHA would love to see this! Jared tried to get me on the soon-to-be roof, but I am afraid of heights, especially ones that look so precarious! I was nervous just standing on the “ladder,” which was nothing more than timbers with a few strips of an old board nailed on.

The roof thus far is a layer of block with rebar interwoven on top of plywood. The concrete will be poured into the cracks and over the top of the block. It will take 15 days to cure with water being sprayed or poured on three times a day to prevent it from drying too fast. Once that process is over, the supports and plywood will be removed and returned to the place we rented them from. I find it hilarious that here plywood is rented for each project--that is until it rots. We can’t just run to Menard’s or Lowe’s to buy the things we need. It is humbling to realize how easy we had it in the States.

When this part is over, it will be time to hire more workers (maybe the same crew) to pour the concrete floor and crepe (similar to plastering) the walls and ceiling. This also includes the entire outside of the house. Then we will be ready to paint, tile and install doors and windows. We have already been discussing getting a carpenter started on the furniture we will need. It might be possible to get some beds, frames, and other furniture (if we can find it) in Cap Haitien. The road has gotten better as of late and instead of taking 4-5 hours to travel the 36 miles to Cap, it only takes 2 1/2! This is progress!

I would love to report that our truck has arrived, but alas, it has not. (I’ve been reading the Lord of the Rings trilogy, can you tell?) We were told over a week ago “maybe four or five more days.” We are getting used to this; it has been a month since we got here, still no truck. Apparently there is a paper that needs a signature to release license plates for the truck, which is waiting and ready and paid for. As Jared has pointed out many times, the bright side is that he’s losing weight from all the walking! It’s good to be able to find a bright side to things here.

Will has been occupied for the last two days making trucks with friends Francely and Woodson. Both boys are quite a bit older and often work for us doing odd jobs to make a little money for their families. They use any scraps they can find, including the empty cans of wasp spray I previously threw into the trash pit. At first they were trying to cut the cans with an old pair of scissors until Jared let them use some tin snips. All three of the boys at one point had cuts that needed attention. I have decided I cannot possibly protect Will from everything and that I will have to trust God to keep him safe. He is really enjoying this project!

Natalie spends her days playing with Barbies, Littlest Pet Shop toys, play-doh and coloring. She also likes to play with Alina and Chrissy, friends from the Haiti Home of Hope orphanage run by our friends Bill and Jennifer Campbell. The Campbell’s have become a tremendous help and valuable resource to us. We are so grateful the Lord brought them here first.

I have been going to the orphanage on Wednesday mornings since our arrival here for feeding clinic and milk clinic which alternate weekly. My class in North Carolina has proven to be useful already as I have seen so many of the things we talked about there. Unfortunately I am also already seeing the sometimes devastating reality of poverty. It is so hard to believe in the time we live in that people, mostly children, are starving!

It seems overwhelming at times, what can we possibly do to make a difference? Then I remember a great story I read (I think it was in The Hole in our Gospel by Rich Stearns) about starfish being washed upon shore. There were so many it seemed overwhelming and useless to do anything about it because it wasn’t possible to save them all. As one man stands despairing, another is seen casting starfish out to sea. The one man points out the hopelessness of the situation and asks, “How can you possibly make a difference?” The other man throws another starfish into the ocean and says, “It made a difference for that one.”

Matthew 25:40
“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’”