Payday

Top is a photo of the older boys waiting impatiently for their pay.  They are the Shelter to Home workers and they've been learning and working for just over a month.  So far, they've built four homes-- two for us and two for an orphanage in Port-au-Prince.

The bottom photo is a shot of Shelter to Home's Sam Moschelli (architect, supervisor, paymaster...) handing out a pay envelope to Sonson (Guerson Gervais) while TiBoss (Jocelyn Nelson) supervises.

Fedeline

Fedeline is wearing her rain gear (trash bag hat) yesterday.  She is from the local area and attends our school.  Hope the weather is sunny later on as everything's wet and getting moldy. 

What?

We have many fruit trees here but this one is special.  Taking advantage of a sunny afternoon a few days ago, one of the laundry ladies ran out of clothesline space so turned to this tree for help.  A Fruit of the Loom tree?

Rain

One challenge we are facing with all this rain of late is the standing water.  We are working on eliminating it but need a little help from Mother Nature.  The children's village is situated at a low point on the property and the water table here is high plus there's a high clay content right under the surface.

Madame Jean Baptiste

Madame Jean-Baptiste and a few of her charges.  She is one of the best and best-loved housemothers down here.  See how morose her boys are?

Go figure

These two boys are unrelated but if you saw them together you'd swear that they are brothers. I thought they were and was surprised to find out that they aren't and that they come from different parts of the south. Oh, well!

Jameson Joseph

Jameson came to see me this afternoon. He was waiting by the BUV when I headed out. I've seen him around-- he's a regular from the area. He asked if he could live with the children of ESPWA as his uncle's wife had put him out and he has nowhere to go. He told me that he had been sleeping outdoors for three nights. Not good as we've been hit by severe thunderstorms every day/evening for about ten days now. Jameson is 13, has not heard from his parents since the earthquake. We'll see how we can help him but without sponsorship our hands are pretty much tied.

A Desperate Mother

This morning a woman came to us.  She waited for me, and after Mass asked me to take two of her children because, like many in Haiti, she cannot care for them.  Madame Pierre has eight children (three of them pictured) and a handicapped husband.  She spent the past few days at the general hospital in Les Cayes because her youngest child is sick/malnourished.  She begged the community to help her find her a place to leave her children.  The community directed her to us.

David Duvier and Mak Pierre will be spending the night with us.  Ideally, we want to keep them at home with their mother and assist the family through outreach.  She is an obviously loving mother and David and Mak are happy, well adjusted children.  But Madame Pierre does not have the means to care for her children.  Is there anyone out there willing to sponsor Madame Pierre's family?  Thank you.

Sandey Tenuto photographed this beautiful family.  Thank you, Sandey, for your time and generosity this week. 

Kids Against Hunger

The older boys unload a busload of food.
Thanks to Chris Stout's efforts, we benefit from a food program entitled KIDS AGAINST HUNGER.  The folks who administer this program in Haiti are exceptionally kind and accommodating.  We are blessed in so many ways!

Girls' Home

The stucco work has begun on the girls' home.  The stucco is made by mixing cement with polyfiber.  Billy Bob, the bull, is watching things develop and, I think, approves.

 

Update- Kitchen and Dining Room

The guys pause and smile for the camera as they focus their energy and time on the subfloor of the kitchen.  Notice the beginning of the small storage rooms at the top.

Corner shot of the dining room-- a huge space.  Has to be for all the children in residence, the children in the schools and workers.

Clinic update

The digging for the external walls for the new clinic is done (all by hand, of course). They are ready for rocks, rebar and cement.

The crew above is working on the weight bearing inside walls.

Update on tragic deaths

Journalists reported this morning that four people died yesterday and not five.  A girl of 14 (some said 15) and three boys.  They were not all from the same family.  EdH claims that they had nothing to do with this; that it was the property owner who hired someone to cut down the tree which caused the electrocution death of the four children.  A warrant has been issued for the arrest of the man who was hired to cut the tree.  Most think he's in hiding (maron) or very far from here.

New clinic

Groundbreaking ceremony for the new clinic took place yesterday.  From left:

Janelle, Doctor Cynthia DeSoi (our Medical Director), Doctor Gilles, Pierre Rino with Francois (Security Chief) right behind him, Berthony Constant, Venel, Maxime, Berthony Piard, Roberto and Judenor (site manager).

A tragedy beyond words

Late morning yesterday a worker for the national electric company, EdH, was clearing some trees near live wires.  The tree he was cutting fell on some wires which snapped and dropped down into a small body of water where a mother and her four children were washing.  All five died.  This was at Pont Salomon just up the street from here.  Words fail in trying to describe the anguish felt by the extended family, friends and neighbors there.  Please keep them all in your prayers.

Louiseul and Monique

Tolo, Louiseul, Papou, Mimi and Monique
A family outing for Louiseul and his family means getting them all on his motorcycle.  They are good friends of Linda and Peter's and they dropped by the Quad this afternoon.

This is Tolo, the youngest in the family.  Both his legs were broken when a wall fell on him during the earthquake on January 12th.  The breaks were bad and required surgery to put in some pins.  He has completely recovered physically.  Wish that some of the orthopedic teams that came down right after the earthquake could see the fruits of their labor.  There are a lot of grateful people down here!

Happy B'day, Gratia

We had a small surprise birthday party for Gratia yesterday.  Gratia works at Castel-Pere in the Admin department.  She's talented, professional and loves the kids.

Kitchen-Dining Room

Three of the workers putting up the kitchen-dining room walls.  Told you they go up fast!

Gallery

Michael Onont

 

Venel Romelus

Blondy JnClaude

Three of the boys caught during playtime yesterday afternoon. 

Mishap

On the way back from Port-au-Prince to drop off two formators from Maison Arc-en-Ciel for our AIDS Prevention Program, our driver took to a ditch rather than be hit head-on by a tractor trailer truck.  No one was hurt and the damage was essentially cosmetic.  That's why it's a mishap and not an accident (in my book).

Kitchen-Dining Room

The walls of the kitchen are going up.  This is my favorite part as the positive change is so visible.  Foundations and roofs seem to take forever but the walls... just amazing.  The weather has been a challenge these last couple of days but the guys are bound and determined to get this work back on schedule.

More backyard

There are 20 chickens and one rooster. No need for an alarm clock. The rabbits number 25 (just gave two away to Mother Theresa's sisters). Every now and then we send a dozen or so to the main kitchen to be consumed by the kids. It's been a hare-raising experience.

My backyard

Grenadine fruit and flower.  The fruit makes an excellent and refreshing drink.

New Kitchen and Dining Area

Here are the boys spreading out the fill. There are 120 truckloads of "remblais" required to fill the foundation.

Long shot of the area that is filled.

Jean-Claude taking a break to have his photo taken.

 

One of the three trucks hired to provide us with fill for the foundation. Notice the guy under the truck who has to carefully and manually get the truck to dump the material.  This is a huge area to fill and it's a good day when all three trucks are working.  Getting stuck in the mud or breaking down happens often.  The trucks get the fill from the riverbed which is hand-shoveled.  They then make their way here to us fully-loaded, creaking at the strain and billowing back diesel fumes.  If the weather permits and the trucks hold up, we should be seeing the block walls going up next week.  Can't wait!

Scrambling

We have been getting some dramatic thunderstorms late in the afternoons.  The guys are working quickly to finish the day's work yesterday before the lightening and rains come.

Jimmy

Here's Jimmy after the dental work.  He must have cramps from all the smiling he's been doing.  Told him he looks great so he asked for a photo.  His personality has been transformed thanks to Dr. Tozzer and his dental team.

Dental Clinic

Doctor Chuck Tozzer checks out Jimmy's teeth in the courtyard of the Pre-school where the dental clinic was held. His bad front teeth look great now and he's smiling.

Some of our guys waiting their turn to be seen by the dental team.

A student dentist, Wilson (from Peru), assisted by Kens works on one of the kids.

Sonsonn getting a kick out of the anesthetic. He hasn't had the shot, yet.

Professional School

Our Professional School graduates at Mass this morning.  Only photo I could salvage as my camera went on the blink.  Grrr!!  Congratulations to our graduates.  May God bless them with wisdom and perseverance as they make their way in life.

Dr. Chuck and St Cecilia's Schol

Some of the hundreds of pairs of shoes that the students of St Cecilia's in southern California found for us and that Dr. Chuck Tozzer shipped to us.  It took months to get them out of customs but here they are.

Samson, Widmy, Dr. Tozzer and Fery showing off their footwear.  A great big THANK YOU to St Cecilia's School and all who had a part in this endeavor.