Electricity from town

The kids look on as the wire is hoisted over to the Guest House.

That wire is anything but light. The workers secured it to the roof of the Quad

Here's a shot of the electric poles from the roof of the Quad.

Dreaming...

One of the boys, Maxo, looks on as the dream of getting electricity out at Hope Village in Castel-Pere nears reality.

Very welcomed visitors

What you see here in the last electrical pole planted in our corn field and workers raising a transformer. Shepherd of the Hills parish in Eden, Wisconsin made this project possible. We will have electricity from the grid in very short order. The ceremony for switching it on should be in two days and all the kids and staff at Castel-Pere are extremely anxious. We are very appreciative of the kindness and continued generosity shown to us by our friends in Eden. May God bless you.

House update

These photos are reversed. The top one should be on the bottom but it takes too long to upload them to start over so... Photo above is the finished foundation with the plumbing and electrical conduits in place. We are now ready for sandbags.

Here are Joanes, our plumber, and Denis, project coordinator, standing where the bathroom will be located. Keep your fingers crossed that the rain stays away today so that we can get a good start with laying the bags.

Reality Check

It rained cats and dogs yesterday morning which put a real damper on the construction of the new house. Both the electrician and the plumber were delayed (yes, there will be indoor plumbing!) so we hope that today will present itself with sunny skies. Man proposes and God disposes, oui?
Jeff McIntosh and Dr. Jean-Marie Banatte of CRS-Haiti came for a visit yesterday morning and so did reps from Farmer to Farmer, an organization that matches our agricultural needs with an experienced farmer. That went very well so we are looking forward to a long and healthy relationship with this group. I had the opportunity to meet the new director of the local prison who appeared very concerned about the welfare of the prison and the inmates. Will be meeting him again soon to discuss possible ways of collaborating.

Down but not out !

This is 5 year old Tipolis. After being bathed last evening, he was running back to the Sixto where he lives. He slipped and fell, gashing his left eyebrow. Blood was flowing and he was howling. Got him cleaned up and brought him to our little clinic. Doc Jacob was called in and he did a magnificent job of soothing TiPolis and suturing the wound. He is seen here almost enjoying our company and eating peanuts.

Day Four

The guys fill in the foundation walls with "remblais", a mix of rocks and gravel and sand.

And here is the finished foundation. Small adjustments will be made on Monday and we'll start filling poly bags with our mixture of sand and clay and laying them out like bricks. Can't wait!