Days of Work & Rest

The past couple of days have been a bit up and down, with lots of work progressing along with all its challenges, plus some relaxation and rest.  Yesterday I made another trip into Port au Prince to pick up some lost baggage but specifically for shopping many items needed here.  What started well getting into the city quickly with little traffic, grew enormously as we had to make additional stops for missing items and numerous horrendous traffic jams on the way back (i.e. stopped dead for 20-30 minutes waiting for something to move...) made the normally long 2 1/2 hour return trip into a 6 hr nightmare.  To make matters worse a swarm of fire ants (several hundred) decided to congregate under my toes on one foot and started biting all at once.  I thought something was wrong as the foot seemed tone swelling so I pulled them down off the bench behind the driver's seat where they were resting and discovered them there.  Ouch, and OMG, where did they come from?  Its still a mystery...  At least the scenery was interesting and I managed several shots of the mountains and other scenics along the way...

Returning I did hear that work was proceeding fairy well, and lots was accomplished so that compensated from the otherwise tiring excursion.  This morning I made the rounds checking progress, to discover LOTS of achievements at the Technical school, where forming is going up for the first floor beams and compaction outside in rep for second storey scaffolding going to be needed soon.  The place looks nothing like it did just a few short weeks ago.  Roy and crew are doing a great job.

At the clinic, most of the remaining construction projects are well underway and should be done next week, leaving clean-up, again, painting then finishing details prior to the end of the month.  We're getting there, but I think the fence will still be an issue, though the design is in place and just needs to be welded up and installed.

With Garrett's arrival on Wednesday, the first duplex of the Children's Village is also underway, and excavations are proceeding rapidly to be followed next week with rebar and eventually pouring the footings, pillars and slab.  Its amazing how the start there really brings into focus the whole vision for that property and gives a glimpse of what's to come.  Its also amazing to know that it can be built for about $20/sq. ft, a small fraction of costs in Canada or the US.  If you're making an investment in Haiti with HAM, its REALLY going a long ways!

On top of these projects our team of 2, Jim & James, our cousin and a friend, have been very busy scoping out electrical power needs and doing interviews and videography of various HAM staff and personnel here.  Its been fun, and revealing of potential opportunities to improve systems and save money, and moving to hear some of the stories of people impacted by Haiti Arise's broad scope of activities and ministry.

Finally, this afternoon, we made it out to the beach for a couple of hours and got to enjoy some sun, sand, great snorkeling topped off with rock lobster grilled at the beach... delicious!