Teams were already determined last night, but morning changed that. Whitney woke with feelings of both nausea and stomach cramps. We got her started immediately on antibiotics and then searched out a puke bag. A half torn empty cement bag did the trick, so we sent her to the outhouse with bag in hand, in case there was movement on both ends at the same time.
We never leave just one team member back alone, so we determined Cooley needed to fill the position of "Sister's Keeper." He hadn't slept more than four hours since leaving Detroit (total!), so he needed some sleep anyway. Against his will, we assigned him the job and reassigned the teams to still get the jobs done. So assignments ended up being: Darryl, Tom, Kassy, Megan and Nina on Jerry's team. They would be breaking up a cement patio and old foundation, digging a 6" deep by 16" wide trench around a 13' x 13' home, plus an additional porch. The initial work with demolition will be difficult and much muscle will be needed. The foundation depth is minimal because a new form of construction will be used here. Dense foam blocks lock together with cemented re-rod running up the center. It can still be covered with cement stucco and will look like traditional construction, but the hopes are, it will ta
The second team consisted of: Kevin, Sue, Jaime, and Kelsey on my work crew for Mona's house. The work consisted of traditional construction, so they would be digging a 2'deep trench around two 13' x 13' rooms, plus a porch. Each trench needed to be about 12' wide and was made of hardened rock soil. It would first need to be loosened with a pick and then shoveled out. Lava looking dark rust and white rock also needed to be carried from a truck drop off point approximately 30'-60' from the work site walls. Sand would also be shoveled out of a large truck onto the ground to be mixed with cement bags, and then hauled by buckets to fill all the trenches.
With so much work to be done, 28 peanut butter sandwiches were made for protein throughout the afternoon. The Lego House was the closest to get to, about a 20 minute walk. A paralyzed elderly woman, Gertrude lives there with her brother and two nieces. She has been fully handicapped for 11 years now, lying in bed, stiff and writhing in pain with twisted limbs. We also brought along a camp lounger for Gertrude, in hopes her family can carry her outside during the day. The pain she lives in daily must be excruciating, but the isolation from the rest of life is even more heartbreaking.
Mona on the other hand, is a young and vivacious woman, nursing student, and mother of a 5 year old boy. She is one of 8 siblings that had their home collapse in the earthquake. A temporary shelter had been built of palm trees but Mona and her son were still living in a pup tent next to the old house. The new home would be twice the size at 26' x 13'. It sits on one of the most gorgeous breathtaking mountain ridges we have seen. At first, we didn't understand why the porch was on the front side of the house, instead of on the backside facing the spectacular panoramic view of the mountains and valleys below. Our interpreter Harold (Airold) shared that they see that view everyday. They don't think much of it. But porches are for relationships. No wonder it was placed by the mountain trail where friends and neighbors would be walking by. Isn't it funny how we, as Americans, have moved our porches from the street side where we would meet and greet our families and neighbors to the backside where we can find "privacy"? Things that make you go "hmmmm...." The trip to Mona's takes about a half hour, but Wow! What a trip it is. Truly, we go down one mountain and directly up the next. So coming or going, it is still uphill! Maybe these parents were telling the truth when they told their kids they had to walk uphill to school, both ways, each day.
We both had productive work days, getting more accomplished then we had thought we might. Although some demolition was still needed, Jerry's team was glad to find the concrete to be quite thin and crumbly. It made their work much more manageable.
My team had to re-dig two trenches that had been dug in the wrong place before our arrival. Our bossman, Amos (Emos) and Silos (Seelos) were detail oriented and they wanted everything square and to measurement. The other trenches, a total of 110 running feet at 2' deep, 1' wide, were all fini (finished) by the end of the work day. We asked to be taken to the Lego House on our way home to see their progress and found they were digging also. So we spent a couple hours sitting on the ground rock picking. This special foundation needed rocks that were between 1" and maybe 2" in diameter, compared to a traditional construction foundation that needs rocks from 6" to 20" in diameter. So both teams sat, sifting through the gravel that covers so much of Haiti's terrain, filling bucket (boo-ket) after bucket until the bossman told us "fini."
Then Gertrude's brother called us over for a hot delicious smelling pot of rice and black beans. To top it off was the most incredible red sauce I have ever had in Haiti and I have had plenty. The secret ingredient was this fantastic red sausage that hangs in Marche on walls from string. It is about 1 1/2" diameter and has a zesty edge. I have had red sauce plain, with onion slices (most common), and with onion and a bit of meat (pork or chicken) dropped in for flavor. But nothing like this sausage! Delicious!! And did I mention the beautiful table that was set for us? Right there in the middle of the worksite? Two beautiful linens laid out, one with faux mink texture and tassles, the other laid askew underneath. It was so beautiful...and set just for us. So we stood around while enjoying the food, saying "bon bon merci!" (good, good, thank you!) as we rubbed our bellies and smiled.
Seems it may finally rain after at least two months. The clouds darkened overhead and storm was in the air. Jerry thought it best we get back to the compound just in case. In Haiti, you don't want to get caught on the side of a mountain when rain hits. It could sprinkle and stop, but it could also come down like a monsoon creating its own violent set of rivers and streams that take anything in their path, right down the mountain.
So, we settled in for dinner, as the musicians and singers began showing up after school or work for what seemed another all night pratice. Some of the youth danced with Haitian women outside the practice tent, while others sat on Paul's porch getting to know some of the Haitian boys their own age. The boys taught the girls Haitian Creole and the girls taught the boys Englise (English). The rest of us wrote in our journals, listened to the stories, or just kicked back on Paul's porch. All is well. All is well. The work has begun.
We finished the night with devotions most nights, led by a different team member or two. Giving praises to God for all we are learning from others in Haiti, we settled into our bunks for some rest.
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