It rained a good part of the night. I'm sure it wasn't that hard, but the tin roof made it sound a lot worse! It continued to rain into the early morning hours which was actually OK with me as I had a SEVERE headache which was making me nauseous. I think all the bouncing and jostling in the truck had taken its toll on me. But, once I got some Excedrin and some great Haitian coffee I was good to go! Unfortunately, the rain the night before had gotten my clothes wet while they were in the back of the truck. Most were moderately dry now. (Hopefully I didn't smell too bad!) The rains ended about 8:45 and we were off about 9:00am.
Another 4-wheeling adventure to say the least!!!! Pastor had about 5 young men come along to ride in the back of the truck to give us "extra weight." Pastor Renal also came along. He is the Pastor for
both the church at the house and the church/school we were driving to "Reaching Haiti 4 Christ Ministries" (RH4CM). Pastor Steve is the senior Pastor for these two and the church in PAP. Pastor Renal is a very dedicated man and full of integrity. He does whatever is needed to help his congregations both Spiritually and physically. Pastor Steve had brought in envelopes of money and letters from family members in the states. He then passed them along to Pastor Absalon and Pastor Renal to deliver to the intended people. There is alot of trust and responsibility put on these Pastors by the church members. None of them are not paid by the churches, they all must have other jobs to support their families, but they feel a call to preach the gospel and to help their communities. This to was inspiring to witness in action.
As I mentioned before, the ride was again VERY CHALLENGING!!! So much so that it was humorous at times! We would be in and out of the truck as it negotiated its way up steep, eroded roads. Pastor Steve is an amazing driver! No wonder he was hired to drive school bus in Florida! Of course, all along the way people wanted to say Hi and they were very excited to see him!
Once we finally made it to the school, the children and their families were already waiting. They had been there since 8:00am our intended arrival time, but it was now about 9:45. The children who had school uniforms (very important in Haiti) wore them. We had a short meeting where a "band" played a song. One of the young boys about 12 had made a very impressive drum set out of cans, plastic, bottle tops, etc. It sounded great and he was very good at playing! It was another example of Haitian creativity. (If anyone has a drum set they would like to donate, this boy would really love it! He has real talent!) They had a microphone available that day because it had been a Revival Week and they kept the generator for an extra day. Pastor Steve spoke, I gave a greeting and then the families asked questions and made comments. One father talked about how thankful he was that the Americans will be coming to help them fix the school and make it better for the children. There was unanimous agreement.
(For some of you who don't know, there will be a team of about 12 of us going from Alabama & Florida and then Pastor Steve and I. We will be entering PAP on July 17th, going to Bombarde to do construction and a medical clinic and then fly out of PAP on July 24th. I will go to Cap Haitien, the rest of the team goes back to the states.)
The school/Church will definitely take some work!!!!! Much more than we can accomplish in the few days we will be there in July.
1. There are structural issues with the supporting beam.
2. The peak of the wall holding the roof is bowing out due to after shocks from the earth quake.
3. The walls need patching as the rock and cement is very thin in some areas (or gone altogether)
4. The floor needs to be leveled and cemented. It currently is filled with large gravel.
5. Two rooms must be added to accommodate all the children.
6. A new latrine must be built over the newly dug hole.
7. Doors are needed for some of the buildings.
both the church at the house and the church/school we were driving to "Reaching Haiti 4 Christ Ministries" (RH4CM). Pastor Steve is the senior Pastor for these two and the church in PAP. Pastor Renal is a very dedicated man and full of integrity. He does whatever is needed to help his congregations both Spiritually and physically. Pastor Steve had brought in envelopes of money and letters from family members in the states. He then passed them along to Pastor Absalon and Pastor Renal to deliver to the intended people. There is alot of trust and responsibility put on these Pastors by the church members. None of them are not paid by the churches, they all must have other jobs to support their families, but they feel a call to preach the gospel and to help their communities. This to was inspiring to witness in action.As I mentioned before, the ride was again VERY CHALLENGING!!! So much so that it was humorous at times! We would be in and out of the truck as it negotiated its way up steep, eroded roads. Pastor Steve is an amazing driver! No wonder he was hired to drive school bus in Florida! Of course, all along the way people wanted to say Hi and they were very excited to see him!
Once we finally made it to the school, the children and their families were already waiting. They had been there since 8:00am our intended arrival time, but it was now about 9:45. The children who had school uniforms (very important in Haiti) wore them. We had a short meeting where a "band" played a song. One of the young boys about 12 had made a very impressive drum set out of cans, plastic, bottle tops, etc. It sounded great and he was very good at playing! It was another example of Haitian creativity. (If anyone has a drum set they would like to donate, this boy would really love it! He has real talent!) They had a microphone available that day because it had been a Revival Week and they kept the generator for an extra day. Pastor Steve spoke, I gave a greeting and then the families asked questions and made comments. One father talked about how thankful he was that the Americans will be coming to help them fix the school and make it better for the children. There was unanimous agreement.
(For some of you who don't know, there will be a team of about 12 of us going from Alabama & Florida and then Pastor Steve and I. We will be entering PAP on July 17th, going to Bombarde to do construction and a medical clinic and then fly out of PAP on July 24th. I will go to Cap Haitien, the rest of the team goes back to the states.)
The school/Church will definitely take some work!!!!! Much more than we can accomplish in the few days we will be there in July.
1. There are structural issues with the supporting beam.
2. The peak of the wall holding the roof is bowing out due to after shocks from the earth quake.
3. The walls need patching as the rock and cement is very thin in some areas (or gone altogether)
4. The floor needs to be leveled and cemented. It currently is filled with large gravel.
5. Two rooms must be added to accommodate all the children.
6. A new latrine must be built over the newly dug hole.
7. Doors are needed for some of the buildings.
The community is gathering the sand and gravel in order to make the blocks, but we need to supply the cement. You can make 32 -35 blocks out of one bag of cement and it is a very labor intensive process. (I have seen it done and have pictures!) If anyone is interested in helping to purchase cement, please let me know! The community is hopeful that we can get alot done and that they can finish what we don't.
There are 112 students at RH4CM in K-8th grade. There are many more who would like to attend, but because of funding issues for additional teachers and supplies, they can not. Space is also a problem. The building is probably about 20 x35-40 so it is very crowded. In addition, because these children come from very poor families they do not pay to attend school here. Unlike in the US, education is not provided free to every child in Haiti. Parents will sacrifice almost anything to get their child in a s
chool and pay for it. This includes sending the child to live with relatives or strangers far from home. I have talked to many fathers and mothers who are working as laborers or working several jobs doing what they so can to make enough money so their child is educated and will have an easier life than they have had. The depth of the commitment to educate their children is amazing. As is the pride in the parents voices when they talk about the educational accomplishments of their child. The children in turn see school as a privilege and as such study hard and do not mess around. They recognize the importance of education to their future employment and earning potential. They also understand that as their parents have sacrificed for them, they will then be responsible to care for their parents in old age! (No social security here!) For the children attending RH4CM school, this is a life changing experience and they are very aware of it at an early age.Blessings, Susan
Hi Susan! This is Jeri (the ER nurse coming from Alabama). I so enjoyed your blog - thanks for sharing it. I can't wait to join in your efforts there. I am looking forward to every part of it (other than the cockroaches you described - I don't do critters well). I guess I will be doing some growing in that area!
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping we can do a little clinical work when we are there, but I am open to WHATEVER needs come our way. Hope to talk to you soon!
Thanks again for sharing!