Update from Haiti and request for construction manager volunteer
joseph glass
good news and not so good news. Good, in that we are always grateful to God
for life giving rain and for how it cleans and cools the air in Haiti. Not
so good in that it makes a mess of the streets, particularly those in
Repatriote. Schools are out for the summer, VBS is in place for the month
of July at the churches, and teams are going down to help. We have had a
number of summer volunteers who have spent or are spending 4-10 weeks there.
August will bring a significant turnover in US volunteer staff. The summer
volunteers are heading home, Zack and Forrest remain into the Fall, and we
gain a few new volunteers who are going down for extended periods. Ben
Mitcham comes down in early August to serve as team coordinator/guest house
manager and lead. Jeremy and Stacy Bacque head down from Alberta to become
English teacher and school nurse. Matthew Wilkinson follows in October to
assist in various aspects. We have an immediate need for an experienced
construction manager to help oversee the remaining major construction
projects and occasional house project. If you know of anyone who has such
experience and feels called to ministry work, please refer them to us.
Concrete experience is a real plus since much of the work is reinforced
concrete. At present our summer construction interns from Middle Tenn.
State University are filling the gap and following direction from our lead
civil engineer, who travels down periodically. The role would be one of
overseeing the Haitian managers and workers, providing direction and quality
assurance to ensure that the construction process is actually following the
design. We've reduced the pace of work in order to best manage it - with
the immediate priority the construction of the first module of the
Repatriote school (in time for Fall opening). We are also slowly proceeding
with the finish work (including electrical and plumbing) on the new Cite
Soleil clinic first floor (leaving the second floor finishing to a later
date). The next priority is to start reconstruction on the Repatriote
church, which we hope to be seriously engaged in as soon as we finish the
Repatriote school module. There are a number of other projects, including
finishing the new food storage building at Cite Soleil, which we will apply
ourselves to as the opportunity presents. Our capacity to do this is a
direct function of the presence of experienced people to manage on site. It
would also be hugely helpful to have skilled electricians and plumbers with
us for the next few months to oversee the completion work on the Cite Soleil
clinic.
Other summer events include a youth retreat planned for August. BMB will be
leaving Haiti to return to school before the end of the summer, so if you
are looking forward to meeting him, time is short!
We are also finalizing plans for Leon/Luc/Profaite's trips to the States
this Fall in conjunction with the HOM board meeting. Beyond that, we are
preparing plans for their winter trips to visit churches here in the States
and Canada. If you are interested in one of them coming to see your church,
or would be willing for one of the HOM board members to come to speak,
please let us know.
Shalom - Bill Glass