It's Friday, Friday, Gotta get down on Friday

Sorry couldn't resist.

Update on what's going on here in Haiti:

I found out today that a 60 ton crane exists in Haiti. The company that owns this crane is RFI Plus. Reasonable prices if you're looking for a solid crane for lifting most anything out there. Their operators are very knowledgeable.

I found this out because the crematory and incinerator arrived on site. They are huge. And they are now sitting exactly where they are supposed to be.

Thanks crane.

Excuses in one thousand words

It's been 9 days since I last posted. So posting daily is a slight fail for the month. How this happened could be blamed on the fact that there was a lack of internet for a couple of days. Or lack of commitment on my part. This is like a choose your own path story. I don't really have anything to say tonight so I'll leave you with a picture of the sunset tonight. That counts as a 1000 words right?

"How to..." guides are bad

Sometimes.

Regardless, the fact is if you're telling someone how to achieve a task you're minimizing room for creativity. I'm not necessarily talking about something as big as "Build a hospital." The guide to that might start with 1) Start a NGO 30 years before you want to break ground. But it's possible.

Today we were asked by our general contractor to move the site security shack. Not an unusual request because it was sitting on top of the place where the main entrance to the site will be. It's not very big. Wood construction. Tin roof. Concrete slab around the base.

First, the way it was done before: screw eye bolts into the four sides, attach ropes, and lift with the excavator.

Second, the way creativity did it: 14 Haitians nailed handles to the four corners, lifted it, rotated it, and carried it to where it needed to go.

To reach the second option, my boss, after we'd gone about collecting everything we'd need for the first option and after we'd had our carpenters go to town freeing the structure from it's base, said "maybe we should just step back." Wiser words could not have been used. The next thing the carpenter boss asked us was where it needed to go. We pointed to the spot. Next thing we knew the handles are going on the sides and the Team Haiti labor crew is showing up to help the carpenters.

Next time you ask somebody to do something, maybe just maybe, try not telling them how to do it first and see what happens.

How is Haiti?

This is a question I'm frequently asked when I'm traveling back and forth from Haiti. Really anytime that I am not in Haiti, people will ask me this. And often times I feel like it is asked in such a way that I need to find a really concise way to tell people how Haiti is. So I'm going to answer in a more long winded way here:

First, I have a fairly small prism in which I work and view Haiti. It isn't unusual for me to only see a couple of square miles in a month.

Within this prism, I work with a lot of Haitian men who have had fairly consistent work for almost a year now. Add to this that the wages we pay are generally considered to be fair wage in Port-Au-Prince which has a higher cost of living. This means there is a fair amount of money that is being infused into the community. I see houses going up quite a bit faster than I'm used to seeing elsewhere in Haiti.

But generally speaking I'm expecting that people are wondering about the earthquake. How has Haiti recovered? Where is it at now 2 years later?

The best answer I can give is that it's not recovered. But there is progress. There are still a lot of people living in tent camps. Hundreds of thousands. But people are migrating away from where they had been living. Cholera is still a huge issue. We've reached the dry season which means a downturn in occurrence but it'll continue to be an issue. PIH is going to be testing the effectiveness of vaccinating large numbers of people against it in January. Economically, there hasn't been much change. People still need work. Peoples families still take care of each other.

But all of these aid related things are heavily tied to the strength of foreign economies. And the weather forcast isn't looking good for the world. This will have an impact on how fast Haiti recovers. Hopefully it doesn't take long.

Thoughts, comments, complaints, etc. I'd love to have feedback. Toodles

Saturday is the end of the week here

Made it to the end of the week. Super long week. A lot of progress on site. I got the 1.1 community health waiting room cleared of most of the warehoused materials in it which was a super accomplishment. Unfortunately I had to refill it with all the metal working materials I have on site to prepare for next week. We're going to be fabricating all of the exterior metal working so that we can get the building secured. We've also started the excavation of the 2.2 building, which is the operating facilities and the ICU, and the masons have started to lay block on that. We're moving to a new office tomorrow back in the pharmacy.

I've spent 6 months in the same office but it's time for some change. It's allowing us to move forward on some of the site work so that it's already for the big opening.

Sometimes it becomes quite difficult to keep up with emails that aren't work related. I'm hoping to catch up on all of those tomorrow. I should say it's been very good to write this every night (with one exception). Forces me to think about my day differently. Still developing how it's going to evolve over the next couple weeks. Let me know what you think.

Lack of ideas

Solution oriented thinking. It's not an easy thing. Getting to the point where when posed a question my first thought is to a solution is tough. It takes forgetting about all the nonsense that can get in the way.

For instance, I had a container arrive today. The first thought that came into my head was where can I land it that I don't have to worry about breaking contract. And while this is important the prioritization should not have been first on the contract.

Also important to solution development is thinking outside the box. Extremely cliche. But when this container arrived today, I limited myself to the west side of the property. I'd forgotten the 80,000 sq. ft. I could have parked the container in on the east side of the property.

Luckily my boss has much more experience and was able to get to a solution that effectively addressed these issues.

But now I'm typing in the dark and one of my roommates is snoring. Perhaps I shall shove off for sleep. Toodles

Big picture

First, I love the big picture. I like figuring out how the pieces are all going to come together. Finding the best way for the pieces together is good too. I enjoy the nuances of how everything comes together.

Second, I don't dislike emails. Perhaps that's unusual. I enjoy them a little. I'm not talking about those emails from credit cards/banks/ebay/paypal/XYZ record label/randomboyband. I'm talking about emails that are pertinent to the scope of work you're invested in. For me, right now, that's anything relating to the construction of the Mirebalais Hospital.

Thus when I begin to get my head really focused on unloading containers and look up and the entire site has changed around me, it's a little unsettling. So I try to stay in the loop. Mostly by convincing people it is a really good idea to copy me on most emails.

But being the loop can have repercussions. I've now been put in charge of all the ornamental metal working for the hospital. Fun stuff let me assure you. Get to get really good at welding. Got to study up on all those drawings now.

Toodles

Forrest Gump

...or a lack there of

Apparently my life is incomplete because I've never seen it. This conclusion has been reached based on evidence of many people over many years telling me my life is incomplete. And I'll be honest, I would like a complete life. It's one of those things I feel like is important to pursue. But in the grand scheme I find that doing work that matters and is fulfilling (according to my definitions of course) is most important to me feeling like I'm gaining a complete life. And when I say complete life, I mean the oft quoted John 10:10 "...I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." Seeking justice,loving mercy, and walking humbly. That's what I try for.

Needless to say, I'm going to try to watch in soon. Been saying that for 6 years. Probably finish a teaching hospital first. It'll be easier. Toodles

Another month, a newer scheme

So here's the plan for this month. I'm going to try to write something everything single evening. 2 reasons: I've heard it helps creative juices and it'll help me to find value in every day. So without further ado:

My boss and I were speaking a week ago before I left for the states. I'd been in Haiti for 6 weeks at that point. Growing up, I had a bit of an explosive nature. Once put my fist through the drywall. Not one of my prouder moments. I've become a much more calm person as time has passed and I've matured a bit. But truth be told, this has created circumstances where I choose hierarchy and authority to be the justification for what I want to get done rather than being gentle and a team player. Now is this rare that this happens? Mostly. But to the point: My boss told me "You can get more out of life with honey, than you can with vinegar."

For whatever reason, I think this is brilliant. Being a person who spreads honey in their life will reap benefits of the sweetness. Being a person who spreads vinegar will get a different result, which depending on your tastes will be a bit sour in the mouth. Perhaps it's the simplicity. Regardless, it is a small chunk of wisdom.

May your life be filled with honey

Been a long time

I'm alive for starters. Not that there was any doubt save my lack of updating.

Hospital Update: it's coming along fast. All phase one buildings (nearly) have finished floors. All rough in electric is completed. 3 phase permanent power is wired to the hospital. Doors are on site and will be installed over the next couple weeks. Additionally windows have arrived on site and installation of those will start on Monday. Daylight is getting shorter and the work longer. It's tough to keep track of days now. They all run together. Often times the easiest unit to think in is weeks. I think that means we're keeping busy.

In my experience here, I have been pondering the idea of working myself out of a job. Eventually I will pack up my bags. I'll take this pair of work boots off for the last time. Turn over the keys to the backhoe and forklift. I'll get on a plane and go home to The Ohio State University and keep on studying Mechanical engineering. And when that time comes how will I have made sure that there is a smooth transition of knowledge and information. How will I have trained my co workers to perform my job?

And when I think about these questions I sometimes run up against the problem of figuring out how to communicate. Given the fact that most of my daily interactions are with people who speak Haitian Creole as their primary language, how do I express more than simple questions and commands to convey the importance of different tasks. I have spent a good amount of time unloading containers in the past 4 months. And for the most part I have to be exceptionally careful with the items I've been entrusted to unloaded and warehouse or distribute to the teams of workers and volunteers. And yet even in this I don't really know how to express to my Haitian coworkers how important the word "fragile" is to how we behave towards different boxes and hardware. Not ever item is made the same. So this is an issue I am trying to understand and deal with.

In all of this I am trying to not lose sight of the big picture. Not that I've become a detail oriented small focused person. I'm still global in my thought patterns. But in the day to day I sometimes lose sight of the wrongs I am having a small part in righting and how it is all playing into building a future where the sick are healed. It is a small act in restoring creation to Jesus and bringing forth the Kingdom.

"The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it." -Karl Marx

I aim to do just that.

A shameless plug...sort of

I've been back in country roughly a week now. And I started reading Haiti: After the Earthquake on the plane back. Now ignoring the fact that I am mildly tied up in the world that Paul Farmer describes in the book, I happen to think he wrote a very poised piece that does justice to many of the actors in this theater of the world stage. Once I'm finished reading it, I'll be happy to lend it to any of you. But you should read it somehow regardless of where you get it.

And I'm writing all this as I ignore the "Operation and Maintenance Manual" for the Cat 416C Backhoe that I am trying to learn all the nuances for primarily every single fluid that has to be topped up and monitored to ensure optimum performance. It's going to take a bit to memorize it all. I'm always excited when I get to learn about something new whether it's a piece of heavy machinery or watching Fafoun, the lady across the street from the Hospital, make eggs and put just a pinch of lime juice in them that unlocks the secret of why her egg sandwiches are the best I've ever had.

Given the chance I'll begin talking with a random person in the airport and find out about Poto Mitan (http://www.potomitan.net/) and the work of journalist (http://motherjones.com/politics/2004/07/moving-mountains) from California to be a voice for the women of Haiti who are victims of Gender Based Violence (GBV). Or UN Police officers who give up the comforts of home to train the Haitian National Police how to operate so that they protect and serve the people of the community.

On another more somber note: I found out last night that my uncle has Leukemia. He'll start chemotherapy tomorrow and be in the hospital for a month. It's all a bit sudden and to say I haven't processed yet would be true. From what I do know the form he has is very treatable and statistically speaking he should come through this ok.

Mostly I'd ask for you to pray for a rapid return to health for him and then peace for my parents and my mom's side of the family as this unfolds. I hope for the day Jesus makes my current occupation of building hospitals obsolete.

28 days later

So many things to say...First, I am firmly set in the belief you can learn something new every single day even if you don't realize it at the time. And from there I shall digress to random bits of wisdom (and foolishness):

Sabbath as rest. There have been times in my life where it is easy to forget to rest. This has been one of the first times where I have been putting out such a high output in such long spurts (~11 hours at least) with so much repetition ( typically 25/28 days are work). I have been back in the States for 4 days now. Resting. And now I am finally beginning to feel rejuvenated. Nothing profound. The responsibility is not just to yourself but to everyone you work with so that you can function as a team.

It is refreshing to meet anyone who in so many ways reflects backs your passions and frustrations. When I was leaving Haiti this time, I was blessed to have a nearly 7 hour conversation with such a person. It was a conversation that reminded me about how in all of the despair there are people who have hope. There is much work to do in bringing forth the kingdom of heaven, but we are not alone. There are other laborers who struggle shoulder to shoulder with us for Christ. And shockingly a cup of coffee was nowhere in sight.

Creativity is cultivated not genetic. A piece of rebar is a military press. A weird cistern can be a pool. When you run out of space on the floor, look up and imagine how you can pack even more stuff in the warehouse. There are at least a dozen different ways to get string through a 300 foot run of 4 inch conduit that's buried underground and filled with water and dirt. One of them involves two shopvacs and may surprise the unsuspecting with a shower.

You can unload a 40 foot container with a forklift, palletjack and 2 men in half the time it would take 10 men to achieve it by themselves.

While it's all well and good to practice the art of photography, unless you have a friend who also practices said art you're going to be woefully lacking in the profile picture department.

Life should be lived in such a way as every year brings new things that were not dreamed the year before. One year ago today I left Haiti to come back to Ohio State and go to RA training. And I was all ready to buckle down do work and get myself a diploma ASAP. And then I, in no time at all, listened to wise friends and emailed people who barely knew me to ask if I could learn from them. And then I'm in Mirebalais building a hospital. A proper hospital. Well I guess that degree can wait a few months. And I don't regret it for a second.

A metaphor: if each person is riding a log down a river but doesn't have a paddle they'll all go the same speed. And you'll look left and right and always see the same people. However the river is shallow and if you jump off the log you can drag it to shore and explore. And some people will float on down the river because they've gotta get to the ocean. Others will follow you and you can sit around a campfire and cook s'mores. When you put into the river again there will be even more people to meet. And you will have tales to tell.


Mirebalais Update: All roofs have been poured on Phase One buildings and the pouring of floors in these buildings is progressing rapidly. Tile has been going in rapidly and the quality is amazing. Primer coats are going up all over the building. The transformer arrived on site and has been landed. Now just to wait for extremely high voltage for permanent site power. Slowly but surely the site is having less and less mud every time it rains. We've dodged a couple of bullets with the hurricanes. Oh and driving forklift = awesome.

Pray: Health for all of the workers and their families as cholera is still a threat, and more than ever we're going to need good communication as our team gets larger and more volunteers are arriving on site.

Most importantly:

GO BUCKS!

It's 6:51 am...

So here I sit at the job site. It's 8:48 on Sunday morning and I've already been here for an hour and half. I'm not particularly picky about being awake or about being at the job site. Actually couldn't care less. I got an email this morning while I was dozing in the daybreak hours from a contractor saying they wanted to work today but they needed a room unlocked in order to work. So I rolled out of bed and headed to the hospital.

I was recently asked if I could see myself doing this for the next ten years. Not this project but similar projects. There wasn't a hesitation in my mind that yes I absolutely could do this at least for the next ten years. Most jobs I've had I finish at the end of the day and that is that. Here I want to eat, breathe, sleep this job.

I was also recently considering how I am standing on the shoulders of giants to be where I am now. Which is very cliche but bear with me. To say that I ended up here but coincidence or accident would be an understatement of huge proportions. To start my parents were constantly showing me what it was to be generous. If someone needed a place to stay for a weekend or week or three we had a room for them. If someone was moving and needed an extra pair of hands my dad was there without question. My mom is constantly giving rides to anyone who needs it. And numerous Texas sheet cakes and pasta salads have been made because people needed food or comfort when a loved one wasn't well. And if you ever need your kids babysat for a couple hours, a night, or a week, don't hesitate to call my mom. She'll figure out someway to do it. Want an innovative solution to your landscaping or how you're redesigning your kitchen? My dad is your guy. He will bring an aesthetic to the project that is unique and insightful. And that's what he likes to do with his free time. Don't bother trying to pay him. You need the best deal on something, anything? He'll find it. And then figure out how to knock off another 20%. He's that good. And that's his gift to you. Your car broke down? "Here take this one until you can get it fixed, we'll get by with one less car. No problem."

And then of course the fact that they encourage me to strike out and forge my own path and ignore traditional jobs and education. They're not worried about me finishing school. Their support is immense and they constantly encourage me to go forth and seek the Kingdom of Heaven. They're constantly praying for my protection and wisdom. "Hey Dad and Mom, I think Seth and I are going to go down to Joplin for the weekend to help out. What do you think?" "That sounds great. Call these people and see if you can crash on their floor on the way down." This is a regular interaction with them. I'm always surprised and blessed by their level of faith and trust that wherever I'm going God's hand is on it.

So all this to say:

Thank those people in your life whose shoulders you're standing on. And if you don't know who that is think about it for a while.

Find and surround yourself with people who encourage you to run passionately after your dreams.

Always give gifts to people. It will bless you more than you can know.

Pray for wisdom and patience. I really can't ever have enough of these two.

Ok so yea maybe this takes more work than I expected...

Well here I am a few weeks since my last update and y'all were probably wondering what happened to me. Quite a bit.

For starters, I am going to be working in Haiti through December. This has been a great opportunity for me to learn and lend my skills to this project. My project leads asked me to stay on for an additional semester because of the benefit to the project. So needless to say one of these years I will graduate from OSU. Probably just not as soon as I was planning.

As of this writing, Tropical Storm Emily has basically fizzled out. We were on high alert for 2 days but the most we got here in Mirebalais was a bit of rain and very slight wind from time to time. It was nice to get some rest during the week because normally we just go go go.

Also, I was back in the states last week. This gave me a bit of a chance to relax and restore after a good solid month of work. It was great to see everyone and if I didn't get to see you, I'll do my best to correct that next time I'm stateside.

Hospitalwise things are coming along nicely. Some of the shell buildings are at the point that we can start doing the interior work on them towards making them complete which is excellent. It's starting to look like we might get a hospital as a finished product.

Life lessons: there are a lot of people out there who want to do a lot of different things to help a lot of other people. And that's good that they want to help. But sometimes wisdom is needed to take a good idea and make it great, or to take good intentions and forge them into something completely different. And it's tough to listen to wisdom sometimes. It's much easier to over react and get involved with stuff up to my ears before I realize whether the stuff is honey or mud.

So yet again patience is a necessity. And humbleness to ask for help out of the mud when I sink myself in it. These are areas where prayer is appreciated. Thanks!

Ok ok so I've been slacking a little bit

But only in the blogging department. In every other department it has been pedal to the metal, all cylinders firing for the whole week. Quick recap:

Sunday-

We went into Port-Au-Prince to pick up a coworker from the airport. Got the chance to go to the Sugar Cane Museum, stopped over in Croix Des Bouquets where a lot of the metal working of Haiti is conducted (they take 55 gal oil drums and hammer them into amazing works of art, the Hotel Oloffson for dinner, and stopped by the Visa Lodge just before we went over the airport. Ran into my friends from Haiti Outreach Ministries there which was a great surprise.

Monday-

I don't know if you've ever shipped anything in large 40' containers, but let me tell you it's way more complicated than I ever imagined. We had a container arrive on Sunday night and we unloaded and turned it around to get it back to port by noon on Monday. And lets just say it's not an easy job unloading 40' of container.

Tuesday-

Rinse and repeat. This container had a lot more small pieces to it which added to the excitement. But got that unloaded and we began pouring the roof of one of the wards. Roofs are a bit trickier than other pours because of all the form work that goes into holding all the rebar and concrete in place and then the additional issue of tying up those forms for 14 days after the pour to ensure the concrete has gained most of it's strength. Add to that the fact that you're an extra 15 feet in the air with the sun baking you and you begin to see why it's an experience no one wants to miss out on.

Wednesday-

Another container! I bet you're starting to see a pattern here. Except this time the contents were 2'x2' sheets of tile. Now I've helped my dad out with laying tile before but the biggest piece was 1'x1'. To sum up these things weighed a ton. But the finish on them is beautiful. I also helped to set grade in a couple of storage rooms so that we were ready to pour floors on Thursday.

Thursday-

Today was a good day. We got a lot of work accomplished. Started painting our storage areas so that they'd be brighter as we get more materials on site and poured the floors in 2 large rooms. We're also set up to pour 2 more large areas tomorrow and get back to pouring some roof sections. It feels as though we're developing a lot of forward momentum right now and things have been clicking well between all the members of the team. There are definitely exciting things in store for the future.

Lesson of the week: to buy a Coca-cola from the lady across the street in a glass bottle is 25 goudes (roughly 63 cents American) and it's tasty because it's made with sugar cane. But if you then take the bottle back, you get 10 goudes back (25 cents) which means the Coca (that's how the Haitian's call it) is only about 38 cents. Also her egg sandwiches are incredible and they're only $1.

Pray that I am able to continue to develop friendships and to quickly make right wrongs regardless of how incorrect I am because it is better to have a friend. (no "than" necessary)

A rainy friday

The rains have been coming early recently. Normally the rain predictably falls late in the afternoon say around 5:30 or 6. But recently it's decided to pour down on us as early as 2. Which puts quite a damper on getting work done especially when it's concrete work (hint: too much water is bad for strength).

And as you're swimming away in pools, please remember not to take carefully regulated chlorine for granted. It's a luxury our water system here hasn't had in a while.

I'll leave you with this thought (courtesy of Seth Godin, paraphrased by me):

Emotional labor, the ways in which you individualize the experience that each person you interact with has, the way that you invest in people, all add up to be a glue for holding massive projects together. It takes a lot of energy and patience to do an ordinary hospital construction project in the states. It takes monumental amounts more when you throw in three different languages spoken by workers, differing time zones, shortages of materials, and a developing nation that had an earthquake 18 months ago and is suffering from a cholera epidemic now and extreme poverty.

I need a lot of patience. I'm willing to bet at one time or another everyone I'm working with has needed a little bit from time to time.

Pray that I and those around me will have the energy to invest the emotional labor into the work we're doing.

Many ways to measure time

23 nights I've slept in Haiti this year

It's been a cool summer so far for sleeping. And the mosquitoes haven't been too bad either.

5 doses of Chloroquine

I've discovered that unlike (what I assume) most people, I need an empty stomach to take my safety against Malaria. I've also discovered that there are several varieties of malaria (read: Malaria). But apparently the variety we have here in Haiti is especially vicious. Sometimes it's nice to know what you've gotten yourself into after you're already knee deep.

26 pages of Reinforced Concrete, Mechanics and Design , 5th Edition read

I'm teaching myself about reinforced concrete because that's what everybody around me already knows a lot about. It's amazing all the ways cement (or Portland Cement for the purists) can be used in construction to produce different products. It's worth the read (come on you know you want to cement). It's got a pretty interesting history too.

13 miles run before work over the course of nearly 2 weeks

It's not a huge amount of mileage but it's got a good amount of hill work outs. Plus it's a great way to wake up every morning. And it's a good way to focus on the important things early. No time for baggage. Just wake up and go.

20 meals that have had some combination of rice and beans

It's weird but it honestly hasn't gotten old as much as I've eaten it. Which is often twice in one day. There's something about the recipe that makes it good. If only there was a cookbook with all food Haitian in it.

1 ridiculously sweet candy sugar cookie thing goodness

While I was staying with friends farther down the valley this past weekend, they offered me some of this ball of something. It was awesome! It was a conglomeration of sugar, ginger, cinnamon, and coconut I think. It was just plan awesome.

1 crazy, out of left field possibility that has dropped into my lap

Can't say much at this point other than that I need an extreme amount of wisdom to make a good decision about this opportunity.

And to top all those things off I've apparently landed right in the beginning of coffee harvesting season here in the Central Department of Haiti. So I'm trying to find some farmers to talk to and get some of their beans raw. We'll see how that goes.

Pray for poise and patience as it seems like the pace of construction might be picking up significantly soon.

Also I'd welcome your questions, complaints, concerns, or indigestion (Thank you Mr. Waggoner). Let me know what you want to know. Just hit me up below in the comments.

July has arrived

July has arrived. Not a whole lot of fanfare here but its crazy to think a month ago I was studying for exams and now I'm trying to learn reinforced concrete design just because. Weird how location changes what information is important.

Nothing especially huge to note over the past few days but here are the highlights:

-Been running every morning with some of the guys here
-Have become the unofficial IT guy for the office
-Good talks and discussions about what Haitians are doing in different areas to rebuild and dream of the future
-Finding reminders everywhere of how valuable good communication skills are esp. when there are 4ish different languages being spoken
-Observing that it's really easy to forget that Haiti is a third world nation where people struggle to get water and build expectations that get in the way of that

Fun experience of the day:
I was walking around the foundation for the children's ward that we're currently laying block on checking to make sure all the block was good quality. I came around the corner of another building and stopped to talk to some of the masons. A Haitian I'd never talked to before proceeded to tell me "It's very important that you know Creole if you're going to work here" 4 or 5 times. Now granted he hadn't had the chance to see me around the site but I was rather proud of myself when I was able to respond in creole without skipping a beat and explain to him that I knew it was important to know creole and that I worked in construction in Haiti last year and so I know alot of the language or "Mwen konnen li enpòtan konnen kreyòl, e mwen te travay isit la nan Ayiti ane pase a ak sa mwen konnen yon anpil nan lang lan." (rough translation) His jaw kind of dropped and all the other Haitians who I had worked with around me busted up laughing because I said it so smoothly. It brought a smile to my face.

Pray that I develop good relationships regardless of the reason for the interaction.

Long Day

Well today was nice and long. Went to bed kinda early last night after a good day of work at the job site and then woke up just before 5. A couple of the other guys decided to go for a walk/run early so I joined them and got to see Mirebalais as it was waking up. It was nice to see things in the earliest morning light and get the blood pumping too.

We got to the job site and began to pour footers on a new building which was exciting. So much of the work here is done in metric instead of feet (or imperial whichever you want to call it) and double checking everything becomes a different chore entirely in that light. The pour went well and everything seems well on pace.

My creole is coming back to me and I'm working with a few different apps I downloaded to increase my vocabulary so I can have fuller conversations. And I've begun to study some Spanish so that I can communicate with the Dominican workers here.

I think we're running again tomorrow so I'm going to turn in and try to rest up.

Bon Soir Zanmi

11 days of new discoveries

So I've been on the island of Hispaniola for 11 days now. It's definitely been characterized by lots of learning thus far. The first four days have already been recounted but I should note that I met some people in that short time who are doing fantastic things and have great dreams. It is always refreshing to be among dreamers and doers in the same breath.

And now on to the past 7 days. I've spent this time in Mirebalais. Mirebalais is about 60 km northeast of Port-au-Prince and is where the Cholera outbreak started last October. With the rainy season on us there has been a rise in cases across the country (read: WHO ) but we've put lots of chlorine in our water supply so we should be good.

As many of you know I'm working for the organization Partners In Health this summer to help with construction on the teaching hospital (read: PIH)they are building. The hospital will have 320 beds and is estimated to be able to see 450-500 patients a day. That's pretty much the details. I'm going to try to get some pictures of the land behind the site in the next couple of days because it is the most beautiful backdrop for a hospital I've ever seen.

Now to what I've been learning since I arrived here:

(first some background for new readers) Last summer the construction I did was nowhere on this scale. I was the only one overseeing construction on the ground most of the time and I'll be the first to admit I didn't know what the best tools were for the job or what the best practices were going in (re: mech E's aren't civil E's). So I a lot of what I learned then was about the difficulties faced with construction in Haiti, what interactions on a job site here look like, and how to speak a good bit of Creole related to construction. Good stuff to be sure.

Now I get to flex those muscles again and learn what best practices and tools are for this work. The other engineers on this project have a lot of experience in construction so they're able to bring that to bear. And because of the size of this project we've got access to tools I didn't have last year (re: slump test). Most of my time has been spent
a)Downloading Autocad (re: hours)
b)Learning the layout of the job site
c)Setting grades for floors before the slabs are poured on them
d)Trying to avoid the copious rainfall
e)Learning the story of how this hospital came to be

This last point rests on the afternoon of Thursday. Thursday was a holiday in Haiti so there wasn't a full compliment of workers at the job site. One of the doctors overseeing the project and who has been working in Haiti for a long time took the engineers to a hospital one town over where he had overseen construction not many years ago. When we arrived the doctor understandably saw many familiar faces and spoke with many employees he had worked with prior to the new hospital construction. It was when he saw patients I saw a level of caring and tenderness I've rarely seen anywhere. There appeared to be no one more important to him in that moment than the patient. It was as if time stood still. I was humbled to able to witness this.

With everything that goes on in my life, sometimes I mess up and don't put enough focus on the people around me.

Pray that I will be both present and caring/tender with everyone I interact with this week.

Brief Update

Here's a brief update to tide you over until I can write a proper blog post:

In the past few days I've learned a ton of cultural information about Haiti I never knew. It's really sweet to be living with and having contact with people who have been in the culture and can explain it to other Americans. I am in Mirebalais now and have been getting up to go to work at 5:30am everyday and getting back around 5:30 pm. The other two engineers here have set up a slack line in the garden so we've been having some good fun on that. And we haven't had internet for a few days so that's why it's been so quiet. But I'm going to leave it at that for tonight because it's been a long week and I've just got six more hours of work to go before a bit of relaxation.

Pray that I have discipline and focus over the next week as I juggle projects.

p.s. If you've got a concrete pump truck and have been holding out on me we can still be friends just send it down on the next flight out of Miami :)

Moving along

Today is the last day I'll be staying at Terre Noir for this stint. It's been a great time of reconnecting with friends and making new friends. The church service started as usual bright and early at 6 am. The church was hot as usual. It seemed like there were fewer people there than last year which has me a bit curious. Now I'm sitting on the roof enjoying the breeze and hydrating myself before I go pack to leave.

Yesterday, I helped out with more retreat activities and then helped a little with building a bunk for the staff room. I then had the pleasure to go with Adam, Katherine, and Charlotte to the airport to pick up the new team. It was reminiscent of the experiences from last year. I saw some familiar faces at the airport too. It's always interesting to share someone's first experience of Haiti.

After we got back we had dinner and then a bunch of the staff hung out and watched a movie. The weather has been unusual cool it seems.

Anyways in roughly an hour I'll be starting off on a brand new adventure.

Pray that my adjustment to the environment in the mountains is easy.

Day 2

I slept on the roof last night. It was pretty fantastic. Woke up and the sun was up and I thought school had already started. Then I found out that school had finished already and just the sixth graders were coming back for a retreat to celebrate their completion of the first six years of education.

So I grabbed some breakfast and then helped out with preparing some materials for the retreat. At 10am, Forrest, BMB, Fritz(the new driver), Katherine, Charlotte, Michael, David and myself headed out to find cakes for the retreat. We checked two different Epidor(sp?) before we found what we needed and by that time it was noon so we grabbed a bite to eat there.

Afterwards headed back to the compound just before a brief rain storm hit us. We then chilled until dinner as construction has changed a bit here since last summer.

Pray for patience and a listening ear for those who have different ideas than myself.

First Night Back In Haiti

Hey Y'all,

So in case you hadn't heard recently I'm back in Haiti this summer. I woke up at 3 am this morning and made my way to North Carolina, then onto Florida before arriving in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti at 3:50 pm. The day went kinda quick because I literally slept for the entirety of every flight.

Anyways, I'm staying in Blanchard for the next 3 nights and then on Sunday afternoon I'm going to meet up with my supervisor from Partners in Health and head to Mirebalais to work on the teaching hospital they are building there.

I can't say too much more at this time because I don't know too much more. I'll be in Haiti until August 28th. It's decently hot here. I've already run into two separate groups of people who know random people I know from other places.

It's good to be among friends.

Pray that I can be as open to everything as when I arrived here a year ago.

The future

Hey y'all,

Just a quick update. I've been talking to a friend of mine I met over last summer about coming back and working and learning from him this summer. He talked it over with his wife and they decided that they'd love to have me for the summer. So at the moment my plan is to fly down there in mid June and stay through September 1st as I did last year but this time I'll not be in Port-Au-Prince nearly as much but I will stop off and see my friends.

I've been told one project is to help out with the hospital being built in Mirebalais, which is about 60km northeast of PAP. This project is headed up by Partners in Health (re: Mountains Beyond Mountains). But otherwise it'll be an adventure.

On another note, one of my friends Alex Moore (re: alexanderwmoore.com) is in New Zealand right now. So if you could just keep him in your prayers as NZ recovers from the earthquake that just hit it, that'd be sweet. And on the other side of the globe please pray for the safety and peace of the protesters in Libya.

Peace and Love tonight,
Jordan