Jacsonville Report April 2009
Bonjou from Jacsonville and what an action-packed month this has been! Here’s all about it…
<drum roll please>
The second roof on the Mission House is now complete! We literally worked for three straight days with a couple hours of sleep each night preparing for the groundwork for the roof, consuming enough red bull to raise the dead. We greeted 26 cement workers at 3 am on Tuesday May 12th. They started pouring the roof at 5 am and did not finish until 5 in the afternoon. Two nights later we threw a grand celebration on Gaby’s roof with the construction workers and the Radford group. This was complete with live music, dancing, and lots of prestige and moonshine made from sugar cane. Now that’s how you party Haitian style!
The second roof of the Walter F. Sullivan Mission House!
Karen Melendez brought down a group of 11 people from Radford to stay with us for a couple of days. We quickly put them to work on the water distribution system at the school, and in one day laid about 200 feet of pipeline. Barry Welch commented, “Now that’s pretty good work coming from a guy with hands hardened by years of computer programming.” We still have to build the cistern and lay pipeline from the well to the school. We will be finished in time for Leo and Steve’s arrival the first of June. Mike quickly made friends with the kids by helping to collect backpacks full of mangoes, but Brian Po was pissed at me for eating all the grapefruit before he got there. Among many items, they brought down a laptop for the school, a flood of stupid Radford t-shirts, soccer balls, jerseys, and Barry left his UVA hat to my friend Emannes, so I’m forced to look at this every day now. And a special thanks to Judy and the Simpsons for the wealth of nutella and clif bars!
We held an important HaitiCSR meeting with Karen and Barry in attendance. This helped both sides understand the history of the Goy Foundation and streamline our goals.
First communion was held Sunday May 10th. Father Carlo came down from Pignon to advance 16 kids in the walk of faith and also inducted several members by baptism. Mass was held in the school auditorium.
The offertory brought in by dancing girls carrying baskets.
Alison Smith started a pen pal project with students from
Jacsonville is getting ready for it’s newest resident. Chris Vanderhoof from Virginia Tech will be coming down in June to help us out for six weeks. After this he starts Vet school in the fall. Please keep him in your prayers.
Well that’s it for now! Thanks for all the support and know that it has been put to good use. And keep up the good prayer because you are in ours.
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Jacsonville Report May 2009
Bonjou once again, this time from a soaking wet Jacsonville. Wet for two reasons: it’s been raining every day for the past week AND…water is now flowing at the Saint Rose of
We actually started all of the work the last two weeks of May after finishing the Mission House roof, and seriously doubting we would have everything done in time for Leo Mulcahy and Steve Metzler’s arrival. The 1100 feet of pipeline were all laid at night with work “parties” every night for a week. Around ten neighborhood kids would gather every night starting at 8 pm, and with just a handful of flashlights and pickaxes, would dig until midnight or one in the morning. Each person left with only a bowl of rice and the satisfaction that the school kids would find life a little easier in the near future.
The 1,300 gallon cistern behind the cafeteria was completed just in time too. This took about a week and a half to dig up all the rocks and have two masons lay them in a nice cylindrical shape. After this, they built two handwash/drinking stations…one outside of the latrines to accommodate 5 people at a time, and another grand station in front of the cafeteria to accommodate around 15 kids. The kitchen now has a sink and countertop. Steve plumbed all of this up along with two wall-mounted taps inside and out to fill up buckets.
Kids drinking from the station in front of the cafeteria.
This is what a master’s in mechanical engineering gets you. Notice the screw holding the pipe on, and then notice the pipe on the left running up inside the wall. The screw is 2 ½” long, and the pipe is only buried under ½” of concrete…you do the math.
Leo and Steve’s arrival on June 1st was followed by tehnicians from
We concluded the project with a dedication, inviting all the key players from the community. The theme was “Dlo se la vi,” in other words: Water is life! All of the students and staff are extremely happy to have running water at the school. This saves a lot of time carrying water and allows all of the students to have clean hands and plenty to drink. But just a few scant hours after Leo and Steve’s departure, we broke down the cistern and converted it into a ten-person Jacuzzi! Now that’s a lot more fun than a boring cistern.
We’re now taking life a little bit easier, and taking a much needed break from all of the deadlines, but now it’s time to start planting! We’ll be cracking the whip on the oxen and plowing the mission house field to prepare the community garden. All of the students are busy finishing up their final exams. Their last one is actually Saturday the 13th and then begins summer vacation. We’re also getting ready for Chris Vanderhoof to come down on June 23rd. Hope you’re studying your Creole, Chris! Once again, keep up your support and the good prayer. See ya next month!
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March 2009 Update
Bonjou from Jacsonville and jwayez Pak (Happy Easter)! Here is what’s been going on down here lately.
We had a great holy week starting with Palm Sunday where everybody actually brings their own palms to church to be blessed. Good Friday ended mass with a procession leaving the church and marching around the town while singing. For Easter Sunday, the church was decorated with all kinds of crafts made by the school kids. Dancing girls led in the opening procession followed by the deacons and priest. The communion offertory consisted of dancers carrying fruit baskets on their heads and I even spotted a live rooster sitting in one of them. All I know is that mass was long (3 hours) and beautiful even though I barely understood a word.
Procession after Good Friday mass through the streets of Pignon. St. Joseph church is on the right.
We are already missing John Gallini and his family! From his large Italian family, he brought down a select few (three daughters and three grandkids, along with chauffeur Timote). The neighborhood kids prepared a new soccer field by clearing bushes and weeds from a nearby field. John and family brought down a wealth of soccer supplies including jerseys, cleats, shorts, and soccer balls. Word here gets around quick, and by the third day a team from lower Matabonit traveled here to play dressed complete with their uniforms! They competed against the newly formed Jacsonville soccer team and ended up tying 1-1. We held a coordinating meeting and our goal is to have each class at St. Rose of Lima have a team to compete against each other. Out of all the trips this year, I have to say the kids had the most fun with this one. I still hear games going on just about every afternoon.
Jaksonville team playing the lower Matabonite team.
John also brought down many supplies for the community garden, including seeds, drip tubes, and a handy back-saving planter.
Right after their departure, my friend Jenny Totten came down for a ten day visit and reminded me that Americans can be just as destructive as Haitian kids. We made a visit to visit Maricelle and the kids in Okap and nearby Canlouise beach.
Moussantou Dantil, the local veterinarian and an important figure in Jaksonvil, is clearing land for his new home. We held several konbits (work parties) where about ten guys work from morning to 1pm clearing trees and uprooting stumps. He has also hired guys to dig an open-pit well on the old soccer field. This is all done with shovels and pick axes. Water was found around 50 feet and will supply water for a new goat farm here.
We are nearing a monumental mark with the mission house. The carpenters arrived two weeks ago and are setting up forms for the second roof. All of the walls for the second floor are done. Our only setback right now is money. Right now while writing this, I am in a meeting with all of the town employees (teachers, school staff, and construction workers) and their pay will be held until the roof is finished. We are trying to hurry now for their sake and also because the rainy season has come early this year (April 11 was the first big rain). Bad news for the supply trucks, but good news for mango lovers!
First Communion will be the second Sunday of May at the school. Sixteen of the seventeen eligible kids passed the exam and will take their next step in the church. This is always followed by a large celebration.
The school kids are on Easter break right now after an exhausting week of final exams. They start again Tuesday, April 21st.
I wish the best for all of you and please keep all of us down here in your prayers! Na wè pwochèn mwa (See you next month).
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January 2009 Update
Matabonite Report January 2009
Bonjou and greetings from Matabonite! This message is brought to you by Matabonite’s newest (and slightly burnt) resident, Shane Barnett, who will be spending the next year here living with Gabriel.
The kids were here for two weeks during Christmas and New Years and returned to their home in Cap Haitian. They left with Elunot, one of the boys who helps to run the shop in front of the house.
Front of the Mission House taken late December
Kay Misyonnè
The Bishop Walter Sullivan Mission House is the talk of the town! This house will be quite impressive, and will be the biggest building around, larger than any in the nearby city of
Drilling the new well for the school and mission house
In just one month, the walls for the first floor were completed, electric wires were run for the first floor, all floors were filled with dirt, packed, and cemented, and work is now underway to pour the second floor. Gaby is constantly finding ways to cut costs. He has hired knowledgeable family members to help with the ceiling and electricity, and we have spent a few nights backing nails out of used wood to flatten out and use again. Trees for making ceiling stakes while pouring the concrete stakes are cut from nearby fields by local teenagers. This project is already directly helping the community, providing jobs to skilled residents who would otherwise move to cities to find work. They work extremely hard just for $10 USD and a plate of rice a day.
We already have a few visits booked, with a group of 12 medical school students from Tulane coming at the end of February. They will host several clinics to assess the medical needs of the community.
Water Project
The other project newly underway is the school/mission house/community garden water project created in
Saint Rose of Lima School
This school year there are 284 students enrolled in grades K-7, with this year being the first year having a 7th grade, or the beginning of a secondary school. There are 23 students enrolled in this class. The success rate for the first trimester was 74%, and the teachers were pushing the 6th graders hard to prepare them for the national exam. The kids stay busy and are learning new sports such as volleyball and soccer.
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