The team was able to pour the slab for the kitchen and also start on the plumbing for the new bathrooms. Pouring the slab took a total of 16 and a half hours one day and it even rained some during the evening and night. Whenever the team left camp, all there was on the kitchen slab were some rebar marking where the walls and counters would eventually go.
In April, Jack Watkins and Bobby Haines went back to the camp to do some more work. Jack stayed for a few days to help Bobby do some work, then left because of school. Bobby stayed for a total of three weeks. He was able to build the main wall, counters and cooler/pantry for the kitchen. Whenever Bobby left, the main thing to do was to pour a couple of pillars and put the roof on. Bobby also did some plumbing calculations for the bathrooms and connected a water storage tank that feeds the bathrooms and kitchen.
Bobby returned to Jacob's Well with his son, Dustin, in mid June for two weeks. They spent a couple of days in Port-au-Prince purchasing supplies for the camp with the Valcins before flying up to the camp. I joined them at camp on Monday, June 21st and stayed a total of three weeks there. While we were at camp, our main focus was to build the roof for the kitchen and get the bathrooms/showers ready for a team from Laity Lodge Youth Camp in Kerrville, TX, that would be coming in for a week the first week of July to put on a couple days of camp.
The first week at camp was extremely busy. With the help of Peter Marc and Dustin, I was able to put the roofs on three of the temporary houses and also the doors and windows. Dustin was busy working on getting everything ready for putting the roof on the kitchen which was mainly done that Saturday and some the following Monday. Bobby was busy with getting a leech field done for the septic system.
The next week was also busy as that was the week before the team of 36 would be coming and we were rushing to get things ready for them. The four of us, Dustin, Bobby, Peter and I, spent two days putting the roof on the kitchen and doing some finishing touches to the kitchen and finishing the temporary houses. We also were able to get the leech field done for the septic system and bid out several jobs to a couple of Haitians.
By the time that Bobby and Dustin left on Thursday, July 1, the kitchen roof was done, the plaster for the septic tank and kitchen were well on the way to being done, the plumbing in the bathrooms/showers was started, the leech field for the septic system was done and work was started in the bathrooms/showers for tile and plaster.
Whenever Laity Lodge came on Sunday afternoon, water had been hooked up to the kitchen, the plaster was over half way done on the kitchen and bathrooms, the plumbing was about halfway done for the bathrooms/showers, the other water storage tank was hooked up (this puts us with 600 gallons of water from the newly drilled well) and most of the camp was ready for the day camps to start on Tuesday.
Laity Lodge came in two different groups, one on Sunday afternoon and the other on Monday afternoon. They had some difficulty in travel arrangements but it all worked out and they were all able to get to camp with their entire luggage. On Monday, I took the group on a camp tour and showed them some different areas of camp and where the activities would be held at. Whenever we were over at the part of the camp with the old Spanish well and the church, a group of kids came to join us. Most of the team fell in love with the kids only after spending five minutes with them playing the hand games and running around chasing each other. Little did they know that those five minutes would change their hearts and lives forever.
We spent the rest of the day doing some training with both the American team and the Haitian team. We also spent some time finishing getting the camp ready for kids the next three days and got everyone situated for sleeping arrangements. The entire team of 36 chose to sleep in tents on top of the hill, where we usually have campfires with the kids. The second part of their team arrived later that Monday afternoon and they were even more tired than the first group. Everyone greatly enjoyed an awesome meal together and called it a night and went to bed. By this time, four of the showers were operational with shower heads and dividing walls in between them.
Tuesday, was the first day of camp for the kids. The schedule was reversed for the first two days, but the team adjusted really well and rolled with the changes. They did activities like; Football (Soccer), Wiffle Ball, Horseshoes, Archery, Riflery, Arts and Crafts and Steal the Bacon. After four or five rotations of these activities, all the kids went to the drama area and some of the American team had to stand in and help the Haitian counselors perform the drama. Then the kids split into cabin groups and discussed the drama and played cabin/group games. We then ate another great meal and said by to the kids for the day. At the same time that the kids were there, we also were able to do a couple of small work projects which included filling in a few ditches and painting a couple of the temporary houses.
Wednesday was basically the same as Tuesday as far as the schedule for the camp goes. With the work projects, we were able to put up almost two houses and the house we put up the day before made a total of three that the group did. The camp schedule was a little different in that lunch was a little earlier but that's about it.
Thursday was the last day that the kids were at camp. The schedule was more like what it was supposed to be like with drama and cabin games in the morning and activities in the afternoon. The three dramas that were done were Jesus calming the storm, the Good Samaritan, and the Prodigal Son. The Haitians definitely have a talent for acting and they always throw in a little humor for the kids. We finished the temporary house that we left halfway standing the day before and did a few more little projects.
By Thursday, several of the team members came down with what I call "Haitian Happiness," which is basically stomach issues. It is probably a combination of the heat, being out in the sun all the time, being tired and not getting good rest at night, not drinking enough water, not washing hands properly and some food disagreements but all you can do is really ride it out. We did have a stressful time one day as one of our sick people had a high fever and it kept going up. We took him to a doctor who gave him some medicine and by the time he left on Friday morning, was feeling a lot better.
The first group of the team left early Friday morning. We left camp at 4:45 to drive to the airport in Cap-Haitien for them to start their journey back home. The other group enjoyed going to the beach for a few hours Friday afternoon and they also cleaned up camp before spending the night in a hotel in Cap-Haitien. They left early the next morning and by that night, all of them had made it safely back to San Antonio.
As far as the team from Laity Lodge goes, I have nothing but praises for them. They all did very well as a team and individually, I saw a change in each and every one of them. From the moment they stepped foot in the country, through traveling to camp, seeing all the poverty and experiencing some animosity, they had a lot to process even from day one. The biggest thing that changed them is the kids near the camp. After spending literally five minutes with the kids, they were changed forever. Each and every one of them felt heartbroken for the people of Haiti and they all went back changed and will never be the same.
The team bonded very well together. Through all the difficulties of just trying to get to the camp, the rain for a couple of nights, getting their tents and stuff wet and being sick, all this brought them together. I only had the privilege of working with them for a couple of days, but they are my friends forever. Even though I didn't know them or even meet anyone beforehand, I saw a change in them by the time they left. Everyone that I asked if they had the chance to come back to Haiti, they all said that they absolutely would in a heartbeat. I am so blessed to know them and to have spend a week with them.
Gersan, Betty, Alicia, Peter Marc and I left on Sunday morning to drive back to Port-au-Prince. We stopped a few times to buy food but the drive was better than the last time I made it. We got back to the house just in time to watch the last hour of the final game of the World Cup. Here, like the rest of the world, everyone lives and breathes Soccer. I found out that being away from email for three weeks means that things pile up and I had 240 emails waiting for me when I turned on my computer. I spent most of the rest of Sunday and most of Monday going through all them.
I will be in Haiti for another three and a half weeks helping the Valcins with whatever they need help with. There is a team from Liberty University coming Wednesday for a week to do some concerts at churches here in PAP and an intern from DTS (Dallas Theological Seminary) will be coming for two weeks on Thursday. I'm sure that I will have plenty to do for the remainder of the time here. I will also be helping Betty with their newsletter for August and for some things related to the camp and teams that will come to Haiti in the future.
Know that great things are happening here in Haiti and at Jacob's Well Camp in Little Guinea. Gersan believes that the camp has the ability and will change all of Haiti and it has already changed the village of Little Guinea in more ways that you can see. In the past seven months alone, it has changes so much with all the building going on there. We now have a generator for electricity, a kitchen with running water, bathrooms and showers and nine temporary houses with two more slabs ready to go. God had indeed blessed the camp and each and every one of you have been apart of it by praying for it and for the different teams and for the Valcins.
Merci beaucoup (thank you very much) for all your prayers and support, they have been greatly appreciated. Please don't stop praying for Haiti and the Valcin's ministry and for the kids. Please pray for them every day; if it's only for a minute or two, it makes a huge difference. Thank you.
May God Bless You,
Robert
No comments:
Post a Comment