Team 1 - New Girl's Bath & Shower

Three team members, including Beth McCormick, Kyle Schminke, and Steve Scheib left Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Tuesday morning, February 5^th, for a work team trip to Dessalines, Haiti. The day started in the early morning hours of the frigid weather of Iowa, but ended up in the balmy, tropical climate of Port au Prince. The new airport in PAP is really nice. No more shuttle vans. Get off the plane and walk into the skywalks all the way to customs and immigration. Claim your bags from the new carousel, hire a porter to transport your bags to the parking lot, exit customs, stop at the new cell phone booths to upgrade and add minutes to your Haitian cell phone before exiting the airport. Pretty smooth and not much effort as in previous trips! They still wanted to check our bags but the porter we hired knew the man at customs, so he waived us through. Missionary Ken Drowley was waiting for us, along with some other people who had flown in earlier that day, all needing a ride 4 hours north to Dessalines.

 Wednesday morning, Kyle and Steve headed to the shop where they spent most of the day organizing, straightening, cleaning and laying out the work site with mortar, sand, and cement block for the next day’s work. They also serviced the Ford van and spent a lot of time interacting with workers and kids at EGO. Beth was everywhere, but mostly contained with doctoring to missionary Marla Drowley, who was pretty sick with a bug. We did not see her until late that evening, so was a long day for everyone on Day 1. Day two, Kyle and Steve spent laying block on the new girl’s bathroom. The foundation was already in, but only 2 starter rows of block had been laid by an earlier team. By the end of Day 2, over 100 cement block had been laid and by the end of Day 3, the building was starting to take shape.

At the end of Day 1

At the end of Day 2

At the end of Day 3

At the end of Day 4

At the end of Day 5

At the end of Day 6

At the end of Day 7

At the end of Day 8

Day 9 thru 14 we spent building & installing the roof rafters, tying them into the existing building and installing the metal roof. The girls are excited!

Wolmanized Termite Free Wood

Metal Roofing almost finished!

 I am really going to miss him Kyle Schminke! He has fit in so well and has really learned the art of being a ‘block tender’ that is so critical to the speed and consistency of the person laying the block. Together, we have spent 8 days building this bath addition to the girl’s dorm, which will have 2 really nice showers, 2 toilets, and 2 sinks with vanities and mirrors. Thanks to the Cooley Team who installed the footings and foundation. This next week, we will form and pour the bond beam supports over each window area, and then build the roof rafters. A lot to do this week as another team arrives Tuesday to help on the school addition roof rafters. Ken has been getting ready for them ordering and picking up all the steel and metal roofing. Plus, we just got the Miller welder-generator back from the repair shop in Port au Prince after they corrected the over-charging and run-idle problems. And, Ken is getting the shop all ready by servicing the portable generators, repairing the tractor, fixing flat tires and ordering cement and sand. Team 2 is here for only 5 working days, so must make hay while the sun shines!

Wesley helping Kyle screen sand for masons mortar. Think some carpenter could build them a better screen? Thank you Kyle for your faithfulness and hard work. You are a living example of what a servant is supposed to be!