MOH 500

A look at the housing project in Leveque. I was at the site the last few days and it is looking great. I can’t wait to start getting people in the houses. This is what the first 200 will look like.

More about the 500 Homes

After a few snags, we are under way again with building homes for the 500 Homes Project.

We are getting close to having 4 homes completed.  Once the 4 are done, the Ministry of Finance will come to check them out.  After we have their approval, we will begin on the rest of the 500 homes.  Our goal is to build at least 50 a month.

Now, when I say a completed home, this is what completed is……..a 16′ x 19′ two room block home, with a patio and patio awning that sits on a lot that is 42′ x 90′ and is sitting in a way that they can eventually add-on if they wish.  It will have a toilet (outhouse style) and a shower room (outside).  The home will also be painted inside and out.  The perimeter of the lot will be lined with a cactus like plant, which is common in Haiti.  Each home will also have 6 Moringa trees, 2 Almond trees, 1 Orange tree, 1 Citron tree, 3 Banana trees, 1 Coconut tree, 1 Mango tree and 1 Papaya tree.

It will be so exciting to be there when people start moving in.

I have uploaded more photos of the homes being worked on; from our blog page, go to ‘Haiti Photos’, click ‘More Photos’, then click ’500 Homes’ and then in the upper right corner click on ‘slide show’.

Mary

Election Time

Elections in Haiti are very different from elections in the US.

Election day was Sunday, November 28.  The results didn’t come out until this past Tuesday evening, December 7.  The results were that the top 2 vote getters would move on to a run-off in January.  This is because neither of them received the 50% vote needed to be elected.

Now, the man who came in third, his supporters were not happy because his percentage of the votes was so close.  They let their voices be heard that they were not happy, rioting.

Many of you have probably seen on the news, the burning of tires, the road blocks, etc, this is the normal way that they protest in Haiti.  Yes, the airport has closed, schools are closed, most everything is closed due to the rioting, with the roads blocked nobody can make it to work or school, so it’s easier just to close things down.  And just remember, what you see on TV is just about always portrayed to be worse than it is.  That being said, I’m not saying that things aren’t going on and what you see isn’t real, but it’s not going on everywhere.  Where we are is pretty calm and quiet.

So, please continue to pray for Haiti, but know that we at MOH are safe and fine.  We are staying close to home and not much is going on, but that’s what we do when nothing is open.

A quick update on the Hope House kids, they have moved up to ‘Hope Village’.  The big move was this past Saturday, December 4.  They seem to be settling in well.  For those of you that have helped work on these buildings, whether it was painting, plumbing, pouring the slab, putting on the roof, moving beds around, etc…….Thank You!

Mary

500 Homes

The 500 Homes project has begun.  Stakes have been put in to mark off the area we are going to begin building the homes.  Roads are being marked so we can start to cut them in with gravel.  And best of all, 6 trenches have been dug to begin pouring footers and building the homes this week and 20 lots have been staked off.

Check out the pics I’ve added to our photos – ’500 Homes’.

Mary

Village Homes

Check out the pictures of the village homes.  Some of the homes have been moved into and some of them are almost ready to be moved into.  Go to the ‘Haiti Photos’ link on the right and then look through the album that says ‘Village Homes’.

Update

This is a picture of the family’s house I was talking about  in my last post. The are so excited to be getting a new start, a place that will offer some security. It should be completed by the end of the week and they will be able to move in. The tarps you see in the back ground is their home now.

Big thanks to all of you who have made it possible for our family to be apart of touching this family for Christ..

It is a team of people who have made this kind of ministry possible.

Bartony thanks you!!!!!!

Tomas

Last night for the first time in Haiti I found myself afraid. I wasnt afraid for my family or the mission but for all those who call a few tree limbs and a few ragged blue tarps home.Last night the rain and lightning was merciless. The main part of the storm passed but the rain that hovered over Haiti last night is sure to cause problems.. We will go out this morning and assess the damages and see if there is any way for MOH to help…

Yesterday morning  i  was invited into a family’s home. Is sits on top of a hill with a wonderful view. The problem is, it’s only about 8′x8′ and is made out of small tree limbs that support a collage of blue tarps and sheets. It was swaying and shaking in the wind and almost everything inside was damp including the family of 5 that calls it home.  Bartony is his name and he has a wife and three children. He is faithful to God and a hard worker. I was truly blown away as i looked into his eyes and saw the concern and fear he had for his family. It was almost a silent cry.I have seen it before but to put a face and a name to the problem is altogether different. We are building him a home but unfortunately it was not done yet. 

My commitment to help to build as many permanent homes for earthquake victims has been strengthened over the last couple days. These precious people need our help and they need it now.

If you would like to help in some way contact us.

A Little Bit of Everything

So many things have happened recently, so I’m going to try to get them in all at once.

The Cholera outbreak started in a town only about 1-1/2 hours away from us.  We prepared our clinic to take any cases that came in.  Fortunately, we only had a few cases come through.  But, the Cholera has been found in nearby villages and in Port-au-Prince, but those people caught it from the town the outbreak started in.  As of now, the outbreak has slowed down but is not over.

The container with our personal belongings arrived at MOH two days after John left.  So I had the task of getting it unloaded and brought up to our house.  Thanks to the Gateway Team with Mercy Ships, this task was possible.  They were a HUGE help in getting everything unloaded.  They worked and worked and were a huge blessing to us personally and to the mission.

We are prepping for Tropical Storm Tomas that is heading our way.  It is supposed to turn into a hurricane before it reaches us.  The eye has continued to move to the west of us, at one point it was coming directly at us.  We are still going to take a big hit, unless this storm dissipates.  Please pray.

Exciting news…….I drove a standard for the 1st time since I was 16, up the mountain hill.  I did pretty good, if I do say so myself.

Mary

Long Time

I find my self apologizing, once again for not keeping you all up to date as I should. I assure you it is not because there is nothing to tell. It has simply been an unbelievable couple of months. I have been in Haiti for the last 12 days Working away at the many projects that are going at the Mission. The work never ends!!!  We could go 24 hours a day and still not get it done. 4 homes are complete, the Village is almost ready to move the Hope House children in, we have started a new school building, finishing up the new computer/biology lab at the school, completed the gym and are breaking ground this week on our new guest house, not to mention getting things in order to start our 500 home project…

Mary has been such a help with the construction end of things and has done a great job getting the boys back to school and settled into our new life. When I am traveling she watches the jobs, keeps the crews in order and helps with the paper work end of things all while keeping the boys in some sort of routine… She is an amazing lady and I am a lucky man.

The boys are doing great.  They have became the greeters of the teams. They love all the new faces and the constant movement. School is going well and they are doing great. The van der Marks get back this week with their 5 kids so the boys will have some new friends and classmates to hang out with.

Our dog (rottweiler) Sophie arrived last week and also is settling  in fine. The whole family is finally here and it’s starting to feel like home.

We had 20 pastors from the Michigan area here last week and had an awesome time.

I will try to put some picks up soon.

Thanks for all the prayers and financial support…

Settling In

It has been over 3 weeks now, that me and the kids have been in Haiti.  We are working on week 4.

The first week, the youth from our church came on a trip and helped us get moved in among other things.  They did such an awesome job helping and were such a blessing!  The first 2 weeks, my mom was with us to help us settle in too.  I was so glad that she came, when I get overwhelmed with a project, like moving into a new house, she helps keep me on track of what needs to be done.  So with her help, a lot of organizing and figuring out what to do with stuff when there is no storage got done.  She is glad she came too, because now when I talk about going somewhere or what I’ve been doing she can picture it and knows where everything is.  For those wondering where John was, LOL, he was here too for the first 2 weeks.  He was busy working with the construction teams that were here and also helped get our house in order when he had a chance.  John and my mom left after the first 2 weeks.

On to week 3.  The first couple days of this week were tough.  I felt so alone without John here.  I cried a lot the first day, but my little Noah helped me through it.  Anytime he would see me start to cry, he would come up and just hug me until I stopped.  He is trying to be so grown up.  He even helped me sweep and mop the whole house and take out all the garbage.  While Noah was helping clean, Caleb made us some solar cooked hot dogs, smores and nachos and cheese.  It was all yummy!  I guess all of week 3 was a little tough, just adjusting to the new way of life and how things work around here.  I am used to being so independent and around here I have to be so dependant on people to help me figure things out, it’s just not me to ask for help.  Maybe God is taking me out of my independent box that I like so much.  So, most of week 3 was spent adjusting, cleaning, organizing some more and solar cooking.

The start to week 4.  This past Saturday, we went to the beach with many of the other staff and interns, while we had a few hours between teams coming and going.  The kids had so much fun, swimming in the Caribbean.  On the way home, we stopped at the basket shop alongside the road and I was able to buy some more baskets to help with my storage of things.  On Sunday, we went to church and then just relaxed the rest of the day.  Caleb wanted to go down to the vendors on site and get something from them, so I drove him down on the 4-wheeler.  While he was looking for what he wanted, one of the other kids down there noticed something leaking from underneath the 4-wheeler.  It was gas, not just dripping out the bottom, but a stream.  So we hurried up and bought what Caleb wanted and I hurried back up the hill, pulled in the back yard, ran up the stairs to get something to collect the gas that was coming out.  Then I went to get Laurens, our neighbor, to help me figure out what to do.  He was able to take the machine apart and stop it from losing all the gas in the tank.  We don’t really know what happened, but I am waiting for the mechanic to come and look at it.  I talked to John about it and he thinks he knows what happened, so if the mechanic on site can’t figure it out, hopefully John can fix it when he comes in.  But for now, I’m without wheels.  Bummer.  On to Monday.  Noah and Caleb started school at 8:30am, they have a break from 10:15am-10:45am, then out at noon.  What a day of school for them, they love it.  So far, so good.  They both are enjoying it and really like their teacher, Diana.  That brings us to today, Tuesday.  The kids are in school this morning, on break right now.  I have been doing laundry, sweeping and typing this post.  We are all looking forward to Friday, that is when John comes back.

That brings us up to date on what has been going on down here.  Hopefully, next week I will have a ‘job’ besides keeping the house clean (it gets dirty very quick down here) and taking care of the kids.  Now that they are in school, my mornings are free to help around the mission.  I just have to find out what that will be, besides helping John with construction teams when he is here.

Mary