Today we had a blessed day on the job site. We finished roofs, siding calking and one porch. Tomorrow we’ll do interior walls and painting and have the dedication ceremonies at 3 pm. This week has been so amazing to see an entire community come together. Habitat will continue its work here building latrines for each home, wells and then next year more homes to complete the community of 500 in Santo. What a blessing for these families to move from tents into an actual home that can grow with their family. Even neater is the fact that they can expand their homes with the skills they learned this week working alongside us. We have be blessed as well as they teach us their language and cultures. What a great way to share.
Haiti Day #3
- Former President Carter and Garth in dining hall
- CEO of Habitat, Jonathan Reckford
Rosalynn Carter
Today we finished roofs and almost finished siding both homes. Last night Garth and Trisha performed a little fireside entertainment for us. The work is hard, but very rewarding. There are some really neat vendors in our camp in the evenings. They have amazingly colorful artwork, carvings and handmade jewelry. Our group eats dinner last tonight…boy do we really earn our food, I’m starving. We met a sweet little boy named Barry, he’s three and is the child for one of the homeowners to be.
Day #2 Haiti
We finished hurricane clips on both houses, starting the Hardie siding. Tomorrow, we will put on the tin roofs. It’s been hot, but we’re staying hydrated. Tonight I hear Garth Brooks will sing for us after dinner. He’s really sunburned, but Trisha is staying under her hat. The Carters house is going well.
Our families are hanging in there with us and are very excited.
Day 1 Haiti job site House #214 & #215
Getting into Leogane and Haiti was interesting. The poverty is amazing and the aftermath of the earthquake is indescribable. So many people are still living in tents, with rubble and contaminated water just next to their tents. Children are bathing in the streets and the food markets are just next to the waterways filled with garbage. Although it seems hopeless, the Haitians are very resilient and ho ful for a better future. Our homeowner was Mika and she was teaching us lots of Creole French words. Hammer is “Frappe” Today we finished the walls and trusses on two homes. Our team is great and hardworkers. We have several from the Denver affiliate and others from NY, and the east coast. The children are so happy and give us thumbs up. We have ten buses full and every morning we are escorted by an ambulance and police and the secret service. The special guests here are Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Former President Carter and his wife Rosalynn. Yes, Sofia, I got a picture with all of them and your Flat Stanley will hopefully send pictures later this week if I can get them downloaded. Very limited access here.The homes are 14 x 14 and 200 sq.ft. They are just a one room home, but it is better than most of the population here have.
Will give you another update tomorrow.
Its quite hot here, cold showers and the tents are OK, we have fans and mosquito nets, but the heat is still bearing on the job site.
Talk to you again tomorrow.
Waiting for the bus
Its 6:30 a.m. and we are awaiting the bus to the airport along with about 200 other people. Jim was on the 6:00 a.m. Flight. Luckily, we weren’t. We enjoyed a nice hot breakfast, hot showers and great company.
Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter to speak to us
Tonight we had an amazing opening ceremony featuring Former president Jimmy Carter and Rosalyn Carter. They will be documenting our progress this week at habitat.org/cwp/2011
5 days, 400 volunteers, 100 new houses, 34 1/2 acres of field comprising the Santo work site, 4 Carters-Jimmy, Rosalynn, Chip and Jeff, 200 sq.ft. In each Habitat house, 27 years Habitat has been working in Haiti, 2 Delta flights chartered from Atlanta to Port-au-Prince. 7.0 magnitude of the earthquake that struck Haiti in January 2010, 50,000 Haitian families Habitat has pledged to assist over five years.
Boarding Airplane
We are on the plane in DFW heading to Atlanta with many other Habitaters.
Design of Habitat Santo Village in Haiti
Photos of Haiti Habitat explorers
Jim Peters, Celeste Haiduk Cox, and David Cox will travel to Haiti with 500 volunteers and Jimmy & Rosalyn Carter to build 100 homes for Haitians.
celestehabitat 