First Day on the Jobsite in Deslandes

It’s so interesting to kind of be looking in from the outside- they have tried to do a lot of work with the head of the construction here, and have worked on team building, but once it was time to start working, all of the good work seemed to have gone out the window, and the idea of assigning tasks got pushed aside, and a bit of chaos ensued as some people jumped onto task, while others stood around. There are 19 people who are being trained in the art of laying earth blocks, amongst them some women- which is revolutionary for Haiti. I'm thrilled about that, and look forward to having my women meet theirs.

11,000 compressed earth blocks, waiting to be placed into the new school

Carrying block to the site

Levelling ground inside building

The earth block machine needed a bit of tweaking but they eventually got it working again to churn out the last of the blocks that are needed.

They realise that they need a mechanic on site for repairs 

The tool shed is a disaster once again- sorry that Ian has to read this, since we tried to clean it up last year. A lot of the trowels seem to have gone walking, unfortunately, as have other tools. Fortunately, many of the donated tools that we sent in the container are still in Verrettes in the house there, and they are secure, but it’s a problem when you want to get work done here, yet some of the key tools are missing. It’s hot today (I’m overdressed in my jeans, I confess), and they are working on getting both the block machine and the generator fixed. Hmmm, a familiar story- just like last year!

Interior of the first earth block school in Deslandes

I had a good meeting with the team here, though, and we made a more firm plan for how to integrate my crew into the work here. There’s no shortage of things to do here- plaster repairs on the first building, plastering the compost toilet building Ian & built last year, repairing the failed stairs that the crew made last year at the grand entrance to the school, and so on. I think we’ll be able to do some earth block, and some other add-ons too. Actually, this afternoon, I went with the konbit (working collectives) farmers down to their ‘experimental gardens’, which represents a lot of hard work with trying to do companion planting, planting crops in raised beds vs. flat, using compost or not, and so on. The crops look great- some really amazing looking eggplants, a plethora of different beans & squashes, potatoes & sweet potatoes, corn, tomatoes, and so much more, all of this interplanted amongst banana & papaya trees.

The konbit group discussing their gardens

So, maybe we can go and lend a hand with watering or weeding the acreage there, which would involve a really lovely walk down to the river. Those are the beautiful moments from today- that, along with being with some of my groups of kids- the ones who remembered ‘Frere Jacques’ (they taught me to sing it in creole last year, and I taught them French & English)…they are so sweet.

Less sweet is the fact that today’s meetings went overtime (surprise, surprise!), and I wasn’t able to get back to Port au Prince to meet my group in the end- I’m really disappointed about that, and feel badly, yet I also realise that this was a really important outing, to come to Deslandes ahead of time and be able to cess things out and make a ‘real’ plan. We had a long meeting this morning which proved to be critical in figuring out certain details of our stay here, which was ideal in that the key players were all in Deslandes at the same time.

I had to accept that this is how it has to be, since there is nothing I can do about it. So, onward! I'm sure they'll do just fine on their own- they're in good hands- I've asked the gang back at HC to make sure they can get a tab going at the Hole in the Wall, so I think it will be OK!