Building a house in Haiti - Page 2

Ron in BC · 10-17-2018, 04:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by matt

My wife and I have been to Haiti a number of times to help rebuild after hurricanes and on medical mission trips. My wife is headed back next month on a medical mission trip (Mary's a RN).

Good for you and as you know, the need is great. I've never seen a country that has been battered on so many fronts.

We're happy to contribute. So many organizations have large budgets and a high percentage overhead. We're glad to be part of a group whose percentage of revenue that goes to management etc. is miniscule, partly because we pay our own way for this type of situation. So donated money goes to those that need it most.

Sure, there's lot's of corruption in the system but the people that you meet in everyday situations are great. Especially the kids. It's great to see so many going to school. Sometimes a volunteer will see a child not in a school uniform and pay their $300 dollar yearly school fee. And despite them having to carry their water home from the wells in 5 gallon buckets the kids are always well scrubbed and very cleanly dressed.

Ron

Patandlinda · 10-18-2018, 12:57 PM

Ron again I applaud you and the world could definitely use more caring individuals like you ! Pat

**rbryan4** · 10-18-2018, 03:15 PM

Just a reminder to all, please be careful not to stray into a political discussion. Those can go south in a hurry. Thanks.

cpaharley2008 · 10-18-2018, 03:23 PM

Sorry folks but several members reported this thread was getting too political....which is not allowed. Thread will be closed if rules are not followed....

Ron in BC · 10-18-2018, 04:03 PM

One feature of the new house may not appeal to folks in our part of the world.

The house is oriented towards the prevailing ocean breeze. Instead of solid walls between the living room and the first and second bedrooms there are openings with metal shutters. This is to let the breeze blow through the living room, both bedrooms and exit the rear windows. There's a little bit of a loss of privacy with this set-up but the ocean breeze is a good trade off.

My helpers worked tirelessly at difficult jobs, like the two of them supporting a heavy Hilti to break through the top of a 10' wall. I was also pleasantly surprised, for guys that had never seen a house wired, their ability to very quickly catch on and anticipate which tool to hand me before I asked for it.

One unpleasant surprise was that some of the rooms had finished painted walls and when they plastered the ceiling all the walls ended being coated with mortar. There were tarps available, they just didn't bother using them.

And the floor ! , unlike Roberts house, no Ram board used here.

Giving them a coke at the end of a hard day seemed to be a huge hit. My helper and myself not being thirsty and giving them an unopened bottle each to take home and share seemed to be an even bigger hit.

Ron

cpaharley2008 · 10-18-2018, 04:14 PM

That coke story reminded me of Cancun where we could drink $1 DosXX beer all day long but Coke's were $4 each.....

Ron in BC · 10-18-2018, 04:40 PM

Actually the strange thing is that the bottle deposit was half the cost of the coke.

So I told them they could take the unopened bottle home but if they wanted any coke tomorrow they'd better bring the empty back.

Ron

Ron in BC · 10-19-2018, 11:46 AM

So there's been almost as much talk about Spam as poutine by the fine food aficionados that inhabit this forum.

Personally I haven't eaten Spam for a very long time. In third world countries we tend to be very careful about what we eat. We take food like oatmeal, Harvest Crunch and canned salmon and tuna with us.

Imagine my surprise when the cook announced that we were having Spam. Wow, I'm a bit of a low salt added person so the salt taste was really noticeable. But fried up it was strangely yummy. Why is it that things that taste good usually aren't all that healthy?

Ron