Days 80 – 82 (12/03 – 12/05)

Saturday – This morning we sent 2 teams off to the airport and picked up 2 new ones flying in. With the 2 teams that are staying at the Guest House and working at local sites, we continue to have 4 teams here every night. This always keeps the staff very busy.

I only have 10 or 11 days left before I leave for home and a Christmas holiday. I’m really looking forward to seeing friends and family, but starting to feel a little pressure about work yet to be done. I really would like to have several things in place before I leave so that I can hit the ground running when I return in January. Most of these things require feedback from other people, so the emails are flying. But – most of these people are under the same (self-imposed) time constraints as I am.

My pre-Christmas goals are:

1.      An orientation meeting with all of the Engineers and Site Bosses to explain the new construction practices.

2.      Grant submittal to UMCOR for Phase 1 of the Haiti Home Assistance Program.

3.      EMH approval of the Guest House/Staff Housing addition.

4.      Final approval for some Guest House maintenance items that need to be addressed before the Renovation Project and require some equipment imported from the States – which requires coordination with some containers coming down for the EMH Pilot Project.

Sunday – As every other day, the first priority each day is getting our teams to their various destinations. So – 1 team to Petit Goave; 1 team to Mellier and our 2 local teams off to church in Duplan and an afternoon of sightseeing. Taking advantage of the quiet, Mario and Sarah took off to visit friends and Tom left for the gym. I found a shady spot and caught up on my reading. Have I mentioned that the weather in Haiti in December is spectacular? – low to mid 80’s.

Monday – Our 2 local teams are pretty well trained by now and don’t have to take equipment and food with them, so they don’t need a lot of assistance in the morning. This allowed me to get an early start in the office. First order of business – check my email and Facebook. Second – get our Construction Standards meeting organized. I’d hoped that the Haitians were going to take the lead in doing this, but it has become obvious that this isn’t going to happen. Third – I finally got some feedback from UMCOR on the draft proposal for the Haiti Home Assistance Program. Because of the funding required, it requires Board approval and the next Board meeting isn’t until February. So – in an attempt to move ahead, I’m going to break it up into 3 phases so I can hopefully get the funding approved locally. Busy day.