Days 166 – 170 (03/31 – 04/04)

Saturday – This morning we sent one team off to the airport. There is only the Delmas 33 Team and a few non-VIM people remaining at the Guest House. We won’t have any more VIM teams until 2 teams return from the field on Monday. We’ve got a free weekend!

The crew working on the staff housing addition have cleared the land and are laying out the building site. When I went out to check on their progress I found that they had laid out the batten boards, which will define the footprint of the building, wrong. The length was OK but the width was twice what it should be. I called Engineer Roger Laplanche and he came right over. After discussing the situation with the site boss, Roger said everything was alright. They understood the correct dimensions. I asked why they had set their batten boards so far apart and he replied, “Oh, he didn’t want to cut his boards”. I’m still learning about Haiti.

Sunday – Today is Palm Sunday and Tom is preaching at Thomasin. Tom and Wendy, their friends Mike and Terry, a couple of non-VIM people and I went up the hill to Thomasin for the service. Tom and Wendy (both pastors) conducted the service and Communion with lots of music and it was very nice.

After church we returned to the Guest House and Tom, Wendy, Mike and Terry gathered their bags and left for the airport to return to New York and Connecticut. Tom is taking his R & R and will return on the 11^th. Sarah and Mario had gone their separate ways earlier and the Delmas 33 Team was sightseeing so, I found myself alone at the Guest House – rather a strange feeling. It was a good time to find a shady spot and catch up on my latest paperback.

Monday – My project for today is draft # 4 or 5 (I’m starting to lose track) of the Guest House Renovation Project Funding Request. It’s a learning process for me and everyone has been very helpful. But, all the T’s have to be crossed and all the I’s have to be dotted and everything has to have all of the back-up detail. However, I think we’re getting close. I’m hopeful that we’ll have final documents to submit to Pastor Paul and UMCOR by the end of the week.

This afternoon we had 2 teams return from the field – 1 from Arcahaie and 1 from Banique. With the Delmas 33 Team, that makes 3 teams for dinner. We’re back to normal.

Tuesday – We got 2 teams off to the airport and the local Delmas 33 team off for their last day of work. Then I had an early morning meeting with Derly Charles, the Project Engineer for the EMH Housing Project. He had a disagreement with one of the contractors on how they were putting in the rebar in the corners and had stopped the job. Based upon what he was showing me, I agreed that it was not correct. My dilemma was that it was a minor detail and probably did not warrant stopping the work. However, I wanted him to know that he was absolutely correct in catching it and enforcing the new standards. I also wanted the contractor to understand that Derly was correct and that as the Project Engineer was in his right to stop the work. He, the Contractor, requested a meeting with me tomorrow morning. Just call me Mister Arbitrator.

Wednesday – We got our Delma 33 team on their way to the airport and home. After working locally and staying at the Guest House for over a week, they seemed like family. Then my contractor friend arrived for our meeting. He was upset because he felt that Engineer Derly didn’t understand the new design technology that he was using. He was using a “floating slab” design that didn’t require the detail that Derly was asking for. I explained to him that the reason Derly didn’t understand it was because the drawings didn’t show it. Derly was simply doing is job based on the information he was provided. If he would simply provide Derly with corrected drawings and back-up, I’m sure everything would be OK. I called Derly and he agreed. Problem solved.

The construction crew has been working diligently on the Staff Housing addition – digging the trenches for the footings. It’s beginning to look like a real construction site.