Days 306 – 310 (9/18 – 22)

Tuesday – At our Site Review meeting yesterday we discussed how we were going to complete the Mellier church project. It has become an albatross and an embarrassment to everyone involved. It was the first EMH/VIM project started under the Haiti Response Plan and was doomed to failure from the start. Under the UMCOR mandate of – let the EMH have control of all projects – there ended up being no control and no one is willing to accept responsibility for the changes that created large cost over runs. Ultimately the work was stopped until we could figure out a way to bring the project to a satisfactory conclusion. The decision was made to have the EMH District (the overall EMH authority) take over the project from the EMH Circuit (the local EMH area authority). We then got an estimate to get the building to a minimum completion stage – walls, roof, windows, doors and crepissage (plaster coat) and will now apply for a new UMCOR grant for this work. Lauren James, the UMCOR/EMH Liaison, is usually tasked with writing the grants, but she is back in the States on personal leave. So – guess who got assigned to write the new grant proposal? You got it. It’s me - another job to do in my spare time.

This afternoon we took 2 teams to the airport for their return home and had 1 team return to the Guest House from their work site in Petit Goave where we have started a new Eye Clinic.

Wednesday – Right after breakfast and getting our Petit Goave team off to the airport, I got a call from Jim Gulley that Pastor Paul wanted to meet with us at 9:00 A.M. to talk about the Mellier church. I changed my clothes (you can’t wear shorts in a meeting with Pastor Paul – it’s disrespectful) and walked over to his office. He wanted to know if I had finished the Grant Proposal. I told him that I had finished a first draft and sent it to Lauren for editing but hadn’t gotten it back. I also told him that under the new UMCOR construction protocol, we would have to get 2 more estimates for the work before I could submit the final document. He was not happy. I also explained in a little more detail about the need for reorganization – how the site engineers needed to be under the direct control of the Head Engineer and not the church; how they needed to take more responsibility for the control of cost and schedule; how we needed to change the way they were being compensated. When he figured out that the site engineers were making more money than he was, he was really unhappy. He said that he was going to change that right away.

I sent an email to Roger Laplanche, EMH Head Engineer, outlining what had been discussed with Pastor Paul and that I wanted to meet with him and Engs. Abicher and Rousse in the morning to discuss the Guest House and Staff Annex projects. I received a reply later in the afternoon that he had already gotten a phone call from Pastor Paul and had a meeting with him in the morning. I see some changes in the wind.

Thursday – My meeting with the engineers this morning went reasonably well. I think they got my message that I was not happy with the way our projects were going – that they needed to do a better job of controlling cost and keeping on schedule. They left my meeting to meet with Pastor Paul where they got another dressing down. It was not a good morning for them. Hopefully, we’ll see some improvement.

I have to spend a little time each day working with the crew that is installing the Styrofoam panels on the 2^nd floor of the Staff Annex. They are doing a good job, but it is new technology to them and they need instruction in the process. The biggest mistake to make is to assume that they understand. The factory in the Dominican is supposed to be sending an engineer for technical assistance, but that hasn’t happened yet.

Friday – I was scheduled to have a meeting with Pastor Paul this morning to go over the Mellier church grant proposal, but I haven’t received the draft back from Lauren, who is in the States. Some other issues have come up that need to be resolved before we can submit the proposal to UMCOR, so we have rescheduled the meeting for next Tuesday. The Guest House renovation and the Staff Annex projects are continuing and require daily oversight to keep them moving in the right direction. This afternoon was spent giving more instruction on how the panel system.

Our Church of the Resurrection (COR) team returned from their week in Petit Goave working on the Brakeman College computer lab addition.

Saturday – We got our COR to off to the airport for their return home with an additional passenger. Danette is going home in Washington DC for a few days of R & R. We don’t have any teams until Wednesday, so it is a good opportunity.

I’ve been trying to get the swimming pool repainted for about 2 weeks. Eric and his crew have cleaned and sanded and patched and then acid washed it. It needs to dry out for at least 3 days before we can paint and naturally, it’s rained almost every night. However, if it doesn’t rain tonight, we can paint tomorrow. So, Eric and I went in to Port-au-Prince to the only paint store in Haiti that has pool paint. We had a choice of colors – turquoise or turquoise. So – we chose – turquoise.