It's been another good couple of days, so here's an update for you!
Thursday:
Today was another full (well, almost...) day of work. We kept on hauling sand, gravel, and water up to the second floor of the new building at the ministry center. We were able to pour three columns today. It was a lot of hard work, but we persevered and made it through (with only a little bit of sunburn... ;))! We were able to visit Quisqueya Christian School today. They had a basketball game going on, and we toured the school as well. It was interesting to see a basketball game in a different country, and outside. Apparently, there are some different rules here than in the States. Don't ask me, though, I don't have much knowledge of sports & rules. We came back to the ministry center afterwards and called it an early night.
Friday:
Today, we only had a half day of work. We poured the concrete for the last column, and we were pretty much done with the second floor. We were also working on pouring concrete for outdoor showers that they hope to have done before summertime, as there are a lot of groups that come then. We then had a celebration lunch, with a typical Haitian meal. It was cornmeal, goat meat, yam, and plaintains. I can't say that I was a big fan of the meal, but it wasn't too bad. After lunch, we headed off to a village that has many artists who do iron art. It's all very beautiful, and is made out of recycled iron. We came back to the ministry center, and did some debriefing. Now, we're here for the night, just relaxing and doing some packing.
Tomorrow, Ryan is headed back to Michigan, Bill is going to Jacmel, Haiti (where he used to live) for a few days, and I'm staying an extra week to volunteer in an orphanage.
We can't believe that the week has gone by so fast, and definitely appreciate the prayers and support as we were working here alongside the Haitians to work on their building project.
Thanks,
Rachel
Friday, May 6, 2011
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Saturday-Wednesday Update
I know, I know...this is terrible! I haven't updated once since we've been here.
So, here goes a somewhat detailed rundown of what we've been doing.
Saturday:
We arrived in Port au Prince around 4 o'clock in the afternoon. Ana (our 'leader') picked us up at the airport, and took us to the Sous Espwa Ministry Center, where we're staying for the week. We had the night to relax, and the cook at the ministry center made us pizza, which was very good! We all crashed pretty early, as it was a long day.
Sunday:
We went to a Christian Reformed Church here in Port au Prince. They had us sit in the front, and we sang and there was a sermon-it all lasted about 2 hours. After the service, we met with the leaders of the church so that they could tell us a little bit about the church, and what's going on. We then went to visit the land where the church is hoping to build their new building. They are currently in the process of fundraising to buy the land. After that, Ana and Kristie(a CRWRC missionary) took us to a restaurant that had a pool, so we hung out there and ate, and swam in the pool (Bill and Ryan did...I just thought it was nice to relax :)) Kristie then took us on a tour of Port au Prince. It was very cool and interesting to see all the different parts of the city, and very saddening to see the parts that had been destroyed by the earthquake.
After the tour, we went to the VanDam's house (missionaries), and met up with the rest of the Sous Espwa staff and another work team that was here from Lakeside CRC in Grand Rapids, MI. For me, as a Michigander, it was fun to play some Dutch Bingo!
Monday:
Today we went with the Lakeside CRC team to Leogane, which took us about two hours to get to. We went to the CRWRC offices, and Kristie did a presentation of the work that they've been doing there since the earthquake. Basically, they've been building core houses for families. These are small starter houses, which are meant for the families to add on to when they have the resources. We were able to visit a couple beneficiaries of this project. We then headed back to Port au Prince, and hung out at the ministry center for the rest of the night.
Tuesday:
Today was when we were supposed to start work. But, due to some problems with the bank and buying materials, we weren't able to do much. We instead went to Fort Jacques, an old fort way up in the mountains. It was a gorgeous view of Port au Prince, as well as all the farmland on the mountainside. Last night we went to Zach and Sharon's (missionaries) house for dinner, which was an enjoyable time.
Wednesday:
Today is when the hard work began. We are working on building the second floor of a building, which is going to be used for an apartment. Today's work consisted of setting rebars, and pouring the concrete columns. It was a lot of hard work, but we made it through the day! We started at about 7 this morning, went until 12, and then started again at 1:30. We went until 4:00 this afternoon, and then we cleaned up and went to the Van Dam's house for dinner. We played ping pong with their kids, and had a delicious meal and learned a bit more about Sous Espwa and the ministries.
So, that's what our time here has been like for the past few days (in a nutshell).
It has been a very exciting experience, and I can't believe that tomorrow is already Thursday!
We appreciate your prayers and support, God is definitely working here in Haiti!
Thanks,
Rachel
So, here goes a somewhat detailed rundown of what we've been doing.
Saturday:
We arrived in Port au Prince around 4 o'clock in the afternoon. Ana (our 'leader') picked us up at the airport, and took us to the Sous Espwa Ministry Center, where we're staying for the week. We had the night to relax, and the cook at the ministry center made us pizza, which was very good! We all crashed pretty early, as it was a long day.
Sunday:
We went to a Christian Reformed Church here in Port au Prince. They had us sit in the front, and we sang and there was a sermon-it all lasted about 2 hours. After the service, we met with the leaders of the church so that they could tell us a little bit about the church, and what's going on. We then went to visit the land where the church is hoping to build their new building. They are currently in the process of fundraising to buy the land. After that, Ana and Kristie(a CRWRC missionary) took us to a restaurant that had a pool, so we hung out there and ate, and swam in the pool (Bill and Ryan did...I just thought it was nice to relax :)) Kristie then took us on a tour of Port au Prince. It was very cool and interesting to see all the different parts of the city, and very saddening to see the parts that had been destroyed by the earthquake.
After the tour, we went to the VanDam's house (missionaries), and met up with the rest of the Sous Espwa staff and another work team that was here from Lakeside CRC in Grand Rapids, MI. For me, as a Michigander, it was fun to play some Dutch Bingo!
Monday:
Today we went with the Lakeside CRC team to Leogane, which took us about two hours to get to. We went to the CRWRC offices, and Kristie did a presentation of the work that they've been doing there since the earthquake. Basically, they've been building core houses for families. These are small starter houses, which are meant for the families to add on to when they have the resources. We were able to visit a couple beneficiaries of this project. We then headed back to Port au Prince, and hung out at the ministry center for the rest of the night.
Tuesday:
Today was when we were supposed to start work. But, due to some problems with the bank and buying materials, we weren't able to do much. We instead went to Fort Jacques, an old fort way up in the mountains. It was a gorgeous view of Port au Prince, as well as all the farmland on the mountainside. Last night we went to Zach and Sharon's (missionaries) house for dinner, which was an enjoyable time.
Wednesday:
Today is when the hard work began. We are working on building the second floor of a building, which is going to be used for an apartment. Today's work consisted of setting rebars, and pouring the concrete columns. It was a lot of hard work, but we made it through the day! We started at about 7 this morning, went until 12, and then started again at 1:30. We went until 4:00 this afternoon, and then we cleaned up and went to the Van Dam's house for dinner. We played ping pong with their kids, and had a delicious meal and learned a bit more about Sous Espwa and the ministries.
So, that's what our time here has been like for the past few days (in a nutshell).
It has been a very exciting experience, and I can't believe that tomorrow is already Thursday!
We appreciate your prayers and support, God is definitely working here in Haiti!
Thanks,
Rachel
Monday, May 2, 2011
We're Here!
I don't have much time to write, but just thought that I should let everyone know that we made it safe to Port au Prince, and have been having a good time seeing the different ministries that are here in Haiti. Hopefully I can give a more detailed update. If not tonight, then for sure tomorrow!
Thanks for the prayers and support!!
-Rachel
Thanks for the prayers and support!!
-Rachel
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)