Supplies have arrived and the Cistern is dug!

The long anticipated and prayed for day has arrived!!!  Our container of supplies is here at the mission.

Yesterday we were told that our container of supplies to build our house may be arriving last night.  This was amazing news.  Typically large trucks are not allowed to come up the mountain until late at night.  This meant that we were expecting it to arrive after 9 pm and then have to unloaded it in the dark.  But the truck never came, so we then thought it would probably arrive late tonight.  To our surprise the truck pulled into the mission around 1:00 this afternoon.  This is a miracle.
We were able to unload it in the day light and also had several of our workers here to help unload the truck.

Many of you have been joining us in praying that there would be a way to get these supplies into country.  A few months ago this looked impossible, but God open the door and we were able to get them into country under the mission franchise, meaning that we didn't have to pay large customs fees on them.  God truly is amazing.

A full load of materials.  Most of the 2x4's were for the mission to use for roof trusses of schools, churches or houses that we build.

Unloading the steel studs

The other great news is that we were given the okay from the mission to continue the work on the cistern and the concrete floor of the basement.  This okay was given in faith that the funds will continue to come in to cover all the costs to build the cistern.

Today Kyrk took a trip to Atrel to check on the progress of the preparations of a school building.  He showed Boss Joubert what the next step will be with the cistern at our house.  We are hoping that while we are in Atrel Nov. 16- 28 we will be able to get most of the concrete work done hoping to have everything ready to build the structure in January.

This hole for our water cistern was dug by 20 local men.  We are so thankful for the help of the local people.

So..... the call is going out to anyone interested in helping build our house.  We are looking for people to come January, February or March (maybe April also, depending on how quickly things progress)
We are looking for skilled construction workers (preferably with some experience with steel stud construction).  As construction progresses we will need electricians, plumbers and general construction workers.

If you our your church is interested in partnering with us in this practical way email us: kydebaker@yahoo.com

Christmas Creations

Kouri Dèyè (the jewelry project) is now making Christmas ornaments!

Here are some pictures to let you see what the ladies are creating:

 

 The ornaments are made out of scrap-book like paper.

 

 

The beads are cut, rolled, glued, and varnished the same as our jewelry.

 

 

We have 4 main colors.  White & Gold,  Green & Gold, White & Red, Red & White.

 

Each ornament is $2.50.  BUT, if you buy today you can have a special discount of 2 ornaments for only $5!

 

 

In true Kouri Dèyè fashion we also have some ornaments made from cereal boxes:

 

These ornaments come in a variety of colors.  They are being sold 4 ornaments for $1.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All orders can be sent to: kydebaker@yahoo.com (yes, that's me!)

 

Look forward to hearing from you and adding some Haitian decor to your Christmas tree this year.

     

Day 2 and the walls are going up

The day started around 7 am this morning when everyone headed up to the worksite.  It is hard to sleep past  6 am here since there are many people walking past on the road and the noise carries very well.
Since we were waiting for more blocks today, it was retaining wall building day.  First the trench had to be dug and then the rock was placed.  Building this wall was like putting a giant puzzle together.  It really is amazing how the local masons fit the rocks together so well.  Matt, Ty and Jeff quickly learned the words for large, medium and small as they brought the rocks to Boss Joubert and Ilan.  There was also lots of cement to mix and sand to sift.
The truck finally came back around 5 pm with the rest of the blocks.  The guys decided that they wanted to finish laying all the blocks this evening so that they can form the columns tomorrow.  The local masons were ready to quit since they had no more cement at the site, but Jeff surprised them by coming back to the team house and carrying a sack up the hill for them.  They finally finished at 7:20 this evening.  So it was a long but very productive day.

We are so thankful for all these men who are here working right now.  It is so encouraging to see our house coming along.

Last day in Atrel

As I sit here this evening with a nice cool strong breeze blowing through the house, it is wonderful to think that another successful week of working on our house has taken place.
A big huge thanks to Ty, Matt and Jeff for coming and dealing with the heat and rough conditions to help work on our house.  They were able to form all the iron pieces for the beam and pour almost all of it day.  This is a huge encouragement to us, so see continued progress.
Here are a few pictures from today (and last night)

This gives you a little taste of what the sky was like last night.  It truly is amazing to see all the stars when there are no lights.

More iron bars were needed on the job site, so Jeff was the human mule and dragged them up the hill.

Ty also helped drag iron.  As I took this picture Ty's words were "Unfortunately the camera can not capture my heart rate."  It was very hard work.

We took a short break from the work today to visit a nearby BHM school to take measurements of a cistern that is in desperate need of repair. 

Anna has loved all the animals here in Atrel and today she was brave enough to sit on a donkey.

Pouring the beam along the top of the wall that was built this week.

These boys just wanted their picture taken this evening.  It was fun interacting with the children this week.

Kyrk and Ilan placing the metal braces around the iron bars.

Working together to get all the pieces in correctly.

The blocks are up and one retaining wall is finished

Today was another great day.
After making 2 trips to the school to get water for the construction and helping to frame up some columns, we took a break from building and went to a school about 30 minutes further up the mountain to deliver some books and check on a future building site for a school cistern.

This afternoon all except one column was poured and the rock retaining wall was completed.  It was a very productive day and hopefully tomorrow the top beam will be poured and the other retaining wall started. 
It is encouraging to see some from the community coming and continuing to volunteer with the work.  We also talked with Pastor Fritz today and he is going to get 20 men to help dig the cistern next week hopefully.  This is great news!!!  This is also going to be 20 very happy families as they are currently trying to pay for school which started on Monday.

Dumping the water that came from the school into the large container on the work site

Forming up the columns

Anna and Robert even needed to check out the column forming

Unloading the books at the LaSalle school

They had a rough travel, but they made it

The finished retaining wall

Preparing the last section of footing to be poured

Another week in Atrel Day 1

We are to pleased that we are able to once again spend a week in Atrel.  We arrived yesterday afternoon along with 3 men from Fellowship Bible Church in New Jersey.  It was an interesting ride up here since along the coast they have been getting a lot of rain.  There were a few very muddy sections that required 4 wheel drive, but thankfully we made it.
Today construction continued on the house.  These men along with Boss Joubert and Ilan began laying block on the back wall.
They also started digging a trench for a retaining wall that they will start building tomorrow. 

Robert and Anna checking out the construction

The day started with sand sifting

Blocks are starting to go up

Jeff and Matt continuing to sift sand

Ty pouring cement into a column with Boss Joubert

Anna found some flowers to pick

Robert loved to dig in the rocks.  It was like a giant sand box.

More blocks being laid.

Anna loves the goats and she was trying very hard to pet these ones, but they kept running away.