TBUM Church Haiti UMVIM Team

Gravity Irrigation Garden Progress in Mizak

2011-04-23T11:09:00.000-07:00

As described in previous blog, we planted some garden irrigation systems in Mizak Haiti this past March 2011. We have been getting photos from Mizak in the Haitian Artisans for Peace International (HAPI) facebook site. Here are some of those photos as of this date 4-23-2011.

11 Oaks gardens in Mizak Haiti

2011-03-30T15:12:00.000-07:00

This post shows the gardens our team started in our Jan trip. The gardens shown are located at the Peace Pals park next door to Pastor Paul's house. I don't have current photos of Eugene's or Joslin's gardens. I am not sure of the status of the gardens of Bibi, Dominic, or Erold which were to be started after we left. These photos were taken in late Mar 2011. For those not familiar with these gardens, they were installed as best we could according to the designs of 11 Oaks.org. These folks have been installing such gardens mostly in Africa for some time. Even though our team went to great lengths to assure that watering would be done properly, that may not have happened in fact.

House Repairs and Irrigation Systems in Mizak 2011 and deliver a PET

2011-03-02T13:54:00.000-08:00

Elipheme Jon Louis family

Elipheme Jon Louis house

Elipheme Jon Louis house

Madame Payem family

Madam Payem's under repair

Madam Payem's inside

Madam Payem as last seen. House was finished as of April 1st 2011

Elpheme Jon Louis

Mr and Mrs Fequerre

Fequerre' house

Fifth family

Lemuame Liboim

These 5 homes were selected by local Haitian leaders as most in need of repair. We started on the last one first. It was to have everything except the back 3 walls replaced. Team leaders asked how much additional cost it would be to replace the whole house since it was so close to it already. Silas and John said about $250. The team decided to go ahead with the whole thing and paid an additional $500. Before the first house was finished, a second one was started, then a third. The construction team was divided to do this.

This was the first house early in reconstruction

This is how the first house looked when we left. It still will get finished soon.

This is the finished house

Madame Lemuame's house when finished

Everywhere we go it seems there is a dog that captures our hearts. This is "bony butt" (the dog, the dog!)

The coconut milk was particularly refreshing this year.

One of the Fequerre kids was particularly comical. Every time I turned aroud, he was doing something cute.

"This is how daddy does it"

"Daddy's machete sure is dull!'

"Want some coco?"

We received sad news a few days after our return. Mrs Fequerre died! She wasn't looking well when we were there. This is terrible for Mr Fequerre and the children. Unfortunately, this is not an unusual story in Haiti.

Our other task was to install 4 bucket irrigation systems such as those designed and used world-wide by 11 Oaks of Traverse City, MI. This uses a 5 gal bucket filled 2x a day to supply water via no pressure emitters as drip irrigation. One bucket will support 100 ft of 16mm tubing and 50 emitters approximately. The system will provide food for a family of 4 for 4 months.

A key to success is the use of a T shirt to filter the water. 50% of the water can be 'gray water' If the emitters do get plugged up they can be taken apart and cleaned.

Preparation of the garden is important. It must be flat and level and ground up. There should be no chunks, sticks, footprints etc in the fully prepped ground. The reason is to promote horizontal spread of water between emitters to provide a continuous strip of wet soil. Our friend puppy helped too!

Rows for planting are prepared by digging about 30cm down, then layering 'green fertilizer', manuer, soil. Depth is determined by the expected depth of the roots of the plants.

16mm irrigation tubing, plastic "T" couplings, no-pressure 'flag type' emitters, fully 5 gal bucket is used to make the system. Outside corners are 'rounded' without couplers. The official plan does not use a gate valve on this size system, but, we decided to use them. It is difficult to carry a full bucket of water all at once and the water bucket must be filled completely before draining in order to give good flow.

Pine boughs were used to shade seedlings.

We believe that all activities need to be supported by prayer so each garden is prayed over.

Remember "praise the Lord and pass the ammunition!"? Well pray, then take action to keep chickens, goats, and other critters out of the garden. One new garden owner is tethering all of her chickens to prevent them from eating her tomatoes (again!)

Two of the gardens were put in the walled-in Peace Park to protect them. On two occasions it became clear that this was a good idea only if the door was closed. Twice a cow was found in the garden.

Excitement was generated around the irrigation systems. Our interpreter, Erold, and two volunteers who installed all systems, Dominic and Bibi, asked for systems. We had one system available. Here God gave us a hand again. The night we got home, I had a message on the phone. It was a man on our friend Jerry's team who worked in irrigation. He heard about our work and asked about it. He was leaving the next day for Mizak and yet he gathered enough material for 2 more systems.

Our story of bringing a PET (Personal Energy Transport) to our friend Ti Pierre is also a story of the hand of God working in our lives.

Ti Pierre became a paraplegic in a traffic accident with his tap tap several years ago. He has been going through over 4 wheelchairs in a 2 year period due to the rough terrain.

Our church took up the PET Project for support this last year. We got the idea that Ti Pierre might be a good candidate for one. Carla followed up this idea by finding out how we could do this. She found that a PET was in Leoganne which we pass through from Port au Prince to Mizak. Carla contacted the director of an organization which deals with prosthetics where the PET was. Yes, we could have the PET at no cost because the costs were covered by support from the church. We had some directions and no cell phone reception, but, we found the place and put the PET on top of our tap tap for the trip to Mizak. Before we could deliver it to Ti Pierre, kids had to try it out. One was a very large young man who drove it off the porch and crashed it hard. One the way to deliver it, the chain came off. Well, that didn't seem too bad. Then when we got there, it became obvious that it was more that just a loose chain coming off. The bushing for the hand crank was broken! Carla went to work again. Thanks be to God, the guest house has recently gotten satelite connection for phone and internet. Carla called the contact person for PET. It 'just so happened' that someone was coming to Haiti right then who could bring parts to Port au Prince. Also someone 'happened' to be coming from Port au Prince to Mizak. Within 2 days we had 2 new bushings, a spare piece of chain, a repair link for the chain. I was sent to install the bushing. Then I noticed that the crank-bushing system was loose. It seemed to me that they had not built it with enough washers to hold the bushings tightly into place thus allowing them to fall out of place and break. This cause delay in fixing the PET. Pastor Paull sent a man to Jacmel to buy some washers. When he returned he had six of the worst, most beat up crummy washers you ever say. But I took them and was able to straighted out one that worked just fine. Ti Piere had a functioning PET.

Because the walk in front of Ti Pierre's house was so rough and had deep drop off, we also hired local men to make a wide cement apron to allow him to safely get out of his house and down to the path.

So many things had to happen in such a coordinated way that it is obvious that God had His hand in it all.

We received word a couple days later that Ti Pierre had already remodeled his PET by extending the seat to accomodate his long legs and adding a better break scavanged from one of his broken wheel chairs.

Repair and irrigation January 2011

2010-12-31T06:23:00.000-08:00

This is the Haiti mission team for January 2011.

We represent the Grand Traverse District of the United Methodist Church. Ours is one of the teams based at Traverse Bay UMC. Kendra, our newest team member, is from Trinity Fellowship Evangelical Free Church in Big Rapids, MI.

This coming Jan. we will be going back to Mizak, Haiti. There are two parts of our project this time. We will, with hired Haitian workers, repair 6-7 homes damaged in the earthquake or the hurricaines before. We will also make a second attempt to introduce a bucket irrigation system. This system is highlighted in a previous blog. It was designed and many times successfully used by Eleven Oaks, a Traverse City organization. Our first attempt was not well received. We got complaints that the water was too far to obtain for the bucket. Also, we started from seed which was probably not a good idea for us. This time we will do several things differantly. The location of two systems will be in the "Peace Park", a walled area next to Pastor Paul's home. Water may be obtained from a cistern on the property or from a well. Women from the Haitian Artisan's for Peace International will be in charge. It will be a "Peace Pals kids club" project. Money will be left to hire children to carry the water. Seeds have been started in the wet season and plants from them will be available for us to use as starters. Another system will be placed at the home site of "Kay Espwa", the sandbag house built earlier. Water is readily available there and youth are available to carry water. Eugenie, the home owner will be in charge there. One or two more systems may be placed with Eugenie's neighbor ladies so that they can encrourage and help each other.

We welcome your prayers, not just for our mission, but for all Haitians.

Contributions to this project can be made by check to: Traverse Bay UMC, memo:Konczal/Windover Team. Send to: Carla Windover 11612 N Long Lake Rd. Traverse City MI 49684-9117 All money received is tax deductible and will be used only for repairing or building homes in Mizak. There are 1000's of homes needing repair in Mizak.

Earthbag house in Mizak Haiti for Saint Rose

2010-07-28T13:28:00.000-07:00

After the 1-12-2010 earthquake in Haiti, I was asked to design and build a prototype earthbag house. That was Kay Lespwa seen in a previous blog entry. Subsequently, a team from TX wanted to build a house modeled after mine. The team lead by Ellen and Richard from TX then built a sandbag house also in Mizak for Saint Rose. Carla and I went along as advisors since we had just had the experience a few weeks before.

For Saint Rose's house, we tamped the bags on the cement slab before placing them on the walls in addition to a final tamping on the wall. This worked great.

During delays at the start, we used the time to prefill bags and store them at the side of the site. This was better than trying to keep up while laying the bags.

Here, Richard works with men to fill bags.

Ellen, our team leader, and Carla sew
bags shut.

Using a bucket to actually measure the dirt put into the bags produced uniformly sized bags. Tamping before and after placing bags on the wall helped make a better wall. Along with using planks as a form, we produced flatter, straighter, and more plumb walls.

Walls going up after we left. They were only about 5 rows high then. This time we used planks as a form to keep the walls plumb and straight. Don't rely upon just sight.

Saint Rose inside the house as parging of the walls has started.

These are the only photos I have now. When more are available, I will add them to the post.

The house for Saint Rose is the same size footprint as Eugene's but is higher. This was a decision made by the boss man after we left. He felt that the hillside which was right next to the side of the house would inhibit air flow in the vents, so he made it higher. The construction varied in that we did not use barbed wire. Instead, re-rod was driven down through the bag walls from top to bottom at about 2 foot increments around the house. This was done in two steps. One set was placed when the wall was half way up. The second set was placed when the wall was complete. Ends of the two sets overlap. The cost reported for Saint Rose's house was $6,000.00 US so far with an additional $2,500.00 US to finish. I am unable to explain these costs.

Michael

Kay Lespwa a sandbag house for Eugene in Mizak

2010-07-28T12:02:00.000-07:00

Well, It is now July 27th 2010 and we have been home from Haiti since April 2nd. We now have figures on the cost of Kay Lespwa (they added an 'L' on the sign) of Eugene's and also for the second house for Saint Rose. The total cost given for Eugene's house is $5,991.75 US. The house was not finished when we left. A little parging on the outside, paint, and some door latches and window latches were yet to be done. A short block wall was added between the corner of the house and the porch column. Block was present to do the same on the other side. The extra cost to finish is estimated to be $250.00 US.

This is the back side showing that the parging is not yet done on the corner. There was suppose to be an overhang of one foot on the sides too.

This shows front inside view. Originally vents were to be put near the top of the wall and filled with vent block. Because the construction of the rafters provided good vent, the original vent was to be filled in.

The doors and windows need to be varnished yet. The gutter made of PVC pipe needs to be reversed so that the lower pipe fits inside the upper pipe to carry the water to a barrel.

Eugene is very happy with her home. It is airy and pleasant inside. She has living with her, her father, husband, and 7 children.

Materials for Eugene's house include:
Rice sacks (sak) - $535 US
Black sand (sabo) - 9 trucks - $700 US
White sand (sabo) - 10 trucks - $490 US
Cement (ceman) - 70 - $1280 US
Wire (fil fe/profilier) - 30# - $18 US
Sheet metal (to`l) - ?
Square steel tube 1" (tib) - $180 US
Doors x2 (po`t) - $116 US
Rock (roch) - 2 trucks - $154 US
Barbed wire (fil fe) - 3 rolls - $175 US
Rerod (ba) - large - 30 ?
Rerod (ba) - med - 30 ?
Rerod (ba) - sm - 20 ?
Paint (penti) - 5 gal - $31 US
2x4's (bwa) - 14 - $217 US
1x4's (bwa) - 16 - $113 US
1x12 planks (planch) - 6 - $155

This list is not complete but is that for which I have accounting. The final cost of materials has been reported as $5222 US. Payroll for 4 weeks $769 US. Total expenses $6000 US.

See a separate post for the second house built by a Texas team for Saint Rose.

Note: David Smith has build a house patterned after this model in Gonnaive since ours were built. An incomplete estimate puts his costs around $1700 US. His house was built under greatly differant circumstances however (location, availability, equipment, etc)

KAY ESPWA (HOUSE OF HOPE) Revised Plan 4-21-2010

2010-04-24T12:17:00.000-07:00

Plan for Kay Espwa (House of Hope) Revised 4-21-10 Michael Windover

This plan is revised from the Mizak Earthbag house built in March 2010. It is a one room house with porch.

a. The foundation will be common construction rock and cement. Dimensions are 16 ft square plus 6 ft 16 ft additional for the porch. The location of the foundation should be level. On level ground it will be 1 ft below grade and 8 inches above grade.

b. The cement slab will cover both foundation parts as one unit. Rerod will be used as two heavy bars parrallel with a third medium weight bar raised and centered between the heavy bars. Cross bars of light weight rerod will connect the two heavy bars. All being tied with wire. A checkerboard pattern of light rerod will cover the central areas. Rerod "spikes" will be placed in the rerod system so that they will stick up from the slab and into the first layer of sand bags.

c. A plank form will be used to determine the outer plane of the sandbags. The bags will be plumb and straight.

d. New poly bags will be filled using a measuring bucket to attain precision in the size of the fill. Bags will be sewn shut with wire leaving the bags as long as possible. The amount of fill will enable a tamped bag to be aprox. 5 inches high. Bags will be tamped as they are laid down.

e. Openings in the bags will be left for the doors. Width of openings will be determined by the size of the doors.

f. Door and windows will be framed with 12 inch wide planks. A double layer of plank will be used on the top of each.

g. At one-half height of the walls, rerod will be driven down through the bags to the foundation at aproximately 2 ft intervals. The top layer of bags will be marked at this point with a marker. When the top layer of bags has been laid down, a second set of rerods will be implanted so that they extend into the marked row of bags and extend upward above the pending bond beam and rafters. The rerod will be bent down over the rafters tying wall, bond beam and rafters together.

h. Bags will be overlapped to avoid joints being lined up on top of one another.

i. On the side walls, bags will be left in progressively shorter rows to form a staggered slope from the low wall to the high wall.

j. The bond beam will be applied directly on top of the bags. it will be 16 inches wide and 12 inches high (aproximately). Differances will occur on the side walls.

k. The height of the porch columns can be determined by laying a 2x4 on the slope of the bond beam extending out over the colum area. Once the height is determined, the columns can be poured. They will be reinforced cement aproximately 14 inches square.

l. The rafters will be installed. The first layer of 2x4's will be placed on edge in a square.(determined by measuring the diagonals) Then 2x4's will be laid on the short axis within the frame of the square. The second layer of 2x4's will be laid on the long axis. They will extend past the high wall 1 ft. and past the porch columns 6 inches. The first two layers of 2x4's will be wrapped and tied down with the ends of the rerod protruding from the bond beam. Next the purlins will be applied across the short axis. They will extend past the sides of the wall 1 ft.

m. The corrugated metal is next applied to the purlins extending to 1 ft past the side and high walls and 6 inches past the columns.

n. A grid of 1 inch steel tubing is applied on top of the sheet metal. First a tube is placed over each long axis 2x4. They should extend from 1 ft beyond the high wall to aproximately 10 inches beyond the columns. Next short axis tubing is applied on top of these over the high end 2x4 and low end 2x4 across the columns. Then more cross pieces are applied over the low wall and as necessary between the high and low walls. The outside juncture of these tubings will be drilled down into the 2x4's beneath and 5 inch lag screws used to secure them. Junctures of tubing over the low wall will also be secured with lag screws.

o. A 1x4 face plate will be applied to the ends of the rafters on the high side of the house.

p. A gutter made of a PVC pipe cut in half will be made and hung from the ends of the steel tubing left extending beyond the lower edge of the roof.

q. The house will be parged (crepatized-coated with cement) inside and out. Walls should be tamped to flatten the wall surfaces before applying cement.

r. the house will be painted.

s.If desired, a house emblem and or design can be applied to the front wall.

Michael Windover

mjw888@charter.net

This part of the plan hasn't changed. Location of doors and windows can vary. The 2x4's used in Haiti are 16ft long, so, that may limit the span across the walls.

This view shows the new plan for rerod stabilization instead of barbed wire.

The actual number of steel tubes may vary from this sketch. The main thing is that all sections of roofing are covered and that the tubing is anchored over the walls and over the porch beam.

Carla and I plan to join a team from First UMC in Galveston, TX in mid-June 2010 to build this house. We will be support and advisors to the team leadership. The first step will be to gather all team and Haitian leadership to clearly define chain of command, the plans, and anything else that requires everyone to be "on the same page". It appears that we may be able to have some supplies delivered to the site prior to our getting there. If so, that will save time. mjw 3-24-10

KAY ESPWA (House of Hope) Mizak, Haiti March 2010

2010-04-15T10:45:00.000-07:00

Our Haiti team was asked to design and build an Earthbag house as a prototype in Mizak. The request specified a one room house with porch. We were also asked to do a program called Operation Safe to aid children traumatized by the earthquake. This entry will present the house project part of our trip.

I will show the stages of construction and will explain lessons learned in building this first prototype. I'll call them TIPS.

TIP: Before beginning, have a meeting with all leadership in the project. Get a clear understanding of who is boss, what the workday will be, how much the pay will be, who will hire and fire, who will pay, who will order materials. These are all things that came up as problems.

TIP: If the site is difficult for delivery of materials, plan on extra workers, wheelbarrows, buckets, shovels, etc to move materials.

TIP: Know exactly what is ordered as it is being ordered and how much it costs. Have everything delivered and then double check the inventory. Our receipts from the hardware in Jacmel were in French and Haitian dollars.

TIP: Be careful of the tools you buy in Haiti. This hammer (mato) probably Chinese) broke the first day. The shovels (pel) from Brazil are good. The wheelbarrows (bouret) from France were good. The sledgehammer (masse-again probably Chinese) also broke the first day-the head not the handle.

TIP: If barbed wire is used, it comes in these rolls. It took a full three rolls for our house which is 16'x16'

TIP: Wire (fil fe) for sewing bags (saks)or binding rerod comes by the pound. I think we used about 20 lbs. or more.

TIP: Rerod comes in "ba". Each is bent in half and about 20ft long.

TIP: This steele tubing is 1" square and 25' long. It is called "tib"

Our sand and rocks were dumped along the road at the top of the hill overlooking the house site. Except on the day the road was wet, then they dropped them a mile back.

The site was choosen next to the existing house because it was the nearest to level area and the old house had to remain until the new one was done.

I had to insist on putting a grid of rerod in the central areas. The "boss man" wanted only the peripheral rerod.

The columns for the porch were set into the corners of the foundation. The square rerod structure consists of two large, two medium rerods tied by squares of small rerod at 6-10" intervals using the wire to fasten them together.

We used rerod spikes sticking up through the slab to secure the bottom layer of bags to come.

The bags were filled using a bottomless bucket for a funnel. They soon stopped using this funnel. They

didn't think it was worth it.

The fill for the bags was a combination of purchased black sand and local dirt. The recommendation from Serg and Jefries who visited LeCaye to see the "Sun House" was one fouth earth and three fourths sand. I am convinced that it is too expensive to buy the sand. We should have used only the local dirt. Although various recommendations for differant ratios of clay and dirt are out there, so too, are reports of using just about anything including rice hulls. How about Michigan cherry pits anyone? Also, the two men recommended that we use twelve shovels full for each bag. This led to our making a big mistake. We should have listened to advice to use a measuring bucket! Our bags ranged from good to roly-poly. The length varied also due to the fact that our bags had been ripped open giving us various amounts of bag to fold over and sew. A few of the bags were also a smaller size. We didn't use these until we ran out of the larger ones.

TIP: USE A MEASURING BUCKET TO GET UNIFORM AMOUNT OF FILL IN ALL BAGS!!

TIP: I will use new bags in the future.

We found that some of the early bags were sewn too tight. Don't fold the bag down any further than necessary. Leave as much space as possible for the bag to lengthen when tamped down.

We left a space for the door. Our house had a raised floor and sheltered doorway. Some plans might require making a curb or step by using the bottom layer as a threshold to prevent rain from entering the house.
We laid each layer so that the joints between bag ends did not line up. That is the bags were staggered. At the doorways and window frames, we alternated between whole and half bags. We also reinforced these wall ends with rerod stuck all the way down through the bag wall near each end.

Where we goofed and didn't overlap bags, we reinforce that area
rerod driven into the bags.

Two rows of barbed wire was laid down on each row of bags. The wire was hard to handle. The boss didn't understand or want to use a spool holder to dispense the wire.

TIP: Barbed wire is very effective at preventing bag shifting, however, it is very difficult to use. I will use a system of rerods next time. At half wall height, drive rerod all the way through the bags to the foundation. Mark the top bag row with marker. At full wall height, drive rerod down through the bags past the marked row of bags. Space these rerods so every bag has at least one rerod. I don't know the relative cost of this proceedure, but, the ease and time saved would, I think, make it a good idea. In our case, we used so much rerod to stabilize weak areas or mistakes that we might as well have just used rerod.

The doors and windows were framed using 12" wide planks. A double layer of framing was used on top of each door and window to support the bags above. The windows were 30" square. Placement of windows seemed high to me, but, it was the norm for Haitian practice.

We used a tall step ladder which was very handy. The workers rejected ideas of scafolding. As you can see, they are quite imaginative at use of 2x4's without cutting them. I had suggested that gaps could be left in the walls at strategic points to allow 2x4's to be slid into the holes to support scafolding like the typical technique used in block wall construction. The holes could easily be filled when the wood was removed.

The form for the "bond beam" was made of planks (1x12's). A layer of rerod using two heavy and one medium rerods was linnked with cross bars of small rerod all tied with wire. Notice the gap under the back beam. This area was to hold vent block for ventilation. The blocks were not on site, so, we proceeded by using a plank at the bottom of the form to hold the cement. This latter led to a disasterous result. The blocks never came.

The same vent style was to be used in the front wall also. Using the planks on the bottom of the forms prevented rerod from being driven down into the bags and left sticking up above the cement. Attempts at a work-around were less than desirable. This is where we had a problem with chain of command and communication too. All led to a failure to follow the planned rerod system to tie the wall, beam, and roof system together.

The eventual solution was to insert rerod into the wall, bring it up and over the rafter, back down and into the wall on the other side. I'm not happy with this.

The porch columns were not poured until the beam was done so a 2x4 could be laid on the beam extending out over the column area to determin the proper height of the columns.

A one food overhang was planned. I turned around at one point to see the last of the side purlins being sawed off. There is now an overhang on the high back wall and the porch in front only.

The layout of the first rafters is critical. They must be square. Our were not, so the rectangular sheet metal hangs over on one end and is short on the other.

TIP: Be sure that the person laying out the foundation, beam, rafters, etc measures diagonally to assure square and doesn't just measure the length of the sides. A square becomes a parallelogram when the diagonals are unequal.

We filled in the areas previously left for vent block. Because of the construction of the roof support system, there was a much better vent created. It gave a three inch gap across the entire front and back up close to the roof. With the application of a 1x4 facing board on the back even horizontal rain would not get in but

plenty of air will

TIP: Do not comprimize the integrity of the walls by venting within them. The rafter design will create a better vent system.

The last thing I did before leaving was to install a grid of 1" square steel tube on top of the sheet metal. This will prevent the metal from being blown off in high wind. Originally, I was going to weld the grid. The plan was changed due to lack of a welder. It is connected and fastened into the rafters with 5" lag screws. Fortunately, a generator was available to enable me to use an electric drill. The bit bent about 1/3 of the way through the installation however or another cross member would have been added.

TIP: When walking on the roof, use planks on the roof to avoid denting the very thin sheet metal. Trying to walk over the purlin areas is too difficult.

When we left after 3 weeks, the parging or crepitizing (cement coating) was started on the inside. They will finish the parging inside and out. The gutter is yet to be installed along the porch. The steel tubes were left extending out about 8 inches to support the gutter. The two water barrels were left for the homeowner to collect water. An artist has been commissioned to paint a bowl of flowers with "Kay Espwa" (house of hope) underneath it on the front wall. This is the name chosen by the home owner. (I liked the idea of naming the house like was done for "The Sun House".

With everything considered, I think we were successful in our mission. The house will be safe in earthquake or hurricane. It will be as cool as any house can be in Haiti with excellant mountainside breezes and ventilation. Hopefully when the house is finished, it will have a pleasant appearance.

If you have questions, please email me at: mjw888@charter.net

2010-02-26T12:05:00.000-08:00

This is a working draft of a plan to build an Earthbag House in Mizak, Haiti this March 2010.
The design is based on "The Sun House" by Father Marc Boisvert in Haiti and designs by Owen Geiger provided by Gary McDonough as well as a book called "Earthbag Building by Hunter and Kiffmeyer.
I have no experience designing such a house. I am being helped by Jerry Konczal to make the plan. Suggestions are welcome. mjw888@charter.net

Our Haiti Mission Team from Traverse Bay United Methodist Church is also doing a program similar in style to a VBS developed in China after earthquakes there. It is designed to help children deal with grief and traumatized emotions following major event. Ann and Carla will be going to Texas in a couple days for training.

The request coming out of Mizak is to change plans to a single room house with porch. So see G, H, J. The list of materials and tools are for this single room house. I am still trying to work on the list and am considering threaded bolts instead of threaded rod.

LIST OF MATERIALS AND TOOLS NEEDED FOR MIZAK HOUSE-SINGLE ROOM & PORCH

MATERIALS

1. Sandbags -728

2. Soil for sandbags - 36 tons

3. 20 Ga wire (to sew bags) 1000 ft.

4. 12 Ga wire (suspend gutter) 1 roll

5. barbed wire (4pt) - 3000 ft.

6. blocks - 36

7. cement

8. sand for parging

9. corrugated metal -(roof 25 ft x 18 ft)

10. square steel tubing - 16 x 20 ft.

11. wood for doors and frames.

12. gravel for foundation.

13. threaded rod -(1 ft x 3/8th in.)- 36

14. washers & nuts (3/8th in.)

15. silicon caulk - 2 tubes (from US)

16. paint - ?

17. water - ?

18. water barrels -2

19. PVC pipe (for gutter)

20. hinges (doors) 8

21. hinges (windows) 8

22, door handle - 2

23. slide to connect dutch doors - 2

24. latches (window) 2

25. rerod - ?

Note: foundation is to be 20 in. wide, 1 ft below grade, 8 in. above grade.

Note: parging will require twice the usual amount of materials due to contour of bag

walls.

Note: Pieces of rerod sticking up out of foundation to hold bottom sandbags from shifting

TOOLS:

1. caulk gun 1(from US)

2. paint brushes - 3

3. shovels - 3

4. 5 gal. buckets - 3

5. trowels - 2

6. level - 1

7. wheel barrow - 2

8. wire cutter - 1

9. hack saw - 1

10. metal snips for sheet metal

11. hammers

12. tampers

13. wrenches

14. hack saw blades -4

15. nails

16. heavy clear plastic sheet (24 ft x 24 ft.) -2(from US)

17. rope, nylon braided. 150 ft. (from US)

18. welder (with rods)

19. generator

20. fuel for generator

21. 2 lb sledge hammer

2010-02-03T10:34:00.000-08:00

GRAND TRAVERSE DISTRICT UNITED METHODIST HAITI TEAM:

We will be returning to Mizak 3/17/10 - 3/31/10 to do construction and work with kids. The earthquake has destroyed over 3000 homes in the Mizak community. Over 200 more have been damaged. I believe there is an estimate of about 3500 homes total there.

Costs of food have greatly increased due to the influx of refugees from PAP and there is ongoing need for refugee follow-up medical care.

Many needs exist throughout Haiti. Areas such as Mizak that are off the beaten path are last to see relief efforts if at all.   We welcome donations of any amount. All money will be used for home construction, food, medical care, or working with kids.

You can be assurred that your money will be used properly.   We are working as a United Methodist Volunteer in Mission (UMVIM) team in coordination with Haitian Artisans for Peace International (HAPI).   HAPI is a recognized and officially supported by the United Methodist Church West Michigan Conference.   The HAPI organization has been supporting Mizak for some time to help Mizak become a self sustainable community with peace and environmental vision.

Donations are tax deductible.   Please make checks payable to:
                                                                   TRAVERSE BAY UMC
Important-                        (WITH NOTE: for Konczal/Windover Haiti Team)
SEND CHECKS TO:
                                               TRAVERSE BAY CHURCH
                                                1200 RAMSDELL RD.
                                                TRAVERSE CITY, MI 49684

Love, Michael

Wreath fundraiser for Haiti team

2009-11-23T05:25:00.000-08:00

This is a Christmas wreath that our team made and sold to support our mission to Haiti.

Making wreaths starts with cutting and gathering "greens". We use balsam fir.

We had good weather this year

Sometimes we reach very high to get the greens. Here Rich is using a pole lopper to cut high branches.

A momentary break before taking greens home. The truck is borrowed from a local landscaper. It has a box that unloads to the ground making it easier to get the greens on board.

We didn't see our little friend this year. Last year this Saw Whet owl was watching us as we cut branches 3 feet from him before we saw him. Dawn is 2 inches from the branch that the owl sits on. He is about 2 feet from her.

I love this little guy.

Well, back to work. This is Ann and Jerry's yard and we have just unloaded the greens.

Here the greens are piled outside the garage where the wreaths will be made. We also have to gather white pine and cedar for garnishing the bundles. Also boxwood for the table centerpieces which we also make.

Inside the garage, the greens are cut down to usable size. Then they are gathered into bundles which must be the right length, thickness which will then be garnished with a sprig of cedar and then white pine.

Here are some bundles before the cedar and white pine were added.

Okay, we do take a break for lunch, usually hot soup or chili. After all, fellowship is an important part of a mission team, right?

Back to work.

The bundles are put into clips on wreath rings using a foot operated crimper. Each bundle is placed into the clip then the pedal pushed to close the clip around the bundle. It takes ten bundles for each regular size wreath.

This is where we do our work. It has been mild weather this year. Thank you Lord.

You will notice the wreaths also have big red bows and pine cones. That means that those bows have to be tied. The pine cones are gathered earlier in the year. They are tied together with wire in groups of three. The wires are too short so we tie two together first. Then the cones and bows are wired to the wreaths

Once the wreaths are made, they must be sold. Here Carla and Ann have a table in the narthex Sunday.

To anyone thinking about doing this project, I would say think hard. The wreaths are extremely labor intense. Collecting greens in a blizzard, working in an unheated garage in winter, cold wet hands, pine pitch all over. In the end the rewards however make it worth our work. We have fellowship, support of our church and friends, and the main goal of raising money to support our mission trips to Haiti is realized. The greatest reward is being able to contribute in some way to improving the lives of our friends in Haiti. In the end, that is what makes it really worth while. God has blessed us with this labor and with the opportunity to help Him bring justice in a small way to His children.
Our next mission trip will be March 17-31, 2010. We will be going back to Mizak, Haiti. Team members going will be: Ann & Jerry Konczal, Michael & Carla Windover, Sheryl Kay, Ellen Kamischke. There are many other team members who will not be going but have spent much effort helping.

Changes in Haiti Summer 09

2009-09-16T06:49:00.000-07:00

Hi Friends of Haiti, This is just a note for people who go to Haiti, especially as UMVIM teams. (United Methodist Volunteers in Mission) Rev. Gestner Paul has been installed as president of the Methodist Church d' Haiti. The prices at the Methodist Guest House (MGH) have been reduced to $40 per day for room and board. No word yet on any change in the policy that demands we stay there if in the area.
The best news is this: The UM Church together with Pure Water for the World have begun a program of providing biosand water filters. The filters will be produced in Haiti. These filters can provide pure water for 75 people each. The program will provide enough filters to support all of the Methodist schools in the Jerremie area at first later it will expand to all Methodist schools in Haiti, about 105 of them. The program includes not only training for maintainence of the filters, but, also hygiene education. This means when complete, we will be providing pure water, hygiene educ., hot lunch and schools in 105 schools in Haiti. What a joy to be part of this

Mizak, Haiti Mission 2009

2009-03-09T06:19:00.000-07:00

Wow! It never fails. As always, this was the best trip ever. We had a hard time getting connected with a project. The only one that the usual contacts offerred was to paint a church in Champin that we previously worked on. Then we found HAPI, Haitian Artisans Peace International. Valerie Celestin Mossman hooked us up and the on site coordinator, Lee Rainboth, found us a project that would help the hurricaine relief effort. One of 350 identified houses that needed repair or replacement belonged to Ti Pierre, a man who became paraplegic in a tap-tap accident. We went to Port Au Prince where Lee and pastor Paul Prevost met us and drove us to Mizak. That afternoon, we went to see the house. HAPI runs a training school for artisans. They have church on Sunday. On Saturday they gather the kids for Peace Pals where they teach kids various peace issues. The pictures hopefully will give some idea of our mission. I will post more later.

Road from Jacmel to Mizak. One of the best roads we've seen.

View from road to Mizak

Brakes get cooled down at the river.

Pastor Paul Prevost.

Lee Rainboth, coordinator of HAPI in Mizak

Arriving at the home of Paul & Aimabe Prevost, our hosts. We had time on Thur after arriving so we went to see our project.

Road to Ti Pierre's

Field along road to Ti Pierre's house. The red area is hand cultivated with a hoe.

Ti Pierre with our team behind him

House of Ti Pierre

Back at Paul's house. A new Peace Park under construction as funds allow next to Paul's

Aimabe Prevost with daughters Dorcy and Magena and niece Joanna standing.
Cousin Ednila and Dorcy Prevost

Sheryl playing with Dorcy and Joanna

At night it is time for playing hand games, singing, devotions,or playing cards (Watch out for that Dorcy)
Sunday church at HAPI building. The HAPI building is used for artisan's training, school, church, and on Sat. the Peace Pals, a youth group.

Classroom at HAPI. On the wall were language rules and poems and much more. Here are two poems undoubtedly written by one of the Peace Pals.

Beyond the mountain there's another mountain. But mountains are nothing to those who can fly. So God gives us wings and gives us freedom. The world around us is searching for life. On the edge of the cliff of life we stand. Can't see the future but it's in your hands. Faith is believings in what we can't see. So we're trusting that you will set us free. by:unknown

All walls may crumble and the trees may fall, but you're the one who leads us through it all. Nothing on earth can stop us today. The people cry out love cannot wait. We've seen the darkness. We don't fear the night. Cuz we know the one who can give us light. We have seen the depths. We can reach the heights cuz we know the one who can give us flight. by:unkown
Pierre's

Teacher at Peace Pals school joins kids in jumping rope.

The chickens loved our playing in the rock pile because it gave them a feast.
Tarantula spiders came out of the old house rubble along with scorpions, cocroaches, and other strange bugs.
Sheryl and others carry block down the hill. It got slippery when wet.
One task that we could do was to carry block. It was dropped off about a quarter mile away up a steep hill.
Tending rock for Ken, the boss man.

Moving more rock.

The foundation is rock and cement. The walls are block.

Sand needs to be skreeted at various sizes for the differant uses.

Using a jig of nails in a board, this man bends triangles and squares to be used in making rerod skeletons for columns.

This is the rerod structure for a column.

Walls are put up first then boards held in place while cement is poured
Taking a break to talk with workers.
Ann and Carla pass the cement.

Ti Pierre with friends.

Ti Pierre with Edy

We had the chance to make one brief trip down to Jacmel. Beautiful French design and Bogendelia too in Jacmel

Artisan's store in Jacmel with Carnaval masks of all sizes.

Market in Mizak

Market in Mizak

Market in Mizak. Sweet potatoes, red and white, onions, peppers, oranges, mandarins, grapefruit, nuts, cabbage etc are available.

There have been 350 homes identified as needing repair in the Mizak area. These are only the ones whose owners have contacted HAPI. Many others exist. Seven wells supply water to the Mizak area. They all need repair. It is estimated that $5000 would repair all of them. Medical teams of all kinds are needed. Mizak seems to be under the radar. It is an area that has many needs yet is not getting teams or help.

By the way. On the way back, we stayed at the Methodist Guest House (MGH). Donnette and the staff were all friendly and helpful. Th ere was no hint of problem. Apparently the MGH has been busy recently. While there we met Pastor Ablamie. We had a good visit with him. While costs are still high at the MGH, I think anyone staying there would find it a good expierience. Michael mjw888@charter.net

Add on photos from Val.

Mizak, Haiti 2-18-09 to 3-2-09

2009-02-16T05:30:00.000-08:00

Our team leaves 2-18-09 for Mizak, Haiti. We had a difficult time finding a project this year. The changes in the Methodist Guest House (MGH) and the Methodist Church d'Haiti seem to have made coordination almost impossible. The MGH is very expensive too. Since there are no longer VIM missionaries at the MGH, the help getting projects has dissappeared. Communication is very bad too. However, the Church won't support any team that doesn't stay at the MGH. So, this time, we found an organization that helps artisans in the Jacmel area,
Haitian Artisans for Peace International (HAPI) . They are an advanced special of the US United Methodist Church. (UMC). The community we will go to is Mizak. It is up the mountain over Jacmel. 350 homes have been identified there which have been damaged or destroyed by hurrricaine Gustav. We will be working on the home of a paraplegic there named Ti Pierre.

"Ti Pierre
When greeting Haitians and you ask how they are, most will always answer that they're fine, not so bad. But every once in a while, you get a really honest answer from a human that is really suffering. That was the case with Ti Pierre.
He is a 32-year-old man who is vibrant and full of life from the heart up, but seven years ago he was in a severe car accident while he was chauffeuring his tap-tap pick-up and he has been paralyzed from the waist down ever since. Now all he can do is lay in this bed that has old clothing as a mattress. He has an old strip of fabric tied to a rotten wooden beam above his head for him to pull himself up when he needs to sit upright.
The house where he lives is a tiny shack constructed of rocks stuck together and palm branches laid on top for a roof. The weak walls are crumbling severely from the hurricane winds and everything inside smells of mold because it gets wet every time it rains and never has a chance to dry out. He shares this little life box with his aunt and a younger cousin. His parents died long ago and he has no siblings.
Ti Pierre has recently regained some mobility as a friend of the family gave him a wheelchair, but it has its own handicaps as well with the left armrest and part of the back broken off. The back has been pieced back together with sticks and scraps of cloth. Nonetheless, Ti Pierre still manages to drive that thing with remarkable agility along the rocky paths between his house and the neighbors, the same paths that I usually can't even handle on my feet without tripping all the time. But he does it, and he's surviving day after day, somehow. "

We will be out of phone and computer communication while in Mizak. There is no electricity, water, phone, or any of the "necessities". I will add pictures and more when we get back.
Michael Windover
Traverse Bay UMC
Traverse City, Mi 49684

Status in Nov 08

2008-11-24T12:44:00.000-08:00

The situation in Haiti is getting more desperate if that is possible. Direct storm damage has created a situation where people are like refugees in their own towns. Some have been given tents. Some live on rooftops. Water sources are fewer. Crops wiped out. Gonniaive is especially bad. Cabaret, a community which we used to pass through on the way to Thomas was hit very hard. Yet Cap Haitien and IleLeVache were spared. But, all of Haiti is effected because of the loss of the rice crops in the Artibonite.

Efforts to help are too few, too slow, and too little. The Haiti government lacks the organization and discipline to help. The UN never attempts to do what it could do to really help. Even the churches are too inadequate to the task. Money is collected but not used. The Haiti Methodist Church wants to rebuild community by repairing schools and churches. The world size organizations have many millions of dollars they say they will give Haiti, yet, they wait for Haiti to pull itself up by their bootstraps to some "acceptable level" before they will disburse the money. This is like waiting for a drowning man to save himself before throwing him a lifeline. It seems that many have the attitude that they won't give at all if some material gets stolen or some money gets embezzeled. So people starve.

Sorry, I am mad and discouraged. Yet, our team will continue. We are trying to get from the Haiti Methodist Church an assignment that we can do to bring help to those that need it. For those who don't know our process, we only take on projects presented to us by the Haiti Methodist Church. This is the role of an UMVIM (United Methodist Volunteer in Mission) Haiti team under the convenant between the Michigan United Methodist Conferences and the Haiti Methodist Church. Our team's plan is to go back in Jan or Feb of 09.

We are currently making and selling our Christmas wreaths towards that goal.

For those interested. Step one is to cut greens from trees and haul them back to Jerry and Ann's house.

This year we had a treat. We saw this Northern Saw-whet owl. It sat in a tree next to where I was cutting branches. The brances fell within a meter of the owl. We could approach the owl to within 2 feet, and even take many pictures.

The first step is to cut the branches of greens off trees.

We haul them on a large truck with a box that sets down on the ground to load.

Enough! Time for lunch.

Hot soup or chili is often the fare of the day.
Now we get to inside work.
Branches are brought into the garage where they are sorted and short pieces are cut off. The short pieces are then gathered into fan shaped bundles. Next, a piece of white pine and cedar are added on top of the bundle, and the bundle is set aside. Then a wire ring with clamps is placed on a clamping device. Bundles are added one at a time using the device to clamp them onto the ring. It takes 10 bundles to fill the standard 22-24" ring. A separate operation in the mean time takes pine cones gathered in the Fall and binds them together in sets of three cones. Three of the 3-cone sets are wired to the wreath. The final step is to add a large red bow. These have been tied in yet another operation earlier.
Often it takes a second trip to the tree fields to gather more greens. I think we made about 350 wreaths in our project last year.
And you thought we were done? Now the wreaths have to be sold. We take orders and deliver most at church on Sunday. In addition to the standard 22" wreath, we make a 36" large wreath as well as centerpieces. Someone added the white dove to our large wreath which hangs in the sanctuary.
Our congregation at Traverse Bay United Methodist Church takes missions, especially Haiti, very seriously. This 3x4 ft. painting from Haiti greets all who come in the front door. In addition to the Grand Traverse District Haiti UMVIM team represented by this blog, we have a second Haiti Mission Team that supports an orphanage in Port au Prince.

Champin Haiti Review

2008-04-02T03:27:00.000-07:00

Our Haiti team was headed for Baudin until 48hr before we left. Pastor Crisnell emailed and said instead we would go to Champin. We found an inner city church in a suburb of CapHaitian that has been waiting for 18 yrs for help with renovation. .

It looks very desolate between Port au Prince and Cap Haitian. Few roads are found.

This is the plane we flew on Carbintair Airline.

Cap Haitian is a beautiful city. The buildings are very ornate. Most streets are one lane wide. The air polution mostly dust was bad. The statue is of Haitian heros in their fight for independance.

Pastor Crisnell was a good host. His home is just across the street from the bay. Sitting outside spray from waves hitting the seawall can be felt.

When we arrived at the Champin church a back hall was unfinished, dark, and full of rubble. At the end of the hall was a "toilet" which consisted of a 2x3 ft hole in the floor. Two other rooms came off the hall, also unfinished. The doors and windows were wooden and shutters falling off. The side of the church was unfinished. The well had been broken by vandals and not usable for years. The roof support beams were rotting at the bottom and thought to be lacking a foundation. The last problem was going to be addressed as we left. The other things were taken care of while we were there for about a week

When done, the rubble was cleared. A window was put in at the end of the hall. The toilet had a window installed. Also one stool and plumbing for a second one, a sink, and plumbing for a urinal were installed. The rooms had windows put in and one was divided into two rooms. Security grates were made on site and replaced the old windows and doors. The back area and the side of the church was parged. The well was repaired and working
Along the way from start to finish there was a lot of work and play. We built relationship faster than building.

At the end we had a celebration with singing and treats. Champin has a womens choir and a mens choir. Both are excellant. The men's group has been together for about 19 yrs. They are non professional but are better quality than any group we have heard in Haiti. We hope to find a way to get a CD made of them somehow.

Champin Haiti 2008

2008-02-29T12:14:00.000-08:00

We have completed our trip for 2008. Champin is next to CapHaitian. The church last saw paint etc 18 yr ago. We had paid workers and many church volunteers to help. The ladies made lunch for the workers each day. I will add photos of the outside wall with new window grates, the bathroom with sink, stool, and places for urinal andsecond stool,
There are two new rooms and a vestry also. The well has been out of commission for years. It is now replaced and working.

Cap Haitian Fri night

2008-02-22T17:00:00.000-08:00

Hello finally, Tried before with no success to get online. Arrived safe and sound Wed. We flew over the Citadel coming into Cap Hatian. Went to see work site at the Champin church.Wednight we saw a total lunar eclipse. We sit in front of the house. The ocean is across the street. It is close enough that we can often feel the spray from waves hitting the breakwall. Started work Thur and made great progress. Started installation of 2 toilet bathroom. Also started renovation of a vestry. Began repair of the well. The church membership turned out well to help. Some brought lunch for the workers. Fri was harder to participate in the work. The work flow just didnt allow for non-skilled folks like us. Lots of welding in building door and window grates out of 1x1 square rod. Lots of parging. Carla took a couple swings at it, but, it just resulted in chuckles. It is a real art. One stool is complete in the bathroom today. The old well was pulled and new supplies obtained. Lots of time to visit with people and play with children. I cant seem to add more images right now. More will come. Michael<")))><

The Citadel near Cap Hatian

2008-02-15T07:31:00.000-08:00

This is the Citadel which I hope to see while in Cap Haitan. I "borrowed" this picture from someone's blog. They said it was a 30 minute horseback ride up to it.

Going to Cap Haitian Feb 18, 08

2008-02-11T05:39:00.000-08:00

Our Haiti UMVIM team (led by Ann and Carla) has finished two projects. The church/primary school at Thomas and the church on Ile LaVache. We are now going to go to Cap Hatian on Feb Mar 2 08. There is an agricultural project at Baudin near Cap Hatian. The Haitian Methodis Church wants to renovate a building into a residence for a project supervisor. We expect to be working on this.
One of our long time team members, Jerry Losee, is going to take a team about the same time to Ile LaVache to work on another church at NanSoulette. This will be his first time leading a team, something he has wanted to do for a long time. The other team at TBUM church, the orphanage team, will be returning to Haiti later this Spring. Watch for reports on our Cap Haitian mission coming soon. mjw<")))><

Haitian resort on Ile LaVache-Abakabay

2007-06-21T10:09:00.000-07:00

This is a resort opened on the Haitian island of Ile LaVache. It is called Abakabay. It is run by Mr & Mrs Sajous. You can find official info about it at "Abakabay.com" I believe.

Dedication trip to Caille Coq

2007-06-21T09:26:00.000-07:00

Hi, Ann & Jerry Konczal, Mike & Carla Windover, Jerry Losee went to Caille Coq on the island of Ile LaVache. The island is about an hour and a half off the mainland at LeCayes. The team had taken a break from work at Thomas for a couple years to build a church at Caille Coq. It is now finished and we went to join in celebrating that and dedication of the church. Ann made a banner for the team to give to the church. We stayed in the new parsonage. The old one was damaged by a hurricaine. Our team provided the funds to rebuild. Travel was smoother than normal. On the way back, we had weather delays in Ft Lauderdale, but, otherwise it was easy. The large building you will see in photos of the church sitting the other side of the old church is a new school built by the Spanish. The old church and a room in back of the chancel are used for our school. Michael <")))><

Article to help understand Haiti's plight

2007-06-04T12:35:00.000-07:00
This article found on the internet today is a fair picture of Haiti's situation. The article, like Haiti itself, ends in Hope based on Faith not upon circumstance. mjw<")))><
HAITI, WERE SORRY
Dessalines
Toussaint L'Ouverture-Haitian liberator
By: Deniece Alleyne LL.B
Not that long ago I had the opportunity of speaking with some Haitian migrants who had been dropped off at various points around the island. I am fairly fluent in the French language and I wanted to interview them about their experiences as migrants generally and about their treatment in St. Kitts in particular.

Their story was painful in its ordinariness. None had intended to come to St. Kitts but had been deceived by unscrupulous human traffickers to whom they had paid substantial sums. They were seeking relief; from hunger, homelessness and lack of opportunity. They were seeking a better life. Theirs was a story common to us here in St. Kitts and throughout the Caribbean. All of us either know persons or are persons who have migrated to other Caribbean countries, the USA, Canada or the UK to better ourselves and our children. In fact it is ironic to me as a naturalized Kittitian born in Guyana that I have so often been told "you na from yah" by people who go to great lengths to have their children born in the US Virgin Islands or Puerto Rico if they cant make it to the US mainland.

Despite our history as a migrant people, from being kidnapped and enslaved and transported between continents, to traveling for work whether in Trinidad, immediately after emancipation in the 1840s to the Dominican Republic, Panama and Curacao in the early twentieth century we have been inflicted with a strange xenophobia. Strange because when taken to its natural conclusion it means that we are biting the hand that has fed us, and strange because this xenophobia is only directed towards black people like ourselves. On several occasions I have been abused for being born in Guyana by persons who practically worship what they call "coolie hair" and have gone to great lengths to have children with men of Indian descent from the same Guyana or Trinidad. I have always found it a tragic symptom of an internalized inferiority complex and felt sorry for such persons.

This brings me back to the story of the Haitians. I could not help wondering why they had to be held in prison when I spoke with them. The men complained of the over - crowding and the women, though relatively comfortable, did ask me; "Why the prison?"

During my time in England I was asked on several occasions by white students whether we live in houses where I come from. I was constantly amazed rather than offended by the question because the query came from abject ignorance. What has been astounding is the fact that I have heard similar nonsense asked about Haitians by persons here, whether about their religion or cultural practices or rate of infection with AIDS. I was horrified recently when I heard on the BBC Caribbean that coast guard officials in the Turks and Caicos Islands had deliberately collided with a boat carrying Haitian migrants causing it to capsize in shark infested waters. To add insult to injury the survivors were locked in a detention center and prevented from speaking to journalists in the immediate aftermath of this incident.

This shocking story immediately brought to my mind the haunting lyrics of poet and composer David Rudder from his melancholic requiem called "Haiti I''m sorry." He asked "they say the middle passage is gone, so how come overcrowded boats still haunt our lives?" This brutally compelling question brings in sharp relief the scandalous state of affairs that is CARICOM policy with regard to the Haitian Republic.

Haiti is a special case in the Caribbean. It represents the prevailing international opinion of independence, sovereignty and freedom for people of African descent whether on the continent itself or anywhere in the Diaspora. Haiti dared to violently throw off the yoke of bondage, colonialism, imperialism and all notions of racial inferiority in a relentless 10 year war of attrition that in the words of Prof. George Lamming proved that black men were men. For this daring audacity the Haitians have been made to suffer. Their country has been turned into a terrible cautionary tale to the rest of us that if we don''t drink the swill from the swine trough of white supremacy we too will be imprisoned in a barren wasteland desperately seeking the means of escape.

Haiti is the oldest Black republic in the world and among the oldest republics in the world. Only the American and French republics are older. How awe inspiring it is to have as a fact of history that during that period in history known as the enlightenment while white men were patting themselves on the back for coming up with dissertations on the rights of man as proof of their supposed superiority, black men were asserting that freedom was inherent to humanity not an indulgence to be granted by a benevolent master. In virtually every other colonial territory black, brown and yellow men asked and pleaded and genuflected before the altars of the mother country, imbibing her language, institutions, culture but most importantly denying that we had any of those things to prove us worthy of being granted independence. Only in Haiti did black men take their freedom. Haiti disproved all the arguments and theories about the nature of man in general and the black man in particular. Haiti disproved Darwin and his theory that us Africans were savages requiring slavery for our own well being. Haiti disproved Hegel that Africans had no voice in history by indelibly infusing history with the most brutally eloquent free man''s creed. Haiti disproved Paine that Africans were simpletons incapable of comprehending the nature and meaning of liberty expounding its true meaning. Haiti defied the largest and most sophisticated armies and navies of the time. On that glorious New Year''s Day in 1804 Haiti declared for oppressed people everywhere that bondage was not the natural state of any man. Haiti became the threat of a good example. For this Haiti had to pay.

The retribution exacted from the only successful rebellion of enslaved people has been catastrophic. The US enforced a century long absolute embargo from 1806 and no other country traded with Haiti effectively crippling the nascent nation. American, Spanish and British naval vessels blockaded Haitian ports for several years to ensure that no rogue trader could defy the siege. Worst of all however was the unconscionable demand for reparations from the French Republic for the loss of its colony! Imagine that! In 1825, on behalf of former slaveholders the French government imposed an indemnity on Haiti as payment for recognizing it as a free nation. It threatened to wage war to re - colonize and re - enslave Haiti if the country did not pay 90 million francs. In todays dollars it amounts to more than $21 billion. Think about it carefully. The country continually derided as the a failed state, the poorest and most backward country in this hemisphere and chief among this benighted group worldwide has paid to France, one of the richest, more that $21 billion during the 165 years up to 1990. What would this money have done if spent to develop Haiti?

The ignorant and self despising among us like to ask the eminently silly question, how can we know that slavery and colonialism caused any tangible benefit to accrue to the imperialist nations? Haiti answers that question in dollars and cents. The US did not recognize Haitian independence until 1863 in the midst of its own civil war which was primarily about slavery. In addition to this indignity, Haiti was constantly harassed and several times invaded and occupied by the US as part of its Monroe Doctrine always under that useful fiction that we black people cannot rule ourselves. The longest occupation persisted for 19 years from 1915 to 1934. The US installed and maintained the barbaric reign of terror of the Duvalier family and its fearsome ton ton macoutes. It ensured that the only industries that were allowed to flourish unhindered were prostitution and drug and gun trafficking.

Perhaps however, the worst retribution exacted from the Haitian people has been the hate of their brothers. By this I mean that instead of honoring and venerating those great men like L''Ouverture and Dessalines as the heroes they are and reciting their deeds to our children and naming our sons after them like we would and have after great white men we have either despised their sacrifice or worse ignored it completely. Most of us have been so convinced that black skin is ugly and our natural hair is defective that we support a multi - billion dollar industry in skin bleaches and hair straighteners and weaves.

When we curse someone the first thing we can think of saying is how black the person is even when we are no different. It has been scientifically shown that we are far more likely to consider a person beautiful if his/her skin is light rather than dark and that we correlate dark skin with negative characteristics. In other words most of us have chosen not to be heirs of the Haitian revolution but rather to be what Walter Rodney called ''white men in black skins''. This is perverse and tragic, even sacrilegious. It denies the testimony that most of my readers claim to believe that we are made in the image of God.

Haiti is poor today because it was deliberately made so and kept so just like much of sub - Saharan Africa by wars either military or economic and cultural. To acknowledge this is not to have a slave mindset or to be stuck in the past or to have a "hand - out" mentality nor any of the tired pejoratives that are constantly bandied about. It is simply to state a fact that is very important to note because so many people think that the reason is that black people are somehow incapable of properly running a country. When black people can throw other black people to sharks for simply wanting a better life, when specifically Caribbean black people can do this to Haitians it shows how desperately we still need the Haitian Revolution. It shows how much we need to heed to the words of a son of this revolution and emancipate ourselves from mental slavery?

There are now several investigations underway in the Turks and Caicos Islands into this atrocity but whatever they find it is important that such action is denounced in the strongest terms. Migration defines Caribbean people and it simply beggars belief that movement within this region should attract such hostility on the part of the teapot tyrants that run these countries. With an almost comical regularity Caribbean politicians pontificate on sovereignty and protecting the jobs of locals from foreigners as an election gimmick mainly when their administration is bad to generate hostility towards Caribbean people. They certainly are not referring to the whites who they bend over backwards and race to the bottom against each other to see how low they can go to accommodate.

The competition between Antigua and St. Kitts for the Caribbean Star HQ is a recent example; remember the billionaire owner who bought prime airport real estate for 69c per square foot. I can only imagine how Antigua sweetened that deal. You see, teachers from other islands are not investing in our country. How tragic - comic it is to see how precious we hold these various ports on the routes of the slave ships when we are not desperately trying to get away and sneak into the US or Canada that is.

This state of affairs is not permanent, despite how bleak it seems. The modern age presents the opportunity to forge for ourselves a new identity founded on the principle defended with blood in the Haitian revolution. A first step would be for CARICOM leaders to end discriminatory policies against Haiti and instead concentrate on finding ways to be of assistance to our brothers across this Caribbean Sea. They can start by vocally supporting the Haitian demand for France to repay the unconscionable indemnity began by former President Aristide. They can continue by enacting immigration policies that recognize the contribution made by our own people migrating among these islands. When Toussaint LOuverture was kidnapped by the French, his last words to them were "in overthrowing me you have cut down only the trunk of the tree of liberty, it will spring up again from the roots for they are many and they are deep." We, as Caribbean people, need to draw our strength from those roots.

2007-06-04T11:46:00.000-07:00
Just came back from Annual Conference. Talked with Jean Michelle there. He heads the C.O.D. (committee on developement) in Haiti. We are encouraged to continue our support with hot lunch and school and other kits. In addition we are asked to look at self-sustaining programs that would give the Haitians a hand up not just a hand out. Ann Konczal has made a banner for our team to take to the church dedication on Ille la Vache June 10. It is beautiful. mjw<")))><

Going to dedicate church at Caille Coq

2007-05-08T12:23:00.000-07:00

Hi, This is 5-8-07 and the GT District Haiti UMVIM Team is getting ready to go to the island of Il LaVache for the 6-10-07 dedication of the church we built there. Our trip will be June6-12. Ann and Jerry Konczal, Carla and Michael Windover, and Jerry Losee will be going. I will try to add some photos of the church, although they are old now.. The red small building is the old church. It is now being used as a classroom for school.

Summary of trip 2-28 thru 3-8

2007-03-13T12:05:00.000-07:00
This is the front end of the church at Thomas 3-1-07. The church was dedicated last Fall. The church will serve as the mother church for the new StMarc circuit.
This is Thomas; church and school about 35 Km north of Port au Prince.

There are about 8 rooms in the school. When we left 3/8/07 two of them were almost finished with parging. With the money we left, the Haitians will be able to finish the parging, paint, and install electrical.

The last time we had completed the wall around the building. This time, we arrived to find the South end wall half destroyed. Apparently a property dispute has come up and the church needs to move the wall and metal gate. The man who owns the buildings in front of the church will take down part of his buildings to allow for access and a new gate location.

As promised by Rev Gessner Paul, the rear North end of the building has been parged since our last visit.

This is the secondary school tacked onto the church's building. It was errected on top of the basketball court we built for the kids. It sounds as though the secondary school will be told to leave. This presents problems for the community because they don't have money or property for a new one. 250 students currently attend the school.

Thur Last day

2007-03-08T02:58:00.000-08:00
We are up and packed. Leave for the airport at 6:30. Yeasterday I was too sick to go to work. Slept 12 hr, got up for the bathroom, slept 3hr, Carla got me up for group photo, slept, got up to a bite to eat, slept, got up -Carla wanted me to talk with Gesner Paul. Went to bed. Exciting day. I'll post pictures when we get home. Michael<")))><

Tuesday morning 3-7-07

2007-03-07T03:08:00.000-08:00
Hello, We all went to work yesterday. Jerry still doesn't feel well. Last night we stayed up until 11;30 printing pictures and glueing them on foam pieces. Then added sparkles. I think I am coming down with whatever Jerry had. This morning were back to printing pictures again. Yesterday Pastor Bernard brought his horse for us to ride upon. I had heard of this real neat idea somewhere so I blindfolded the horse and rider. Ha Ha - Couldn't resist Devon. Michael<")))><<

2007-03-06T03:34:00.000-08:00

Hi from Haiti, Yesterday we worked again. Same job: haul sand and gravel. It was a little better in the morning, but, after noon, the heat was pretty bad. We met a couple new friends. Sheryl played ball and jumprope for a little while. Carla and Sheryl painted fingernails. Jerry was sick so stayed back at the MGH. He is a little better now and will go to work today. We will not be painting this trip. The sand and gravel are in the way, so the painters will do the back outside wall when they come to paint the school. Last night we had a double treat. Sister Paulette Holly came to speak to us and visit. She is about as holy as flesh and blood can get. Also OJ's (driver and friend) sister and fiancee came to sing. She is a professional singer just gettingstarted. OJ sang with them and he is very good too. I tried out the printer by printing a photo of them before they left. They were delighted and surprised. Sheryl and I were up until 10pm printing photos of people at Thomas. There is another team here now. Actually they will be going home today I think. A couple of the folks worked on Thomas early on when the foundation was put up. They are from Shreveport LA UMC. Well, I have to get ready for breakfast now. More tonight. Michael<")))><

Sunday in Haiti

2007-03-04T13:49:00.000-08:00
Hello, Well, I guess pictures will have to wait until we get home. Today we worshipped at Thomas. We had brought the computer and projector down so we showed a power point program at the end of the service. They loved it. After church we went to lunch at the Olaffson Hotel. That may be the last time. The bill was too high. That's for nothing special. Then we went to see Jean Claude's house. He has it parged and ready for a floor. He still has to do windows and doors too. I'll have to go for now. Michael<")))><

Sat in Haiti 3-3-07

2007-03-03T16:52:00.000-08:00
Hello, Today we did go to Croix des Bouquet (quadah boo kay). We saw two things of interest. First we went to the Double Harvest Project. It was started by a Dutch bussinessman and is currently in Ethiopia and Haiti. It has many facets. It is an experimental agricultural site. It determines what crops are best for the area and how to best grow them. They train local farmers to grow them. They introduce the new crops and create a market then back out leaving the local farmers to take advantage of the market. They raise and sell ornamental plants and trees. They are developing a new style of housing to be made available for sponsorship for $2000 US. They are still working on this one. They are starting a trade school with 6-8 differant trades such as computer, electrical, plumbing, farming, etc. They have many other things going too. Everything is done from a Christian perspective infused throughout. While waiting at their clinic, people see evangelistic films and health education films. They start the day with devotions for all workers. The second thing we saw was the metal artisan area. At first all we could find was one poor shop on the main drag. Locals couldn't tell us where any other places were. Finally, we found a street that took us into an area of shops, about 8. We were greeted on the street by a young man who asked me to go see his shop. First we went across the street and saw his fathers shop. Then the man led us down an alley between two shops. After a short walk past some homes, we came to an intersection in the path. From here there were metal shops in three directions. I bought something at one where they wrapped it and took my money. I bought something at the next shop where they took it back to thefirst shop to wrap it and took my money. Then we went across the street to the best of the artisans according to the young man who Ann refers to as president of the local chamber of commerce. It was wonderful. Carla bought something there. Jerry I think bought his items at the second place and Sheryl at the first store in the rear area. It is really weird to walk off the street down between buildings into paths leading in all directions to find bussinesses. It is like a maze. I am going to try to send some pictures in a separate post but so far have been unable to send any. I will post pictures after getting home if I cant while down here. Michael <")))><

Thomas 3-2-07 Fri

2007-03-02T15:49:00.000-08:00
Hello from Haiti on Fri. We hauled sand and gravel at Thomas today. Everyone weathered the heat except me. I had to lay down for a couple hours. The workers are almost finished parging the first classroom. Sat we go to Croix des Bouquet. There is an agriculteral place there. Also the town is known for its metal art. Michael<")))><

Thur 3/1/07 evening

2007-03-01T15:12:00.000-08:00
Well, we are still alive and well (sort of) . It was a very,very,very,very HOT! day today. All of us were feeling the effects of the heat. Carla even got sick for a while. She is fine now. We met with Rev Gessner Paul this morning. He says that with the $7000 we gave him, the school can be finished with $900 Haitian dollars left. But if we could, another $1000 US left at the guest house might come in handy. Today there was a work crew who we helped by hauling gravel, sand, and cement so they could parge the class rooms. The back wall outside of the building has been parged. It still needs paint. They have started to build offices in the back yard. (not our project). We were really surprised when we arrived to find the driveway blocked off and a metal 2x4 with barbed wire fence down the middle of it. Also the end security wall in front was partially torn down. Apparently the owner of the property next door died and his sons say we are infringing on their land. They are right, but, the father had promised everything would be okay. Nope! It will have to be worked out by another way. Michael<")))><

This is Ann. From my view it was a very HOT day but, we managed inspite if the heat to assist our Haitian skilled labor. Somehow we managed to eat our PB&J sandwich lunch before the cook and cook's helpers informed us that we were invited to have Haiti Hot Lunch with the children. The sauce was made from goat and crab in a tomato base. At least Carla and I had a chance to sample the sauce. Was it ever delicious. Maybe they will invite again, I hope so. Seems we will be painting after all. The back wall of the building is now ready and we have 20 gallons of paint left from September. I think that is a project we will tackle on Monday or Tuesday in our spare time between hauling sand and cement. I love it here and wish you all could experience if with me. God Bless, Ann Konczal

Hi, this is Sheryl. Well, you already know it was HOT!! They have had more humidity for the last week or so, so of course it feels more warm. Hind sight, though, we had a pretty good day, but not such a productive one. We were able to enteract with many of the children and of course Pastor Bernard, so that was nice. We had huge mandarin tangerines for lunch, and those were delicious. We bought Pepsi and some other more local-type pop today. Mike got Banana, which was interesting, but didn't taste like banana at all, although it did smell like banana. There were lots of kids from past years, one little girl that was really cute and a little boy named Stanley who hung onto some ones hand as often as he could. The kids make it all worth the heat and the sweat and feeling yucky when you work too much. Take care and Jezi (Jesus) love to all, Sheryl

We have arrived!!

2007-02-28T17:03:00.000-08:00
Hello everyone. Well, we had a few delays when the plane from Bogota was late arriving in Miami. We had fun meeting new folks along the way. We finally got to Port au Prince. One arm Jackson was there to help us. It's around 8pm now and we have finished eating. In the morning we will meet here with Rev Gessner Paul to discuss the project at Thomas. Thanks again Rich for being our personal taxi. Michael <")))><

School at Thomas

2007-02-27T08:35:00.000-08:00
These are some of the rooms at the Thomas School. This is what we need to parge by adding cement to ceiling, walls, and floor. Then we can paint. Michael<")))><

Thomas Church/School

2007-02-27T08:22:00.000-08:00
This is Thomas Church/School in Haiti as it was at the dedication of the church in the Fall of 2006. The church is the upper portion . The school is the bottom. On Feb 28 07 , the Haiti UMVIM team from TBUM church will be "parging" the school and maybe painting. Parging is like thick stucco. Michael<")))><

2007-02-27T07:17:00.000-08:00

This is actually a picture of a previous team but most will be going Feb 28,07 too. From left: Ann, Sheryl, Dawn(not on this trip, but on another soon), Carla, "OJ"(driver), Jean Claude (interpreter), Jerry, Mike.
We are going to Thomas where we have been building a church/school for 9 years. The upper floor is the church which was dedicated last Fall. The bottom floor is the school which we hope to complete with this trip. Michael<")))><

Opening blog site

2007-02-27T07:03:00.000-08:00
Hi, I am attempting to start a blog site to keep people posted about our Haiti mission team. I hope to keep this current and have a link at traversebaychurch.org website.