Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof


Here is a note from Cathy, a short-termer from Pennsylvania.

Have I told you all how hot it is down here…it is hot! Today’s temperature reached 99 degrees, although it felt like 111 degrees. It is supposed to get hotter this week—yeah!


Today’s expedition took me to the town of Bethel where we put up transitional housing. The 12-by-12 wooden/tin/wrap structures, designed to withstand hurricane force winds, will provide shelter for a family of eight. I helped put up one-and-one-half houses, mainly working on the tin roofs. I got to use power tools, too! The Haitian people are very grateful. Some are even putting in concrete floors.
After the work day, we got a history lesson on Haiti from a local 16-year-old boy whose knowledge of the country was quite impressive. And his English was excellent.
I am working with amazingly dedicated people. Wes has been here for four months with no end in site. Christine is committed to one year. Brian and Lorrie are here long term—building rooms for an orphanage. Byron is here for a month and Steve will be back and forth for several months. Donna will also be back again. I am in awe of their sacrifice.
We have a great local cook, Rosita, to cook our dinners. Absolutely delicious food. And I thought I was going to drop weight this week!
After dinner we took a team picture since two of our crew is leaving tomorrow. Then we played a vicious game of spoons—a free for all. Several people dove across the table onto the floor to retrieve the spoon. Aaaah, good times.

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