Mission Trip to Haiti: Day 3

The day started like every other day, waking up to a bright and sunny world at 5:15am.  We got our work clothes on and headed to the large room for breakfast.  We were taking a larger group than expected to the worksite, since the group from Ohio was still in town.

After breakfast we started to figure out car assignments for getting to the worksite.  We needed 3 cars to get there.  Though the job site was only 12 miles away, almost everyday it took us 1.5 hours to get there.  Today was no exception.  We took 2 cars and 1 "tap-tap."  A tap tap is a painted pick-up, usually painted in bright colors and religious pictures.  Literally, it means "quick, quick."  The pick-up bed is equipped with "benches" and is covered with the top of a ford bronco like vehicle.  It was interesting to say the least. You would be right to assume there is no seatbelts or windows that roll up in the back.  Somehow we managed to get 12 Americans in the back of it.  We were proud of ourselves until we started to drive down the road and realized Haitians often fill a tap-tap with 15-20 people.

Haitian tap-tap

Once the roller-coaster ride of the tap tap was finished and we arrived at the job site, we realized how mammoth of a job we had on our hands.  The foundation was poured, but that was it.  We had to lay the block, build the trusses, create the bond beam, and make doors for this house.  All in 6 days.  I guess that's why we immediately got to work and started cutting wood and laying block.  It was a very productive day.  We got all 10 of the trusses built and blocked almost half of the house in the first day.  It helped that we had 8 Haitians helping us, but like us, most of them had never worked on one of these projects before.

A look at the house at the beginning stages

On our way home we again got to ride in the tap-tap, but when it arrived it had a flat tire.  Being from America, I assumed that he would get out and put on the spare tire, but instead he pulled out a bicycle pump and began pumping up his tire.  It was shocked!  

The car ride home was one for the memory.  The tap-tap broke down 3 times and the benches we were sitting on broke too.  Two times the driver had to stop to add more brake fluid and once he had to stop to add more tire pressure to the tire.  I was glad we made it home safely.

All but one of our team members baggage arrived today.  He took it with stride though and it would arrive tomorrow.  Dinner and the rest of the night were good.  It was nice to be home and relax after a hard day of work.