By Ed Chamberland
In December of 2020, I traveled to Camp Marie, Haiti with a construction team from PLH. Our task was to put up two buildings and complete some other miscellaneous projects. Here is my daily journal from our trip.
Day 1. It’s a building race. Wayne Howe’s team is putting up the welded steel trusses over the containers which will be the shop. Guy Barth’s team is putting up the prefabricated steel building which will start out for educational classes. Being the first day, the focus was on laying out the buildings on the slab foundations and making adjustments for everything that didn’t fit.
The Guesthouse. I do want to pass on major compliments to Guesly and Sarah and everyone who helped build the new guesthouse. It’s right across the road from the soccer fields. It’s great, and I have no doubt it will be a restful and peaceful place for many teams.
Day 2. Today was a good and productive day. Both building teams stood up all frames and trusses, and began to place the purlins. Lots of drilling and bolts.
The dirt crew worked on finishing the field drainage system, and finishing the entrance to the property (new pipe and rock). We also started a couple other projects and supported the building crew, literally, with the backhoe.
Day 3 was a great day. The building teams made good progress. Since I am not a building guy, I will just say they kept drilling and bolting and welding and putting more stuff up on the building frames. The metal siding began today, so the buildings will take shape quickly now.
The dirt crew stepped up their game today when the grader showed up, including an experienced operator. We tackled grading field #2 by the center drainage system. We finished constructing the new driveway connection from the upper building area down to field #1, and graded a new driveway connection from the upper fields down to field #3. Sob fine-graded them with a new drag we made for the mower, which was like icing on the cake. This makes all the fields easily accessible for people, mowers, cars, trucks, etc. We also staked and graded the main entrance road going from the main gate to the buildings with some nice looking crushed rock, sprucing up the entrance.
I had the chance to walk up to the top of the hill today. Best spot ever. My thought for the day was this. Toby Mac has a song called City on Our Knees. It reminds me of the PLH campus here in Haiti and the bright light that it will be for the community.
Soccer. The soccer teams showed up again for practice, like they do every afternoon.
Women’s Ministry Event. Laura, Amy, Sue, and Dixie had a craft night upstairs with over 20 ladies from the community complete with cake and worship.
Welcome to Day 4. For those that have been here before, you might know where this headed. You get so tired, you know the week is ending soon, your list ain’t done yet, you are making great friends, you don’t want to leave, but at the same time you can’t wait to get back home. It will hit hard tomorrow.
I feel like the building teams really shined today because the leaders, Wayne and Guy, are training their crews to work on their own. Putting up the metal siding and metal roofing was done mostly by the Haitian and American laborers with less and less directions from the leaders. It was a beautiful thing, and if you have led a team before, then maybe you can relate.
The dirt crew had the grader for another day. He worked on field #2 filling in low spots, and field #3 grading it out for use. He found a big wet spot in the middle that needs to dry out, but they can use the ends for practice. He also spread more gravel on the entrance road. The backhoe crew put in double 18” culverts and graded a better connection to the soccer trailer/athletic center and field #2. In fact, I would say that’s one theme of our little projects - better accessibility to/from the soccer facilities. We also rigged up version 2.0 and then 3.0 of the field drag for use behind the mower. Sob pulled it for hours today and made things look really good.
Day 5 and 6 together.
To make a long story short, the buildings got finished! The shop/container building finished first. The design turned out so good - like really, really good. It’s tall, spacious, airy and practical all at the same time. The garage/prefab building had a tough time due to missing parts and drawings that had discrepancies. Even still, the shell is 99% done and the inside ready for use.
The dirt crew did miscellaneous projects - putting out erosion control blankets, working on drainage, lifting welders and workers for the buildings, grading the entrance road, and general cleanup. The cleanup was a major effort as we worked towards an organized and nice looking site. At the end, we staked out the next round of projects - two basketball courts, two volleyball courts, and the public bathrooms. The courts fit great in the space provided between the entrance road and the soccer fields.
Building Dedication. The most special happening of the week occurred last night. Amy and Laura planned the first event in the new shop - a dedication of the two new buildings. We had lights, tables, chairs, decorations, music, and quite a smorgasbord of local food for a group of 50+ workers and guests. It kicked off when Benedic provided a prayer for the event, and an explanation of the new buildings for the local people. Then Wayne stood up and said a few words including thanking the workers for their efforts and all the people for their hospitality. That spirit of gratitude was shared by many on the team. It was a grand evening that truly marked the moment!
The team. There is no end to the shout-outs for those that made this happen. First, I want to recognize Bob Thatcher for his planning, designing, building, and being the overall construction manager of the trip. We lacked no tools (I think he has stock in DeWalt or something), and the 3 shipping containers included everything we needed (minus a few things the manufacturer omitted). Next, Wayne and Guy did so much putting up two buildings in a week! I know they loved working with their teams and training the guys. At the end of the day, they just get things done, and the results are amazing. We have about 120 years of experience between those 3 guys. How invaluable for PLH! I want to also highlight Josh Bentz for his patience running the backhoe with like 17 people telling him what to do all week long with many not-so-glorious jobs to boot. The two young bucks on the crew were Bryce Whieldon and Logan Classen. It was nice to see them jump in on blended teams and grow their skills. Cool experience for them. Next, (I know this is long) kudos to the Haitian PLH staff too. We have a great crew of about 10 who contribute a lot and who I call good friends after two trips. Benedic is the leader and I respect and trust him more and more each time I see him.
Thanks to God for this opportunity to serve and do his work. I believe He was onsite too, keeping people safe, providing everything we needed, and allowing special relationships to grow. At the end of the day, I believe it’s all about living out and sharing the love of Christ with and for each other.