Just An Update

Well, I didn't get the input I was hoping for regarding the crab. I've told myself that it's due to the fact that people are shy for some reason and didn't vote; not because only a couple people read this thing every week. I feel like the latter may be true, but that's ok. So for those of you who do read this, the crab's name is Rogue. However, I won't be able to let him know because I haven't seen him in the shower lately. He may have left us behind and is on to his next adventure.

Anyway, I'll get back to what I normally write about so my family doesn't thing I'm going crazy because I've decided to start naming crabs. Early this week we experienced some connectivity issues with the satellite for the internet. There were branches from a couple trees that were obstructing the signal. Some of the limbs were pretty high and long, and didn’t look safe enough to use the typical trimming method, which is to climb the tree and use a machete. We wanted to get a pole with a branch cutter on it, but no one seemed to have one. Instead, Chris borrowed a chainsaw chain and tied a piece of electrical cable on either side of the chain. We then threw the chain over a branch and used it to saw through the limb. Once we had cleared the satellite signal’s path, we moved to the top of the dorm building where the second story will be built. Some of the branches overhead will need to be cleared eventually, and we figured it would be smart to do it while we had the tool in hand.

On Tuesday Chris, Leslie, Olivia and I went to Port-au-Prince. Since the truck cab was full of passengers, I road in the back with the water filters. I made myself a nice little seat out of some bags of sand used for the filters and then sat back and enjoyed the ride. We unloaded about 34 filters at a women’s shelter where some of our friends work. They are helping to distribute these filters in Port to families that have made requests for them. After that Leslie and I went to get groceries, while Chris ran a few errands. Our last stop was at Matthew and Nels' home in Gauthier. Matthew, Nels, and their families have been working with Clean Water for Haiti to get filters installed in all the prisons. I wanted to show were they live on the map, but as I’ve found before, it can be hard to locate places in Haiti online. I know the town is east of Port-au-Prince, but I’m not exactly sure where.

On Wednesday I removed the front wheels on welding machine because the bearings were completely missing and you had to drag the welder instead of roll it to whatever location you wanted. I drilled a few holes and mounted the new wheels. It was probably the most straight forward work I’ve done here and everything seemed to install and work just fine. After that, Chris and I went to Saint-Marc to try and get more paint for the dorms. The store where we usually by the paint was closed. After talking to a guy sitting in a wheelbarrow outside the store, we learned that the owner was on vacation and no one was sure when he’d be back. After searching a lot of other locations, we were unable to find what we needed. Chris called Mike, a friend that lives in Montrouis but makes frequent trips to Port, and found out that he was in Port for the day. Chris asked him to pick up 6 of the 5 gallon buckets. Later that day, Mike stopped by with the buckets, and we were able to continue painting on Thursday.

On Thursday I headed to Port-au-Prince with Israel. The day before, we had started to install the windows for the dorm and a few of the rivets started popping off. Chris called Tebo, the store we purchased them from, and after doing a little research, they found that the day they manufactured our windows was the same day they were having trouble with their riveter. The riveter adjustment had been a little off and they would need to redo all the windows that we had purchased. Chris asked me if I would mind running them back and doing a few errands while I was in Port. I said that I thought I could handle it, and realized it was time to venture to Port without Chris. While Chris was drawing me a map of where to go, he started to tell me a story of what had happened once on the corner where Tebo is. Knowing how Chris' stories usually go, we both decided it would be better to hear it after I got back. Turns out that one of the people Chris and Leslie know had a bullet go through their window while they were pulling into one of the stores there. This was a few years back though, and I'm assured that things have settled down. From all the stories I hear, I'm glad to be in Haiti now and not a few years ago. I guess the UN is actually bringing some kind of stability, however temporary, to Haiti.

Our first stop in Port was at the Kia parts shop to get Jean a part for his truck. After that we headed to Tebo to drop off the windows and then we also bought a sheet of ¼” steel that we need to make filter molds. There weren’t any big surprises on the trip, which was a relief.

This morning Jean noticed a leak on the back left tire of the blue work truck. Chris and I pulled the wheel off and pulled apart the brakes and found one of the pistons was leaking brake fluid. Chris said that he had recently replaced the pistons in all the brakes. We found some dirt on one of the seals and cleaned it off. The only place to get parts for the truck is in Port, so we were hoping to solve the problem by simply cleaning everything and putting it back together. The brake pads had a good layer of oil on them, so we put them on a cookie sheet and threw them in the oven. After the brakes had baked for a while, and the house had filled smoke, we let them cool and then reassembled everything. Not sure if it has solved the problem yet, but we’re trying to be optimistic.

Everything Disassembled

Brakes After a 30 Minute Baking Session