Letter from Raymond
Greetings to all:
Hurricane Matthew hit the west end of Haiti real hard. Food-bearing trees are all gone. Everything in their gardens is gone. The only thing left is the sweet potatoes. No leaves left on anything.
We lost three churches. Many homes are completely gone. Homes made with block walls lost their roofs.
Of the roofs we put on two years ago, only three of the 176 that we built were blown off. Those that went down stayed intact so they raise up one corner that allowed them to crawl under the roof for a place to live. Making a hip roof was a wise move because there is no gable end for the wind to catch. The cost of the roofs was $ 150 each. A water cistern was added to 116 homes. The water cisterns all stayed. They generally get adequate rain to keep water in the cisterns. They were built round, aboveground, built of rocks, cement mortar, and rebar, for a cost of $140 each. They hold 800 gallons each. The 116 cisterns would hold a total of 85,000 gallons of water. To fill them one time with 5-gallon buckets on your head, you would make 17,000 trips to the spring 2-3 miles away and 2500 feet of elevation to climb.
The road work is going on. About two years ago, a new 320 CAT excavator was donated to us. It is a great difference in the road building. We had many hairpin curves to build. The excavator can cut a curve much faster than the dozer since the excavator can turn 360°, so there is no corner for it.
One of the roads we changed, where the road followed the riverbed for about a mile. After they got through the river, they had built the road by hand, many years ago, up the mountain that was so steep that the passengers had to get off the means of transport and walk to the top of the incline and board again. Quite often the trucks would power out and start rolling back. When the brakes failed, they rolled over the shoulder of the road, losing their load and truck. Often people were killed. We made a new road over another mountain which made the road much flatter and no one has to walk up the mountain anymore. Now the road only crosses the small creek one time. This has made such a big difference in this area.
We’re making plans for a second bridge to arrive on October 1, 2017. After this bridge is installed, they will be able to drive from one side of the island to the other and never get into the river. The bridge we installed in 2014 withstood the storm in great shape.
We still had many requests for roads today. We are training another Haitian brother to run the dozer. Kevin has been with us for about 12 years. He is doing a great job of running the motor grader, dozer and excavator. I heard a number of the older man make this comment “You sure did a good job of training Kevin and he knows what he’s doing.”
Because of the roads, we have built there is a new hospital in Villa replacing the old one we built several years ago. The earthquake made the older hospital unfit to use. Red Cross came in and build a new bigger hospital. It is completed and running. When we built the first hospital, we spent about $100,000, now Red Cross spent $1.2 million
A group from Switzerland has been building nice two-room homes in the area which include a cistern and an outhouse. So far they have built 1300 homes. They did a survey and chose the poorest of the poor to build for. These houses are built along the roads we built in this area. Another group from the USA, call Water for Life, has drilled water wells and put hand pumps in. The wells are along these roads. If it hadn’t been for the roads we have built, they couldn’t have gotten their equipment into drill water wells. Any time a well breaks down they will come and repair it for $15.00. It seems the roads sponsor other improvements, which lend to quality of life.
When we came home at the end of October this year, the community leaders came together the evening before we left to thank us for all that we’ve done for their community. There were four community leaders, one was the sheriff, the other was the director of the school and the other two are community leaders.
They started out this way, “We want to first thank God, then, you for all what you’ve done for us”. Each spoke for themselves. I then told them it wasn’t me that made this happen. God had a big hand, plus we’ve got a lot of help from other people to get this done. Thanks go to you, our supporters, to provide the wherewithal to get the work done.
I told them how Kevin, 18 years ago asked us to help him go to mechanic school. Never did I think that we would ever use his expertise and get it back our investment back. I told them how he had fixed the transmission problem himself.
I told them also, that God lead us to North Carolina to find the dozer. Which had a 6-way angle blade. At the time, I didn’t know just how much we needed that adjustability.
After the community leaders left, this scripture 2 Corinthians 9:10-15 came to my mind. The next Monday morning one of the leaders was visiting with our missionaries and explaining how God helped us.
Many years ago, a little boy, now a senator, which Vera gave of a piece of bread every morning and that bread keeps coming back. The senator has helped us in many ways to make your operation better, cutting through the red tape.
Roads are for everyone’s use and are there every morning for them to use. No one can steal them. We ask the community that has asked us to build a road for them to pay for the fuel.
If it wasn’t for God’s help and your help, we couldn’t have done what we have.
Thank you
Raymond
2 Corinthians 9: 10-15
10. But he that ministered seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your own seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness.
11. Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God.
12. For the administration of this service not only supplieth the wants of the saints but is abundant also by many thanksgivings onto God.
13. While by the experiment of this ministration, they glorify God for your possessed subjection onto the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal distribution onto them, and onto all men. (highlight is Raymond’s)
14. And by their prayer for you, which long after you for your exceeding grace of God in you.
15. Thanks be unto God for the unspeakable gift.
