design, build, learn. repeat.

Extremes

Week number 4 in Haiti, kay number 3, seems to be a week of at least two extremes. First, it’s hotter than it has been; we’re on an exposed ridge without any immediate tree cover, and the sun has been beating down. In the evenings, though, a brisk breeze begins to whip through and it cools down significantly. The second extreme is one of beauty; this kay is in the most spectacular setting of the ones I’ve built so far. The local road, a rugged dirt track, runs along the ridge and the house is right on the road. On …

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A typical work day

Work continues to go very well on the second house. The crew is working hard and we’ve improved on some of the details that were missed last week. The trusses and purlins are up, the front and back doors are installed, and we’re looking at a good chance of finishing up tomorrow, ahead of schedule. Work days here tend to follow a routine. People are up early, around 6-6:30. There’s no full breakfast, but the family serves bread with very sweet strong coffee and sometimes hot chocolate as well — all grown right here. We work until lunchtime, have a …

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Haiti: Week 3 Begins

I’m now in my third week in Haiti, and today was the second work day on the second of six kays (houses) I’ll be building. This will be an interesting week. It’s the only week for which I’ll have no American volunteers, just the Haitian crew. That’s fine, it’s just an extra challenge to have no recourse to English if a complicated issue comes up! On the other hand, I’m learning a lot, both language-wise and about the greater context in which I find myself. We took a long walk through the mountains after work today, and the homeowner proudly …

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Haiti Days 1-3

Saturday, April 13. Arrived at the Port-au-Prince airport and through a crowd of red-shirted porters found the folks who were there to pick me up. With a stop for groceries and a SIM card the drive through heavy traffic to Léogâne, our home base, took about two hours. The amount of action on the street is incredible: tap-taps and motos weave their way around each other in constant near-catastrophe; men and women, well-dressed and shabby alike, line the sides of the road; endless vendors sell mangos and lottery tickets; lines build up at the gas stations due to the current gas …

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Building an Incentive Kay

I returned this past Saturday from my week-long trip to Haiti with the Building Goodness Foundation (BGF). The trip was a great experience, although there are plenty of challenges involved in working in the poorest country in the western hemisphere. Not least, I was sick and well below 100% for three of our five work days, but luckily we had a great team of American volunteers and Haitian carpenters and the construction went without a hitch. The house is small by most standards, 12′ by 20′, although not too small because many aspects of Haitian life, such as cooking and …

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Terre-de-Bas tourist center inaugurated

This news dates back to March 16, but I just recently found the picture that truly drives it home. This time last summer I was in Guadeloupe working with a group of students from VISIONS Service Adventures on a project to convert an open-air pavilion into a tourist welcome center for the small island of Terre-de-Bas. We left the project substantially built but unfinished — lacking paint and many finishing touches. Well, the local community stepped up to finish the job in style. The new tourist welcome center was inaugurated in March, in a ceremony that included the mayor of …

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New tourist welcome center for Terre-de-Bas

The Office de Tourisme of Terre de Bas asked VISIONS to help convert an open-air pavilion near the port into a tourist welcome center where information about the island and its attractions could be displayed to the public as they disembarked from the ferries. Measuring just over 5 by 6.5 meters (17 by 21 feet), the existing structure included a roof, posts, and partial walls. The project entailed creating an information counter, office space, and display space that would occupy the rear two-thirds of the pavilion. This space would need to be fitted with awning windows and doors so that …

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Guadeloupe, le bilan

As I mentioned in my last post, I spent six weeks as a summer program leader in Guadeloupe for VISIONS Service Adventures. It was great! The work was very intense and often stressful, but it was worth it to experience a new and special place alongside a great group of staff and participants. (Bilan is the French word for assessment or report and in Guadeloupe it also referred to our group debriefing and sharing session, held every other day.) Read on for more pictures and words!

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Je vais à Guadeloupe!

I’m lucky to have found an excellent summer job, one that will take me back out of the country for about 5 weeks this summer. I’m heading to Guadeloupe, a French island in the Caribbean, as a trip leader with a program called VISIONS Service Adventures. VISIONS runs community service programs for teens that blend volunteer work, cultural immersion and adventure. Here’s some information from VISIONS’ own website: In Guadeloupe, we’ll be living in a fishing village on the small island of Terre-de-Bas. Our service projects may include renovating public buildings, paving walkway,  landscaping, and trail maintenance. Participants will work with …

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My travel experiences.