Day four in Haiti

Day four started with a lot of mixing batches for Phil, Rory, Mike etc. I got a few guys on sifting sand (were running out!), splitting cement bags and fetching water from the cistern.

The bottle walls are now almost done. Especially the bathroom and cistern veneer. Everything was progressing smoothly until we were alerted to an incident that just occurred with one of the other organisations in the compound. Two expensive laptops holding the plans and data for a years work were stolen, and everyone was told to go to the entrance. This caused huge friction between the grassroots organisation (GRU), and the Haitian volunteers. GRU searched the compound, and finding nothing they confronted the Haitians. After some time our extended team members were sent home for the rest of the day. Disappointed and confused they left.

Me and the team pushed on and had to work a lot harder without our friends and co-workers. We dug the blackwater cell, plastered the bathroom floor to finish and filled the greywater cell with rubble, followed by earth. Phil and Rory plastered adobe inside, and increased the height of the gutter. But we all did these things slowly...

We worked hardest today I think, and with heavy hearts.

The evening though was fantastic! Brian and Paul convinced me to take a walk with them, and some GRU people, outside the compound to see some local people (and buy some chocolate if possible!). We walked for about 20 minutes and found a petrol station to buy supplies (Luxuries). We then continued on to a tent camp. We were invited to play domino's and drink a beer with some Haitian locals around a table, surrounded by a structure made out of corrugated metal, canvas sheets and reclaimed wood, all built around a live tree. It was definitely an interesting place. The guy who left the table to give us room turned and I realised he had at least 30 clothes pegs attached to his face! We soon learned that every time you lose a game you get pegs to clip to yourself as a forfeit.

The games were fun but confusing. The Haitian guys were fast and slammed their domino's onto the table, gittering everything and making the whole scene even more confusing. Me and Brian followed suite and soon we were all slamming domino's onto this old table, surrounded by a shanti structure, playing with people we had met only moments before, in the middle of a tent camp!

Me and Brian had a fantastic time and collected a lot of pegs.

Soon though we walked back to the compound and got some rest for the next day.