Phase two, day three

Brick by brick the school is going up. The 300 bricks that were purchased will make the exterior walls of the school, as well as a storage room. The concrete pillars are taking longer than expected. There was more damage to them than expected. The solution was to break a few of them down to the re-bar and build them back up. They should all be completed today.

The dump truck load of sand, cement mix and bricks are all the mediums in which a mason can create his masterpiece. This school is being built by members of Claude's church. One engineer working this job was with Claude when they built his first school here. This rebuild is a bitter sweet project for him.

Check out this video from Carlos: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3083877/Phase%20Two%20Day%20Three.mov

Phase two, day two

Today was filled with planning and measuring. The construction of the new school is a dream come true for many teachers, administrators and children. The building represents progress and the Carrefour neighborhood is buzzing with the progress of New Generation School. We heard today, that a school down the road wants to hire the workers we've employed to rebuild their school. What an great by-product of the "Raise this Roof" project. These men and women workers can now have a sense of stability knowing they can bring in income to their families for the next couple weeks.

Today was payday for many of the demolition workers. They worked hard through the heat and dust to complete the demolition in 3 days. The average worker gained $6 a day. They were ecstatic to get paid.

The carpenters, masons and cement mixers will receive pay when the roof is completed.

Phase two has begun

Demolition of phase one is complete. The Second Phase of "Raise this Roof" has now begun. The pillars are being reinforced, the west wall is going up and repairs were made to strengthen the foundation.

The project has been running so well since it's conception. No major injuries or problems have occurred. Thank God.

The 19 workers today consisted of masons to sand sifters. The jobs are becoming more specialized and fewer people are trained in these jobs. We haven't had any trouble filling these spots, due to the numerous people looking for work.

Thanks for your continual support.

Carlos explains the project's current status on this video.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3083877/Phase%20Two%20Day%20One.mov

Day Three: Demolition of Raise this Roof

A lot of energy was spent today removing the rubble. One wheel barrow broke under the constant strain of the concrete loads, but nine continued on. There is still a small portion of rubble remaining, but it will be cleared out by tomorrow. The re-bar was untied and is now completely removed. Carlos along with Pastor Claude bought lumber and supplies to make the braces for the roof.

After lunch, two crews switched over to breaking rocks and sifting sand. These materials are being prepared for our concrete. This mixture will be used to pour new and repair the existing pillars for the roof.

Check out this video:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3083877/Phase%20One%20Day%20Three.mov

Day Two: Demolition of Raise this Roof

37 jobs were gained through today's progress. The ceiling of the building is completely down and the iron throughout the building is being untied. The school is hoping to salvage 80% of the iron to save on cost. The wheel barrows were smoking as the rocks and stones were being transported down the street to the dump site. Hundreds of trips were made and the rubble is gradually becoming less and less.

Pastor Claude was excited at the progress of work at his school, he began to dance. Check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGeVQfWxkIk

The neighborhood has heard that New Generation School is offering jobs. This morning, many people were turned away, due to lack of tools and jobs. The people we are able to offer jobs to, worked diligently. We realize we cannot help everyone, but we can help some.

Check out this short video:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3083877/Phase%20One%20Day%20Two.mov

Day One: Demolition of Raise this Roof

We started demo of the existing collapsed school building at 8:15am this morning. 30 signed up to work for an 8 hour day. The day went so well. The men equipped with the sledgehammers are studs! They swung those hammers all day. I picked one up to help out and I was winded after 15 secs. I conceded and gave the 50 year old man back his hammer.

I am pleased with the progress of the demolition for phase one. I look forward to more tomorrow.

I'll try and keep up with the fit Haitians.

Here's a quick video download.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3083877/Phase%20One%20Day%20One.mov