St. Joseph's Home - Construction Progress

The first time I was in Haiti was in May 2010. It was 4 months after the earthquake. It had been 4 months since St. Joseph's School for Boys had been ravaged and Bill the director had fallen from the 7th story to the ground below, saved from being crushed by the rubble only by the strength of a sturdy tree that held it back.

May 2010- St. Joe's demo'ed down to the 3rd story & the tree that saved Bill's life

At that time 4 stories of the building, had already been demolished, by hand, by workers with pickaxes and hammers. They were working on the 3rd story demolition and plans for the new St. Joseph's were in the process of being developed, in the same location, just sturdier and not built so high.







When I returned in August 2010 with our first group of volunteers, the demo was finished and the foundation was in the process of being dug out. Our volunteers jumped right into the swing of things, hauling buckets full of earth from an ever deeper hole in the ground, passing each up through a chain of helping hands, all working together towards the same goal.

August 2010 - Digging out the pit

In November 2010 I returned again with my husband and the hole was deeper still, at the final stages of digging. Chris jumped in to the work and added to the progress.

November 2010 - Final stages of digging the foundation

November 2010 - View into the pit (Bill's tree on the left)

It's the end of March 2011 and we are back. The foundation has been dug and rebar sticks straight out of the ground in patterns that are beautiful, if only in their significance as a future opportunity for so many children.

March 2011 View from the Pit

March 2011 View into the pit - rebar foundation!