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Our lives in rural Haiti revolve around the seasons, not winter, spring, summer and fall but dry season and rainy season. There are two rainy seasons in Haiti, October/November and April/May. These are usually the months when we go back to the US for board meetings and fund-raising activities and we’re glad to miss the rain! During these winter months, December through March, there is usually little rainfall, allowing us to accomplish a lot of activities in the communities and work on construction projects. Likewise, during the summer months of July through September, we try to schedule many of our community activities because the weather is dry.
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Last Friday, January 17th, marked the beginning of a new construction project for us up at our clinic site as we staked out the position for our open-air spiritual and community center. This center will be a place where we can hold worship services, community meetings, evangelistic services, community teaching and training of our volunteer Community Promoters. It will also be a place where we can sponsor community activities such as movies, Christian films and educational seminars. We are very excited about this new progress because it represents further development of infrastructure at our clinic site and allows us to provide new services and programs for our patients and the communities around us.
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We are grateful to Thomas Lee, an architect from NJ who has designed the building for us. It is an innovative design and we are excited about seeing it become a reality! Here is the design of the building:
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Floor plan for the open-air spiritual and community center
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Side elevation of the building which will have a tin roof
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Here are some scenes from Friday, when the contractors staked out the measurements for digging the foundation:
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Boss Galate (kneeling) sets up the lines that will mark the foundation of the building.
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Boss Galate makes the corner square as Gemi (our community coordinator) and Junior (pharmacy worker) look on.
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Haitian-made stake and tying line used to mark off the site.
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Looking towards the small end of the building, which will house a small store room, in which we’ll keep electrical equipment, projector and other materials secure.
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Looking towards the large end of the building which will face the main road going past the clinic.
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The building will be fenced off eventually with a gate leading onto the site in order to limit access to it. This is the site of our original clinic which was used for patient consultations from 2007, when we began, until 2014. The site has been prayed over by several church groups from the US and we feel that it has been truly blessed for the work that is to follow.
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It’s difficult in looking at these photos to envision the building in its final form, so you’ll have to stay tuned for occasional updates from us as the construction progresses! We also appreciate your prayers for the Lord to bless our efforts.
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