Day 4 - Second day of the Build

Today was a tough one. The work didn't flow on our work site today due to problems that led the major part of the day being stuck in troble shooting and problem solving mode. One of the differences between doing a general Habitat build (like I've done in New Orleans) and a blitz build in a third world country is that if you mess something up, you can't just go and get a fresh piece of material. The material supplies for this project are rationed out for each lot. If something goes wrong during your particular building process, it raises the issue of whether or not other build teams are (or will be) facing the same problems... which means that there is a lot of "hurry up and wait going on while things get sorted out. Couple that with a simple mistake in directions that leads to a bunch of wrong cuts and holes drilled into tin roof that were supposed to be done differently, and you wind up working to get back to where you started. That's how today went and it was very frustrating. Members of other teams stepped in and started our second house for us. Hopefully by the end of the day tomorrow we'll be at a point where we are being productive on both homes, but we'll see. The Haitian President (Martelli) visited the build site today. His enterouge was about four times the size of President Carter's. It's intersting how people in third world countries react in the presence of their leadership. As the extensive motorcade drove out the road behing the house we're working on, there were several Hatians running along side and yelling stuff. I've watched in movies this very scene a hundred times... it was a bit sureal for me to witness it first hand. Anyhow, we're told that Martelli is loved by the Haitian people and that he has a good and solid vision for his country. It was a big deal that he visited the build site today, and I think he's supposed to address us here at our base camp at some point. Speaking of noteable folks addressing us in the evenings after dinner, Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood performed for us tonight and it was really very cool... just Garth and a guitar singing and telling stories, and then accompanying Trisha as she sang a couple of her songs. It was a special treat for everyone, and me in particular after the kind of day I'd just had. So as I head for bed tonight, I'm in a good place. I'll be ready to get back at it again toomorrow. Good night.