Closing down

It is Tuesday evening and by now the remaining four of us have all returned to our homes.  Amazingly, this morning, Gene's fever had broken and he redeveloped his appetite and felt fine all day.  His sending church held a special prayer session last evening for him and he is certain that the abatement of the fever was a direct answer to their prayers.  God is good, all the time.  Satan has been hard at work the entire time of this work trip, and you can sense that from a number of posts.  Haiti is definitely a dark place, but God is at work in the country.  YWAM is a beacon of light in this dark country and we are convinced that the small amount we played in the work of this mission will just help them in their efforts to take the Gospel message to their neighbors.  Pray for Haiti.

This concludes the I-TECblog for this memorable trip.  As each team member retells the story to their home churches and friends you will gain a lot more insight as to what happened these past three weeks. 

Starting for Home

Today we spent some time on the roof and around the grounds of the Ears to Hear complex in Barahona.  We measured roofs for potential Solar Panels.

We took some photos of our host family as we prepared to head to the capital city of Santo Domingo, DR.

The property has a lot of potential and many short term mission teams will continue to go through the doors to minister to the local communities in Barahona.

On our way to Santo Domingo, we again passed many acres of sugar cane and bananas.  We went through a number of towns and lots of traffic.  Even this wheelchair hitched a ride on the back of a motorbike.

At present we are at the Plaza Yu Hostel in Santo Domingo awaiting the alarm clock at 3:50am to meet downstairs with our luggage for the trip to the airport and the beginning of our journey home.

Gene is still suffering high fever and there is a possibility he has malaria.  He has a doctor appointment first thing Wednesday, and we are hopeful that whatever he has is not long lasting and does not have any long term effects.  We appreciate your prayers for our journey.

We have worked on the YWAM project and the Agricultural Project near Bon Repos.  We have looked at the radio station in Saint Marc, the Mission of Hope project in Carries, discussed the second project site for Mission of Hope, the Solar needs at Dr. Morquette's home, and the potential needs of the Ears to Hear project in Barahona.  So, this trip has had many different facets to it and we will be working on the survey results for weeks to come once we arrive at home.  This is what we do and we certainly thank you for your interest in I-TEC. We will let you know our homeward progress and close out this blog.

Sunday in the DR

Last night the neighbors ran their PA system all night long, playing Dominican music.  It was a bit difficult sleeping, and I was hopeful that the passing thunderstorm might arrive here and slow things down a bit, but it didn't happen.  That, plus the dog that barked non-stop all night long, kept some of us awake.  It helps to use ear plugs with noise cancelling headphones but they don't make for the most comfortable sleep...

Anyway we awoke this morning and after breakfast we went to a local church.  The pastor and his wife are sent from the Calvary Chapel in Delta, PA.  He had a good message.  We did the best we could to sing along with the Spanish worship music, but only one song did I recognize. 

We came back here and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and catching up on some of the surveys we have done this trip, as well as some preparation for such things as Missions Committee meetings coming up this week once we arrive back in the US.  Even a short afternoon nap was helpful...

This evening we made contact with our generator people  back home regarding the generator end problems we had on Friday.  This was very helpful conversation and it seems we did not have enough original information as to how to set up the voltage sensing on the Automatic Voltage Regulator, so the fix to all this seems like it will be easily done by one of the technicians from DynaTech in the near future.  This is a relief to us as we breathed a sigh of relief knowing that we didn't do anything wrong.

Gene F. has been suffering with a high fever since we were at Dr. Morquette's house in Port au Prince.  Symptoms seem to be in the area of possible malaria, but we are hopeful it is just a passing fever.  This evening his fever broke, so we are relieved.  He has had a lot of sleep since coming here and perhaps the neighbors will be a bit quieter this night allowing all of us to sleep better.

We will conclude our measurements here in the morning and will pack up and leave this place sometime around noon.  The DR is on Atlantic Time so we are an hour ahead of the Eastern US here, but in Haiti we were on Eastern Time and even matched the US in changing from Daylight Savings time to Standard Time.  My laptop does not indicate the change but my cell phone picked it up.

We would appreciate your prayers as we head to Santo Domingo tomorrow afternoon where we will stay at a hostel there overnight.  Our flight to the US leaves Santo Domingo around 6am on Tuesday and we travel through Miami to Reagan National in Washington where we will be picked up by one of our volunteers who left Haiti on Sunday.

It has been good to meet the staff family here at the Ears To Hear Mission in Barahona.  They are the host family here who quit their US jobs, sold their home and moved here, seeking to do God's will wherever it takes them. They have five children, the youngest being age 12.  They are learning firsthand what it takes to put all their lives and possessions in God's hands and relying on Him completely.  They are a good example to all of us.  We have also met their pastor and his wife and another family of three who have done the very same thing and are all ministering here in Barahona.

At some time in the future we may return here to install a solar array on their concrete roof, which is facing the right direction for optimum sunlight.

I do not know if we will have Internet where we are going in Santo Domingo, but I will somehow let you know when we arrive safely there or in Miami on Tuesday.  Thanks for following along.

First evening in the DR

We traveled today from Dr. Morquette's home to the location where we had transferred luggage last evening to see if there was a possibility that Gene's bag might have been spotted by someone honest.  This was not meant to be.  We are hopeful that whoever has the bag will find the devotional book inside and read it and receive a changed heart.  We have let it all in God's hands now.  The bag and all that was inside are all replaceable.  The loss is probably between $1500-$2000, so whoever gets their hands on it will probably have a field day.  It doesn't make it feel any better at this end, though.  But it is not the first time someone has lost something valuable in travels.  I personally lost a toolbox worth more than $1000 while working for a mission organization locally.  I know what it feels like.

After leaving that location Dr. Morquette took us to the airport where we were met by Claudy from YWAM.  Claudy then took us to the Dominican Republic border.  The ground border crossings usually take a lot longer than the ones in the airports and this proved true here.  We were told that we might have to carry our bags across, but we were fortunately able to be driven across by Claudy.  This was good as the walk would have been more than 1/4 mile.  Imagine carrying two 50lb. suitcases and two carry-ons that kind of distance.  Anyway we were met at the DR side by Todd, who is in charge of the guest house here in Barahona, Dominican Republic.  We are blessed to have limited Internet here at the guest house.

The DR is like a different world from Haiti.  Outside of Port au Prince we traveled over a mountain range and this was likely more than 3000' elevation and may have been more.  The view up there is breathtaking. 

Gene H. rode in the back of the pickup truck with Claudy's brother and all of our luggage. Once we were inside the DR the scenery changed drastically.  Farmers here actually have tractors, there are massive farms, the roads are much better, and there are trees on the mountains.  Since the making of charcoal is forbidden in the DR, the trees are not stripped off the hills like they are in Haiti.  The huge sugar plantations just are unbelievable, also they grow rice and bananas here in abundance.  And coffee, but we did not see that as it has to be grown above 3000 feet elevation.  The last few pictures are from the guesthouse with one facing toward the Atlantic Ocean from the balcony.

 Roads are being improved in Haiti and it looks like it is being done by a company from the DR.

 The mountains in the DR have trees...

 And the big Domino Sugar plantation must be thousands of acres.

Frustration

Today is Friday and it has been awhile since we were able to post to the blog.  Yesterday we were asked to go to a local Nazarene church to give them some ideas as to how to be able to provide power for their radio station.  This was very close to YWAM.  We will likely propose a small solar installation for them.

After this we visited the nearby YWAM Homes Of Hope projects and looked at the existing electrical service there to give some suggestions.  After that we visited a new property purchased by YWAM that will house a guest facility and staff housing for local conferences and work teams.  This project is in the very beginning stages, but looks like one that I-TEC will fit into very easily.  We look forward to more communication on this project.
After all this we were transported to the agricultural foundation that is part of a very large complex near Bon Repos, a nearby city to Port au Prince.  Our task was to install a new generator end onto an existing and non-functioning generator.  When we were on the way the roads reminded us of many rural places we have been in Africa and other places.  Once we got started working on the generator, we were pleased to find that the Haitian workers there had some tools that made up for some we were missing.  They also had a nearby crane truck that showed up and was ready to hoist the generator into place, but we needed more time, so we instructed him to come back tomorrow (today).
As daylight time was getting away from us we went to a guest house that is one of the units being built by this foundation. The foundation guesthouse provided us with a good meal before returning to the unit where we would spend the night.  There was no electricity at the unit and on our return to it a torrential thunderstorm was pounding on the metal roof making a deafening sound, so we just turned in for the night at around 8pm. 

This was the new generator end.  It probably weighs somewhere around 700lbs. so the crane truck was essential.

Here is one of the units like we stayed in.

 Mosquito nets were a must tonight!

Well, we worked hard  today to change out this generator.  We discovered we needed to remove the connector plate from the old unit and put it on the new one to make a good fit.  However we needed a very large (14mm) Allen wrench, which we did not have in our possession.  One of our Haitian friends did have this tool, so we did not give up at that point, but were able to successfully connect the generator to the motor flywheel.  As we were finishing this we discovered that the wiring harness to the motor had some major shorted wires in it.  After an hour or more of taping and replacing wires we felt we might be ready to turn the generator on and see what voltage it would put out.  As it turned out it seemed OK, then there was a flash and a "pop" at the head end of the generator (not the end we connected to the motor).  Voltage discontinued being stable and correct, so as darkness was nearing again we were unable to let this unit be in service for this foundation.  After some discussion with one of the technicians at DynaTech, we agreed that the Automatic Voltage Regulator and an MOV probably were the culprits in this failure.  I was assured that it is all fixable and we will begin negotiations with DynaTech to send one of their technicians to Haiti to correct this problem as well as do some fine tuning to the system at YWAM.  We were, needless to say, frustrated that the mission was not accomplished as hoped.

After this we were transported to a location where we would meet with Dr. Morquette of King's Hospital.  This trek took us through rush hour traffic in Port au Prince as we just literally crawled most of the way.  Once we met Dr. Morquette we traveled with him to his home where we were treated to a wonderful meal and fellowship with other missionaries staying at his home.  When we arrived at Dr. Morquette's home we discovered that Gene F. was missing one bag of luggage, a bag that has his wallet and credit cards and some cash in it as well as some expensive electronic equipment.  We do not know where or when this bag might have been misplaced or stolen.  This is a devastating ordeal for anyone, and certainly for Gene.  After our meal at Dr. Morquette's, the entire team sitting around the table (that consisted of a family from Quebec as well as two pastors) prayed that this lost bag could possibly be returned to its rightful owner, or at the least, that God would use this in someone's life for good.  One good thing is that Gene had his passport in another bag that did arrive with us.

So, the frustration of today was some of what Satan uses to cause us to stumble.
1.  Rough travel
2. Not having all the right tools
3. Being unable to successfully complete a project
4. The loss of a very valuable piece of luggage

God knows where the luggage is at and he knows all about the generator.  We are heading to the border crossing to the Dominican Republic first thing in the morning tomorrow.  We will only be able to communicate with home if there is adequate Internet and WiFi at the mission we are going to survey.  Our Haitian phones and this modem stick which is using my Haitian phone SIM card will expire at the border.  So we are unable to know if we will be able to post more to the blog, but I am hopeful that we will be able to do so.  At any rate, please pray that we will be able to rest in God regarding all of this, and that the rest of our time in Haiti and the DR is without incident.  Thanks for your interest and prayers.

Last Wednesday in Haiti

Today was another busy day at YWAM for the I-TEC team of Tom, Gary, Gene F., and Gene H.  We finished relighting the cafeteria with LED fixtures and this has been very good.  We removed sixteen fluorescent fixtures drawing 80 watts each and replaced them with eight LED fixtures drawing 30 watts each.  We have essentially the same amount of light for about 1000 watts less electricity.  As I look out at the Arena, I can visualize replacing the twenty-seven 400-watt fixtures with LED fixtures for a similar reduction in electricity.  Perhaps another time...

We replaced a pole and light fixture at the guard station at the main entrance.

Would you say it needed replaced?

Another thing we did today was to give some training to the workers at YWAM for generator maintenance.  This was well received and we are convinced that the equipment will be well taken care of.

One thing that may be taken care if by our sister generator company in the next few weeks or months is a slight leak on the generator head gasket.  All of the other leaks have been closed up.

This evening we attended church with the YWAM family.  In the morning we will visit a local ministry that has asked us to look at their electrical needs.  We may also visit the YWAM Homes Of Hope project site not too far away.  After that we will be picked up by someone who will transport us to our next job site near Port au Prince.  We are hopeful that we will have the tools and information we will need to make this generator changeout.

If we have internet in our travels after YWAM, it may be in short supply.  I have so far been unable to update the blog using my cell phone, so unless we can get to a place that has Internet we may be limited.  We moved up our travels to Port because we were told that the border crossing into the Dominican Republic is usually closed on Sunday when we were going to cross it.  So we are planning on doing that on Saturday instead, as our time will slip away quickly before we have to be in Santo Domingo for the flight home on Tuesday morning around 6am. 

Into the Light

Today was Tuesday and the four of us kept busy putting up lights, mostly.  I, Gary, spent about half the day troubleshooting the wiring done by a recent team in the new Depot shop.  The electrical work there looks like it was done with what equipment was available at the time.  In some of the wall boxes the mounting screws protruded too far into the box or PVC conduit and shorted into the wiring inside it.  Anyway the shop is now in usable condition.

Tom and the two Gene's worked on lighting on the new poles.  We have been putting up 40-watt and 30-watt LED fixtures.  At night when these are lit up, it almost seems the 30-watt fixtures outshine the 40-watt ones.  At any rate they are very good fixtures. 

After working on the shop and poles, we moved down to the dining hall to install new lighting there.  The present setup is open 2-tube fluorescent fixtures and we are in the process of replacing these with some of the 30-watt fixtures mentioned above. 

The photos show some of the work we have done in the last few days. (If I can upload them)  The generator has run through several cycles now and is working flawlessly.  The leaks have been fixed and what remains to be done pertains to the second generator, which is presently not in running condition due to most likely needing the control board replaced. In the remaining days we have here we will continue to install lights where we can as well as doing some cleaning up of leftover materials.  We have made contact with the next mission we will visit on Thursday.  Then on Friday we will move on to a project near Port au Prince.  From there we will go to the Dominican Republic for a finial survey and flight home.  That will be in less than one week now.

Just to show you our accommodations the men of the team have had over the last week, this photo is the men's dorm.  Some nights the sounds inside the room outdo the sounds outside.  I have probably slept pretty "soundly" myself from time to time.

Second Monday

Today there were only four of us working here at YWAM.  We really sweated today as it seemed hotter than any day we have been here so far.  In the morning we all worked together to get a few light fixtures onto some of the poles.  We alwo installed one on the Arena above the entrance gate.  Later this evening we were happy to see all of the fixtures working.  Some of these were installed onto the inverter circuits at various locations.  Those fixtures will be lit all night, while others will only light when the generator is running.

The couple who came in from Bellingham, Washington, brought our relays that were needed to get the system working the way we want it to work.  Gene H. worked on several leaks on the generator and now has it totally leak-free.  He also helped as we had to get some additional wires to the generators for the controls we were installing.  We tried to get them into the existing conduits to no avail so we dug in some more "conduits" into the floor and pushed wires through them.  I got the controls wired as planned by about 4:45pm, so we waited to make sure the generator would start and produce voltage when the time clock gave it its start command at 5pm.  It worked as planned.  Then at 9pm, the power dropped and the generator ran an additional 5 minutes to cool down.   All of this was done by relays and a time delay relay.  The circuit is somewhat complex.  One additional time delay relay is needed to complete the system, so this will be bought in the US and brought down by someone coming down within the next week or so.  I pre-wired the relay base so it can be up and running in a few minutes.

The heat took a lot out of us today and it did rain right after lunch, which cooled things down for a few minutes.  We will continue to work on our punch list for the next few days before heading to our next assignment where we will be changing out a generator end.  We are hopeful that the machine cooperates and that we have all the right tools for the job.

I am sorry I have no pictures to post today, but will try to do so tomorrow.  The Internet is still down and I am using my modem stick to post this.

Please be in prayer for one young Haitian man who is on staff here.  He has cancer and severe liver problems and his prognosis is not good.  Wayne told me this evening that only a miracle can save this man.  He had to be escorted to the hospital today to have about 1-1/2 gallons of fluid pumped from his stomach.  He is very weak.  I do not know his name, but the zord does, and this YWAM family is suffering along with him.

Second Sunday

This morning the team sleeping in the men's dorm was awakened to the tune of Arise, My Soul Arise, by the music group Glad.  By 6 AM the guys were getting together with the new Haitian friends for final pictures together. 

This was somewhat bittersweet as some of us in the photo might only ever see the others in eternity in Heaven.
Next the bus was loaded and nine of our group headed for home while the remaining four of us stayed behind.

/by the time you read this some of them will be past their final flight and on the ride from Reagan National Airport to the meeting place at Friends In Action, near Middletown, PA.  Others have had cancelled flights and will need to overnight in New York.  The joys of flying...

Tom, Gene and Gary were picked up by a man from Mission Of Grace in the nearby town of Carries.  When we pulled into the destination we were surprised to find we were at a 4 or 5-star resort on the ocean.  Haiti certainly is a mixture of rich and poor.  Obviously the group with the mission was only staying at this hotel and we were then escorted on a walk across the highway to the "other side of the tracks".  The mission is constructing a center that will minister to Haitian men and children and mentor them.  They already have an almost finished main building and also a small dormitory for workers to stay in.  They need power for the facility and will utilize generators until a more permanent electrical power source is created.  The mission has two properties and we at I-TEC may well be involved in both locations.  It was good to meet the Manager of the mission, Matt. 

Tomorrow the four of us will be working on a Punch-List that we have created to finish the electrical work here at YWAM.  We would appreciate your prayers for our safety and that the work will go smoothly.  It looks like we may have several days of work.

Internet is very slow here tonight so I will not be able to post other photos.  Hopefully tomorrow the base Internet here at YWAM will be back up and things will operate much faster.  Anything seems faster than this modem stick I am using right now, but it does work.

As this blog winds down in a little over a week I might do some serious reflecting on all that has happened here and on how God has done far above what any of us can imagine.

Missed another day

This is Saturday night.  The Internet has been out of operation for another 24+ hours and it looks like it will be out until at least Monday when the Natcom service department comes out to investigate what the problem is.  Consequently I am using a phone SIM card for Internet access and it is much slower than the compound's Internet.  But it at least works.

To bring you up to date on what has happened here, I submit the following.  Yesterday, Friday we completed our pole work and all the connections and fired up the generator for some more testing.  We discovered that we have an unusual situation here in that we are asking the generator to start and stop at specific times when there is no National power connected.  We are using an automatic transfer switch, which works well to start and stop a generator whenever grid power is lost r returned.  We had to come up with an ingenious way of controlling the generator shutoff so that the engine can go through a normal cool down period and also not create an electrical brownout each time it shuts off.
I sat down last night to begin to explain this but the Internet went off again in the middle of it and I just ended up going to bed.  My cell phone was so low on minutes that I could not even text my wife to let her know what was happening.  I left with Wayne yesterday afternoon in the hopes of finding some relays to make this new control scheme work while picking up his parents in Port au Prince.  We got to ElMeCo about 20 minutes after they closed and this was my most possible chance for getting the stuff I needed.  So I was able to enjoy the time of fellowship with Wayne and his parents, while the rest of the team finished up the day and was treated to a YWAM staff dance routine that they use for local outreach in Saint Marc.

Today I called ElMeCo to see if they had such control relays and was told they did not.  So I did not run in to Port again when the van went in to pick up a team coming in for the next few days.  Instead I looked up the part numbers I needed from WW Grainger and sent them to Wayne in an email.  There is a couple coming to Haiti tomorrow from Washington State and there was a remote possibility they might be able to get to Grainger and pick up these parts. 

So far the day was not too bad.  But it was about to get interesting.  Upon checking power to the Sanctuary we discovered we were misled about how it was fed and that we had instead powered up the swimming pool pump and the Prayer Chapel and AquaCenter.  The men kicked it into high gear and figured out a way to get power to the sanctuary.  This required an additional run of overhead wire, a new ditch and conduit and wire underground, and a lot of sweat.  But the task worked out and we were able to get the power to the building and we were all happy.

The next interesting thing was that the EDH Metering crew showed up and decided that our American watthour metering setup was not the right way for Haiti.  Some frantic hours later the interior of the brand new Class 380 meterbase that we had installed was removed, and CT metering was installed.  As it turns out the job appears pretty normal when you look at it, but it is not the way we would do it in the states.

After the metering crew left we fired up the generator again and changed the voltage settings to what we wanted them to be.  Then we got our team together with some of the YWAM staff and had a Generator Dedication in which we had some discussion and then prayed and committed this unit to the Lord for His service.  In the process of all this we received word that the couple in Washington did indeed call Grainger to come in and open their store and they were able to buy the parts I had specified, all except for a battery charger for the generator, which we will ask Freeman to bring back with him from Florida when he returns.  This day was a day in which God showed himself true and powerful and we are very grateful to say the least.

After the generator dedication YWAM took some of the team out to a local market for about an hour.  Then they took all of us to a home in a nearby town that has ocean access.  The Caribbean Sea is so clear and blue it is amazing.  J C was able to get his feet and head wet in his first visit to any ocean in his life.  He lives in Oklahoma and is far from the Atlantic.  Later YWAM took all of our team out to a local restaurant.  It was a real treat and the food was very good.  We had many different choices, from shrimp to goat to chicken to pork and lobster.  It was a highlight of the trip and will be remembered by all.

While we were at the restaurant we received word that the electrical panel in the office was overheating.  There were no lights or fans in the dorms and the guys were packing their bags for an early trip to the airport in the morning.  So the tools came back out and some main circuit breakers we were going to leave here at YWAM came in handy, as we used one for a temporary fix to the overheat problem.  As I write this the guys have their bags ready and are getting their sleep so they can get up by 5 to get ready for leaving here at 6am.

Thank you for your prayers for this team and for the work here in Haiti.  Every team member was important in getting done what happened here, and you are important also.  Pray for the nine who will be leaving Haiti to return home in the early morning.  Pray for those picking each one up at the respective airports.  And continue to pray for myself, Tom, Gene H., and Gene F. as we stay on here to mop up and then visit some other sites for surveys and work.  I will install those relays after they arrive from Washington and we will have a normally functioning generator doing some things that are unusual. 

Hump Day

Today was Hump Day, the middle of our work week.  By the end of the day the aerial cables were hanging from all the new and existing poles except for the circuit running to the school.
This was a post I started to write last night until I got booted off the Internet again.  At any rate I wanted to let you know we were still working and are continuing to work with little time to spare.  But the team has gotten along very well.  Only one of us had any illness to speak of and he was able to return to the job shortly after a little rest.  could have been something he ate...
The mosquitoes are relentless at times, and we are hopeful that none of us come down with any mosquito-borne illnesses.  Please pray for that.
The weather here has also  been unseasonably mild and even though it gets hot sometimes during the day, the sky has been overcast most of the time and there has been a good tropical breeze most of the days.  We have set up chairs at the depot to rest on from the heat and it has been nice to sit there in the shade.  Also, Wayne has seen fit to keep us supplied with ample water and sodas, for which we are very thankful.

I suppose this post might show up as the last one in the series, but as I said, it was started yesterday when there was only a small amount of Internet.

First Successful Generator Day

Today is Thursday and it is about 10:30 pm.  Internet has been off and on for two days.  I tried to post to the blog last night but had no success using my modem stick as the Internet here at YWAM was off.  Tonight it miraculously showed up, so here is some catching up.

Today we finished all of the major terminations.  Late yesterday we started the new generator for the first time, but today we did it using the controls we installed for the first time.  We checked loads and verified all of the campus circuits around 4:45PM.  We were very happy to find everything worked up to expectations.  Then after testing the system we waited around for it to turn on automatically at 5PM and it did so right on the second.  The clock was set to turn the generator on at 5PM and off at 9PM today.  Doug and I went up tp the generator building right before 9PM and it shut off on the second as programmed.  This is the culmination of a whole lot of work.  We still have one circuit to terminate to the school and this will be done early tomorrow, Lord willing.

We are now also doing some other jobs around campus as we have men or women available.  The photos today are from the last few days and we felt that we wanted to get some shots of the women at work, as they have been an integral part of the team.  Some of the team will be installing the L.E.D. light fixtures we sent down here onto some of the poles that have been set.  Other L.E.D. fixtures will be installed on buildings.  We have a solar array to relocate and this will be done tomorrow as well.

We have had good production with no major problems to this point.  Today, Freeman (Head of Maintenance here at YWAM) rode an extension ladder down from the second floor of the Depot and the base of the ladder also injured one of the Haitian helpers here.  Fortunately Freeman was able to get up with  no visible injuries, but he will likely feel it tomorrow.  He is heading to Florida for two weeks of meetings, so we will not see him while we are in Haiti any more.  It has been such a blessing to work with him and all of the Haitian workers.  God has some real family here!

Tuesday in Haiti - Getting closer

Today was Tuesday and the teams made great progress.  Once Tom got back to the compound from ElMeco Supply in Port au Prince, we had enough wire to complete all of our long runs out to the main service pole.  These wire pulls were made easy by use of the fine equipment available to us here at YWAM.

The rope was attached to a skid loader and I was able to back up the entire distance, keeping an eye on the guys feeding the wires into the conduit.
The Linemen did their work of setting poles with the help of a nice JCB Telehandler.

We installed a ChemRod ground rod system, which should do well for grounding the electrical system.

Tomorrow we hope to make the connections on all of the wires we pulled today.  We will move on from that to helping hang some of the triplex wiring that will feed the other areas.  An existing Solar/Inverter system in operation at the school will likely be relocated to the new shop building.
We feel we are right on schedule with the project an we are hoping the generators cooperate with us in that they start without any issues.