It was a sorrowful month with the assassination of President Moise, and with the level of anxiety increasing significantly throughout Haitian society, particularly those living in Port-au-Prince. Thankfully there was not widespread violence and social disruption, as had been feared, and our operations went back to full-speed
rather quickly all things considered. Jeff and Teressa Ballard returned to campus this month, and we continued to accelerate our construction projects, particularly the tilt-up operations and the Metal Fabrication Facility. Much work was put into the Extollo In Port-au-Prince (EIPP) program in preparation for its launch in August with a Masonry Level 1 class on the Haiti Outreach Ministries (HOM) campus.
WELDING CLASS: Due to the situation caused by the assassination of President Moise, we postponed the last week of the welding class to reschedule once the security situation improved. After a two-week break, the team completed Welding Level 1and certified 6 of the 7 students enrolled.
Planning has also begun to re-introduce Concrete Level 1 in September, which will include updated curriculum and new templates. The concrete class will also prepare qualified students to pursue concrete practicum opportunities in the future.
Three students joined a new practicum to build a security wall under the guidance of Steve Poulos and Jonathan Dagrin. The practicum is building concrete and masonry skills. The students dug the trench for the wall foundation, poured the foundation, installed rebar and began block work.
This month, new practicum documents were created for this training and Haitian Creole versions of all practicum documents were created.
Jeff and the team worked on the countertops for the bathrooms, and painted both the inside and the outside of the facility. Some grading and concrete work was done as well. The restroom facility is nearing completion and is already proving very useful.
A lot of work was accomplished this month thanks to Steve Poulos, his work crew, our staff, and our Practicum students. The batch plant retaining walls were completed, and the crew started backfilling and grading on batch plant at month’s end. Jeff started work on lengthening the frame on the L-8000 truck and preparing to install the concrete mixer.
