Sandy

While Haiti was very much on high alert and ready for Isaac, Sandy was much more unexpected. I have heard of terrible damage and loss of life in the south and center of Haiti and our thoughts and prayers are with those who lost so much. Up here we were pretty fortunate. We got a lot of rain which was wonderful, and although it did some damage to some of the mud houses, overall our area was pretty fortunate. There were many people who slept sitting up in corners of their homes because their thatch roofs leaked so badly, but in church yesterday everyone was praising God for all the rain. There is great hope that they might actually have a harvest this year. The wind did some damage to some of the plantain plants but overall I have not heard yet of too much damage to the gardens.

There was one pretty big loss that we suffered from Sandy here at Lemuel: the school latrine. As water rushed around it, it actually dug out the soil around the footers and the latrine building began sliding into the hole under it. On Friday the guys were able to salvage the doors and metal roofing and got busy digging out a new hole for a temporary latrine. School started back up today and with over 100 children you have to have a bathroom of some sort for them to use! The damage done was estimated at about $2500. As we look at building another permanent latrine we are considering the options of somehow demolishing the current building and reusing the same hole or digging a new one closer to where the new school is being built. We would greatly appreciate your prayers for wisdom as we decide what to do.

Thank you so much to all of you who upheld us in your thoughts and prayers over this past week.

Stripping off anything that can be salvaged as the latrine sinks into the hole.

The side that is sinking.