Welcome to Fondwa

I didn't go to Haiti this trip, but sent some great replacements! Jennifer gave me permission to post some of her (many) pictures, so we could see a bit of what they experienced last week.

The group landed in Port au Prince on Monday morning, loaded the vans, and headed toward Fondwa. They stopped in Leogane to see Missy Owen, a FHM staff member living there. Missy had brownies for them, fresh from the oven. They took a little tour of Leogane, dropped off a bag of supplies for Missy, and continued on their way.

They enjoyed(?) the opportunity to walk the last few miles to Fondwa. There were strong Haitians for hire to carry the bags, and the group of ten made their way down the mountain.

The view ahead of them.

Dick and Jimmy wind their way down the mountain road.

Ahhhhh..... Fondwa! It's a great feeling after the long, hot, cramped ride through the streets of Port au Prince and the winding mountain roads, to get out to the beautiful mountains of Fondwa.

Shelly thinks so too.

Jimmy approaches the little village. At this point, I'm pretty sure he's wondering what he has gotten himself into.

This is a view of the school. You can see the slab where the old school stood before it was destroyed by the earthquake. The blue and white building was built by David Williamson and team, and stands on the former playground. The tents also currently serve as classrooms.

Jennifer said it was emotional to walk in to the school yard and see this. Just beyond the slab, and over the ridge, is where they would be working on another classroom building.

This is the classroom currently on the site. You can see the chalkboard at the end. Some of these temporary classrooms were blown away in the hurricane just two weeks ago.

The men on the team would be busy hauling lumber and working to get the building started.

The temporary classroom in the picture above was cleared away, and the site was ready for work to begin.

Jon carries boards. Don't you like his new Haiti haircut?

Move this pile from here.... to here.

Pastor Jimmy carries a board.

Danny is a recent NYU grad.

No need for a weight room.


Keep smiling!

Eric is a member of St. Luke's, and this was his first trip to Haiti.

The Haitian workers lay out the building plan.

Ah, there's their fearless leader herself. Jamalyn contracts the Haitian workers, and adds the team volunteers to the crew.

In this picture, you can see all five of the men on the team. Jonathan, Jimmy, Eric, Dick, and Danny. Jamalyn is giving them instructions.

Get to work, Jon!
Dick, Danny, and Jon start the digging.


It looks like a slow process. No backhoe, no post-hole digger, no Menard's down the road, makes construction a bit more of a challenge. With a little sweat and a lot of prayer, they hoped to see progress by the end of the week. (Or was that a lot of sweat and a little prayer?)

I will be posting more pictures in the next few days. I started with the work, but will show some of the fun as well. It is always a blessing and an inspiration to spend time with the children and friends in Fondwa.