Saturday, November 2, 2013

Thursday, October 24, 2013
 

 (Note from Doug:  This entry should be the third from the end, between Friday, October 25 and Wednesday, October 24, but this Blog tool doesn't allow me to change the order)

We were reminded this morning that "the best laid plans of mice o men gang aft agley" when our IT partner was not able to deliver to us the dozen laptop computers with software installed and operational. He had experienced a few more challenges than he had anticipated and wouldn’t be able to get them to us until tomorrow morning. Our plan to check them all out and get them ready to provide to the schools has had to be put off for a day. Oh well.

Since our plan is to provide two of the solar power systems to two other small schools in the area, we took the time this morning to visit them. The first, Institue Mixte Foyerdivan, is located just East of Arcahaie at a Church of Christ. Currently there are 4 classrooms of about 15-20 children in each class housed in a wooden shelter with canvass walls. In addition, a preschool is located 






















next to the church in a lean-to classroom. We will provide them their first opportunity to work with computers, as well as have a supply of safe drinking water. Their water comes from an open irrigation ditch that is unfortunately used for drinking-water and to clean everything from people, clothes, and even motor bikes. As is typical in Haiti, the children were dressed in their school uniforms and were very attentive to the teachers.

The second school is directed by our long-time acquaintance and cohort at Thomas, Jean-Claude. His school is located at what seemed like a 3 mile hike up the mountain away. The path is too rough even for most tap-taps.






 




















It currently uses a mixture of concrete block buildings and lean-to type classrooms on a location high up in the hills. Hence the need here also for the water purifier. The nearest water source is, again, an open irrigation ditch and is about 1 mile away.

After lunch Zac and Doug set about installing the solar array and associated electronics in the wooden box and doing a few mods to the metal carts.

Since the array and box were different sizes than the prototype built back home, it took a bit of head scratching to make everything work out right. We left for tomorrow the task of making up the wires and then integrating the electronics into a working system. We hope to have this first unit working by noon and busily charging its battery all afternoon.

Steve went through the voluminous education material as well as clothes that he had brought for the children with James so that he could later utilize the computer software as well as be able to distribute the clothes.

Warren is to bid us farewell tomorrow morning and head back to California. He had been here for several weeks and had achieved his goal of getting the solar power system carts and wooden drawers built. In anticipation of his departure, the cooking staff went out of their way and baked him (well, us) a wonderful cake, served with ice cold soda. What a treat.


Tonight’s discussions centered on each of us defining when we felt Half Time occurred/will occur in our own lives.

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Wednesday, October 30, 2013 
We bid farewell to Thomas and headed back to Port A Prince and the Methodist Guest House.  In the process, we did some shopping and scored an amazing 5 for 5.  We needed to purchase a 250 Gal water storage tank for Tuesdays school, buy a small clip to finish up the wood box for system number 3, stop by the central store that has a broad variety of educational materials, find and purchase two












small fuses for system number 3, and, not the least important, supplies of Haitian coffee and spicy peanut butter to take home.  Our transportation was, of course, provided by a classic tap-tap, but ours was missing the requisite bags of rice, stalks of bananas, several passengers on the roof, at least 10 passengers inside, and, since no blog about Haiti would be complete without reference to a goat, at least one goat on the roof.  And in deference to PETA, the requisite goat picture is one that was in the schoolyard at the Institue Mixte Foyerdivan.











It has been a pleasure writing this blog and I hope it has provided some insight as to how we lived and what we accomplished. 
From a long term perspective we hope to learn how the various pieces of equipment and software are used, what works, and what doesn’t, then adjust our concepts and be back early next year with a modified system for another school.
In closing, the payback for us was watching the school teachers using a computer and figuring out how they could use them in their class rooms, and the staff and children realizing that they now had safe drinking water!  A very rich reward indeed.
Tuesday, October 29, 2013 
Tuesday was pretty much a repeat of Monday in that we successfully delivered a solar power system, water purifier, computers, and teaching material (posters, flash cards, etc.).  These are items that we 
 











have seldom seen in the classrooms we have visited.  Note that in this classroom, the walls are canvas held up by tree limbs, the desks are just wooden boards put together to hold 3-4 kids per bench, and the teaches desk may or may not exist.  There is nothing on the walls to make this attractive to learning.  And, this class is just one of 4 that are side-by-side without even partitions between the classes!
Before leaving, Steve, Zac, and doug enjoyed a local delicacy – fresh sugar cane, cut to size by a machete!  Very good, but lots of fiber to not swallow.










We returned to Thomas and in a matter of an hour or so, finished up the third system (which will be delivered to some as yet to be selected school), tested it out, and declared success, with the exception of a couple of parts that we needed to get on Wednesday in Port A Prince.
Monday October 28, 2013 
Another very successful day in that we had a pickup truck take the solar power system/cart, the computers and projector, and us up to the school that is being started by Jean Claude.  When we arrived, the classes were in session so we sort of sneaked peaks into their classrooms.  As an initial hand-off of the computers, Steve showed the staff how to use these laptops and  how to use the
 










 















educational software that is on them.  He notice that the teachers were very tentative relative to selecting and clicking on what might be the wrong icon, but when he insisted that they could do no harm no what they clicked on, they were very relieved and started to be a bit more adventurous..  Note how the children looked over their teacher’s shoulders.  And, like kids everywhere, they will be clicking and drag/dropping faster than there teachers in very short order.


Zac and Doug assembled the system and prepared to show the staff how it worked.  As would be expected of a school sitting on a hillside, the water tank was located at the top.  After much pulling and pushing we finally managed to get the cart up to the water tank and set to work showing the staff how to take water from a bucket that was filled in the irrigation ditch a half mile down the hill , process it, and then have a drink.  Naturally, as the proud papa of the system, Doug had to be the first person to take a drink – a real statement of faith. 












(BTW, it's now three days later, and Doug is feeling no ill effects!)  The Noah Trekker from Noah Water Company of Michigan really builds a valuable tool for missionary and relief work in off the grid areas. Kudos to them!

Upon completion at this school we returned to Thomas and “almost” completed the building of the third unit – its completion will have to wait until Tuesday.
 


Sunday, October 27, 2013

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Sunday, being a day of rest, we participated in the church service at Thomas and were thrilled by the enthusiasm of the lay preacher as well as all of the participants and worshiper. We listened very attentively to the 45 minute sermon that was, of course, in Creole. To summarize, the message of the sermon was……..!

After the service James and his fiancé, Vernique, escorted us to the Club Moulin Sur Mer where we enjoyed a brunch, the surf (both salt water and Internet types), a great pool, a visit to the onsite Haitian museum, and some time to just decompress.

Saturday, October 26, 2013

Today was a total success. Zac, Doug, and Steven took a tap-tap to the market and managed to buy everything we needed, from additional cabinet hardware to some tools. All of these cost us 680 goudes, or about$15. As we were leaving the hardware store, a Haitian mounted about four 12 ft long pieces of lumber on either side of his motorbike, fastening them to the frame so they wouldn’t fall off. The only thing unusual with this arrangement, is that they stuck out in front on either side of his front wheel, thus not allowing any sudden turns. We know have a tie as to the oddest load on a motorbike. The other contender is someone dragging 30 ft pieces of steel rebar behind him. The ends swayed back and forth a good 3 feet. Horn blaring, he was headed up the road.!

Meanwhile Steve and James went to a Saturday morning Kids Club that James and a few other adults sponsor where they provide a place for adolescents to learn life skills. A real labor of love. Some of the clothes that we brought were distributed as well.

This afternoon Steve completed the modifications to all 12 of the classmates – they are now ready to give to the various schools, and Zac, Doug, Gabriel, Steven, and James ganged up on the two almost completed solar power systems, inventing a way to hold the box onto the cart, providing air holes for the potentially overheating solar controller, adding legs on either side of the array to hold it in an inclined position point sort of at the sun, and a number of cleanup tasks. We did a final "proof in the pudding" test and found out that one must connect the red/positive clip lead to the positive terminal and the black/negative to the negative terminal and that to do otherwise leads to a blown fuse. We think we can replace the fuse, so this falls into the no harm no foul column. But our local helpers are now very conscious of connecting the battery correctly.

Tonight’s discussion centered on life’s spiritual progression using a baseball diamond and its 4 bases as a metaphor for a four stage progression towards God. Again, very interesting discussions were had.

Friday, October 25, 2013 

We were quite pleased when Carl from Haicom arrived at 8 with our 12 classmate computers. As the day progressed, Steve was able to verify that all except 2 were working properly. Also, 5 of the 6 educational software programs that he brought were operating properly, but one would not, leaving an opportunity for the future!

Doug and Zac did a little redesign of the layout of the solar power electronics to make it more easily assembled, and less sensitive to rain. We finished this re-layout as well as the wiring by noon as hoped. We rolled it out into the (beastly hot) sun, turned it on, and found that we were generating the expected 50-60 watts. After a bunch of high-fives, we set about to build the second unit. This was completed by quitting time at 3:00. It also generated 50-60 watts in the even more beastly hot sun. We have declared success in this endeavor, with one more to build. This one will be built to the greatest extent possible by James and Gabriel.


(Note - to see Thursday's entry, go back to the top of this blog!)