RAISE THE ROOF! Mariott Lux Hotel? Roofing Tin for Rural Homes?

Marriott builds a new lux hotel - chapo ba!  It will mean 200 jobs for folks in the city with skills and connections.  

And Petionville gets a new hotel as well:

Miami Herald Reports New Luxury Hotel: Royal Oasis

Meanwhile back at the ranch, er, lakou in the hurricane-ravaged mountains, our folks degaje as best they can to replace roofing tin.  Old rusty tin, plaited banane leaves, torn canvas, old clothes, you name it...

Can we do better than this? Come on,  Raise the Roof!

We're trying to get roofing tin to repair a few homes - at least, keep the rain out.  We're not aiming to completely rebuild - that would be nice - but just get keep it dry for a while, as we degaje for the rest.

Ten bucks, the price of a dinner out, from all our fans will help do this.  Honest.

Raise the Roof!  And never mind Petionville's new Royal Oasis.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/12/13/3141328/haiti-gets-new-luxury-hotel.html#storyBody
Miami Herald Reports New Luxury Hotel: Royal Oasis

They Need the Bread

No more tears! Food supplies reach our zone, and the laying of the foundations of the new school by Digicel are underway.  Peanuts are ground, flour is available. See below for recent photos.

Small pita-like loaves are now baked on Mon Bouton!

Dev, an innovator and entrepreneur, brought his stoves, manual bread rolling equipment and recipe, up to our zone.  He started his business in the old school building, moved to Madame Vab's old depot...He is now the fiancee of Michaele, Madame Vab's oldest daughter, and a biznis success. And: a daughter born last week.  Bon Dieu bon!

The foundation!

Two summer ago, we met with Digicel's CEO - who actually climbed up to visit this site!  And now, with a mule team of 20 mules, building blocks, cement, sand and rebar are being moved up 4000 feet most efficiently.  And yes, people are hauling and guiding mules as well - so this means paid work and engagement of our community.  On-site coordination is in the hands of Paster Dieudonne Abraham.  Below, one of our 3 school sites gets mamba ak pen, peanut butter and bread.

Old school, still in service

Like everyone else in the zone "If Pigs Could Fly - Haiti" must degaje - make do - with whatever we have available.  Good habit, and we save, recycle, re-use everything.

Our team "Mama's Making Mamba" - includes some brothers and fathers as well - makes and serves the peanut butter on bread as a morning meal.  We used to call it a "snack" - but the fact is, most if not all of these children have not eaten anything since the night before.  The bread and peanut butter is their first meal of the day.