Lots of exciting things on the HATS compound today.  Below is the recap.

After Karen  skipped him  during the morning devotional introductions, Milford was finally able properly identify himself to the HATS’ family as a ‘Black Blanc’.  Seems to be that Karen as well as the surrounding community has a difficult time wrapping their mind around a black Texan with worse Creole skills than Julie.

Milford and his engineering skills along with the spiritual support of Pastor Kyle were able to revolutionize Keith’s world with the installation of an automatic shut off for the well water pump.

Milford and Kyle

Meanwhile,  Julie ‘American’, Morgan, Claire and the ‘rookie’ Jordan painted some ‘fencepost’ white on the walls of the girls bathroom and also painted some ‘fencepost’ white on their arms, legs, t-shirts and Morgan’s face.

Obviously the most important work of the day and the work that required strict compliance with the Haitian Board of Construction (HBC) and with the Haitian Occupational Safety and Hazard Administration (HOSHA) was reserved for Brooks and David.

Our task was to safely and effectively remove the termite infected subframing system for the interverter shed roof.  Tomorrow, if we meet our production goals as set forth by the task master Keith then we will have a better, bolder, sturdier, less termitier roof framing system.  With the amount of skill and precision required for such an important task we actually used both a tape measure on two occasions and straight edge on one occasion.

Safety first?

Perhaps the most surprising development of the day was the favorable tie achieved in the HATs vs Team Texas foutbol match.  Team Texas scored first with a chip shot by Brooks past Vladimy.  Ti-Luc responded with a solid shot past Keith through the five hole.  In the second half, Brooks once again put Team Texas in the lead with a breakaway goal (obviously Ref Karen is not familiar with offsides rule for which the Texas Team is very thankful).  With time running out in the final minute, Moises scored the equalizer with a skimmer through the outstretched arms of Keith.

The rematch tomorrow is of great concern for Team Texas as Judel, Leica, and Djemima are being replaced with 3 local Haitian foutbol legends.  We will have a time of special prayer before the match lead by Pastor Kyle.

Even with all the work and foutbol games, the most important times of the day are the moments of conversation and interaction with the HATS kids.   What an honor to hold Jonathan in your arms, swing with Karena or claps your hands with Ti-Fi.
For those moments, the Texas Team is always grateful to Karen, Joan, Keith and the HATs family for allowing us to bring our Texas ‘twang’ to the compound – even the twangy ‘fa bak’ spoken by the Black Blanc

~David