Last trip update
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Hello Everyone.
First I want to thank you for taking the time to visit this
site.
June 2008: In May I went to Haiti to build another duplex. Joining me
was Tony from Muncie ,Indiana. Thank you Tony for your help. While there
he also taught some English classes in our meeting room in the village.
One home of the Duplex was financed by the Piqua Catholic Schools and
several teachers and a student came down to help in the construction. I
hope they all got as much out of the experience as I did. This makes a
total of 5 duplexes built.
February 2008: I took a group to Plaisance in February and we built
another duplex. Three weeks and no rain this time. We also had the
opportunity to tap into the water line in the main village. I took the group to
view the system. Nothing like what I have ever seen before. The water is
collected at the top of a mountain 3 miles from the village. It is then piped
by gravity to the village with several outlets along the way. We built a 2000
gallon talk in our village to hold water for the people living in the village
and also the surrounding people. As of March 28th mayor had not opened
up the pipeline yet but it soon will be the rainy season. I hope this works
for the villagers better than getting the water from the river. The next trip is
planned for the end of May and first part of June. If you are interested in
going please contact me as soon as possible. Ben
December 2007: Christmas was a little different for me this year. After I
returned in November, I dreamt about having a party in Haiti. I knew my
sister Linda Thieman from St. Henry was taking a trip to Haiti with 10
others. I contacted that group and we ended up taking over 500# of
canned food to Haiti along with snacks and candy. We also brought
crafts to work on and make decorations. The weather was perfect and the
people in the village were happy. We distributed about 70# of food to
each family that night. We had a DJ come in to provide music. I don't
know who had more fun, the people in our group or the Haitian families. I
do know that it will be a Christmas remembered. They asked me if this
was going to be an annual event. We will have to wait till next year to see.
Want to spend Christmas in Haiti? Give us a call. - Ben
November 2007: I just returned from Haiti in November. We built another
building. This building will be a meeting room and give us room for more
storage. What a challenge this trip was. The Tropical store Noel came
threw and dumped a lot of rain. I estimated it at about 15 inches. What a
mess! But when I left they just needed to finish a few things. Plans are to
go back down in February and again in June, and with Gods blessing a
few more times in 2008. --Ben
May 2007: I was down in Haiti in May and June for 6 weeks. During that
time we built the toilets for the next 12 homes. I also coordinated plans
with the village of Plaisance about building a road to the area we are
building in. The current path we are using is only good if it does not rain. In
the last visit I had 6 days without rain which meant carrying everything
down by hand. We also had to put up a gate at the edge of the owners
property we are passing through to get to our location. Thus I feel the
need for the road. We got permission from the land owners and got a
quote of $40,000.00. I had a meeting with the Mayor of Plaisance and
they want to build it across the river and make it a full kilometer. We only
need about 1/4 a kilometer. They are willing to work with us on building
the road. This would be a paved road so we won't have to worry about the
weather. They don't have the money to help but will provide the big
equipment we would need.-Ben
Please keep OBAAT in your prayers-Ben Huelskamp
First I want to thank you for taking the time to visit this
site.
June 2008: In May I went to Haiti to build another duplex. Joining me
was Tony from Muncie ,Indiana. Thank you Tony for your help. While there
he also taught some English classes in our meeting room in the village.
One home of the Duplex was financed by the Piqua Catholic Schools and
several teachers and a student came down to help in the construction. I
hope they all got as much out of the experience as I did. This makes a
total of 5 duplexes built.
February 2008: I took a group to Plaisance in February and we built
another duplex. Three weeks and no rain this time. We also had the
opportunity to tap into the water line in the main village. I took the group to
view the system. Nothing like what I have ever seen before. The water is
collected at the top of a mountain 3 miles from the village. It is then piped
by gravity to the village with several outlets along the way. We built a 2000
gallon talk in our village to hold water for the people living in the village
and also the surrounding people. As of March 28th mayor had not opened
up the pipeline yet but it soon will be the rainy season. I hope this works
for the villagers better than getting the water from the river. The next trip is
planned for the end of May and first part of June. If you are interested in
going please contact me as soon as possible. Ben
December 2007: Christmas was a little different for me this year. After I
returned in November, I dreamt about having a party in Haiti. I knew my
sister Linda Thieman from St. Henry was taking a trip to Haiti with 10
others. I contacted that group and we ended up taking over 500# of
canned food to Haiti along with snacks and candy. We also brought
crafts to work on and make decorations. The weather was perfect and the
people in the village were happy. We distributed about 70# of food to
each family that night. We had a DJ come in to provide music. I don't
know who had more fun, the people in our group or the Haitian families. I
do know that it will be a Christmas remembered. They asked me if this
was going to be an annual event. We will have to wait till next year to see.
Want to spend Christmas in Haiti? Give us a call. - Ben
November 2007: I just returned from Haiti in November. We built another
building. This building will be a meeting room and give us room for more
storage. What a challenge this trip was. The Tropical store Noel came
threw and dumped a lot of rain. I estimated it at about 15 inches. What a
mess! But when I left they just needed to finish a few things. Plans are to
go back down in February and again in June, and with Gods blessing a
few more times in 2008. --Ben
May 2007: I was down in Haiti in May and June for 6 weeks. During that
time we built the toilets for the next 12 homes. I also coordinated plans
with the village of Plaisance about building a road to the area we are
building in. The current path we are using is only good if it does not rain. In
the last visit I had 6 days without rain which meant carrying everything
down by hand. We also had to put up a gate at the edge of the owners
property we are passing through to get to our location. Thus I feel the
need for the road. We got permission from the land owners and got a
quote of $40,000.00. I had a meeting with the Mayor of Plaisance and
they want to build it across the river and make it a full kilometer. We only
need about 1/4 a kilometer. They are willing to work with us on building
the road. This would be a paved road so we won't have to worry about the
weather. They don't have the money to help but will provide the big
equipment we would need.-Ben
Please keep OBAAT in your prayers-Ben Huelskamp