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Page 6C - Sunday, May 29, 2011 - Plainview Herald www.MyPlainview.com
A Look At The Lifestyles Of Area Residents
TO HAITI WITH HUMANITARIAN AID
By TERESA YOUNG
Wayland Baptist University
Wayland Baptist
University is planning
a trip over
the Christmas holidays to
build homes for families in
Haiti.
Organized through the
Baptist Student Ministries
at Wayland, the trip will be
Dec. 27 through Jan. 7. The
primary role for participants
will be to construct two
homes for families whose
homes were lost in the
earthquake which ravaged
the island nation in January
2010.
BSM Director Donnie
Brown fi rst visited
Haiti in March on a vision
trip with other offi cials
During a vision trip to Haiti earlier this year, visitors from the Baptist
General Convention of Texas explored opportunities to minister
at a church-operated elementary school. BSM Director Donnie
Brown said Texas Baptist Men will be rebuilding some of the school
buildings in the future.
At right, Baptist General Convention of Texas visitors look at rubble
houses under construction in Haiti. The walls are made of 12-inch
thick wire cages enclosing rubble recycled from the damaged
buildings of the city. The walls are then covered with cement
plaster.
Below, thousands of residents of Grand-Goave, Haiti, are still living
in tents more than a year after the earthquake devastated the
island nation.
from the Baptist General
Convention of Texas. On
that trip, the group visited
several regions of Haiti
and learned about a unique
process that was helping
to build affordable housing
for residents. For $4,000,
a 280-square-foot facility
called a “rubble house”
can be constructed for a
family. That cost covers all
materials as well as labor
costs for hiring trained
Haitians to work alongside
volunteers. That aspect of
the work, said Brown, is
critical.
“It’s more than just going
to build a house. We’re empowering
Haitians to make
a living for themselves as
well,” Brown said. “The
long-term goal is to build a
training center so more can
be equipped to work. The
building of these homes
and training of workers will
make a lasting economic
impact.”
The rubble houses are
constructed using recycled
rubble from destroyed
homes and property, which
is poured into welded wire
cages and used to make a
foundation, walls and fl oor.
They are then covered in
cement plaster. The superstructure
and roof framing
are of lumber covered
in corrugated steel. Two
doors, two windows, a skylight
and two small patios
are included.
Work is being done
through the Haiti Housing
Network, a collaboration of
Texas Baptists, the Cooperative
Baptist Fellowship,
the Fuller Center for
Housing and Conscience
International.
Specifi cally, the Wayland
team will be working
in Grand-Goave, Haiti, a
city of more than 70,000
residents where 10,000
are still living in tents
more than a year after the
earthquake. Haiti is one
of the poorest countries in
the world, and conditions
have only worsened since
the devastating quake. The
nation has a 70 percent
unemployment rate, and
daily survival for food and
shelter is the main focus
for most residents.
According to the aid effort
organizers, the people
of Haiti have a strong love
of family, are hard working
and are committed to
educating their children.
A school in Grand-Goave
is already being rebuilt in
keeping with that priority.
The Haiti Housing Network
chose the city in order
to make a greater impact
physically, economically
and spiritually.
Brown said he hopes to
take 24-28 people on the
trip, including students and
others who may want to
participate in the rebuilding
effort. The trip will cost
between $1,300 and $1,500
per person.
He is also in need of
fi nancial gifts to the effort,
to either offset the
cost of the rubble houses
being built or to offset the
cost of the trip for students
involved. Gifts are
all tax-deductible through
Wayland.
For more information on
the trip or on giving to the
effort, contact Brown at
291-3595 or by e-mail at
brownd@wbu.edu.