Celebrate Hope
They began arriving before dawn on October 7, and by six am they were ready to begin work. They were the 70 cement workers who mixed, carried, poured and finished the concrete for the second floor of the Center of Hope in Bayonnais. Organized into two teams and supervised by foremen and subcontractors, they soon had a lively competition going, spurred on throughout the day with singing, chanting and cheers.
The operation continued non-stop for 17 ½ hours, until 11:30 pm. Meanwhile, two teams of women, about 50 altogether, were cooking vast quantities of food to feed all the workers, guests and observers.
And there were lots of observers: teams from the U.S., residents from the Bayonnais community, and students from the ICDM school. Though school was dismissed for the day, the older students were on hand to watch and learn, and to help carry food and water.
Cheers and shouts of triumph arose from weary workers and the crowd of onlookers when the job was finished at 11:30 pm. The Center of Hope was one step closer to completion.
The 600 students of ICDM’s school are also one step closer to having a real school building. Many classes currently meet under trees, with tarps forming “walls” (see photo).
In addition to classrooms, the Center of Hope will provide a large meeting hall, health clinic, library, and office space. As work teams from the U.S. join forces with Haitian crews this fall and winter, the second-floor walls will go up and the roof will go on. A dedication service will be held in late January to celebrate the goodness of the Lord in making this new facility possible.
Thank you for being a friend of ICDM and the children of Bayonnais. Thank you, and God bless you, for giving to help the Center of Hope take shape.