Little projects

Once upon a time, shortly after we moved to Haiti, we needed some storage space so I made a couple simple shelves.  Little did I know what that would lead to.  It started with me getting material to build some benches for the school.  The shelves were made from scraps from that project, a little stand for our water bottle and a 4 shelf corner shelf for books.  That’s when we really started to take note of how observant our neighbors are.  Most of them haven’t even been in my house, but they can probably tell you more about what’s in it than I can, just from standing at the door and looking.  Anything new or different catches their attention immediately and of course; they’d like one just like it.

Any piece of furniture with a door on it you can secure is called a ‘bifet’ (pron. beefet).  Everyone wanted a bifet.  I got along for a while just putting them off, and when that wouldn’t hold them off anymore, I broke down and made one for a friend.  The requests kept coming so I started saying they had to buy hinges and a lock and provide the wood. 

The first project was from the old man across the field.  He showed up with the headboard and footboard of an old bed and asked if I could make a table out of it.  

That one worked out to have almost enough wood.  I only had to provide fasteners (thanks Bart!).  Some things you don’t mind doing because you know there is no other way they could have gotten a table.  The best part came the next day when his wife showed up with a big, ripe mango and hot, sweet, Haitian coffee for us.  Out of their poverty….

About a week later one of the boys from my English class came up the path carrying a plank.  ‘Could you help me make a door for my house?’ he asks.  It wasn’t exactly what I had planned for that morning, but that usually doesn’t make much difference.  Up to the roof we go.  Pretty soon another boy (I say boy, but one is 19 the other 17) came to help and they got a good lesson on ripping 1 ½” thick hardwood with a hand saw (not electric) in the tropical sun.  

We got rained out about half way through, but he returned the next day with a piece of tin roofing and we covered the frame we built.

  

A couple days later he returned with a ‘sitwon’ (like a key lime) tree he had started from seed.  It’s now growing in my yard.

A couple ladies from church were here visiting and somehow got talking about needing ‘bifets’ too.  One of them showed up a couple days later with a big, rough sawn plank and admitted she’d be happy with just shelves. J  The other lady was here with her plank a little while later.  She wanted a ‘bifet’ about the size of our stove and I finally got her to understand that I couldn’t make anything like that with one plank.  A little while later her son shows up with another plank about 8’ long that is split up the middle about half the length.  This project isn’t going to happen any time soon! The planks by the boy's feet in the above picture are the ladies' materials. 

In the mean time, the boy that needed a door returned with a friend, a small board and 3 sticks about 2” in diameter.  Would you help us make a table?  It was Sunday afternoon and a nap was sounding really good!  But he was going to start selling candy as a little business on Monday and needed a table to display his wares.  I think these guys sometimes think up things to make just to see what other kinds of tools I have!  And this opportunity was more important than a nap anyhow, so up to the roof we go.  They’re pretty good helpers if only they could learn that the screw gun doesn’t have to be used full speed.  

About an hour or so later we had a little splay leg table 

and Dickson was in business.

 If you’re waiting for the big take home lesson from all this I’m afraid you’re going to be disappointed.  It’s mostly just a peak into another facet of day to day life here.  Sometimes it’s overwhelming to look into the face of the owner of something that is just flat worn out and see the hopeful look that maybe, just maybe, you can fix it.  Sometimes I just have to say I’m sorry, but most of the time we’ll at least take a run at it.  My neighbors are people of simple faith.  They trust God to make it rain so they don’t starve, and when they have a busted something or another, they believe I can find a way to fix it.  And more than once, the Spirit has shown me how to do it.  God really does have a sense of humor! Some things He brings just to give me a good laugh, but He always has the last laugh when He works it out to have just the right tool, just enough wood or whatever we need to do the impossible.