Construction has begun on the new church. This is a good thing for our Brothers and Sisters. Not only is the church being restored, but it shows people solid evidence of hope. They can see that something is happening, and that this talk of a new church is not just talk.
Fr. Romaine and many parishioners cleared the rubble from the old church. This was done by hand, with the rocks and stones being used to fill some low spots on the other side of the property.
3,000 concrete blocks have been made for construction of the new church. These were poured at a plant in Jeremie. Unfortunately they still need to be delivered to Lori. Due to the road and especially the river being impassible these blocks will be carried the last few miles by hand. Families are being paid in food - Rice, Beans and flour. The blocks will be delivered to Mar Franc, which is the last village before crossing the river. The families will take the blocks from there.
We decided to have the blocks made in Jeremie so that better quality control could be maintained. Building the blocks on site in Lori turned out to be a difficult task due to the availability of the proper materials and having the trained personnel. The sand and stone up there was not consistent in size, and they would have needed to bring in too many materials.
The small stones and sand that is available in Lori will be used for concrete in the footings, the floor and for the columns that support the roof. The sand that is there will have to be washed and screened in order to get the uniform size that makes concrete stronger.
The roof of the school class rooms has been repaired. These class rooms were in a portion of the other building on site. The Kindergarten and preschool were using these buildings. The hurricane removed the roof, but fortunately the building walls were pretty much intact. They are now able to use the classes in the rain.
The repairs to the road have been delayed. There are still some washed out areas that we hope to fix. Unfortunately the rain has continued this year. There have been more rainy days than dry days (we know something about that). The rain has made the river run much higher than normal, and the road has lots of mud making it harder to fill.