Part II of Building Tents in Haiti

Building Tents in Haiti PART II
by Trevor Toews

February 17th – We decided the first task was to get the temporary shelter built so we could set up the sewing
process inside of that. We had a little trouble figuring out the instructions, but by evening the “shop” was
complete and we also planned out the layout of the entire tent building processes. There is a large area of the
shelter used for pulling lengths off of the rolls of tarp material and another large area where the sewing machine
will be set up to sew around the edges of the tarp pieces. At the end of this diary, there is a description of the
design of the tents for those of you who are interested.
February 18th - Today was a great day. Got tons done on setting up the processes. Roland Koehn and Jerry Nichols,
two CDR committee men got here last night and laid out some expectations of what they wanted done by such and
such a time. It's a tall order, and will require working Saturday, but we made huge progress today. Lots of great
ideas coming from everybody all day to get the tents built smoothly and efficiently. I set up the sewing machines
today and we wish we had another one of those big bench type ones, but oh well. Put a drill bit halfway into the
palm of my hand today which hurt. We built the plywood floor in the big tent, built jigs, built the first complete
prototype tent and worked out the kinks, organized all the tools and supplies on shelves in the container, and
made patterns for cutting out the tarps. I think we'll do princess seams. Ha ha. Tonight we had a meal of chicken
rice and beans cooked by some native women that were hired in here. They will do a lot of the cooking once there
are 16 more boys here. 11 coming Saturday. Might still be able to go see quake damage Saturday afternoon but at
least we will be out and about for sure. The idea is to go out Saturday morning and put up individual tents at
several of the brethrens places before starting the tent city. Many of these will be to replace homes that have
severe damage. So finally we will be able to get around. I haven’t been off of the compound here yet since arriving
from DR. The tent has improved substantially, now costs 140 dollars in raw material and I would say could
withstand a heavy gale. It is markedly better than many Haitians lived in before the quake. We are enthused about
the design. I was inspired by Luke 5:1-11 and brought it for devotions this morn. The draught of fishes is the kind of
day we had.
February 19th - Today was bad. Sat at the breakfast table and discussed the immense amount of work to be done
before the boys come on Monday, and got a plan in place. But then Jamie, the missionary from Cazeau called and
said things had come up and they had to move back to Cazeau immediately. So most of the guys went to take care
of that deal. Totally foiled our plans. They call this getting Haitied. Anyway, I worked at the tent project all alone all
morning and made a couple mistakes that took extra time. Discouraging. Things were getting me down this
morning. Anyway, Dean got sick and so I plugged away until lunch, then Roland and Jerry helped in the afternoon.
Slow progress when we need so much help. Got most of the jigs built and things are almost set up for production.
Tomorrow we are starting even earlier and Gonna try to complete three tents. If we get them done, which I don't
think we will, we will go see the quake damage. I am so tired of just being on this yard for 4 straight days now.
Anyway, better days are coming.
February 20th - I can't write long but I have to tell you we did go in to Port au Prince this afternoon. It is far beyond
comprehension. Total devastation. I will remember it and will have to tell you some other time. We are leaving
early tomorrow to go to Orianie, A congregation up in the mountains about 1.5 hour from here. So I need some
sleep. Finished ALL the setup this morn and produced two complete tents. So we are ready for boys to come now.
It’s been a hard week. Practiced a lot of Spanish today because our chauffeur brother Enock speaks Creole and
Spanish and none of the others knew either one, so I sat in the front and tried to converse. Tomorrow he will be
the driver again so I will get more practice. It’s good for me but I'm sure that's what made me so tired.
Raymond Withers had an accident today. Truck swerved in front of his four wheeler and he lost control and hit a
power pole hard. He is stable but can't remember short term yet. Last report was its getting better. Some cuts on
his face and arms.
Pray for these people in Port tonight. So many are sleeping on filthy streets, in sickening conditions with no
solution or hope for years. Its stunning.
February 21st - We got 10 more guys eager to work in the morning. We are faced with some interesting challenges
getting started this week but by the end of the week it all should be rolling along. We have had an awesome
weekend. Worked yesterday until 2 o'clock then brother Enock took us into downtown Port au Prince. Wow.
Incomprehensible. There's work for 10000 people for 10 years cleaning that mess up. Very, very sad. People out on
the streets that sleep out there in the rain on extremely filthy pavement. Trash everywhere. The stench of death.
Main electrical wires tangled up with rebar and rubble. Burning piles of junk including one skeleton. Zero hope.
Zippo. It’s pretty bad. The saddest part is that everyone seems to be going on with life, as this is just simply the
new “normal”. I did not see one single piece of equipment (trackhoe, dozer, loader, etc.) nor any manual crews
cleaning up the mess. The few electrical wires that still work have been tapped into in a very crude way in places,
and two wires run down to supply power to a freezer, where someone is selling a little food etc. It seems like they
are just making do, but yet it looks like it will be this way for a long long time. No one seems to be tackling the
huge task of cleaning up. They are walking around the piles of rubble as if they’ve been there for years. It’s hard
not to despair.
Today we went up to a mission church called Orianie 1.5 hour drive away. Totally amazing. Elevation 5400 ft.
Beautiful terraced fields up it the fog. Just gorgeous. This mission started less than a year and a half ago. Last May
they baptised the first member there. Now they have 35 members and attendance hovers around 140 with a
record of 200 all in a church as big as your garage. You should come listen to these people sing. If their faces
weren't pitch black they'd be beet red from singing so loud. But its beautiful. Awesome experience. Went to
Anthony and Darla Penners for lunch. They are under the Haitian church mission up there from St Mary’s. The
drive back I sat in the pickup box and all the villagers and farmers stop and stare and the children run after us
shouting "blancos!" (Whites) or "give me a dolla!". They are super cute little people. All with a ready white smile.
We got back for the service at 4 pm and then after that they have singing practice, which is a finger snapping, hand
clapping drill. They are really good. This evening we got to know the new guys and laid out a plan for the week.
February 22nd – Spent the day training 3 of the boys in the sewing department. I thought youth boys and sewing
machines wouldn’t mix too well, but some of them really catch on quickly. We sewed 9 sets before noon and 6
more after lunch. Way better than I expected for the first day! The welding department also did well. Dean showed
two other guys the ropes on that end, and they completed 15 frames. A lot of the other boys were doing odds and
ends that still were needed around the place. They put a roof over the wash area and fashioned a shade tarp over
the welding operation. The sun is so hot! Great day.
February 23rd – We all loaded the truck this morning and went down to the tent city. What an experience! The
truck that CDR bought is a very ugly blue cab-over GMC with an enclosed van box on the back. We have cut some
windows into the front of the van, so after everything is loaded, all of us not lucky enough to ride in front crawl up
in there and try to find a place to stand where we can see out and get a little air. The driving in this country is
nothing short of ridiculous, and you have to hang on dearly if you don’t want to get hurt. We careened down into
Port, and were fascinated by the sights, sounds and smells of that dirty, bustling city. Never a dull moment if you
have a window to look out. We drove through markets, and through impossible grid locked traffic. Then we turned
into a very tight back alley and somehow squeezed through to another back alley, and then another. I soon
realized that these were actually streets. They build the houses so close to the streets and many places are only 9
ft wide, not even enough room for a pedestrian to stand as the truck passes through. The electrical wires are often
only about 12 ft high too, so someone has to get out and make sure they don’t snag on the top of the truck. A
crowd had already been following us for several blocks when we broke out into a wider area and saw the tent city.
It is a large vacant lot, about 500 x 800 ft, that appears to have been used as the town dump for many years. Pigs
and chickens and goats are rummaging around in the smoldering pile of trash at one end of the lot. There are
already about 300 tents, if I can call them that, set up all over this lot. A few of these are nice, store-bought tents,
but most are made with tree branches and threadbare cotton sheets. They don’t even have rope, so the “guy
wires” are strips of sheets tied together and fastened not to a stake but a broken cinder block from the nearby
rubble piles. I had to wonder why they even bothered with these tents. The rain would run right through them,
and they are usually only three sided, so privacy must not be the reason. We definitely will be improving the living
conditions 500% with the tents we have to offer.
On arrival, a swarm of people came out of the ramshackle tents and began to press in on us. Wow. What a
challenge to try to get our bearings with all the people talking at once! A few of them spoke English and
immediately asked us the questions that I am sure everyone else was asking in Creole. “I need a tent. How can I get
a tent? Do you need my name so I can get on the list?” We were very relieved to be able to tell these people that
there is a Haitian committee that looks after the distribution of our tents. We only are the construction crew and
can’t say who gets the tents first. We tried to clear a large area and started pulling the frameworks out of the
truck. Many of the people started helping us, and over the course of the day, some of them stuck with us and
really caught on to the whole process. It was hot. We kept someone at the truck all the time to guard the tools
from theft. Fifty children ran circles around us and many of them congregated at the back of the truck. Such
beautiful children! One little girl had a nasty burn on her hand and we dressed it with a bandage. She was such a
trooper.
We went to the Cazeau church for lunch, which is right beside this vacant lot. It was another great meal of rice,
beans and chicken, prepared by a cook lady that has been hired by the committee. The committee consists of one
of our brethren, and several other local men. They impressed me as very capable, level headed fellows who seem
to be in complete control of the daunting task of staying fair in the distribution of the tents. After our late lunch it
was soon time we needed to go home. We quickly set the tents that we had built in their places. The lot has been
surveyed carefully and we have a map where the tents should go to let the lot drain naturally without running
through the tents too much. We did not have time to stake down all the tents, but we did manage to get them all
erected and finished without the floors. Then it was time to leave and get out of town before traffic got too heavy.
Considering that it was the first day and we were in new territory, we all thought the day had gone reasonably
well.
One interesting thing that happened today: Since there were a number of natives that were helping to build the
tents, we got a little too comfortable handing tarps out of the truck to the eager hands of these men. One Haitian
passing by saw the handing out going on and came over and held out this hands too. This was not noticed, but
when we got to the last tent, we were missing the main tarp! An excited conversation ensued among the local
people and someone said they had seen a man carrying the tarp off. He said he knew who it was and he would go
get it. So a group of about 20 men went off in search of our missing tarp. One of our group, Kevin Koehn, who
knows a little Creole, went along. When they got near this man’s place, the group told Kevin he better head back,
they didn’t want a white face among them. So Kevin came back and told us what was going on. I sort of figured
they wouldn’t get that tarp back, and we would have to make another one. But we worked on the remaining tents,
and after about 20 minutes, there was a huge commotion and a lot of yelling and cheering. I looked, and here
came a large group of people carrying that tarp. It was really amusing. Right behind them was the man who had
thought he owned the tent for such a sweet short time. He was not a happy chap at all. He ranted and yelled for a
long time. Kevin went over there to hear what he was saying and it seemed like the guy had really made an honest
mistake. He thought that we were giving these things out. Kevin told some of the leaders to explain to him that we
were handing the tarps out of the truck to those who were helping with the project. After this was explained to
him, he said that yes he understood how it had all happened, etc. but he did not want to understand. He needed
that tarp and he was just mad about it all. He was still blowing off steam quite some time later when I peeked out
of the tent I was tying. I guess he finally left. The local community, the people who are in this tent city, are very
protective of the help they are getting from us, and don’t appear to be letting outsiders come and join the city until
they all have their tents. This vigilante justice system is really quite intriguing!
February 24th - Briefly, we sewed and welded 15 more tent kits today while over half the guys went down to the
tent city to finish the dirt work and install the floors in the 15 we set up yesterday. It was a cooker today. I sweated
gallons of water off the end of my nose. The shop tent has no air moving through it and is quite cozy. I had the
same three men working with me as I had on Monday. This evening we did the normal. Supper, shower, planning
tomorrow, singing, chores, etc. Also played a few rounds of take four. Good day. We face a few challenges. Some
relatonships that needed working out in the household, and some brethren that really need tents and are getting
perterbed that we haven't come yet. Problem is we have no way to haul the large frameworks to these remote
locations with the current design. So we are trying to design a more transprtable tent for these situations.
February 25th - Another good big day. I stayed back with 5 others again today and we built 18 tent kits, a new
record. Also had time to clean the sewing machines and clean up around the place. My word it was hot. We really
need a big fan in that shed. Then we loaded up for a huge day tomorrow. Gonna go to the tent city plus to several
of the brethrens places to set up all fifteen tents. We want to do all the dirt work, floors, etc. Which is more than
we have ever done in one day by quite a ways. I'm sure it will be a hard day, but I'm really glad I can see the tents
come to completion like this. The people are so happy to get a tent. Lots of rewarding experiences in store for the
boys that will work here. The tent factory back here at Fond Parisien is working well. There are 5 boys that we have
trained to sew, and that will be enough to keep training more. They all have a good handle on things, so it feels like
I could easily leave now.
GNIF is now going to blast on Saturday, so it looks like we might be able to see the action. That should be fun. Also
want to tour the orphanage before I leave, and maybe the hospital where these nurses that are staying with us are
working. Sunday morning we are taking the bus back to DR and will spend afternoon and night with Andrales and
his family again. Will probably go to church there. Then Monday I come home!
February 26th - We all, fifteen guys, went down to Cazeau. Set up 10 tents in less than two hours. Lots faster than
expected so we think it might be possible to build and erect 15 total a day like we had originally hoped. After that
we went and set up 1 and then 3 and then 1 at several of the brethrens places. Oh my! They live in such desolate
little houses. And now they are all broken up from the quake. We saw beds made of 6 cinder blocks and 2 planks.
Walls on the verge of falling into their cramped little yards. We tried to rake the crushed cinder blocks as smooth
as possible and set up the tents on that. They have so little but we left them with just a bit better living conditions
and they were so happy. The neighbors pressed us for tents, accused us of not loving them, of not being fair, etc.
What do you do? The scenes we have witnessed are so hard to explain. Almost unbearable despair. Somehow life
goes on. I was sad today, even though it was a good day. Sad for these people, a little lonesome, and getting very
weary of the long hours and heat and hard work.
We walked down to the lake tonight, about a mile and a half, and went swimming. It felt wonderful. It is so
beautiful down there. Palm trees, little corn and sugar cane farms, cows, etc. Also sat in a neat little patio
restaurant that one of the brethren owns and sipped a Pepsi in glass bottle. Life was good again. Anyway, its
supper time now. I washed dishes last night, so tonight it will be some other little chore and will be able to go to
bed early maybe. I've tried to every night but its always 10:30.
February 27th - Today we asked for the day off from the tent building project. We being Dean and I since it’s our
last day. The rest of the guys worked from 7 to 11 am and produced 8 tent kits, erected 4 at 3 different remote
locations, plus had a flat tire and got it repaired. Definitely a capable group of guys that will take the project and
run with it now. We now have 56 tents built and 42 of them are on site. Good for the first week. The weekly goal
we have set is 60 tents built and installed. Dean and I joined up with the GNIF crew and went up to help on the
Lasstic Canyon project. Lorne Toews, Dan Klassen, Bruce Shartner and three other Shartner brothers, Virgil ??? and
Neil Toews, and Kevin Bronson are working there together with Raymond Withers. They gave us a tour of the
project, showed us where they will build a dam, canal, and pipeline to route 16000 gallons of water to the valley
below. Then we got to work. Actually worked harder on our day off than most of the other days we've been here.
We ground and mixed 2100 lbs of fertilizer and diesel fuel, carried it in buckets to the bore holes and loaded the
holes. Also learned how to hook up a blast pattern, pack boosters, etc. It was interesting. Lorne was the blast
director and did a very professional job of everything. We cleared the blast site of all the many curious Haitians,
then climbed a hill and Lorne orchestrated a perfect blast. No fly rock. Just a nice crunching sound and a large part
of the mountain laid into the stream below. We walked around the rubble a while and then cleaned up. The rest of
our guys had come up in the truck to see the blast so we rode back to town with them, always an eventful ride
with people yelling at us all along the way. Tonight, I am packing up, leaving some maintenance instructions with
the guys, etc. Can't believe it’s over. The 2 weeks have flown by in some ways, yet it seems I've been here a long,
long time. Anyway, tomorrow brother Enock will take us to Jimani and we will get on a bus to Santo Domingo.
There we will meet up with Vic, and he will take us back to Luis Polanco’s for night. Might catch the evening church
service. Hope so.
February 28th - Right now I am crammed in a bus on the way to Santo Domingo. It’s a 24 passenger bus. Our
luggage takes up 5 seats right in the back and somehow I count 36 people on the other 19 seats. No one is
standing, but they have boards across the aisles on every row, etc. I happen to be against the window on the row
where the wheel well is taking up the space where my legs need to be. This puts my feet at almost the same level
as my seat and my knees at chest level. My jeans are digging into my skin behind my knees, and if I think about
straightening my legs it’s all I can do to keep from throwing a fit. Oh well, it’s only a 5 hour bus ride with no stops.
My bladder had to submit 2 hours ago. In order for me to get out, at least 12 people would need to first. And at
least there is air conditioning.
But we've said our goodbyes. Some of the people I really learned to appreciate. Enock took us to Jimani and we left
from there. Should get to La Catalina in another 1.5 hours where Vic will fetch us.
Later: Vic took us to Nino and Kaylene’s home for a late lunch. We sat in the gazebo and ate a terrific lunch and
enjoyed the laughter and hospitality of this fine family. I tried my best to talk to Nino and their older girls Diana
and Pamela, and again wished for more Spanish. I enjoyed talking with the girls. They were very patient and
helpful and talked nice and slow for me! After a while, we drove over to Luis’ and unloaded our luggage. Then we
drove about 15 minutes to a rocky beach on the Caribbean Sea. It was beautiful and I was fascinated by the
strange looking rocks. I collected a few. Soon we went back and got ready for church.
The church service was warm and inspiring. The missionary from Ocoa, Ron Hauder had a message and there was
some good singing. Afterwards, there were some testimonies and us 4 white boys (Dean, Darcy, Shannon and
myself) sang a quartet. The people wanted us to sing another one but we decided to sing a little more after church
instead. After closing, we spent a long time in the front church yard visiting and singing. I was really impressed by
the 4 or 5 intermediate girls singing capabilities. Nino and Raphael’s girls and some others sang some Spanish
songs so beautifully. They wanted to sing English with us, which we did, but I kept telling them it was nicer to listen
to them. After a while, we walked back to Luis’, stopping at Kaylene’s sisters house to meet them briefly. Jenny had
prepared us some delicious mashed yucca and chicken casserole, with fried plantain and some kind of native juice.
We again, sat in the gazebo and enjoyed the enthusiasm and fervor these people have for life. It was a jolly, lovely
time. Finally, we bathed and went to bed.
March 1st – We got up way too early and went down to the airport. The whole day was a bit of a blurr. I slept on
the two flights a lot. For some reason we laid over in Philadelphia. It was so good to get back to my dear family in
Denver. We spent the night there and enjoyed the next day as a family at the Children’s Museum, etc.
A memorable trip!
THE TENT DESIGN
We use ½” and 3/8” hot rolled smooth round bar and weld up a rectangular framework. The frame consists of (5)
18 ft bars running one way and (5) 10 ft bars running the other way, to make a 10 ft x 18 ft grid. There are also a
few angled bars in the framework for added bracing.
We use the same ½” bar and bend a hook onto both ends of a 11 foot piece. We make two of these.
We use 3/8” bar and bend a hook just like the ½” ones, only on these we also bend the entire bar into a
large V.
The main tarp is 20.5 x 12 ft. A small rectangle is cut out of each corner and the inside of this rectangle is
hemmed for added strength. Then the long edges of the tarp are folded first 4” and then 2” and are sewn with a
rope trapped into that fold. The rope is left long on both ends. The short ends of the tarp are just doubled over
once and a nylon strap is sewn into this fold. So all four edges of the main tarp have to be sewn and then it is rolled
up and tied for shipping.
The tarps for the end walls are cut into the shape of an arch, then the nylon strap is sewn onto the curved
edge to reinforce it.
The floor of the tent is just a large square piece of tarp. The corners are turned up and sewn to make a 9”
deep pan that will keep ground water from running into the tent.
We also make (2) heavy tent stakes with a full hook on the top.
All of these pieces are transported to the tent city, or site, in a truck. The first step is for 4 men to each
take a corner of the large rectangle frame work and bend it into an arch. The straight ½” end hooks are use to keep
the arch from springing back into a flat gridwork again. Then the crotch of the 3/8” V-hooks go under these end
hooks, and the ends of the V-hooks fasten about halfway up the arch on the main frame. This provides a angle
brace on each end wall and makes the tent very stable.
The end wall tarps cover the end wall and are fastened with zip ties to the framework. A few ties are left
missing to provide a door flap on one end and a vent flap on the top of the other end.
The main tarp drapes over the framework and the ends are tucked underneath the side walls so they
come inside the tent. This flap is laced to the framework inside the tent with rope. This is done along both sides of
the tent and the lacing is then cinched tight. On the ends of the tent, the main tarp hangs over about 6 inches and
overlaps where the end walls were zip tied on. The rope which was sewn into these edges, is cinched tight sort of
like a sweatshirt hood.
The entire tent, 10ft x 10 ft, can be carried to the exact location where it will set and the two stakes are
driven in so they hook the crotches of the V-hooks. This makes the tents even more stable.
The floor of the tent is laid and tucked into place and the sides of the “pan” are held up with zip ties to the
walls of the tent.
The tents are white on the outside, black on the inside. A 6 ft. man can easily stand anywhere in the
middle 4 ft x 10ft area of the tent. These cost $135 in material and take 2 man hours to produce and 2 man hours
to erect. They are weather proof, and only a hurricane or fire could really destroy them.