O prosper the work of our hands!

Recently I’ve spent a lot of time working on the chicken coop. One of the tasks at hand was to set two metal brackets in about two cubic feet of concrete each. The metal brackets were designed to help stabilize the building in the event of a hurricane. In Haiti concrete is mixed on site. The unit of measure used in the concrete recipe was a five gallon bucket. To the best of my recollection we needed three buckets of gravel, two buckets of sand, and two buckets of water for every two buckets of concrete. We started by sifting the sand. Then all the ingredients were combined and mixed with shovels. At which point we used the five gallon buckets to carry the concrete to the designated spot. Four of us worked as a team and were able to complete the job in one day.

As I helped sift sand and carry buckets of concrete I ponder all the things that are done by hand here in Haiti. At the construction site hand saws were used to cut PVC pipe, wood, and iron re-bar. Nails were driven with a hammer not a nail gun. Ladders were fabricated from scrap lumber as needed. In Haiti the hands on approach goes beyond the construction site and seems to be applied to all aspects of life. Water is pumped by hand. Car repairs are all done by hand; including engine work, body work, and patching flat tires. The baskets, trivets, and coasters in our dining room were all hand woven. Our juice is fresh squeezed by hand. Furniture is handmade, including the tables and chairs in the preschool. The children’s school uniforms are all individually tailored and hand sewn. I am amazed at what the Haitian people are able to accomplish by hand. O prosper the work of our hands! (Ps. 90:17)

preschool students in uniform, complete with aprons