Monday, February 23, 2015

Mr. Bee's House Fund

 Any of you who have been following our story over the past few years know Mr. Bee. He has been such a huge support to our family during our time in Haiti. Mr. Bee has a heart of gold and giving heart. He is often driving to the village down the coast to deliver food to the elderly there, doing all he can to help teams to make a difference while they're here. For the past three years, Bee has been our interpreter and assistant and so much more. We trust him. He is like family.

Bee and his wife Juliana in July of 2012

In 2004, Mr. Bee was able to purchase some land with the intent of building a house for his family. Here on La Gonave, there are no mortgages, so you just save and build as you can. So, in 2008, Mr. Bee started the foundation of his new home. During this time, he was renting a two room house that was no bigger than my entire kitchen. Before they moved out, his family of 6 was living there.

Visiting with Juliana and baby Brucinda at their old house. (March 2014)

Morgan with Bilanda and Bianka, two of Mr. Bee's daughters (Dec. 2014)

It has taken Mr. Bee seven years to get the house to a place where he felt comfortable moving his family in. That meant - the house had walls and a roof. They have just recently moved into their new house, but there is still so much to be finished.  This morning he came to get some water for us and told us that he is really praying that he can get enough money to finish the outdoor latrine. Currently, his family is walking about a half mile one way to use the outdoor latrine at their church. Bee has already hand dug the 30 foot hole for the latrine! Now he needs to buy cement and block and metal to build the building over and around the hole.

He also has many other projects that still need completed. I asked him to give me a list of what still needed to be done. I would love to be able to help out in any way we can. The list includes:

- Finish the water cistern - he has already dug the hole, (see photo below) but needs to line and cover with concrete and run the pipes. This will hold all the rain water that is caught from the roof.
- Install 2 indoor toilets. They plan to be able to host teams who visit and want them to be able to have a toilet to use instead of an outdoor latrine.
- Create an outdoor kitchen (lean-to with shelves, table to prepare food, propane tank and burner)
- Install windows
- Install solar panels, batteries and inverter and run electric
- Build a fence around the house
- Lay tile in the house (currently, there are dirt/rock floors...a team is planning to come in March to help lay cement in the house!)
- Paint the inside and outside of the house.

Water cistern that will be used to catch rain water to be used for cooking, flushing toilets, bathing, cleaning, laundry, etc.

Bee's family's beautiful new house!

I realize that none of this list is a need and so does Bee. That is why he chose to move his family before those things were finished. But how many of these basic "wants" do we all live with? Bathrooms, kitchens, water, electricity, etc... If Bee and his family were to finish this list on their own, it would most likely take them another 7 years to complete.

If you know Mr. Bee and his family and have been impacted by his generous spirit and would like to give, please consider doing so with the donate button below. Almost the entire house was built by Haitians, so if we get money, Mr. Bee knows local people who can do the job. However, if you want to make a trip to help out, I'm sure he would welcome that as well! It would be amazing if we could even get the $200 to help him finish the outdoor latrine! If we get more, he'll be able to finish even more.

I don't always put out pleas for help, and there area definitely other needs here on the island. But, this is just one way that I can give back to a family who has given so much to us.