We had a very successful day today. Our crew has settled into my strange habits. I can be a little bossy. They now smile when I walk up instead of acting like they were about to throw a rock at me.
The real story is in the metal rebar. It is apparently the most valuable commodity in Soleil. I kept wanting the crew to help us get to the key structural points that needed to be cut out. They on the other hand wanted to secure the bundles of metal rebar we cut out.
These bundles or floor nerves are about a foot wide and 4 inches thick. They are made of a mass of rebar bound together. It gives the floor or ceiling it’s strengh. When we cut these out, there is a frenzy of activity. Everyone wants the bar. It is like we are mining for gold. Occasionaly, a length of rod would fall off the top of our building. Other people from the area would rush in to grab the rod and our crew would start screaming and running to stop them.
Our big news is that we cleared the roof. It was like we won a soccer match. Our team (aka gang members) were lifting their arms in victory and shouting. The team was asking us if we had more schools. I kept telling them this one was not finished yet.
On the disappointing side, Wharf Jeremie broke out in gun fire today. Gun fights moved into Soleil. Fr Rick grabbed me when I came home and said they had started a true gun battle. Someone was kidnapped and they brought someone who got shot to our hospital. All this happened around us.
Fr Rick said we had to lay out a few days. It was too volitile. Mike told me we probably changed the market condition with all the metal that was cut out.
Rob
