On Tuesday December 13th, 2011 Homes from the Heart’s Directors Michael Bonderer and Rick Dye arrived in Haiti with a team of students from the University of Cincinnati. They shortly met up with Jacob Battle, a former board member of the Fuller center and longtime friend of Millard Fuller. Jacob suggested to Michael that all of them visit a piece of land in Bellatan where he thought that a house could be built.
After visiting the site it was decided that a concrete block triplex could be built there to house three families. The Fuller Center team led by Michael Bonderer immediately began work tearing down the run down hovels made of plastic, cardboard, and tin which were occupying the site and dug a foundation for the triplex. Three days after starting construction on the site the stone foundation and structural steel had been put into place for the earthquake resistant triplex. Just as the team’s time in Haiti was coming to an end a roving band of five Mennonites came to the site and offered to help. After the team had left, the Mennonites picked up where they left off and started laying block, in two and a half weeks the triplex was finished.
This story illustrates how a group of likeminded folks with a servant’s heart can make anything happen when the Holy Spirit is involved. Be it The University of Cincinnati, a roving band of Mennonites, or a community in need of shelter with a willingness to help but limited funds, an overwhelming sense of volunteerism can make anything happen.
For more information please see The Americus Times Recorder’s story about the coming together of these diverse people for a common goal in Haiti.
