Davima & Simone’s House

As some of the children peak around the corners and the other children are off sitting under the trees, you can see the smiles on their faces, but they are hesitant. The smiles are for the new house they are getting, but the hesitancy is because there are about 20 Haitians and Americans all crowded on their property helping lay out, dig, and get the foundation ready for Davima and Simone’s house.

The children will give you smiles and fist bumps as they warm up to you being around. That is all that is really needed when the sweat pours off your head from digging and serving this family!

As RoRo, Eline, and our staff surveyed hurricane damage and met needs in the days following the storm, they worked with community leaders in nearby Savanne du Bois which was hit harder than Peredo.

Davima and Simone’s family is one of the families who lost their home due to Hurricane Matthew. This hard-working couple have nine children and live in Savanne du Bois, a coastal village just south of Peredo. Davima jumped in to help rebuild their home as much as possible. Simone, more reserved, provided coconuts to the group as they took breaks from the work.

The old home was built out of wooden poles with a thatched roof (small photo below). The new home is built out of Compressed Earth Block, 29 ft. long and 13 ft. wide, with two rooms and a front porch. While the new house was being built, the family lived in this makeshift structure:

This project is a combined effort of Haitians, Americans, Hurricane Matthew donations, and CEB partners that made this desperate situation turn from a struggle into a new home for this family. We are grateful for each person who helped make this happen. Praise God!