Staff writer
chriscam@observer-reporter.com
When a group from Chartiers Hill Presbyterian Church travels to Haiti in the fall, a construction project will be awaiting them - one they are familiar with.
The group is assembling a greenhouse this week for Haiti. The structure will then be taken apart, crated and shipped to the island nation for reconstruction about six months from now.
The group has been working on the project since Monday evening at the North Strabane Township fire hall.
According to Al Cario, one of the men taking part in the construction, the completed growing structure stands about 15 feet wide, 48 feet long and 8 feet tall. Its purpose is to provide shade from constant sun and protection from insects for young plants.
The greenhouse will be shipped to the New Testament Mission in LaCroix, Haiti. The mission is operated by Pastor Vaugelas Pierre. Pierre has spoken at a number of local churches in recent years and several have helped build a medical clinic at New Testament Mission.
While hearing about Pierre's reforestation project, several members of Chartiers Hill church decided this was a venture in which they could participate.
"It's the biggest project we've tried in quite a while," Cario said.
They decided to assemble the greenhouse prior to shipping because once they arrive in Haiti they won't have access to a Home Depot. Also, they will be faced with a language barrier.
Each student at the mission is required to plant two plants a year. Seven years after it began, the area surrounding the clinic has been changed into a lush forest where bamboo, banana and coconut palms, avocado, cherry, citrus, ficus and papaya trees grow.
The Rev. Don Austin, pastor at Chartiers Hill, said the church is financing the project and hopes to hold spaghetti dinners or other fundraisers following Easter "to pay the light bill.
"It's not a committee you form, it's a committee that spontaneously came into existence," he said of those working on the mission project. "Everyone who's involved feels very enthusiastic and feels called."
The trip to Haiti is an outgrowth of mission work that began when the remnants of Hurricane Ivan hit the Houston area. The church joined the Interfaith Flood Recovery Team, recruiting church members who had skills to help rebuild damaged homes.
From that effort came a natural progression to trips to the Gulf Coast where those same skills were used to help rebuild homes destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. In April the church will participate in its third missionary trip to Louisiana.
From that work, the church branched out into the mission field at Haiti. Several people have been active in the missions, but Cario said Marchetta Klamut, who has traveled to Haiti twice, has taken an active role in getting church members to foster Haitian children and sending them presents at Christmas.