January 9, 2012

Members of Ontario’s carpenters’ union with their Habitat for Humanity crew in Leogane, Haiti during a recent home building initiative.

Carpenters’ union hammer for Haiti

KELLY LAPOINTE

staff writer

A trip to Haiti to build houses turned into a life changing adventure for four carpenters from Ontario’s carpenters’ union.

Mike Yorke, Carlos Pimentel, Ucal Powell and Carmelo Castiglione travelled to Leogane, Haiti to work on houses for Habitat for Humanity with the Jimmy Carter Foundation. The initiative was in collaboration with Architecture for Humanity.

The crew built 12 feet by 12 feet houses made of wood, stucco and corrugated tin roofs during their one week stay in November.

“We were shocked at the level of devastation and need even 18 months after the earthquake of Jan. 12, 2010,” said Powell, Executive Secretary Treasurer of the Carpenters’ District Council of Ontario (CDCO). “The country was in great need even before the earthquake and that has just made matters worse.”

This was not the first time the carpenters helped in such a situation; they were in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina as well.

The Leogane ground breaking ceremony was held on Sept. 15, 2011, with 140 foundations already on the ground. The community’s master plan includes two schools, a community sports center and a public marketplace, which still requires construction funding and the projects are expected to be rolled out by the end of 2012. The carpenters hope they can help with a trade school component to the secondary school.

CARLOS PIMENTEL

An example of the many 12 foot by 12 foot structures built in Haiti which will house residents.

A young man nicknamed Jimmy was on the carpenters’ crew. They took him under their wing and taught him the tricks of the trade as they built the badly needed houses.

Toolboxes and hand tools were donated by Stanley and power tools such as drills were donated by Dewalt. The carpenters then gave some of these tools to Jimmy. By the end of the project, he was able to build small furniture, like stools, to furnish the newly built houses which could house up to about eight people in some instances.

The carpenters are already anxious to see how Jimmy will progress by next fall when they plan to return for another build.

“We left him with more than a house,” said Castiglione, member of carpenters Local 1030.

The Ontario carpenters worked on a crew with the people who were going to live in the houses paying their “sweat equity” and with volunteers from all over the world. Each volunteer raises $5,000 to be able to build with Habitat.

One of the best parts of the experience for the carpenters was getting to know the people who would be living in the houses and hearing their stories. They worked in the sweltering heat, but “it wasn’t onerous, it felt great,” said Pimentel, Director of Organizing with the CDCO. “We worked hard, but met good people.”

The carpenters not only helped build four houses they also loaned their superior tools to other crews and taught them how to make better use of them.

Yorke, President of Carpenters and Allied Workers Local 27, said he was shocked at the amount of manpower it took to host the volunteers. An Irish charity, Haven, provided all the food for the Habitat workers.

The carpenters met former United States president Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn, whom Yorke described as “extremely down to earth” while they met and thanked the volunteers for their hard work.

As the carpenters travelled through Haiti, they were struck by the divide between the rich and the poor. There are still thousands of people living in tent cities that are little more than tarps on corrugated metal. Children wandered the street barefoot.

Though just a week, the experience changed them all forever, in even the simplest ways. Pimentel recalled the first time his wife came home with bags and bags of groceries.

“I just thought of how many Haitians that could feed,” he said.

Yorke thinks there is hope for the devastated country.

“Through more developments, there is a real opportunity that Haiti can be set on a better path,” said Yorke, pointing to the Canadian Construction Association’s efforts to rebuild the Haitian trade school Ecole Lakay in Le Soleil, Haiti.

“The construction [industry] can play a real leadership role in Haiti.”

The first 150 homes were finished by the end of November and the first residents moved in just before Christmas. The Carter Work Project is already scheduled to return to Haiti in 2012, and the carpenters hope to be there too.

“We are committed to more support for the people of Haiti and to that end; we look to support the development of a trade school component as part of the secondary school already planned as part of the Santo Community project,” said Powell.

Yorke said they will continue to teach and make people care. They hope more people from the construction industry join them next fall.

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