Wednesday, March 13, 2019
We had breakfast as usual and then headed to our job sites before 7 am. Since I was supposed to pick up a rental car at 9 am, Phillip and I were switched so that I was with the team of Duane, Ed, Danny and PR, that was working on the second house, in order that I would be a little closer to the airport to pick up the van.
Yesterday the team had removed the remnants of the old roof and started building the new one.
Ed spent most of his time cutting the wood for us and Anet ( aka hurricane Anet ) was the expert at ” hurricane straps “.
Danny helped with everything on the roof, nailing the rafters and purlins as well as helping with the hurricane straps.
PR and I worked together making supports for the purlins and installing top plates on the walls.
Duane directed the work and helped install the rafters and purlins.
At 9 am, Harold picked me up and we drove to the airport to pick up the rental minivan that FEMA had approved for our use. It didn’t take long and I was back at the job site by 9:30 am.
We made good progress The roof is now ready for putting on the galvanized sheets.
The owner of the house lives in the FEMA tents located in front of the house and in the afternoon I met her, which gave me a chance to talk with her for a while. She was born in Saipan and had move to Guam with her husband who was born there. Her children were born in Guam and after her husband passed away, she moved back to Saipan. She is in a wheelchair and requires breathing assistance with oxygen. When we were almost ready to pack up and leave, her son and some other friends and family members showed up. The told us that she is a special lady, very friendly and she never complains. She is deserving of all the aide she receives.
Meanwhile, Greg, Kendall, Phil, Dan and Anet completed the house that had been started on Monday. By 9 am they had finished the roof and then Greg, Kendall, Phillip and Dan headed to a third site and Harold brought Anet to help our team with the hurricane straps. The other team removed the old roof on the house at the third site and the interior walls that had been infested with termites. The house is now ready for them to start re-building.
We arrived back at the hotel by 3:00 pm and some people went swimming while the rest of us took showers and relaxed. I had a cappuccino and a chocolate mouse while I updated my journal.
We met at 5:30 pm to review the day and for devotions before getting something to eat. Four of us went to Bubba Gumps for some seafood, one person went to a burger restaurant and the rest went to a Korean restaurant.
At our 5:30 meeting, Harold mentioned that he had heard that there was a positive buzz around town about ” the mennonites being back to rebuild houses “. The people in Saipan have been very friendly, complimentary , gracious and I have nothing but good things to say about them.
Ralf Hamm 