Keith Cobell, Extollo President:
This month we began to really see the fruit of many months of labor and preparation on the tilt-up side, with not only one, but two tilt-up house prototypes being erected on campus - and 120 lineal feet of tilt-up security wall going up as well. The trade school continues to see significant progress, largely out of brute strength (and a lot of grit), with the Practicum program and the Career Day Program making big strides this month. And supporting it all is the business operations that continues to build and maintain many systems and processes that ensure our mission moves forward in strength.
BERCY CAMPUS:
We continue to evaluate graduates as candidates to teach our Level 1 classes. Laner Exavius, who recently gained work experience with the concrete team and joined the plan reading class, has been identified as a promising graduated for consideration to become an Assistant Trainer in masonry for the next class.
EIPP CAMPUS:
Masonry Level 1 re-launched in Port-au-Prince thanks to the support and partnership of Haiti Outreach Ministries and MICECC and their campus. Even with the recent and ongoing unrest in Port-au-Prince, 12 students made their way to class each day with the hopes of gaining valuable skills in an employable trade.
A top student from last year's class joined as Assistant Trainer. It is one of Extollo's goals to develop a dedicated masonry training team for the PaP campus.
Practicum
To support the further education of the concrete team, the trade school worked with concrete lead, Javier Calero, to help develop Introduction to Plan Reading, an impromptu class that was taught two hours each day over the course of a week. This class was designed to give the concrete team a foundation when reading plans to build the tilt-up houses.
An exciting milestone was met this month when practicum students Youwens, Gregory, and Vanessa took on Extollo's first outside welding fabrication project building desks for LifeSong for Orphans. A total of 16 desks have been manufactured and will be used starting in September.
The metal fabrication team has been busy this month building support structures for the tilt-up homes.
Javier's concrete crew was busy forming, installing rebar, and pouring concrete for the prototype houses and security wall panels.
A total of 13 graduates were employed in August putting in over 650 hours!
We remain prayerfully hopeful that some of the recent masonry graduates will be hired onto a large Cite Soleil project in the coming months led by Steve Poulos' seasoned team of Extollo graduates.
Tilt-Up
Completed forming 20 security wall panels for a total of 200 lineal feet.
Formed, placed steel, and poured 10 security wall panels fr 100 lineal feet of wall.
Set grout pads for 300+ lineal feet of security wall.
Erected 120 lineal feet of security wall panels - 12 panels lifted and set.
Erected all wall panels for the 16x16 house prototype.
Erected all wall panels for the 16x24 house prototype
The Training Center hosted its neighbor, LifeSong, for a second Career Day. Twenty (20) young men and women toured campus, watched masonry, welding and electrical demonstrations, and got hands on practice in each trade. Through a survey, 80% of the students expressed interest in taking Electrical Training, with the remaining 20% interested in Masonry and Welding. Career Days ensure a great experience for secondary school graduates wanting to explore a career in the trades. Thanks to Bendy Camille for this video!
A railing and platform for the top of the water tower behind the staff houses was fabricated that the wind turbines will be mounted on.
Empowering the staff is one of the many priorities of Extollo's mission. For months, Junior has been looking for a skilled English teacher for our Haitian staff in order to foster greater communication between our Haitian staff and expats - including volunteers. The staff will start "New Interchange" with Destin English Language in September.
20+ staff participated in a half-day first aid class with Dr. Mark Fulton, a doctor with emergency room experience. The focus of the class was a patient care and stabilization after a construction-related injury. Staff were put through numerous scenarios and taught how to stabilize the patient in preparation for transport to the hospital.
Volunteers on campus this month: Greg Dean, Michael Elola, Shane Balch, and Tyler Capparelli
You're Invited!
Invite a friend and join us for a live 30 minute Zoom call, including a time for Q&A, to hear an update from leadership on where we've been, where we are, and the exciting things that are coming up!
Saturday, September 24th
4:30pm PST/7:30pm EST
Join the Facebook event to get updates and reminders!
Extollo is always looking for staff and volunteers to join the team and help advance our mission in Haiti. If you or someone you know may be interested, you can find more info here. Or send us an email - we would love to talk with you!
Join the Extollo team and gain a unique opportunity to equip Haitians in the construction industry through the development and construction of tilt up concrete houses and panelized security walls.
This is a great opportunity for someone who is looking for a very unique experience where they can use their skills and knowledge to help Haitians build a stronger Haiti.
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