Meet Osner Dieuvil
aka Limba
Osner is a man we've come to love. That may be in part to the fact that when we first met him he told us he was blind because a coconut fell from a tree and landed on his head and he lost a little toe. As funny as it sounds, there is some truth to it...just not in that order. When he was a kid a coconut fell from a tree and did indeed land on his head but he didn't lose sight then. In 2010, when the massive earthquake struck Haiti, a block fell and crushed his toe and resulted in him losing his toe. In complications from losing his toe, his vision was affected and now he can only see shadows of things close up. Nonetheless, he wears the glasses he has on in the photo above every day.
This was Osner's house. This was also the place where we first met Osner in July when we were going door to door in the community to pray with people and give out beans and rice. His now son-in-law built this house 16 years ago in Fond Doux, Haiti and up until a couple years ago, he lived with them in this house. They have since moved out and Osner was on his own. Two people from the community have been helping take care of Osner since they left and we are thankful for that. They bring him food, water, and help him do whatever else he needs to do.
However, his living conditions concerned us and it was from that day on that we thought about Osner often and began throwing the idea around of employing some Haitians and building him suitable housing. It was just an idea and something we wanted to do that was on the back burner for a few until we went to visit him again and we saw this...
This is where Osner's house used to be before it fell on him.
You see, Osner's house used to be tied to the root of a tree on the hillside just to keep it upright and from falling over. I use the word "used to be" because what we would consider a "small storm" came through and the rope gave way. Osner was inside laying down for the night when the storm came. He said he heard a lot of creaking and popping so he got up and tried to leave his house blindly. As he was getting to the door he heard a big crack and a portion of the house fell on top of him and knocked him down. Frantically he scrambled out of the house and called for help.
The next day, the damage was beyond repair and what was left of his house was taken down. What you see is all that remains of his little plot of land. Osner doesn't say much about his house being gone except that "God knows." That is a typical response when things happen that are out of their control and they don't know what to do next. From that moment, we knew we couldn't not do anything.
A week later we went to visit Osner to see how he was doing and to take a look at his land. We were surprised when we walked up and saw him sitting in this little shack. Apparently, a few friends took some of the scraps from his old house and made him a little house big enough to put a mattress in and hold the few personal items he still had.
We then began planning. We began getting estimates and seeing just how much it would cost to build a house for Osner with a concrete floor.
Why not a dirt floor like the many other houses around him? Do you see that hillside of dirt? When it rains, that dirt turns into mud and that mud would end up in Osner's house every single time. And when it's in our power to do good, we should do it, right? So concrete floor it is. The house will be built as Haitians build houses out of wood with a higher grade tin.
So we got the estimates and here we are.
It's time for our first Konbit.
The price to build Osner a house, pay a "Big Boss" to oversee building, pay laborers for their work and feed everyone involved, it will only cost:
$2,000 US
THIS IS WHERE YOU COME IN.
We need to raise this $2,000 for his house and then we need a team to come in and do the dirty work of serving our Haitian brothers and sisters. We need people to carry brick, mix cement, hold boards, hammer nails, feed people and literally be the hands and feet of Jesus for a week. This requires no expertise in carpentry or construction. All it requires is a humble heart and willing hands.
LET'S KONBIT TOGETHER.
You can donate here to build Osner a house and build into his life and his community spiritually and physically: