Charles and Lori met while working in a rural clinic in Cazale in Jan 1999. We started dating in May 2000 and were married in December of 2003.
We purchased a piece of land and hoped to build our home here in the village, but Lori had to have emergency surgeries and our dreams were put on hold until we could save up enough funds to continue.
We rented a home close to our land for $11 per month. It was a humble start with no electricity and walls made of rock, mud, and covered with cement. We could reach out and touch our neighbors houses from our porch, but it was fun and interesting for me to learn the culture and find new friends. We all shared the same shower so that was a challenge at times but it worked. It was a 30 minute walk from our house to the clinic and wading through the river during the rainy seasons provided enough thrills to last a lifetime. We lived here for 2 years.
While waiting and saving to continue to build, Gretchen (Lori’s mom) sadly passed away and Lori had more responsibilies in the clinic and mission work. The mission rented part of a house that was closer to the clinic and we lived there for 3 years. We strung extension cords and internet wires through the trees and thanked God daily for the fans!
During Sept 2008, there were a series of hurricanes that hit the country of Haiti. The last one, Ike, seemed to do the most damage in our area. Water tables were already high from the three previous storms and there was just no place for the water to go. It was a flash flood/wall of water that hit the village. Many homes were affected, including our own. Water rose about 3.5 ft in our house and we lost most of our things. Thankfully, we were in the US at the time and God had protected us.
We could not move back in the house and tried to find somewhere else to rent. We we couldn’t find any place at a reasonable price, we began looking for land to buy and build. We found a piece of land for $5000. This was the same price that some were asking us for a year of rent. It seemed only logical to start putting the funds into something lasting.
