Mais Gate

From July until November 2010, four North American teams have partnered with the Wesleyan church of Mais Gate in Port Au Prince for a rebuild. These teams including a team from FWC Alive in Central, South Carolina, a team from Mitchell, South Dakota, and an independent family team have done the work in three stages.

Pastor Solon (far right) and his wife (2nd from right)

In the first stage teams worked on putting up the pole structure, adding trusses, and beginning the roof. The following teams were able to finish the roof and entryways and to put up the add-ons which will serve as classrooms for the school at Mais Gate. The team of two families then began building a parsonage for Pastor Solon who had lost his house. They also poured the floor in several of the classrooms and gave funds to help the church rebuild a school wall that had fallen. Without this wall, the property was beginning to be over-run.

Currently this project is well underway. The building is up and add-ons have been constructed. With the help of these teams, Mais Gate is better able to serve their people. In particular, this church enjoys serving the school children in their area through community outreach.

Additionally, the National Church has chosen this site for the location of their central headquarters. They would like to repair their exisiting office building rather than build a temporary office inside the new church structure. The cost of this project is estimated at $12,000 to cover complete repairs and a remodel.

RECOMMENDATIONS/NOTES

The worship area is a partially completed structure that does not appear to be structurally sound. The worship area did not appear to sustain earthquake damage. It was not completed. It is suggested the building be demolished for safety reasons.

The pastor indicated the burned out truck was a result of neighbors who felt it was not fair that his wife and daughter were only minimally injured when their house collapsed on them. The perimeter walls sustained major damage creating a security concern.

The school building did not appear to be in great shape prior to the earthquake, but it was damaged by the earthquake and is being used by the pastor’s family for shelter.

This is a very large and open property in a centrally located area. It appears to have the potential to be quickly cleared and made ready for a temporary structure or rebuilt facility. There is ample room on the property for excess debris to be stored.

Area Layout