We are currently here on our R and R in Tobago, post-build.....the wifi was sporadic and poor during the build, so we will be writing about the week while we are here.....your patience is appreciated!!!!  Haha.

Sunday, pre-build...

Met Pierre, our driver

Joan, our Habitat guide




And settled in to Morton House, the dorm style building situated beside the church.......these accommodations have made Habitat history.......7 females sleeping in 1 room, using an attached room as a "walk-in" closet.......sharing 2 showers, and 2 toilets, across the other side of the house.....with even more females from other bedrooms! (There were 14 females on this build).

Build Day 1

Team Tony heads to Lucy's. Meets their site manager Julian, and paints the entire house, inside color (Mint Lime) and outside (Papaya),

Team Paulie works at Mohan's painting windows, and finishing inside walls.  Habitat site manager Sheldon organizes us well.

Build Day 2

Team Tony joins Team Paulie at Mohan's, 25 team members on one site can be cozy!  But Sheldon,
found jobs for Team Paulie inside while Julian found jobs for Team Tony outside.

JM adds our token twoonie to Mohan's house.

Build Day 3

For the remainder of the week, the whole team moved to an area outside of Princes Town, an hour and a half from the dorm, and met Elizabeth (Beth), who greeted us with smiles and hugs as we got off the bus.  She was elated to have her house started.  A concrete slab awaited us, with a trailer filled with steel pre-forms for the walls and roof, and all the wall boards, for inside and out.  We unloaded that trailer like champions.  And even though the rains stalled us from time to time during the day, we managed to have all the walls up and secured by days end.

At night, the team took turns cleaning and doing the dishes

Build Day 4

We installed the roof, and started to dig the hole for the septic tank.  The rains that day prevented us from completing the hole.  The interior wall boards were started.

At night the team took in a private steel pan concert giving bu the youth from the local church

Build Day 5

Worked on the interior and exterior wall boards and finished the septic hole.  Met Beth's girls, Akila and Alika.

Over the last three years , The Ottawa Police Association and the Ottawa Police Service have greatly supported the teams efforts. Each year The Ottawa Police Association has donated money to the cause, allowing its members to purchase much needed items for the home owners. These items have ranged from stoves and sinks to latrines.

This year, Ottawa Police members Paul Mackillop, Chris Tessier, Mike Hudson and Jen McLinton, 

as well as, Cheryl Pettit pooled the donated funds received from the Ottawa Police Association and the Ontario RCMP NCO Mess in order to try and help Beth and her family.

It was decided that the team would purchase and install a septic system in order to get Beth and her family into their new home by Christmas.  As Beth is struggling to raise her two daughters, (she needed to return from her job aboard a cruise ship, in order to tend to her daughter suffering from cerebral palsy), it was decided that the remaining donations would be used to cover the first 30 months of Beth's new mortgage. Beth will receive the good news on December 7th while participating in the dedication ceremony.

Pictured below are Paul, Chris, Mike, Jen, and Cheryl with Beth's two girls, as they prepare to install the septic system:

End of Day 5, Tony and Paul with Beth and the Habitat crew.