Construction in Hiati requires brute strength… and noise
In the year I’ve spent supervising construction of a school and orphanage in Haiti, I’ve learned one essential truth: work requires banging. Most Haitians are remarkably strong, and much of our work site camaraderie is based on shared displays of physical prowess. There is nothing praiseworthy in the carpenter who cuts concrete formwork with such precision that it slides into place. Ah, but if the plywood is a too long and the carpenter can poise a mallet over his head, swing a giant arc and force it into submission, that is work. Better yet, the wood does not comply at once, so the worker has the opportunity to pound repeatedly, creating reverberations over the entire site. Of course if the plywood is cut too short, the carpenter has a similar opportunity, force-fitting shims to fill the gap.
We are building super-rigid structures known as constrained concrete construction, which reinterpret traditional Haitian methods but can withstand future earthquakes — giant boats with heavy ballasts to withstand…
