The January 12, 2010, magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit near Leogane, 25 miles west of Port-au-Prince, killing over 230,000 and leaving 1 million homeless.
Our long-range vision includes a trade school in Haiti where we teach construction skills. Now we do that on the job site. Photo by Jane Tyska.
Teaching the proper ratio of water, cement, gravel and sand to make concrete.
Mason trainees spend one or two days learning how to spread the right amount of mortar.
Avery Pratt Extollo's director of training - instructing on the proper way to lay block.
Trainees are tested and graded on how well they can build a lead. Is it plumb, level, straight, and with proper mortar joints?
Extollo trained Haitian mason building girl’s orphanage dormitory at Dezman Fleury Foundation.
Trained masons laying block on the wall that surrounds the orphanage. Now they are on the payroll.
Trainers instruct the proper way of grouting the wall, which adds structural strength.
Masons and trainers on scaffolding, as the wall goes up.
As a comparison, trained masons built the wall on the left.
Sherman Balch, Founder of Extollo, uses a video camera to produce a training video for future use.