Travel Day?

Today was supposed to be a travel day, but it ended up being so much more than that.

Up at 5:30am to finish packing up the work room. Typed a Waiver of Liability and Release Form for the families to sign after we met with Michaelle and she hinted at needing it.

Said goodbye to the family, then the crazy guy and Sienna (housekeeper) decided they wanted to come see the site today. There was a big miscommunication - they thought they should get a shelter. Aye. When we got to the site later, this was cleared up as they decided they were above it. Ok, fine.

To the gas station to pick up Johnbern's friend, Danny, through the puddle we've been driving through everyday for the last month.  Danny will be riding back to the DR with us and also speaks good english. Then on to the land.

The Daily Commute.

Yesterday we told the President of the old camp he could bring out 5 more families to be interviewed... he brought 6.  Kendra and I had a team meeting with Xiomara, Johnbern, and Danny, then the President and Pastor. We decided to divide and conquer - she worked through Danny with the President and Pastor to move the back row of houses while Johnbern and I interviewed the 6 new families.

Watching them try to move the house made me tired. The UN security showed up at the right time to help. Only 1 was moved over 1-2 hours, so we called the Paraguayans in hopes they would rescue damsels in distress. They are going to try to come out this week sometime. Whew. We need the houses to be moved so that ACTED can work on the better temporary shelters or plywood homes.

Johnbern and I interviewed the 6 new families. I was only unsure about 1. It is interesting to hear what people were doing before the earthquake and how they've been living the last year. One woman started to cry as she told us about how she lost her husband 8 years ago and how alone she feels. In addition, she has a serious skin condition. She told Johnbern how sad she is and while I held her hand I told her she had come to the right place. He added a few words of encouragement and we had Dr. Xiomara check her.

Aristil from Water International showed up when Kendra was talking with Bony about he and Jodicleor's shelter. Today has been like all the rest - extremely hectic and on the fly!

Johnbern had to leave so I drove him to the main road. He shared about his mom and 8 sisters and how he doesn't want them to live with her anymore. I can't imagine the burden he must feel wanting to help them, but instead helping us.  While I was gone, Pierre (the reason we stayed) from ACTED showed up and left. For staying late for him, he was 2 hours late and the meeting was less than 15 minutes.

Distribution of items to the new families, final instructions, then the Pastor prayed for our trip. He began to sing "Bind us Together" and other people came around. We all held hands and prayed. It was beautiful after our crazy day... getting things together and making sure they felt good until our next trip.

To the border...that is mostly under water. It's crazy they are still letting people pass at this border crossing of Jimani. Also, it's market day! Driving toward the border about 4pm, we really didn't know what to expect. Lots of water and semi-trucks.

People walking back after Market Day.

At the Haitian building, they have added a "bridge" of sorts to walk over the rising water. 

With the road mostly under water, there wasn't exactly a place to park. I took the wheel to get out of the way of passing buses, but had to drive through a massive pool of water. To get to us, Kendra rode on the side of a semi and jumped into the passagenger side of Floyd - I wish I had my camera out!

Through all checkpoints in record time -market day or not. On Dominican side by 5:10pm. Stopped in Jimani to get fried chicken and plantains to go.

The drive was long and mostly in the dark.  Danny told us more about him, then watched his personal DVD player. Kendra and Xiomara rehashed some things from the week in Spanish while I updated my notes and took a short nap.

Kendra got tired a little over halfway through the drive, so I took over.  We dropped Danny off in Santo Domingo and I listened to music the rest of the drive home.  Xiomara decided to take a taxi from Jarabacoa.  We pulled into the driveway about 1:15am and I scraped Floyd on their cement security wall.  Nooo!  After driving the whole way in the dark with no street lamps up the mountain, something happens in the driveway!  It didn't look pretty.  Shoot!

To bed in shock.

Morning Update of Floyd:  Floyd is fixable for cheap in the DR.  Thank you, Lord!  I told Kendra I would pay for it, so this morning she took it in for an estimate and told me it would cost a little over $5,000...pesos!  WHEW pesos, not dollars!  Only $130 US.

Distractions

As the days grow on, my updates get shorter and my grammar gets worse.  Bare with me!

Three girls to the Paraguayan base at 8am for church... a Catholic Mass completely in Spanish (my first one). Breakfast with the guys followed. Back to Juju's to pick up Johnbern and to drop off Xiomara, then out to the land.

Today was a day of distractions.  Instead of doing most of our plans, we ended up putting out mini-fires. Last night heavy winds and rain knocked off one of the beams from the pavilion.  We are so grateful that no one was injured.  This could have been a very serious situation if someone had gotten hurt.

Picked up the tools we let the families borrow. Decided to personally visit Sandra and Marie's homes to see if they still needed a temporary shelter. Saw Kevnas Alexandre (boy with hurt foot) on the way. The cut was not bandaged and infected yet again. We told him to go home and we would pick him up on the way back through.

Spoke with Sandra to clear the air about HELP families getting temporary shelters. Picked up Kevnas and his sister Gina to take them to the Cuban Haitian Clinic. Lucky for us, the clinic is free. We also stopped back at the land because one of the babies had a fever.

Stopped with them at the clinic, then back to Juju's. Kendra cleaned the car while I wrote her emails and Xiomara sorted medical supplies. Johnbern left to play a Mother's Day concert because  today is Mother's Day in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. After awhile, the girls (Karina and Georgina) did Xiomara and I's hair. Lots of random braids.

Packed up everything in the workroom except our beds. Left house to go to pizza with the Paraguayans as we are leaving and some of them have a break now. To Domino's Pizza once again with the Commander, Major Rodriguez, Captain Florentin, Captain Torres, and Captain Rofel. It is always neat for us to see them away from the base and work because thry are a fun group. Practiced my terrible spanish. Lucky for me that 2.5 of them spoke some English!

Home by 10:30pm and straight to bed.

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In the beginning...

Had a hard time sleeping last night thinking of the families out there.  This is definitely a new beginning for them and puts additional pressure on us to make sure at least their basic needs are met or can be met in some fashion.

The people were very excited to make themselves more at home and wanted to put up a tarp on the beams for church tomorrow.

They also made benches out of scraps from making the beds into doors.

Barbwire around new garbage pit, distrubuted a kitchen kit from USAID to each family.

Had our first community meeting.  Mostly about sanitation, we explained the water filters and rain barrels as well and discussed a name. Dr. Xiomara started meeting while Carter translated. They did amazing! One guy asked aggressive questions. We almost had our first eviction, but after the Pastor and President spoke with him, we reread him the contract and all is well. A misunderstanding of sorts.

To town to meet Michaelle from the Pierre Payan Food For The Poor Village. On our way in dropped off Carter. We met Michaelle across from the US Embassy (which is one of the bigger buildings in Haiti). I've been meaning to take a picture every time I pass by, but the security wall and traffic are always factors.

The meeting with Michaelle was perfect. She explained her philosophies -what has worked and what has taken time. Hearing her experiences were encouarging and we appreciated knowing that having that type of community in Haiti is possible. She uses food as a reward so families can use their money for more business/micro-enterprise opportunities. Not to create dependency, but to help them get started.  Michaelle is a very educated, involved Haitian woman. I love that she is working to better her own people and has been patient in doing so.

The mosquitos at the land have been extra terrible, so we headed toward Delmas 2 to pick up two fumigators to help with this problem. We also called IOM to see if mosquito nets were an option.

Johnbern and Kendra drove them back to the camp and dropped Xiomara and I off at the house on the way. They were gone from 6:30pm to 10:30pm. Xiomara made Mac and Cheese while I did computer work for Kendra, then the power went off, so I laid down for bed at 8pm.

Moving Day

Kendra woke me up at 5:30am to organize our spreadsheet and to create an information sheet for each family. She knows chaos drives me nuts and we need to be as organized as possible for moving day. Created a document for each family, scanned info into the computer while the group got supplies ready for the day.

Worked for 2 hours, changed into nice clothes and had pear juice for breakfast.  Left the house at 8:30am and they took Carter and I to a training on the moving of IDPs (Internally Displaced People). The documents emailed to us before the meeting were in English and French, but the meeting was only in French and I was the only "blan" person there.  The topic was more about knowing your camp and what the health status is of each person.

Kendra picked us up as she, Xiomara, and Johnbern had already went to the IOM warehouse and MSC (the big hardware store by the UN Camp Charlie). To the land by 1:30pm. Then we called the families who were moving and told them to head over!

Put all the rain barrels, water jugs, and buckets in the shelters after marking the shelter number on each.

At 2:30pm, a crew of 8 UN security came out to the site. We asked them to come out...just in case. They will begin patrolling the area now that we have families. It's amazing how much help we can find as foreigners, and we realize a Haitian person could not get this type of support - even if their goals were similar to ours. Usually, we are even given a hard time when we visit the UN Log Base and Johnbern or Carter are in the car with us. At any rate, they all came from different countries, speaking different languages. There was one American officer from Florida who just finished a tour in Iraq. He is the first American police/military I've seen in all my trips here.

The families arrived at the village about 3pm - what a sight to see - a box truck with 14 families and all of their belongings. Out if the truck they came, singing a praise song in creole.

The 14 families arriving in one truck with all of their belongings.

Lifting their hands up, they all sang, then the Pastor read Psalms 133 and reminded the people that we were giving of our time to help them so they shouldn't fight or cause problems. Wow! The Pastor prayed, then Kendra gave a welcome, and I gave a tour of the site. It was exciting! We let people walk around and pick where they wanted to be, but before they even went they ALL gave Kendra and I a handshake or a hug - even the kids.

People got settled and began unpacking supplies from the truck. A few beds, "stoves", buckets, clothes. Kendra commented that even the families at her camp in Delmas had more than that.

Would all your stuff fit in this?

I stationed myself at the van for paperwork while Kendra and Carter signed the protocol with each family and Xiomara took pictures. It took some time to visit the families, but i'm glad we left we things organized in some fashion.

Back to the house to crash after another long but joyous day.

Sent from my iPod