Goodbye to the People of Croix des Mission

Today was bitter sweet.  On one hand, I am dirty and tired and eager for a clean environment, but on the other, I am so sad to leave these children and their families in this poverty.  But it is their home and they seem surrounded by love.  They are a cheerful people and I have NEVER seen men work so hard.  They have incredible stamina.

The work at the site was more gravel hauling and there were plenty of workers so Marilyn, Michelle, and I played with the children.  It was great fun.  Marilyn and I searched our inner resources and taught all the childhood songs and games that we could recall.  Hot Potato (Hot Bread Fruit), hand clap rhythms, finger plays, and jump rope were big hits.

After another hot lunch for 120 people, Michelle handed out the gifts we brought from church members.  We had wrapped a pencil and crayon box in each clothing item for the children.  The teenagers and men got t-shirts and ball caps.





As you can see from the pictures,  everyone was very pleased by the gifts!

Did I tell you that it rained for about two hours?  Not a hard driving rain but a steady one.  Finally, the men improvised a shelter of tarps using the clothes line that we had just purchased for jump ropes!

Soon it was time to say goodbye.  Hugs and handshakes and sincere smiles all around.  We promised to return in February.

Haiti's people are special.

Sharon

Arts and Crafts Day

The traffic was heavy this morning so we arrived at the site about 9:45am.  Six young men from the neighborhood were hired to help the skilled laborers move gravel to the foundation pits.  All were hard at work with just 6 shovels and two wheelbarrows.

A few small children and I tried to help, but the truth was that we were just in the way.  So we gathered the little ones onto a bright plastic tarp and Michelle, our Haitian American team member, showed them how to cut magazine pictures and glue them on a piece of construction paper.

Each child also received 4 crayons.  I thought to myself, "This will last about 15 minutes."  But I was wrong.  The children were engrossed for one hour!  Then Michelle then taught them a Haitian song.  It was a fun morning.

A hearty lunch of rice and beans and a vegetable stew fed about 120 people.  Mr. Bob treated everyone to a Coke again!

A few little ones and I moved some rocks to a foundation pit.  There is nothing young boys like better than  throwing rocks!  However, they had to haul them up over a wall before they could throw them.  This they did with enthusiasm and much sweat.

After arriving home at the Guest House, we took our dirty selves outside the gate to shop.  We all came back very pleased with our handsome purchases from the artisans themselves.

Tomorrow is our last day in Haiti.  We will be saying goodbye to some sweet people.

Sharon

Sunday Worship with the Croix des Mission Congregation

One of the highlights of our VIM experience is worshiping with the members of Croix des Mission.  We were warmly welcomed back.  These are such friendly people.

As we did last year, the VIM team plus two of UMCOR staff staying at the Methodist Guest House sang two hymns in Creole.  Thursday evening and last evening, Stevenson Theodore, a Haitian musician directed us in practices.  We sang the same hymns as last year.  Those of us who were here then learned these hymns much better.  In fact, Marilyn Dunten sang a solo part in Creole.  It is a fun experience.

We presented the congregation with the photo collage of our church which was put together by Jodi Austen.  The quilted banner, made by Adele Patch and presented last year, was prominently displayed.  With these gifts, we continue to strengthen our connection.

Except for giving the sermon (exactly 30 minutes), Michelle Pierre, our Haitian-American team member who is also a Methodist pastor, conducted the service.  As a girl, she worshipped at Croix des Mission and is well known by the Eglise Methodiste d'Haiti clergy.  Michelle certainly enriches our Haiti experience.

After the two hour service, we drove out to the work site to show the construction to the two UMCOR staff. We were surprised to see neighborhood people working on site moving sand that had been delivered.  They  were moving it to a more suitable spot where concrete will be made when the concrete floor is poured.  (I use the  term "poured" very loosely.)  (Trees prevented the delivery trucks from dumping nearer.)

The concrete is mixed on the ground.  One or two men mix the sand and cement with shovels.  This is very laborious work.  From much experience, they mix using the right amount of water for proper consistency.  Then, pails are filled and hand carried where the concrete is being "poured" from the plastic pails.  (We have only seen two gasoline powered cement mixers.  One was outside the American Embassy.)

Since the Methodist Guest House does not serve lunch on Sunday, we ate nearby at Epi d'Or, a sandwich/ice cream restaurant.  Seeing the number of Europeans and North Americans eating there, I decided that it was safe to order sandwiches including tomatoes and lettuce.  There were three Royal Canadian Mounted Police (in semi cammies) and another UN policeman from Togo.  I suspect the six Brazilians sitting next to us (in civilian clothes) were also UN troops.  A Baptist group was from Mississippi.

After eating, one of the UMCOR staff asked if we could make a detour to see if the house survived that he lived in seven years ago.  Although we could not see through the gate, we could see the roof.  The house may survived.  But across a small valley, many, many houses were destroyed.  Barry pointed out a scar on the side of the steep hill.  He said that 20 stories of houses used to cling to the hillside.  Imagine 20 stories of small houses in an area 220 yards wide.  In a few seconds, all was rubble at the bottom.  Who knows how many perished.

There is little evidence of heavy equipment.  We have seen only one industrial strength backhoe and five very large front end loaders.  Of course, we have not visited all of the damaged areas.  But from what we have seen, there has not been nearly enough equipment delivered to clean up rubble and reconstruct in a timely manner.  At this rate, a decade from now will still show remains of the earthquake.

We promise photos after we return.

Gravel Day Continued

The Haitian Internet just will not upload our pictures.  We will keep trying.

The hungry keep showing up at lunch.  I  had given an approximate count to Sharon when more neighborhood people arrived.  We served about 120 - 125 people.  It interesting to watch as they crowd around Michelle Pierre,  a Boston area pastor, who laughs and jokes with them.  Michelle keeps very good order; we have not had any problems.  Even though they are hungry, they are patient.  I believe that one reason that they are so patient is that they know that each day everyone eats.

During the day, Michelle and I talked with the "chef leader" about the conditions in the neighborhood.  Gilbert said that some families do not eat every day.  In particular, he mentioned a family whose damaged house we visited.  To make a longer story short, the VIM team is going to give the family some new items that they will sell.  This will give them seed money to travel by tap-tap to a large market.  They will buy what they think will sell in the neighborhood, avocados, mangoes, etc., and make a small profit.  That small profit will provide a daily meal for the family.  Everyday they will repeat the routine.

Another indication of their poor (and poor does not do justice to their current condition) situation is the number of younger people who daily ask for money.  This has not happened before.  I have had adults approach me about fixing their houses.  I tell them that my first responsibility is the church construction.  If  I help one person, others would quickly line up.  That would create chaos and very hard feelings.  We want to leave with our goodwill intact.

On the previous VIM trip, the team moved gravel by shovel, by hand, and by buckets.  It was very slow, laborious work.  It took several days to move 4 or 5 yards of gravel.

Today, I made a "ramp" so that a wheelbarrow could be filled and dumped appropriately.  We moved more gravel with one wheelbarrow  today than what we accomplished in three days before.  Yes, we still moved more rocks by hand.

You have seen the TV pictures of the tent cities.  One of the tent cities is a park across from the Presidential Palace.  We met a New York medical team who sees patients there and this medical team stays there overnight.  Now, that is roughing it.  (The Haitian police provide security, but they said that they feel safe.)  Their parent organization began serving people there four days after the earthquake and continues to send medical teams.

I hope that you will continue reading the blog after we return home.  There will definitely be pictures.

Saturday is Gravel Day

We have had another good day of hard work.  Our team and many Haitians moved enough gravel and rocks to fill one section of foundation...with one wheelbarrow and one shovel and many buckets and many hands.  Bob is very pleased as moving that much gravel took three days the last time he was here!

Meanwhile the skilled, paid workers were finishing the four-foot walls within the foundation.  Now we have 10 more of these sections to fill with rock and gravel!  But we will have another wheelbarrow or two with which to do the job.

About 110 people showed up for lunch, but the church ladies had made enough to feed everyone!  Another soccer ball was a big hit with the children and teenage boys.  Girls are not allowed to play.  Earlier in the day, I was able teach the little ones Duck, Duck, Goose except we called it Duck, Duck, Chicken ("Cana, Cana, Pol").  London Bridge is Falling Down was another popular game.

Tomorrow we worship with the Croix des Mission congregation in their current tiny church.

Sharon

Third Day in Haiti

Today we toured Grace Children's Hospital in downtown Port au Prince.  It sustained a great deal of damage in the earthquake.  They had to send all their children home to their families because the hospital wards fell in the aftershocks.  Fortunately, everyone had escaped the buildings in time.  Besides being the premier children's hospital in Haiti, they also offer TB and HIV testing, medication, and guidance.  Their clinics are being conducted in damaged buildings and tents, but all is organized and orderly.

Next week they will open their first children's ward.  Presently, there are only 5 children living at the hospital and we met them all and gave them each a "Comfort Doll" stitched by ladies of the Upper Valley, New Hampshire.  The children seemed very pleased with them!

Next we headed to the Presidential Palace.  You have all seen it on TV but it is even more shocking in person.  With sadness, I must report that all the beautiful parks around the palace are filled with tent cities.  It is a painful sight.  We stopped at the downtown Methodist Church on the College Bird Campus.  The sanctuary building appears unscathed but many classroom buildings fell and are now cleared away and replaced by temporary classrooms or tents.  School begins soon.  Many schools just finished the spring semester in August due to the delays of the quake and are starting up in October this year.  

The streets of downtown Port au Prince are filled with vendors and thousands of pedestrians carrying wares for sale.  Yet almost all of these people who have no home but a tent, are clean and neatly dressed.  How do they do it?  It takes a great deal of pride and effort and hope to keep up appearances under these conditions.

Then our trusty driver and van headed up the mountainside into the country and agricultural region.  Our destination was the Baptist Mission which was started just after World War II as a place for artisans to sell their work.  Up, Up, Up, we went stopping just short of the clouds.  We bought lunch at the restaurant there and ate overlooking the terraced hillsides.  It was a lovely view after the devastation of downtown.  If only every Haitian could find a home in these hills!  

Tomorrow we head back to our work site at Croix des Mission where the congregation and hired workers labored all day while we toured.

Sharon

Second Day of Construction Observations

Sharon has already written.  When she wrote that some of the rocks were "as heavy as 100 pounds", she understated how heavy these rocks were.  I can lift and carry 98 pound cement bags.  I could not even budge some of these rocks.  Even the very strong Haitians were pairing up to carry these extra heavy rocks.  In this heat, carrying them was brutal.

In 2006, the UN presence was every where.  There were many UN patrols and UN armoured cars at major intersections.  Haitian police patrols were nonexistent. In 2008, there was minimal UN presence on the streets and many Haitian police patrols.  In the past two days, I have seen more UN patrols than the eight days we were here in 2008.  Some of the patrols include armoured cars.  There are also more Haitian police on the streets.  Since the earthquake, I suspect that it a strategy to keep the displaced people "calm" during their continuing tragedy and the upcoming presidential elections.

In the Guest House area, there seems to be plenty of fresh fruits, vegetables, and other foods available from street side vendors.  Also along the main street near Croix des Mission, there seems to be plenty of food for sale.

Having enough money to buy the food is a big problem for the people in the Croix des Mission area.

Second Day of Construction

Today dawned hot and cloudless.  After a hearty breakfast, we headed to Croix des Mission Church worksite.  The streets were full of pedestrians, motorbikes, vendors, and old cars or "buses" called Tap-Taps which is what you do (tap tap on the metal separation between the driver and riders) to signal "GO, we are all aboard!"  Of course, we were in our comfortable Methodist Van.

Arriving about 9 am at the worksite, we were greeted by children and young men.  The workers were already busy filling foundation trenches with rock and cement--all hauled by hand or in buckets.  The cement is mixed on the ground by tireless young men.  I helped pass cement-filled buckets for about 20 minutes and had to quit from wrist pain.  They had been kind to me and only put two shovelfuls of cement in each bucket.  As soon as I left the line, they put four shovelfuls in!  I think they were glad that I quit so they could get more done!

Gary and Bob helped a few strong men move BIG rocks in a wheelbarrow.  Some were as heavy as 100 pounds!  These rocks were then placed in the trenches and surrounded by cement until the trenches were 4 feet above the ground!  This was nearly complete before we left at 3pm.  These paid workmen are skinny men with amazing stamina.  Remember, the heat index is near 105 degrees!

Today and yesterday, my big donation to this effort has been picking up trash.  Marilyn and I and several children have cleaned up the site.   It appeared that in the year and a half that we have been gone, some squatters made the area home especially after the cement block fences crumbled and metal gate derailed during the earthquake.

Marilyn and I also made friends with the children by taking their pictures and then showing the result on our digital cameras.  This pleases them very much.  They are very photogenic!  Unfortunately, uploading the pictures to this blog has proved very difficult.  Perhaps we can try again tonight.

Again we paid the church women to prepare a meal for everyone.  They fed about 80 folks today.  The vast majority do some work to earn the meal...even the children and women carry rocks. Today Bob arranged for everyone to have a Coca Cola after the meal.  This created lots of excitement!

Marilyn was thrilled to be reunited with "Pah Poosh", one of her favorite young men from a year and a half ago.  He truly is a charmer!  He is 26 and trying to attend a trade school but he said he has no money and has lost his mother.

I was fascinated by two young men who arrived with a chair and proceeded to set up a barber shop!  They were very skilled at "shaving" the heads of young boys.  They used a comb with a razor blade attached to it by a metal clip!

The other notable happening today was soccer.  We brought one soccer ball to the worksite which created a lot of excitement among the young boys, but our Haitian American Michelle, a pastor in Boston, told the children that they had to work before they could play.  So they carried rocks for a couple of hours and just before lunch the soccer ball was released.  After lunch, a Croix des Mission church member arrived.  He was dressed in the shiny shirt and pants of a soccor coach which was exactly what he was!  He was terrific with the kids as he gave them instruction and skill practice.  Then the game began!  These little boys were amazing in their flipflops or bare feet!

The Rev. Marco, the District Superintendent of the Croix des Mission, visited our site.  He confirmed that the Methodist Church of Haiti was going to follow the earthquake guidelines for construction.  Thus, the reinforcement of our foundation.  I am disappointed that the roof cannot go on this year, but I fully understand the importance of safety-first!  We will all feel better for having done it right.

Marilyn received the name "Mere Blanc" which means "white mother" from the kids as she caught and tossed medium sized rocks in the rock brigade.

After a refreshing swim in our Guest House swimming pool and a tasty supper, we will have our first "choir practice" with Stevenson Theodore so that we can serenade the Croix des Mission congregation on Sunday.  Sadly, Gary and I cannot sing.  That leaves a heavy burden on Marilyn, Michelle, and Bob.  The other guests here at the Guest house have been invited to join us but most are leaviing Saturday.

Tomorrow we visit Grace Children's Hospital and deliver those adorable comfort dolls from the ladies of New Hampshire!

First Work Day

The welcome that we received this morning was heart warming.  "Mr. Bob, Mr. Bob".  Madame St. Jean, Johnny, Henri, Gilbert were all there.  It was almost like a homecoming.

People working.  That was great.  Then, we found out that the paid workers had only begun a couple hours before.  Having wired the money down here about six weeks ago, I had expected that work on the roof would have begun a week or  two ago.  My North American cultural expectations were not met.

Talking with the Haitian site engineer, he indicated that the Haitian Methodist Church only gave him a check to buy materials two weeks ago.  That is plenty of time.  Right?  The Haitian banking system is not the most modern and efficient.  The check had just cleared.  Today was the first day that construction materials were delivered.

And, the construction materials were a surprise.  Instead of roofing materials, about 15 yards of rock were delivered this morning.  These rocks weigh from one pound to one hundred pounds.  They are used to construct foundations.

What is going on?  The workers were digging trenches within the foundation.  The new site engineer, looking at lessons learned from the January earthquake, added two more horizontal and two vertical foundation components within the original foundation to reinforce it.  So, as I did in my previous VIM trips, today we carried rocks positioning them for foundation construction.  Tomorrow, we carry concrete as the foundations are actually built.  This safety addition will be completed Saturday.

As we did last year, we fed all the people on site.  The first day last year we fed about 30 people; today we fed about 60.  We are prepared to feed about 100 tomorrow.

Gilbert, chef leader (the neighborhood boss man), took us on a walking tour of the neighborhood.  Few housed were completely destroyed by the earthquake.  Almost all, though, have structural damage in the way of wall cracks some 4 or 5 inches wide.  Most continue to sleep outside fearing after shocks.  (On the tour, we were shown week old twins girls.  Their father died of injuries suffered in the earthquake.)

These people have next to nothing.  Seven or eight people live in approximately 200 square feet house.  Inside the houses, few material possessions.  But, instead of being downcast, they are positive, cheerful.  One of our friends likes this quote, "Smaller house + fewer possessions = happier life".  These people do not have a choice, but they are a happy people.

Arrival in Port-au-Prince

Arrived about 4pm in Port-au-Prince, Haiti after two uneventful  flights.  The Port-au-Prince Airport main building sustained enough structural damage from the earthquake that it is unusable.  A hangar has been converted into a baggage claim area and immigration.

Since the team members were wearing our VIM t-shirts, the porters recognized who we "belong to" and the usual porter that many of us select as our baggage "boss man."  (Seeing our VIM t-shirts, a couple over weight bags were allowed to be checked in by the U.S. ticket counter clerks without an over weight fee.)  Our usual porter is Jacson, a one-armed man.  By selecting one person as boss man and giving him the tip money, the chaos that could ensue is handled by Jacson.  We do not have to deal with each individual who carried or "touched" a bag.

I have read that some VIM teams insist on handling their own luggage.  Realizing the situation in Haiti, I prefer to have porters and tip them.  They certainly are not going to become rich.  Who knows how many people depend on them for food and shelter?  As part of my preparations, I enclose in an envelope $3/bag all in $1 dollar bills.  I also put in a $10 for Jacson.  I show him in private what the envelope contains.  Thus, the deal is struck and he handles all the various porters' claims for tips.  I look as this as another way to help feed the poor.

As I write outside on the patio, Sharon and other team members are in the Methodist Guest House swimming pool.  It is waaarm, and I am perspiring.  We have seen lightning but not any rain.

Some observations.  The stop lights still work.  For days after the earthquake, the satellite photos pictured little traffic.  Traffic is back to pre-earthquake levels - heavy.  There seems to be even more street side vendors.  On the way to the Guest House, we did see some tent villages.

Tomorrow morning, we will be working at the Croix des Mission building site.

We have had a nice supper and are off to bed.

Comfort Dolls

These are some of the comfort dolls that will be given to children at Grace Children's Hospital.  Thank you Anne Stoops.  The pattern is online at: www.creativestitchonline.com

Croix des Mission After the Earthquake

About six weeks after the earthquake, the Port-au-Prince District Superintendent of the Haitian Methodist Church was able to visit the site and take these photos.  This VIM (Volunteers in Mission) team's goal is to put on a roof.  However, we are unskilled; skilled, hired Haitian workers will put up the metal trusses and the metal roof.  We unskilled will haul gravel to fill in the area enclosed by the foundation.  It may take 100 yards of gravel.  Fortunately, some church members and neighborhood volunteers will help do this laborious, manual labor.  (As you can see, there is much more to be done to complete the church.)

The neighborhood people voluntarily work for food.  The each day lunch will be served.  And, the lunch will include meat.  I suspect that some of the people will not have had meat since the earthquake.  In the pre-earthquake time, the very poor could seldom afford meat, pork, chicken nor beef.

There is a pecking order when lunch is served.  Although we discourage it, the Haitians want to feed the North Americans first.  They consider us their guests.  Then, the paid workers are fed.  After, the other adults who have been working and the children.  Sometimes other neighborhood people show up for lunch.  They patiently wait to see if there is enough food for them.  We always have enough and these late comers always remain and work in the afternoon.  Port-au-Prince is the only place I have been (I have been to three dozen countries including Somalia and Ethiopia) where people work for food.  (Haitians are a hungry people where pre-earthquake 70% of the children nightly went to bed hungry.)

The Croix des Mission church treasurer is in charge of preparing the food.  She has to buy more fuel, hire some ladies, and probably borrow enough pans and dishes to cook the food.  (Most Haitians still cook with charcoal.)  She has fed as many as 110 people for lunch.  In Haiti, that is a big undertaking.

This gives a little background.  In the next few days, we will add more of this type of information.

Sunday Service

Our VIM team was commissioned at this Sunday's church service.  The service was a great send off.  After church, we packed the suitcases for "Haiti."  Each of the team members take two suitcases, one for personal use and one for Haiti.  We will give away most of the "Haiti" suitcase items to the people who live in the Croix des Mission neighborhood.

There are some items for Grace Children's Hospital.  Some our community knitters have made comfort dolls for the children. (For the pattern, go to: creativestitchonline.com)  One young girl had her seventh birthday last May.  She asked that her friends bring blankets for Haitian children instead of personal gifts.  The blankets and dolls will be given when we visit the hospital Friday.

Of course, the weather in the Caribbean is always a concern this time of year, because hurricanes can form almost anywhere in these very warm waters.  Currently, a low pressure system is tracking south of Haiti bringing several inches of rain.  This system may develop into a hurricane, but by then, it will be well past Haiti.

We have begun taking our anti-malarial pills.  As one team member said, "They don't taste good!"  At least we do not have to take them daily as I did in Vietnam.

Late tomorrow afternoon, we will drive down to Boston and stay the evening.  Getting up at 3:00am and driving down for an early morning flight makes a very long day.  Upon arrival, it takes a day to recover.  It is better to remain overnight near the airport before an early morning flight.

Hurricane Potential

For the past few days, I have been monitoring the lows coming off  the West Coast of Africa.  New low pressure system now has the potential to be a tropical storm, but the computer models have this system veering northwest into the North Atlantic as did Fiona and Earl.  Thus, while we are in Haiti, the threat of a hurricane seems to be very low.

Friday, Setember 3, 2010

Our VIM team from Lebanon UMC is in its final stage of preparing for our mission to Port-au-Prince, Haiti.  We will continue construction on the new church for Croix des Mission by putting on the roof.  We depart September 14, 2010.  Follow us on this blog.