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.