Talk about a parking lot. This morning, it took over two hours to drive less than 15 miles. At one location, a pothole was being patched. That created a one lane bottleneck. At two other locations, trucks were broken down. Since the trucks are repaired where they stop, two other bottlenecks were created. On busy, two lane roads, the backups are huge.
As I observed our driver and the other drivers, it seemed like all took the delays in stride. The congestion is a daily fact of life. Who knows the number of man days lost in productivity in one day from these traffic jams.
After arriving, I took Gilbert, the neighborhood leader, to meet representatives of Partners in Development (PID), a non-government organization (NGO) that works in Haiti and Guatemala. (It is headquartered in Ipswich, MA.) We toured their clinic and housing development adjacent to one of the world's largest slums, Cite Soleil.
As I have learned more about the neighborhood, Papeau, the area of Croix des Mission that the new church is built in, one of the most pressing problems is job opportunities. The men do not have marketable skills for the jobs that may be available. Partners in Development has agreed to train Gilbert and other neighborhood men construction skills. The community is very excited about this opportunity.
After lunch, the VIM team distributed the items that you have given us: new/gently used ball caps and t-shirts, heavy duty work gloves, and new children's underwear. Using a different method to control the crowding, we were more secure as we gave away these items which are so valuable to these poor Haitians.
Again, leaving is sad. We get to return to the richest country in the world. We have pure drinking water; they do not. We have basic sanitary facilities; they do not. We do not live in two year old tents; about 500,00 Haitians, including some hundreds in the neighborhood, remain in tents. No one in the USA starves to death; it happens in Haiti. Americans are so fortunate.
Tomorrow, we return to the USA.
Friday, March 9, 2012
Monday, March 5, 2012
Day 6, Monday, March 5, 2012
Today, we did not go to the work site. Instead, we did some more touring.
First, we spent the morning at Grace Children's Hospital. Their PR person, Robenson, speaks excellent English and is a pleasure to be with. He showed us the earthquake destroyed campus and the current efforts to remove the destroyed buildings and the rubble. Much of the work is being done the Haitian way - strong backs swinging sledge hammers. Eventually, the site will be cleared. (As we speak, there is a $20 million capital campaign be conducted in the USA to rebuild the hospital. The National Hockey League has previously donated $1 million.)
The last stop on the hospital tour is the best, a children's ward. We get to hold the children while we give them comfort dolls that many of you knitted. Cynthia, a 17 year old girl who lives there, was given special gifts including three dresses. (Cynthia has epilepsy. During the earthquake, she is credited with saving two children. After the earthquake, no one came to claim Cynthia.) (Another girl who has glaucoma has not been claimed either.)
After lunch, we drove up the mountain, past the Baptist Mission, to Fort Jacques. It was constructed just over 200 years ago during the Revolutionary Period. From there, one can see the entire Port-au-Prince area. Although the last couple miles was a very rough (an understatement), it was worth the effort.
Another VIM team has arrived. The Guest House occupancy rate is nearing 100%. Our last night, though, is tomorrow evening. Time to go home.
First, we spent the morning at Grace Children's Hospital. Their PR person, Robenson, speaks excellent English and is a pleasure to be with. He showed us the earthquake destroyed campus and the current efforts to remove the destroyed buildings and the rubble. Much of the work is being done the Haitian way - strong backs swinging sledge hammers. Eventually, the site will be cleared. (As we speak, there is a $20 million capital campaign be conducted in the USA to rebuild the hospital. The National Hockey League has previously donated $1 million.)
The last stop on the hospital tour is the best, a children's ward. We get to hold the children while we give them comfort dolls that many of you knitted. Cynthia, a 17 year old girl who lives there, was given special gifts including three dresses. (Cynthia has epilepsy. During the earthquake, she is credited with saving two children. After the earthquake, no one came to claim Cynthia.) (Another girl who has glaucoma has not been claimed either.)
After lunch, we drove up the mountain, past the Baptist Mission, to Fort Jacques. It was constructed just over 200 years ago during the Revolutionary Period. From there, one can see the entire Port-au-Prince area. Although the last couple miles was a very rough (an understatement), it was worth the effort.
Another VIM team has arrived. The Guest House occupancy rate is nearing 100%. Our last night, though, is tomorrow evening. Time to go home.
Day 5, Sunday, March 4, 2012
An excellent morning worshiping with the Croix des Mission congregation. We were welcomed liked old friends.
Every service includes lots of singing, and this service was no exception. And, of course, the VIM team sang the two Creole hymns that Stevenson taught us. During the week, a few members of the congregation practiced with us and were part of our choir. During the second hymn, the congregation responded by standing and clapping with us.
A pleasant surprise - Gilbert, the neighborhood leader, and three other neighborhood men attended church service for the first time. Gilbert has told me in the past that, once the new church is finished, he wants to become a member. It was great to see them in church.
After the service, we ate lunch at the Epi D'or, a deli that serves to North American health standards. The fresh bread is wonderful. A good place to eat.
Then, we drove to central Port-au-Prince to tour the National History Museum. The museum is very well constructed and suffered only minor earthquake damage.
Although the museum is not very large, it is a gem. The guides are very knowledgeable. Many artifacts belonging to the revolutionary leaders are displayed. There is an anchor from the shipwrecked Santa Maria. It is worth the visit.
In the central part of Port-au-Prince, the sights and sounds are often overwhelmed by the smells caused by garbage and raw sewage in the streets. Sometimes I think that a skunk smells sweet in comparison. The Port-au-Prince smells are on steroids.
Upon returning the Guest House, a group from Reynoldsburg, OH had arrived. I had met another group from that church last year. I was informed that this one UMC church sends six, that is right, six VIM teams per year to Haiti. That is commitment.
Thank you for your commitment.
Every service includes lots of singing, and this service was no exception. And, of course, the VIM team sang the two Creole hymns that Stevenson taught us. During the week, a few members of the congregation practiced with us and were part of our choir. During the second hymn, the congregation responded by standing and clapping with us.
A pleasant surprise - Gilbert, the neighborhood leader, and three other neighborhood men attended church service for the first time. Gilbert has told me in the past that, once the new church is finished, he wants to become a member. It was great to see them in church.
After the service, we ate lunch at the Epi D'or, a deli that serves to North American health standards. The fresh bread is wonderful. A good place to eat.
Then, we drove to central Port-au-Prince to tour the National History Museum. The museum is very well constructed and suffered only minor earthquake damage.
Although the museum is not very large, it is a gem. The guides are very knowledgeable. Many artifacts belonging to the revolutionary leaders are displayed. There is an anchor from the shipwrecked Santa Maria. It is worth the visit.
In the central part of Port-au-Prince, the sights and sounds are often overwhelmed by the smells caused by garbage and raw sewage in the streets. Sometimes I think that a skunk smells sweet in comparison. The Port-au-Prince smells are on steroids.
Upon returning the Guest House, a group from Reynoldsburg, OH had arrived. I had met another group from that church last year. I was informed that this one UMC church sends six, that is right, six VIM teams per year to Haiti. That is commitment.
Thank you for your commitment.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Day 4, March 3, 2012
This is a familiar story - hauling sand by buckets. (Bring back memories for some of you?) Today, we were asked to move a few yards of sand to the rear of the church floor, next to the small room that will probably be a pastor's office. One pile of sand, the dark sand, was piled in front of the church by the gate. Using one wheelbarrow, one shovel, and many of the buckets, the sand was moved.
Then, we were asked to move white sand. This sand was piled by the side door and was moved entirely bucket brigade. Some of the boys helped. Younger children took the empty buckets back to be filled again. This went very quickly.
Why the sand? Crepissage was being applied to the interior walls. Crepi . . .what? This is a type of plastering technique using cement. The first coat of concrete uses only the black sand cement. The second coat uses a mixture of black and white sand. The end result is not a smooth surface. It is a rough flat surface that hides the concrete blocks. The result is attractive.
While this was being done, electricians were installing PVC conduits for the lighting and wall outlets. The electricians were barely ahead of some of the crepissage application.
Watching the workman putting finishing touches on the office walls made me feel really good. There is a sense that one small part of the church is being completed. (This is the small part in the rear of the church that had a concrete roof constructed last August.).
Thank you all for supporting Croix des Mission.
Then, we were asked to move white sand. This sand was piled by the side door and was moved entirely bucket brigade. Some of the boys helped. Younger children took the empty buckets back to be filled again. This went very quickly.
Why the sand? Crepissage was being applied to the interior walls. Crepi . . .what? This is a type of plastering technique using cement. The first coat of concrete uses only the black sand cement. The second coat uses a mixture of black and white sand. The end result is not a smooth surface. It is a rough flat surface that hides the concrete blocks. The result is attractive.
While this was being done, electricians were installing PVC conduits for the lighting and wall outlets. The electricians were barely ahead of some of the crepissage application.
Watching the workman putting finishing touches on the office walls made me feel really good. There is a sense that one small part of the church is being completed. (This is the small part in the rear of the church that had a concrete roof constructed last August.).
Thank you all for supporting Croix des Mission.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Day 3, March 2, 2012
Leaving the Guest House this morning was similar to what many experience in America's largest cities, a monumental traffic jam. No sooner than we had turned on the main road down the hillside, the traffic stopped. We could not see any movement ahead. And, this is only a two lane road.
After a few minutes, our driver did a U-turn, turned down a side street giving us other sights to see. We did see some more tent cities. Just imagine, these people have been living for two years in tents. What a miserable existence especially in the rainy season! But, they persevere even having small stalls and businesses just outside their tents.
Today, however, it was very dry. And, these side roads are so dusty. Some of the motorcyclists wear face masks trying to defeat the penetrating dust. And, upon returning to the Guest House, I think we each washed during our showers five pounds of dirt down the drain.
After feeding the people breakfast, Stevenson arrived to direct our practice of the Creole hymns. As before, some of the community and church members joined in. I think that is some entertainment for them. Where else would you find a generator powered keyboard behind a 3/4 completed church with a few Americans singing very bad Creole being directed by a Haitian musician?
Then, as promised, we were given work. We cleared away the rubble from the portion of the wall that had to be taken down. Two shovels, one wheelbarrow, and several five gallon buckets were furnished. When we finished, it was lunch time.
These ladies cook delicious food with the bare minimum equipment. Charcoal is the fuel. As I have mentioned before, it is such a laborious effort to feed so many people. (There were about 90 for lunch today.)
Last August, I gave Gilbert, the neighborhood leader, $200 to outfit the community soccer team. At the season ending soccer tournament, this team won the championship. They were very proud and wanted to perform for us. Playing four on four, these young men displayed some exceptional skills. They were very entertaining. It seemed that this soccer team helped lift the neighborhood spirits.
Soon after, we returned to the Guest House. If we wait too late into the afternoon, the drive back can take at least twice as long. Today's return was a piece of cake compared with our morning commute.
It is almost time for dinner. You should eat as well as we do at the Guest House.
After a few minutes, our driver did a U-turn, turned down a side street giving us other sights to see. We did see some more tent cities. Just imagine, these people have been living for two years in tents. What a miserable existence especially in the rainy season! But, they persevere even having small stalls and businesses just outside their tents.
Today, however, it was very dry. And, these side roads are so dusty. Some of the motorcyclists wear face masks trying to defeat the penetrating dust. And, upon returning to the Guest House, I think we each washed during our showers five pounds of dirt down the drain.
After feeding the people breakfast, Stevenson arrived to direct our practice of the Creole hymns. As before, some of the community and church members joined in. I think that is some entertainment for them. Where else would you find a generator powered keyboard behind a 3/4 completed church with a few Americans singing very bad Creole being directed by a Haitian musician?
Then, as promised, we were given work. We cleared away the rubble from the portion of the wall that had to be taken down. Two shovels, one wheelbarrow, and several five gallon buckets were furnished. When we finished, it was lunch time.
These ladies cook delicious food with the bare minimum equipment. Charcoal is the fuel. As I have mentioned before, it is such a laborious effort to feed so many people. (There were about 90 for lunch today.)
Last August, I gave Gilbert, the neighborhood leader, $200 to outfit the community soccer team. At the season ending soccer tournament, this team won the championship. They were very proud and wanted to perform for us. Playing four on four, these young men displayed some exceptional skills. They were very entertaining. It seemed that this soccer team helped lift the neighborhood spirits.
Soon after, we returned to the Guest House. If we wait too late into the afternoon, the drive back can take at least twice as long. Today's return was a piece of cake compared with our morning commute.
It is almost time for dinner. You should eat as well as we do at the Guest House.
Day 2, March 1, 2012
This morning, before leaving the Guest House, I gave the team a tour of the adjacent Freres School, a Haitian Methodist School for K-12. Including a vocational school, it has about 1300 students.
Immediately after the earthquake, much of the 5 acre campus became a tent city. Today, one would never guess that over 400 families spent nearly 9 months camped on the campus. And, all damage has been repaired.
Again, we purchased bread rolls in the way to the Croix des Mission work site. As soon as we drove up, neighborhood people came for their morning breakfast of peanut butter and bread.
At the work site, the workers continued removing earthquake damaged areas. When I say remove, it is being done with sledge hammers. Hot, hard, laborious work busting up the concrete. And, the workers are standing on flimsy scaffolding made with used 2 x 4s.
Stevenson came and we practiced our two Creole hymns for Sunday. Some of the church members and neighborhood people joined us. They helped us pick up the words and pronunciations. I am thinking that the church members practicing with us should be part of our presentation.
The food arrived about noon or so. Again, a very good meal served to about 60 - 70 people. If we had school aged children present, it would have been double the number.
I am getting many requests for medical help. There seems to be a woman with breast cancer, and another with an abdominal tumor. Another lady needs special tinted eyeglasses for an eye condition. A young man has a skin rash that needs treatment. And, others . . . . However, I do not have the funds to help. The neighborhood needs are so great and our resources so limited.
At the Guest House this evening, I talked for an hour with Rev. Marco Despestre who has, among other responsibilities, Croix des Mission. I mentioned that we have not been able to work although the sand has been delivered for the concrete wall coating. He immediately called the "engineer" and was assured that we would have work today. Could be a case of being careful what one wishes for.
I also asked Rev. Marco to have neighborhood men hired on the site instead of "outsiders". That also is supposed to happen today. These people very seldom have the opportunity to have paying jobs even if only for a few days.
Rev. Marco and I went over the Croix des Mission account. I am satisfied that all the construction funds have been used properly. If not for the earthquake, the church would be finished except for the pews and other furnishings. (Previously, over $15,000 was spent reinforcing the foundation and providing rebar for the concrete floor. Also, an earthquake damaged security wall had to be rebuilt.)
It will be interesting if we do actually work on day 3. Bob
Immediately after the earthquake, much of the 5 acre campus became a tent city. Today, one would never guess that over 400 families spent nearly 9 months camped on the campus. And, all damage has been repaired.
Again, we purchased bread rolls in the way to the Croix des Mission work site. As soon as we drove up, neighborhood people came for their morning breakfast of peanut butter and bread.
At the work site, the workers continued removing earthquake damaged areas. When I say remove, it is being done with sledge hammers. Hot, hard, laborious work busting up the concrete. And, the workers are standing on flimsy scaffolding made with used 2 x 4s.
Stevenson came and we practiced our two Creole hymns for Sunday. Some of the church members and neighborhood people joined us. They helped us pick up the words and pronunciations. I am thinking that the church members practicing with us should be part of our presentation.
The food arrived about noon or so. Again, a very good meal served to about 60 - 70 people. If we had school aged children present, it would have been double the number.
I am getting many requests for medical help. There seems to be a woman with breast cancer, and another with an abdominal tumor. Another lady needs special tinted eyeglasses for an eye condition. A young man has a skin rash that needs treatment. And, others . . . . However, I do not have the funds to help. The neighborhood needs are so great and our resources so limited.
At the Guest House this evening, I talked for an hour with Rev. Marco Despestre who has, among other responsibilities, Croix des Mission. I mentioned that we have not been able to work although the sand has been delivered for the concrete wall coating. He immediately called the "engineer" and was assured that we would have work today. Could be a case of being careful what one wishes for.
I also asked Rev. Marco to have neighborhood men hired on the site instead of "outsiders". That also is supposed to happen today. These people very seldom have the opportunity to have paying jobs even if only for a few days.
Rev. Marco and I went over the Croix des Mission account. I am satisfied that all the construction funds have been used properly. If not for the earthquake, the church would be finished except for the pews and other furnishings. (Previously, over $15,000 was spent reinforcing the foundation and providing rebar for the concrete floor. Also, an earthquake damaged security wall had to be rebuilt.)
It will be interesting if we do actually work on day 3. Bob
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Another First Day: February 29, 2012
Yesterday, this VIM team had its first "meeting" at the Miami Airport. Patty Charman and I flew from Boston; Wanda Rosser and Jack Willis flew from Philadelphia; and, Bob and Suzanne Browning had previously driven from Maryland to Florida. As other teams, this is another great group.
Today, we were given another very warm welcome at the Croix des Mission building site. It was great to renew old friendships. And, the children have grown so.
Sad news to report. Upon closer inspection at the "pulpit" end of the building, there was some earthquake damage higher up on the wall that will support the roof. The higher part had to be removed. So, we watched as three workman, taking turns with a sledge hammer, took that upper part of the wall down. Sad to watch the project take a step backward.
Although several truck loads of a course sand were delivered, there was no plan use it today. Perhaps tomorrow it will be used. It seems that the plan is to use it to make a concrete that will be used to make the walls smooth, sort of a concrete plaster.
So, we did not do any work. We did feed people a breakfast of peanut butter and bread rolls. A short tour of the immediate neighborhood was given by Gilbert, the neighborhood leader. There were very few children to play with.
At this time last year, there were as many as 70 children on site. I asked Gilbert if all the children were in school. He affirmed that. There is a government initiative to get all the children in school. It was very noticeable.
Stevenson Theodore, our choir director, brought his generator and keyboard to the building site. In the afternoon, we practiced a new hymn. We are a challenge for him. Sunday, we will perform under his expert direction. Even though we are not accomplished vocalists, the congregation always seems to enjoy our efforts.
Harry, Alan, Rudy, Edwin, Sandy, Madame St. Jean, and others send their regards.
Stay tuned to more from Haiti. Bob
Today, we were given another very warm welcome at the Croix des Mission building site. It was great to renew old friendships. And, the children have grown so.
Sad news to report. Upon closer inspection at the "pulpit" end of the building, there was some earthquake damage higher up on the wall that will support the roof. The higher part had to be removed. So, we watched as three workman, taking turns with a sledge hammer, took that upper part of the wall down. Sad to watch the project take a step backward.
Although several truck loads of a course sand were delivered, there was no plan use it today. Perhaps tomorrow it will be used. It seems that the plan is to use it to make a concrete that will be used to make the walls smooth, sort of a concrete plaster.
So, we did not do any work. We did feed people a breakfast of peanut butter and bread rolls. A short tour of the immediate neighborhood was given by Gilbert, the neighborhood leader. There were very few children to play with.
At this time last year, there were as many as 70 children on site. I asked Gilbert if all the children were in school. He affirmed that. There is a government initiative to get all the children in school. It was very noticeable.
Stevenson Theodore, our choir director, brought his generator and keyboard to the building site. In the afternoon, we practiced a new hymn. We are a challenge for him. Sunday, we will perform under his expert direction. Even though we are not accomplished vocalists, the congregation always seems to enjoy our efforts.
Harry, Alan, Rudy, Edwin, Sandy, Madame St. Jean, and others send their regards.
Stay tuned to more from Haiti. Bob
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