Days 100 – 102 (1/24 – 26)

Tuesday – Today is one of those logistical nightmare days that the VVIM staff makes seem easy. It’s kind of like a duck swimming on a pond. On the surface everything seems calm, but under water he’s paddling like crazy. We have 2 teams going from the Guest House to work sites; one team going to the airport and home; one team flying in from the states and going directly to Petit Goave; and one team flying in from La Gonave (the island in the Bay of Port au Prince) and going to another guest house because of the Annual Conference attendees staying here. Sarah is riding to Petit Goave with the team from the airport so that she can give them their orientation in route. Mario is handling money like a bookie at the race track. And Tom and I are gathering, loading and unloading tools, equipment and luggage. The good news is – we didn’t lose a single person. By the time the last tail light disappeared down the driveway, we realized that we had missed lunch (and we had started a 6:00 AM!). We returned upstairs to the office and caught up with our morning correspondence and started our prep for tomorrow.

Wednesday – This morning we sent one team out to their work site at Delmas 33 and two teams to the airport for their return to the states. I went with the last team to the airport so that I could stop on the way back at MSC a large (for Haiti) building supply store. I had to restock some of our team supplies that had broken, worn out or gone missing. Shopping is always an interesting experience when both you and the clerks have limited language skills. But, I managed to come back with almost everything on my list.

Jim Gulley returned this morning. In fact we waved as we passed in the Guest House parking lot as he was coming from and I was going to the airport. His room has been given up to Annual Conference attendees so, he is going to bunk on the extra bed in my room. I’m always glad to have Jim back in country and look forward to having a “roomie” for a few days. Both Jim and Tom attended the Annual Conference today to witness the EMH Presidential elections. Pastor Gesner Paul was reelected for another 3 year term by a vote of 43 to 40 with 1 abstention. Although not a mandate, we all feel that this is a good thing. Now that the pressure of reelection is gone we hope that things will once again move forward.

Thursday – Sarah and I loaded up supplies and went to the airport with Oge and Johnny to pick up an arriving team. We then made the journey north to La Tremblay (just under 2 hours) and dropped them off at the church construction site where they will be working for the next week. Sarah gave them an in route orientation since they would not be overnighting at the Guest House. While they unloaded the truck and van, I walked around the site and took pictures (slideshow #26) and assessed the site. I needed to determine how many more teams we would need to complete all of the work. We want to finish up as many of our 30 sites as we can before taking on any more projects – which are waiting in the wings. It was my first trip north since returning and I was sorry that I didn’t have time to stop at Thomas on the way back to say hello to all of my friends there. However, I know that I will get back up there soon.

It still surprises me how 4 hours in a truck in Haiti can absolutely wipe you out. It took several cups of coffee after dinner to revive me. Later, I sat with several ministers from Southern Florida, here for the Annual Conference, while Jim Gulley related his experience of being buried for 55 hours in the rubble of the Hotel Montana. I had heard pieces of it before and read about it in the book “Unshaken”, but this was the first time I had heard the full, chronological story from Jim. It was very dramatic and moving.