Days 226 – 228 (6/13 – 15)

Wednesday – While I was in the Dominican, Danette Seagroves arrived in Haiti. Danette will be taking Sarah’s place as the new VIM Team Coordinator. She is an experienced team leader, having led 3 teams to Haiti since the earthquake and this experience will serve her well. She thoroughly understands the process and Sarah is training her in the nitty- gritty details of the job. I think she will be a good fit with the team.

I’m back in Haiti and still filled with disbelief over the contrasts between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Sharing the same island and separated only by a range of mountains, they are like night and day. It validates the theory that Haiti has not suffered from a lack of resources; it has suffered from a lack of leadership. They are 100 years behind in economic and social development.

We sent one new team off to La Tremblay early this morning. Then I had a meeting with Roger Laplanche. Roger was supposed to meet me in Santo Domingo to visit the factory but never made it. He said that some last minute things had come up that prevented him from going. So – I spent a good part of the morning going over the things that I had learned and sharing pictures and literature with him. I then showed him the estimate that I had gotten for the wall and roof panels for the second story of the GH Staff Annex. He was very surprised, as I was when I first saw it. It was very reasonable and when all factors were considered, no more expensive than conventional masonry. We both agreed that we should go ahead and use these panels on our project. I then called Frank Brugal in Santo Domingo and placed the order. I had a list of questions that I wanted Frank and his engineer Edwin to answer. I also asked if it was possible to get some technical assistance when the material arrived and we began erection. This will be completely new technology for our work force. Frank agreed to send Edwin to us for 3 or 4 days to help train. I also talked with Doug Ahfeld with Homes for Haitians who is building homes for us in Mellier under the EMH Pilot Project. Doug is the one that introduced me to Frank and will be using the panels himself on a school and clinic he is building in Merlet. We discussed combining our shipments to save on freight and import fees and about sharing equipment and technical assistance. We both feel strongly that this is a very viable building system and could speed up the shelter reconstruction process in Haiti without increasing cost.

This afternoon we had one team return from Thor and a new team arrived from the States. After dinner I watched Danette give an orientation to the new team.  Her experience as a team leader was evident and she did a great job.

Thursday – This morning I had another meeting with Roger and Engineer Roos, the GH Site Engineer. I was concerned that a couple of our Guest House Renovation projects had not progressed while I was gone – specifically the grey water septic system and the ground water drainage canal. Roos said that the work had stopped because they ran out of funds. I explained to him that I couldn’t read his mind. If he needed more funds, he had to come to me (hopefully in advance) and bring me receipts for the previous funds advanced and tell me how much he was going to need for the next phase of work. I don’t know why that is such a difficult concept.

This afternoon I was able to get the 1^st draw checks out to the last three beneficiaries of the Haiti Home Assistance Program. They finally got all of their paper work in. I also reviewed the progress of the homes already under construction and discovered that there were several ready for their 2^nd draw. I scheduled several inspections for tomorrow. The Haiti Partnership team returned from their week in Hinche very tired but fulfilled. They will probably be the last reconstruction team we send out there. Future teams will be community development oriented and specialized in health, water, agriculture and micro-enterprise projects. And – Mario left for 5 days of R & R at home in Florida.

Friday – We sent the somewhat refreshed Haiti Partnership team off for a day of sightseeing around Port-au-Prince. Then I left with OJ and Tom to inspect some of the HHAP projects. The first site was Jean Claudes in Carrefour. His house is being rebuilt as a second story to a family members existing home. As in most sites in Carrefour, you can’t drive up to the front door. You have to walk through a rabbit warren of streets and alleyways. Jean Claude has poured a new floor and has all the structural rebar in place for the columns and walls. There is a push to get the walls and roof up because his entire family, including his elderly mother is sleeping in the open on the concrete slab. When it rains everything gets wet, including them.

The second site visited was Oge’s. Like Jean Claude, he is building on top of his in-laws home. Their site is in the hills behind Petionville and like Jean Claude you have to walk a ways to get there. Oge’s house is coming along very well and he has all the walls up and is ready for a roof.

The third site was Gerda’s. Her lot is also up in the hills behind Petionville on a steep slope. She also has all her walls up and is about ready for a roof. Unlike Jean Claude and Oge, she is not on top of someone else. Since we were at Gerda’s we decided to take a look at Johnny’s site which was very close by. He has the trenches dug for his footings and should have a foundation in by the end of next week.

The fourth site was Nicola and Antoinette’s. However, once again, the Haitian staff wouldn’t let me go see it. In order to get there you have to go through Cite Soleil. According to Wikipedia – “The area is generally regarded as one of the poorest and most dangerous areas of the Western Hemisphere and is one of the biggest slums in the Northern Hemisphere”. So – discretion being the better part of valor, I gave them my camera and sent them on their way. The pictures of the site are beautiful and their new house (the walls are half way up) is surrounded by banana trees. I really would like to see it.

By dinner time we had one team in from Leveque, one team in from Mellier, Haiti Partnership back from sightseeing and Wendy, Tom’s wife, in from the States. We have 47 people plus staff at the Guest House tonight.