Days 157 – 160 (03/21 – 24)

Wednesday – Today is my brother’s birthday. He is much older than I. J Happy Birthday, Nixson.

We got our one team packed up and off to the airport and home this morning. I then returned to my computer to stare at my incoming email, waiting to hear from New York about my grant request. I feel like General Halftrack in Beetle Bailey cartoons looking in the mailbox for a letter from the Pentagon. Nothing. We have a team arrive from the states in the afternoon. We get them settled – back to the computer – still nothing. I went to bed a little frustrated, but the rain on the tin roof finally lulled me to sleep.

Thursday – We have been having rain almost every night for the last couple of weeks. The rainy season doesn’t official start for a few weeks so this is a little early. However, I love the rain at night. It makes the air in the morning fresh and cool - my favorite time of the day with a cup of savory Haitian coffee in my hands and our Haitian dogs Yorkie and Blackie clamoring to get on my lap.

We sent our team off to their worksite in Mellier and Sarah off to Port Salud for our friend Jenn Rogan’s wedding. (The land ownership issue of Haiti Health Ministries that Jenn works for is still being worked out by the lawyers.) Then it was back to the computer for my email vigil until the welcome interruption of the arrival of another new team from the states. Then, at 4:36 PM, a message from Melissa Crutchfield in New York - “Good News. The Board approved the Funding Request for the Guest House Staff Housing Project for the full amount requested.” What a great feeling to see 5 months of work finally start coming together. The next step is to get the final approval from Pastor Paul and the EMH. We meet tomorrow morning.

Friday – Tom and I got the team off to LaTremblay early this morning and then hurried to our meeting with Pastor Paul. The issue to be resolved was that the project approved and now funded by UMCOR was not exactly how Pastor Paul wanted it done. He had changed directions twice after the grant proposal was submitted. We explained that the changes could not be made after the proposal was submitted and that we needed to proceed with the original plan. Thankfully, he accepted the proposal as written and we will be able to proceed.

We didn’t have time to celebrate because we had a team come back from Arcahaie and another team arrive from the States. With Sarah gone, it was a little busier than normal. It wasn’t until late that night that we had time to sit back and enjoy the success.

Saturday – Another beautiful, after-rain morning. After my morning coffee and breakfast (in that order) I started putting together a checklist of the steps and documentation that will be necessary to start the staff housing project. It will be in two parts. The first part will be a new 8 unit building to be built on the opposite side of the parking lot from the Guest House. Four of the units will be for the Haitian staff currently living in small rooms behind the kitchen and four units will be for the VIM Haiti Response Plan staff (Tom, Sarah, Mario and me). The second part will be rebuilding and/or repairing homes for the 14 staff members that lost their homes in the earthquake. The 2 parts will be done concurrently. The plans for the 8 unit have already been completed by Engineer LaPlanche and we can start construction right away. We can start on the individual houses as soon as we have land title documentation, construction estimates and contracts in place.

This afternoon we sent one team home to the States and welcomed Tom’s wife Wendy and their friends Terry and Mike. They (including Tom) are leaving tomorrow on a 2 day hike over the mountains from Furcy to Jacmel – about 30 miles. At 4:00 PM I had the best meeting I have had in Haiti. I was able to tell the staff that the funding had been approved and we were going to be able to help them rebuild their homes. The excitement, smiles and clapping made my whole Haiti experience worthwhile. The cherry on the top will be to see them move into their new homes.

Days 152 -156 (03/16 – 20)

Friday – Today was a busy “office day”. With Alina, the GBGM Auditor and Susan the VIM stateside coordinator here, we were busy trying to bring them up to date on all of our current projects. In the afternoon we had 2 teams returning to the Guest House – one from Les Cayes and one from Mellier. So, along with putting away all of the returning tools and equipment, there were the debriefs – where we hear about the teams experiences in the field. This is always interesting and helps us track how the program is running.

Saturday – Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I discovered that St. Patrick’s Day is not a big national holiday in Haiti. When I’d greet the Haitian staff with “Faith and Begorrah, ‘tis a wonderful day”, they would look at me like I’d once again mangled something in Creole or was completely crazy.  My mother would be very disappointed. That did not stop me from wearing a green shirt however. I did find a couple of Irishmen on the teams, but they left early for the airport and home. The afternoon brought in one new team from the states, but not a single Irishman. I was a party of one.

Sunday – This morning we sent our one team of to their site in Archaie and Alina off to her home in Peru. She travels all over the world as a GBGM auditor, but once in a while gets to go home to her family in Peru. After saying our goodbyes, Tom, Sarah, Susan, Mario and I packed our swimsuits and headed up to the Hotel Karibe. We decided that having our Haiti Response Plan long range planning session around the pool at the Karibe made a lot more sense than sitting in our hot office.  Even with the swimming, napping, reading, eating and visiting, we actually got some planning work done. Sarah and I even managed to get some sunburn. It was a very fun and relaxing day, but the sun took its’ toll – we headed to our rooms pretty early.

Monday – Today is the start of the UMCOR Board of Directors Meetings in New York. They will be considering my funding request for the Haiti Home Assistance Program at some time during the week. Even though I’ve been assured that it will be approved, I’m going to be on pins and needles until I hear for sure.

Today is also the day that my friends from California arrive. Fred Skeen and Allison Berry from Grass Valley are leading a team from Northern California and Nevada. Fred and Allison were on my first team to Haiti in Feb. 2011. They will be going to Thomas where we worked on that first trip. It was very fun to see friends from home and I spent most of the day visiting with them and telling them what they could expect to be working on in Thomas.

Tuesday – After saying goodbye to Susan, who is returning home this morning, I left in the Nissan Van with Maxo, the driver, to pick up a team in Hinche. Hinche is one of our most distant sites and this is the first time that my schedule has allowed me to go see it. It is located in the Central Plateau region of Haiti, about 3 ½ hours northeast of Port au Prince. You take National Hwy 3 out of Croix du Bouquet and cross the first mountain range. At the top the view of the Port au Prince area and the Bay is spectacular. You can see all the way to Gressier to the west to Arcahaie to the northwest – a distance of about 50 km in each direction. The highway drops down into a rolling plains valley with several rivers running through, including the Artibonite –Haiti’s largest, and up and over a second range of mountains. Just over the crest is Lac de Beligre a lake formed by a dam on the Artibonite River. The dam was built in the ‘50s by Duvalier for hydro-electric power and was very controversial because it flooded some of the best agricultural land in the country. The road then continues down into another beautiful valley and into the town of Hinche. Every time I travel outside of Port au Prince into the more rural areas, I’m struck by how truly beautiful this country is.

The VIM project in Hinche has been the building of a new church and the purpose of my trip today was to ascertain the status of the work. The teams and the Haitian crew have done a wonderful job and I’m going to declare the project complete. The amount of remaining work is insufficient to support another team and can best be left to the Haitian crew.

The return trip took over 4 hours because of Port au Prince traffic and Maxo was exhausted by the time we got back to the Guest House. Heck, I was worn out and I wasn’t even driving.

Days 149 – 151 (03/13 – 15)

Tuesday – Well, all good things have to come to an end. I had to put Linda on an airplane this morning and send her winging back to California. I can’t believe that the week went so quickly. I’m sure the next 5 weeks until I head home will go much slower. But – maybe not. Today is going to be a busy day.

Pastor Paul had requested a meeting with Tom, Jim Gulley, Ruth Depestre – the Guest House Manager, and I to talk about the Haiti Home Assistance Program – again. So, we met after lunch and he asked me to once again explain what we were planning to do. I explained that nothing had changed since he agreed to and signed the Grant Proposal that had already been submitted to UMCOR for Board approval next week. Well, somewhere between then and now – he had changed his mind it seems and had a better plan. Tom, Jim and I walked out totally confused and I felt like 5 months of work had just gone up in smoke. I thought that maybe the solution was to break the original proposal into 4 smaller grants and started on rewriting the grants. I got drafts of 3 of them done, but was totally confused about the 4^th. Tom and Jim were equally confused and because the deadline for submitting new grant proposals was past we decided to just go with the original.

After dinner we had another meeting with the HRP staff and Jim and Alina the GBGM auditor who was here for a week. It was mostly about accounting procedures and what system was best and how do we get the information we need to properly manage the program. After about 3 hours it was very apparent that I was not a big contributor the discussion, so I excused myself and went to bed.

Wednesday – The morning started with a 7:00 AM meeting with Constantine and Robert from World Hand Alliance, Engineer Derly Charles , Jim, Tom and I. WHA was upset with the billing and payment process and felt that it was not being done according to the contract. The irony is that we (UMVIM/UMCOR) are not even parties to the contract. The contract is between WHA and the EMH. We have nothing to do with billings or payments. We pointed out that they should really be having this discussion with the EMH Accountant and if there needed to be changes made to the contract that the EMH would be the ones to do that.

At 8:30 we had another walk around meeting at the Guest House with Pastor Paul and Engineer LaPlanche. This morning Pastor Paul had an even different plan than he had yesterday. After he left we decided that our decision yesterday was even more viable – we’re sticking with the original.

At 9:30 I met with Patrick Sylvain, one of our interpreters. Patrick lost his house in the earthquake and will be one of the beneficiaries of the HHAP grant. Patrick and I had missed several scheduled appointments over the past few months to go see his home. Patrick’s home had only 1 wall standing after the earthquake and over the past 2 years he has managed to complete the walls and roof to have 1 enclosed room for he and his family to live in. The rest of the small house is still in ruins. I was able to see the site conditions and assess the rebuilding requirements. I was also able to meet his Grandmother, uncle, cousins and several nieces and nephews that live in a small house next door.

By the time I got back to the office, downloaded my pictures and wrote my site visit report, the sun had gone over the horizon ending another day in Haiti.

Thursday – Today was a very unusual but welcome day. We had no teams coming or going through the Guest House and I had no meetings on my schedule. I had an opportunity to catch up on a lot of paperwork, including my Blog which was over a week behind. The big event for the day was the arrival of Susan Meister, the stateside member of our Haiti Response Plan staff. Susan is in charge of scheduling all of the VIM teams coming to Haiti; coordinating the insurance and matching funds and answering the hundreds of questions that Team Leaders have about their preparations for their Haiti mission. I have been emailing and talking on the phone and skype with Susan for a year and a half, both as a Team Leader and as a fellow HRP staff member but had never had the opportunity to meet her. I’m glad I finally have gotten that opportunity and am looking forward to her week with us. She is an absolute delight and such an important part of the successful operation of the Haiti Response Plan.

Days 146 – 148 (03/10 – 12)

Saturday – This weekend is my in-country vacation. Linda and I and Mario and Spana are going to Jacmel.  Jacmel is on the Caribbean coast of Haiti, about 100 KM southwest of Port au Prince. It is the 6^th largest town in Haiti and one of the oldest. It was built in the French Colonial style and once was referred to as the New Orleans of the Caribbean. Unfortunately, like most things in Haiti, it has not been maintained and has fallen into serious disrepair.

The route to Jacmel took us along the Atlantic coast to Leogaine, a route that I seem to travel every week, but then cut due south over the mountains. It truly is a beautiful drive and Linda was oohing and ahhing the whole way. You ultimately come around a bend and there is Jacmel and the bay down below. Gorgeous. We went through Jacmel and drove east along the coast for another 20 minutes before coming to the Kabic Hotel. Our friend Jenn Rogan had made the reservations for us, so we didn’t know exactly what to expect. But, we weren’t disappointed. It was very nice. The rooms were nice with sliding glass doors overlooking the ocean and HOT water. It also had a very nice outdoor restaurant and a huge bull mastiff dog named Argus that thought he was a lap dog. Linda and I took the room and although the rooms weren’t expensive by U.S. standards, Mario and Spana decided to try and find something cheaper down the road. We got settled into our room; changed into swimsuits and went across the road to the beach. It was a beautiful, curving, sandy beach and the water was the perfect temperature. We swam and took a nap under some palm trees. Life is good.

Mario and Spana showed up late in the afternoon and said that they had found a place just down the road and were going to go back into Jacmel to get something to eat and check out the nightlife. We elected to stay where we were and try the food at the hotel. Right across the street from the hotel, on the beach, was a little restaurant/ bar that consisted of one little shack with a covered patio and 4 tables. As we were walking by, they served a couple 2 beautiful grilled lobsters. I asked the waiter how much they were and he said $11.00 U.S. He said they would be open until 10:00 PM, so I told him we would be back for some lobster. We took a quick dip in the little hotel pool; showered and changed and went back for dinner. Even though there was only one other couple at the tables, it still took the obligatory 30 minutes to take our order – which was, of course – lobster. Reply – drum roll – “We’re out of lobster.” Since we had our hearts set on lobster, we went back to the hotel restaurant and, for a few dollars more got our grilled lobster. The service was excellent and the food was great - so, all in all, a great ending to a great day.

Sunday – We woke up to another beautiful Caribbean day; went down to the restaurant for our complimentary continental breakfast and went for a walk up the road. It was very pretty, but was rapidly warming up and Linda was starting to fade, so we headed back to the hotel to wait for Mario and Spana. They arrived just before our noon check out time and Mario said that they would like to stay another day. He suggested that we check out the hotel that he and Spana were staying in because it was cheaper. So, not anxious to go home and working on a tight budget we checked it out. The Hotel L’Aimitie was right on the beach and Mario talked the owner into giving us a great room for half of what we were paying at the Kabic. Decision made. We’re staying another day. Swimming in the Caribbean; lying on the beach; eating great food – I could get used to this.

Monday – Linda and I went for an early morning swim then had our complimentary breakfast on the beach with Spana and Mario. We got cleaned up, packed and on the road back to Jacmel by 9:00 AM. I had read about some waterfalls somewhere around Jacmel and wanted to check them out. But, Mario, a native Haitian, had never heard of them. He did, however get directions from some of the locals. The road took us across a river (no bridge) and on to a 4 wheel drive road. We stopped and asked directions several times and finally arrived at Basin Bleu. (Side note: If you ask a Haitian for directions and he or she doesn’t answer right away and kind of looks up into the sky – don’t believe a word they say. They don’t have a clue.)

 Basin Bleu is a cluster of 4 or 5 houses up in the mountains behind Jacmel. It has 1 industry – the waterfalls. They charge 100 gourdes per person to park your truck or $10.00 for the 4 of us. You have to hike from there about a mile along some mountain trails to get to the falls – a series of 3. We discovered that 2 “Guides” had attached themselves to our foursome – one of them carrying a large rope. The trail wasn’t too bad – although a little rocky in places – making it hard for Linda in sandals. We came to the first large pond and found 3 or 4 Haitian women washing clothes, beating them on the rocks with wooden paddles. Our guide said that they lived way up in the mountains and came down here every week to do their laundry. We walked on to two more beautiful ponds fed by small waterfalls and then discovered what the rope was for. You had to scale down a rock face to get to the last pond and waterfall. The guide told us we had to take our shoes off to go down the rope. In the process, one of Linda’s sandals went over the edge into the pond below. Not to worry. One of the guides stripped down to his shorts and dove 30 feet into the pond and retrieved the sandal. The descent down the rock face wasn’t too far, but it was slippery. The guide made sure everyone got their foot into the right place before taking the next step. Needless to say, we all survived – and the journey was worth it. The last pond and falls were spectacular. The falls were about 100 feet high and cascaded into a large pond carved out of the volcanic rock. The water in all the ponds was a beautiful turquoise blue. It was the same color as the water you see in glacier ponds and lakes. Our 2 guides jumped in the water; swam across the pond; climbed over halfway up the cliff face and dove into the pond. They said the pond was 25 meters deep – over 80 feet. They asked if anyone wanted to go swimming. Linda really wanted to go but was unsure how to maintain her modesty in front of all the men until she realized that she had a change of clothes back in the truck. In she went clothes and all.  The men were very impressed.

We retraced our steps back to Basin Bleu, then back to Jacmel for a late lunch and a change of clothes for Linda. We arrived back at the Guest House just in time for dinner. What a great mini vacation.

Days 144 & 145 (03/08 – 09)

Thursday – We just had our Du Plan medical team this morning, my final, final Grant Proposal was in and I didn’t have any meetings scheduled (how could that be?) so – it was a perfect day to take Linda sightseeing. It was an adventurous day and an exercise in communication. Spana’s knowledge of English is about as limited as my Creole, so we sometimes struggle. I wanted to go to the studio and workshop of Einstein Albert, a woodworking artist that is gaining worldwide recognition for his beautiful handcrafted bowls. I had gotten one for Linda for Christmas and was very interested in seeing his studio. Spana had taken Sarah there several weeks ago, so I thought he knew where it was. Wrong. He didn’t have a clue what I was talking about. So, I gave up on that one and said we wanted to go to the Iron Market. The Iron Market is one of the oldest market places in Port au Prince and gets its’ name from the ornate iron work of the 2 buildings and the connecting towers and archway. Spana took Tom, Sarah and I there last year. However, I soon noticed we were heading in the wrong direction. I asked “Spana are you sure this is the right way to the Iron Market?” “Wi, Wi”. I knew where he was going and sure enough he pulled up in front of Giant Market a local supermarket.  “No, no, Spana. Iron Market not Giant Market. Mache fè, mache fè”. “Oh, OK, OK”. This time we headed off in the right direction. But after a while we started veering off a little right of the course that I thought we should be taking. “Spana, mache fè?” “Wi, Wi.” Well by this time I knew where he was heading – Crois du Bouquet. Crois du Bouquet is east of Port au Prince and is where many metal working artists have their studios and workshops. I’ve been through Crois du Bouquet many times, but had never had time to stop there and see the studios. Sure enough we soon pull up in front of the studio of Michee Remy and Johnson Augustine, two of the better known metal sculptors in Haiti.

The metal art work in Haiti is made from used oil drums. They cut the tops and bottoms off then cut them lengthwise down the side. They then flatten the metal out into a sheet. This is all done with tin snips, hammers and chisels. Then they take a pattern template and trace it out on the flattened metal; cut it out with snips and chisels and then form and decorate it with a hammer and various punches and chisels. It was really interesting to watch the process. Linda and I both bought a couple of small pieces. Linda really liked a rather large mask, but we couldn’t figure out how she would get it home on the airplane.

It wasn’t the day I had planned, but it all worked out well. We saw some artisans at work, got some nice metal pieces and Linda saw some parts of Haiti that she had not seen before.

Friday – Sarah and Mario were in charge of getting 1 team off to the airport and 1 team to their site in Les Cayes because Tom, Linda and I had to pick up Pastor Paul and go to Mellier. Pastor Paul wanted to see the church again and make some changes in the sacristy. The changes involved taking out a wall that he had already moved twice. He also wanted to remove a couple of columns, but I convinced him that the mezzanine would fall down if he did. We then visited some of the houses that are under construction.

On our way back to Petionville we stopped to see WHA’s (World Hand Alliance) block making operation. This is the place that Tom, Sarah and I tried to find a couple of weeks ago and ended up driving through the hills of Carre Four. It turns out it is only a few blocks from Pastor Paul’s house. Constantine (WHA) and his partners have finally got the operation going and are starting to make the lightweight concrete blocks. It has been a struggle, but the end results are going to be great. I really like this product.

Days 141 – 143 (03/05 – 07)

Monday – We got our 2 local teams off to Croix de Mission and Du Plan and I settled into crunch time on getting the drafts of my Grant Proposal approved so I can get it to UMCOR in New York before the end of the week. The UMCOR Board of Directors has to approve all funding over $100K and they only meet twice a year – March and October. The emails were flying back and forth all day long, but by the end of the day I had the final copy ready for submittal.

In the late afternoon we welcomed I team back from La Tremblay and new arrivals from the states. We’ll have 4 teams at the Guest House tonight. Things are back to normal.

Tuesday – Today my special lady, Linda, is arriving for a week. Her flight arrives at 9:30 AM which means I have to leave the Guest House by 8:30 to get to the airport on time. Spana (photo), who is always on time, picks this morning to be an hour and fifteen minutes late. I was climbing the walls. Linda has been here before, so I wasn’t worried about her bags and getting through customs, but the airport in Port au Prince isn’t the greatest place to be waiting for someone. Spana arrived literally on the run – “Sorry boss, sorry.” “Spana”, I said. “Linda’s plane will be landing in 10 minutes”. “Don’t worry, boss. Don’t worry”. The trip to the airport usually takes, in the best of times, at least 45 minutes. Spana made it to the airport in 25 minutes flat. We flew over backstreets and shortcuts that I had never seen before. Naturally, the flight was a little late and we ended up waiting 30 minutes before One Armed Jackson, our special porter, escorted Linda out to us.

We had to hurry back to the Frere Campus because I was late for a Haiti Joint Leadership Team meeting in Pastor Paul’s office. The HJLT meetings are held every month so that the leadership of EMH, UMCOR and UMVIM can report on the progress of their various projects over the last month and their plans for the coming month. I gave a report on the final HHAP (Haiti Home Assistance Program) Grant Proposal and Pastor Paul approved and signed the document.

When I got back to the Guest House, Linda was engaged in conversation with the medical team that had returned from their day at the clinic in Du Plan and Sarah had returned from her R & R in the States. During my absence this morning Tom and Mario had sent 1 team to the airport and home; put 1 team on a boat to La Gonave, the large island in the Bay of Port au Prince and gotten our 2 local teams to their sites. This afternoon we received the returning team from Hinche - another busy day.

Wednesday – This morning we sent 2 teams to the airport leaving only our Du Plan medical team at the Guest House. For me, the meetings continue. This morning it was the EMH Housing Project Management Team meeting. This team is comprised of representatives of the 2 contractors, Engineers LaPlanche and Derly and Tom, Jim Gulley and I. We discussed the progress being made on the 20 houses being built in Mellier and the projected start-up dates for the 20 houses in Carre Four. We are also expecting bids from 2 more contractors for an additional 10 houses. This program has had a very arduous start-up process, but houses are going up and the process is accelerating.

My Grant Proposal was reviewed by the staff in New York and they sent it back for some additional wording that will better satisfy the Board’s requirements. I got it back to them by the 4:00 PM deadline. Time flies when you’re having fun.

Days 137 – 140 (3/01 – 04)

Thursday – This morning we sent 1 team to the airport for their homeward journey and got our local team to their site at Croix de Mission. Tom left for the day to attend the UMCOR planning meetings going on at the Hotel Ebolele. That left Mario and I at the office to await our team returning from Arcahaie and a new team arriving from the states. I spent most of the day reworking some of my Guest House Renovation plans. We’re modifying the usage of the Manse and Swiss House from the original plan and some work in the original plan has already been done under ongoing maintenance. Tom returned from his meetings after dinner and took care of the team debriefs and orientation.

Friday – All of our team activity took place this morning – I team to the airport; 1 team to their week in Arcahaie and our local team to Croix de Mission. I continued on my GH Renovation plans and started writing the UMCOR grant proposal. Not a terribly exciting day, but productive.

Saturday – Tom and I left early with Spana in the EMH R & D (Relief and Development) Land Cruiser. We had to pick up Pastor Paul and Engineer LaPlanche to go to Petit Goave to dedicate the new Bookstore. The Land Cruiser is a larger vehicle than the D-Max and more comfortable for 5 or more.

The Bookstore was built next to the Petit Goave Methodist Church to provide an income source for the church. The project was built by UMVIM teams with additional support from COR (Church of the Resurrection – a large Methodist church in Kansas City, Mo). There were quite a few people gathered for the ribbon cutting including several EMH District Superintendents, local clergy and church members, site engineers and bosses, 2 representatives from COR and Tom and I from UMVIM/UMCOR. There were prayers, hymns and speeches from all the dignitaries. Then the ribbon was cut and everyone went inside for a lunch prepared by the churches women’s group. The amazing part about the whole thing was that Tom and I had been there 1 week before and they were still putting plaster on the walls and just starting on the floor tile. When we walked in today everything was finished including shelves full of books along the walls. It’s amazing what they can get done when the President turns on the heat.

After the ceremony, Tom, Pastor Paul, Roger LaPlanche, the 2 COR representatives and I went by the Brakeman School in Petit Goave to look at adding a 2^nd story to one of the buildings. COR has been the primary supporter of the rebuilding of the Brakeman School. We left the COR people in Petit Goave and headed back – stopping in Mellier so that Pastor Paul could see the progress on the new church.

We got back to the Guest House in time to welcome the medical team from Reynoldsburg, Va. They will be working at the clinic in Du Plan for the next week.

Sunday – This morning Tom and I attended church in Du Plan with the Reynoldsburg team. It was a very nice service, but I was disappointed that the church choir didn’t sing. I’ve heard them a couple of times before and they’re very good.

After church, the Reynoldsburg team went sightseeing and Tom and I came back to the Guest House and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing. Both Reynoldsburg and the Croix de Mission team were back for dinner.

Days 134 – 136 (2/27 – 29)

Monday – No teams in or out this morning. We will have one team arriving from the states late this afternoon. Mario returned this morning from his R & R. So – our staff is back to full strength for a whole day (Sarah leaves tomorrow). UMCOR has some strategic planning meetings scheduled for later in the week and some of the New York staff is starting to arrive. They all will be staying at the Ebolele Hotel and I don’t have to be at the meetings, so I’m not sure if I’ll see them or not. However, I would like Mellissa Crutchfield to review my Haiti Home Assistance Program grant proposal before I submit it to Pastor Paul for his signature and send it to New York. So – today is dedicated to putting the final touches on the grant proposal.

Tuesday – Tom and I got our one team off to La Tremblay, Sarah off the airport and took off for Carre Four School with Oge at the wheel. We had another meeting with the Mellier EMH contingency. This was the first time that we have been able to get the community leaders, Site Boss, Project Engineer and Pastor Fed, the District Superintendent all together. The community leadership has been unhappy that they have not been involved in the process of building their new church and Pastor Fed is the man in charge. Tom and I are not involved in that part of the process and are acting only as facilitators. I think it was a productive meeting. Everyone got to express their views and Pastor Fed promised to keep the community more involved in the project. The next item on the agenda was the dedication of the new bathrooms at the school. This was one of the first VIM projects started under the Haiti Response Plan and quite a few teams contributed to the project. It was nice to see the completed bathrooms, but a little weird to attend a dedication ceremony. I asked Tom if he had ever blessed a latrine before and he admitted that it was a first for him. We got back to the Guest House in time to welcome the first of two teams to arrive from the states today.

Wednesday – We loaded one team up this morning and sent them off to Hinche. Hinche is one of our most distant sites and is about 4 hours away in the central plateau region of Haiti. The remaining team will be staying at the Guest House and commuting each day to Croix d’Mission one of our closest sites. Then Tom and I rounded up Spana and the D-Max and drove up to the Hotel Ebolele to pick up Judith Santiago the UMCOR Media Coordinator who is part of the delegation here from New York. She wants to do a series of articles and video clips on the Haiti Response Plan. So – we swung by Paco to pick up Lauren James, the UMCOR/EMH Liaison and headed to Mellier to show Judith the new houses being built under the EMH Housing Pilot Project. On the ride to Mellier she played the journalist’s role and asked us questions about ourselves and our jobs in Haiti. When we got to Mellier we visited a couple of the World Hand Alliance sites where they have the footings and stem walls completed. Judith took lots of pictures and taped interviews with some of the beneficiaries of the new homes. We then visited a couple of the Homes for Haitians sites where the homes are almost completed. She taped a couple of interviews with Lauren, Tom and I; took lots of pictures and we all headed back to Petionville. We came back to the Frere campus so she could see the complex and take pictures of some of the school kids. It will be interesting to see what her finished product will look like. Spana then took Judith back to the Ebolele and Lauren back to her office at Delmas 54. Tom and I then greeted Steve Elliot and his Cal/Nev team returning from their week in Thomas.

Days 132 & 133 (2/25 & 26)

Saturday – Two teams to the airport this morning and the Guest House is once again teamless. I volunteered to drive me to Thomas got a call from Steve Elliot in Thomas that they were starting on the roof structure and were going to need a couple of circular saws. So – since my trip to Thomas got postponed yesterday and they needed tools, I decided to go out there this morning. I couldn’t get Spana on the phone, so Eric volunteered to drive me to Thomas. Steve also wanted a wax ring to reset a toilet that had come loose on the floor. I told him that they seldom used wax rings down here - they just cement the toilet bowl to the floor on top of the sewer pipe. But, I told him we would try to find one for him. So – Eric and I spent 1 ½ hours driving to 5 different building supply stores without success and finally gave up.

It’s funny. Each driver has his own special short cuts to get out of the Port-au-Prince area (none of which are paved). And since it has been some time since I’ve ridden with Eric, I saw some parts of town that I hadn’t seen for a while. We had average traffic and made it to Thomas in 1 ½ hours. I was pleased with the progress that they were making. The 2^nd story walls were finished and they were in fact starting on the roof. I’m glad that I brought the saws. The Haitian crew was cutting and fitting the roof structure with machetes. I spent about an hour on site talking with people and taking a few pictures and then headed back to PetionVille. As usual when driving in Haiti, we passed an accident. A couple of small pick-ups, a dump truck and a SUV all tried to occupy the same space at the same time. They were loading 3 or 4 injured people in the back of another pick-up as we drove by. Driving is always an adventure in Haiti.

Sunday – We got 2 teams off to the airport this morning. Then Tom, Sarah and I got Spana and the D-Max and set off to see the block making yard of World Hand Alliance. WHA is one of the contractors building houses in Mellier and Carre Four. They have gotten all of their block making equipment set up and running to start manufacturing light weight concrete blocks. Light weight concrete is produced by reducing the amount of aggregate and folding in a foaming agent, like egg whites in a soufflé. This creates air pockets in the mix that take up the space usually occupied by aggregate. The result is a block that is ½ the weight of a standard concrete block but with 80% of the compression strength, which is more than adequate for this type of construction. This has many advantages – lighter blocks are easier to transport and handle - reducing the weight of the structure, particularly in upper walls and roofs, reduces the susceptibility of collapse in an earthquake – the air pockets increase the insulation factor of the block – the finished quality of the block is much better than 90% of the cement blocks currently available in-country. So – we were very interested in seeing the operation. Unfortunately, we realized when we started off that no one knew exactly where we were going. We tried to call Constantine from WHA for directions but his phone wasn’t working. We remembered Costantine saying that the yard was just up the hill behind the Carre Four cemetery and Spana knew how to get to the cemetery. So – we decided to see if we could find it.

Spana got us to the Carre Four cemetery with no problem and we took the first road that went up the hill. The hills of Carre Four are not the Riviera. It is an extremely poor area and was heavily damaged in the earthquake. It is one of the areas where the homes are built on the hillsides on top of each other and collapsed like dominoes. Although much of the rubble has been removed and there is a lot of rebuilding going on, the area is still a devastated region. We wandered along the mountainside, asking directions along the way, with no success. The people were very friendly and helpful and would nod their heads and point further up the hill or to the left or right. But it soon became apparent that they didn’t have a clue where this place was and were just having fun with the dumb blans. So – after an hour or so of wandering around the rabbit warren of the hills of Carre Four we gave up and came home. It was an adventure and we saw some interesting scenery, so no one complained.