We are walking by the Kohl's Cares for Kids area and they now have the Grouchy Ladybug, Hungry Caterpillar and so forth out (books and matching stuffed animals). Brooklyn is saying, "Dis, dis." So she wants to see them. She is looking and pointing and I pull down the ladybug and ask, "Do you want Mommy to get you the ladybug?"
"Mmmm, No!"
Pull down the caterpillar. "Do you want Mommy to get you the caterpillar?"
"Mmmmm........(long pause) No!"
Pull down the chameleon. "Do you want Mommy to get you the chameleon?"
"Mmmmm......(much longer pause) No!"
Nice, we have a frugal child! Apparently Daddy must have had a long talk with Brooklyn in the womb when I was fast asleep, requesting that she not be as high maintenance as her Mommy!
Hein Family
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Haiti Diary, Day 8
Eighth Day -
Dearest Debbie -
Saturday, November 20, 2010 - finally heading home. I guess the Coke, sugar cane and champagne had an effect. I awoke at 1:00. I finished the day 7 email, then went back to sleep. William Sullenger, our leader, awoke everyone at 5:15 by starting the generator, which turned on all the lights. We packed, cleaned the house, and put our donated clothes, clean and dirty, bedding and other supplies in the designated areas. Most of us left our dirty clothes behind. I know that people who have little appreciate gifts. But those clothes are going to be cleaned by hand. Those clothes might have challenged my Kenmore washer at home. It is amazing to think in the 21st century that someone will have to clean clothes by hand.
It reminded me of the older man that was working right next to the job site. He took rocks out of the river right behind the site and broke them into gravel with a hammer. Every day, all day, he did this. On Thursday, Maurice, our site's contractor, needed gravel for the concrete. His commercial supplier had a mechanical problem, so he could not make a delivery that day. Maurice buys all the available gravel from this older man. He delivered the gravel in his wheel barrow. God blessed that man for his perseverance. But wow, what it took to get the little pay he received. And later that day, he starts in again. In our rich country, this is almost unheard of. We ended our stay in the house with a round of prayer, 11 of us with Mike and Brenda. Just before we left for good, I took a short walk in the neighborhood. The "cheerleaders" were out, so I high-fived the children. It was a thrill for all of us! Then we loaded the dump truck for the ride to the Port-au-Prince airport.
Jenny, Jeremy from Conscience Int'l, Jeffrey from Dunwoody Baptist Church, and Jeanson joined the 11 of us. The 60 km trip in daylight was very revealing. The country is very green, with lush vegetation everywhere. There was smoke everywhere from burning trash. Dust flew everywhere from the dirt roads. I wore a dust mask and a cap the whole ride in the bed. By the end of the trip to the airport, I looked and felt like I had been sandblasted. Every town had an active market with loads of goods and people (Saturday is market day). There were destroyed buildings, tents and broken roads all along the way.
Port-au-Prince is another story. There are people on the streets and in tents everywhere! Traffic was ridiculous, the smoke and smell were overpowering. Poverty is pervasive.
We made it to PAP airport in about 2 1/2 hours. Security, ticketing, immigration, and security again and we were in the air conditioned terminal. Then came the 3 1/2 wait for the plane. It was a strange experience to use the rest room, have running water and see myself in the mirror. What, no suntan? What kind of Caribbean vacation was this?
We hung out together in the lounge area. Since Carol wanted to buy white rum, I had her buy a bottle for me - $5.
We boarded the plane, AA 1042, at 1:00. Hallelujah! The flight was uneventful, save for having to fill out the French version of the Customs declaration. The woman in the next seat had been working with midwifes in Haiti. She was from Richmond, VA. She did not talk much, mostly slept.
The plane touched down in Miami to passenger applause. Could it be that others were as glad to be back in the USA as we?
Immigration was the first step in reentering the US. After what seemed the longest possible walk (it felt almost as long as the walk to the job site that one day), we got to the passport check. Melaney had had a relapse of her painful diverticulitis, so the walk was a killer (note: she found out when she went to the doctor that the problem was kidney stones).
William was first through the line. He was rejected for completing the form in pencil. I made it through with my French form, no problem. There was a second checkpoint, then the Customs station. Again, no problem. Finally, those who checked bags had to collect them and carry them to American Airlines for rechecking.
As far as I was concerned, MIA (Miami airport) had the most confusing signs. We made so many wrong moves just following instructions. Eventually, we got into D terminal for the final leg, flight 1973.
Each of us was looking for something a little different to eat for dinner, so we were on our own. Charles Fry and I had Chinese food. I chose Kung Pao chicken and chicken wings over white rice (rice again? my teammates asked). I found Melaney Dudley, Phil Barger, James Cook, Alex Dean, Joe Wood, William Sullenger, Eli Moreno and Phil McGlothlin in the Island Cafe, so I joined them there. Mostly, people had either burgers or shrimp.
After dinner, we waited at the gate for departure. I passed the phone around a lot, as almost everyone called home.
AA 1973 was another full flight. Unlike the three other flights on Boeing 767's, this was a 757. A mechanical issue delayed us about 40 minutes. That prompted text messages to all the wives about the delay. William must have been working a crossword puzzle, as he kept asking everyone for words.
The flight crew was very responsive and friendly. The attendants gave out headphone sets for free to go with the TV show. First we had "30 Rock" in Spanish. Later, I think "Toy Story 3" was on. I am not sure, since I had dozed off after reading about 96 year old Jack LaLanne. Did you know the jumping jack was named after him?
The pilot made up about half the time of the delay in the air. The plane had a lot of passengers making connections in DFW airport. Miss the connections, they are stranded until Sunday. So I am sure American Airlines cleared the pilot to go faster.
Connections certainly were not an issue for us. Only Melaney had to connect, needing a flight to Harlingen, Texas. That was scheduled for 9:00 Sunday. She was sleeping over with Eli and Ana Moreno.
We finally arrived at DFW terminal D. Before we headed to baggage claim, some of the guys went into the restroom. Melaney was still a bit "out of it" and started to follow them in. All of us got a good laugh out of that, even Melaney!
We got quite a reception in baggage claim. Ana Moreno and two daughters, Susie Roberts (Alex's Mom) and her husband, Terry (he was giving rides to anyone who did not otherwise have one), Rachel Sullenger, Perri Wood (she had the biggest smile of all) and her son, and Carol's Mom were all there.
Best of all, you were there! We embraced long and hard. It was sweet joy being reunited. After recovering the white rum from Melaney's checked bag (she packed it for Carol), a closing prayer by William and goodbyes, we headed home.
Stepping outside to temperatures in the 60's and wind blowing, I knew things were back to normal. When we got to the house, I stripped in the garage while you ran a nice, hot bubble bath. It was such a pleasure to be home.
I will have to put the trip in perspective at another time. For now, I am just glad to be home.
Love you.
Chris
Some concluding thoughts -
I had to reflect on the blessings that I have. Basics like a roof over my head, running water, steady work, food for my meals and a intact structure in which to worship seem so routine in Grand Prairie, Texas. Yet these are anything but routine in Grand Goave. I find myself a lot more content with my life circumstances.
I had seen poverty as bad as Haiti's in Mexico, only 10 kilometers from Brownsville, Texas. However, what I had not experienced was poverty this pervasive. As I have told anyone who would listen, I don't recall in all the driving we did seeing affluence. I know there is some in Haiti, just not where I had been.
I often find myself taking a leader role in situations without a defined leader. This time, that did not happen. It surprised me early on in the trip. As time passed, I saw clearly why. William Sullenger was God's choice in this situation. He was certainly capable. He had a limited knowledge of French from high school, 35 or so years ago, which resurfaced and grew as the week progressed. But more importantly, he reached out to our Haitian co-workers and our brothers and sisters in Christ who attended Temple Baptist Church in ways I did not. He truly set the positive tone for our work in Grand Goave.
One of the traits that defines me is being able to influence others. My ability to communicate and be comfortable in almost all situations affects all my interactions and is basic to how I deal with life. My comfort zone was shattered by my ignorance of Creole/French. My discomfort persisted to varying degrees throughout the trip. Only after taking a required personality test at work after returning did I really see the source of my discomfort. I depend so much on being in control, using my verbal skills to influence others.
People ask me, "would you go back?" My answer might sound evasive, but it is this - I will if the Holy Spirit calls me to do so. For the approximate amount of money we spent for one of us to go to work in Haiti for a week, a Haitian laborer could be employed on the Siloe Church School project for a year (1,200 goud ($30) per week, about $1,500 per year). So from a pure financial standpoint, it is easier to argue for sending the money to employ labor than for spending it going there. But is money the only criterion for judging my participation? And with a world full of needs, is Haiti the place the men of Matthew Road Baptist Church can best be used? We have ongoing ministries in our community and have provided disaster relief for victims of Hurricanes Rita and Ike and the flood in Gainesville, Texas. We already have an active ministry in Mexico - support for church plantings, development of pastors, and sponsorship for an orphanage. Church members have made numerous trips there. We have sent our people to Nagaland, India, Romania and Darfur. If Haiti is my calling, I would expect to learn some French beforehand.
Dearest Debbie -
Saturday, November 20, 2010 - finally heading home. I guess the Coke, sugar cane and champagne had an effect. I awoke at 1:00. I finished the day 7 email, then went back to sleep. William Sullenger, our leader, awoke everyone at 5:15 by starting the generator, which turned on all the lights. We packed, cleaned the house, and put our donated clothes, clean and dirty, bedding and other supplies in the designated areas. Most of us left our dirty clothes behind. I know that people who have little appreciate gifts. But those clothes are going to be cleaned by hand. Those clothes might have challenged my Kenmore washer at home. It is amazing to think in the 21st century that someone will have to clean clothes by hand.
It reminded me of the older man that was working right next to the job site. He took rocks out of the river right behind the site and broke them into gravel with a hammer. Every day, all day, he did this. On Thursday, Maurice, our site's contractor, needed gravel for the concrete. His commercial supplier had a mechanical problem, so he could not make a delivery that day. Maurice buys all the available gravel from this older man. He delivered the gravel in his wheel barrow. God blessed that man for his perseverance. But wow, what it took to get the little pay he received. And later that day, he starts in again. In our rich country, this is almost unheard of. We ended our stay in the house with a round of prayer, 11 of us with Mike and Brenda. Just before we left for good, I took a short walk in the neighborhood. The "cheerleaders" were out, so I high-fived the children. It was a thrill for all of us! Then we loaded the dump truck for the ride to the Port-au-Prince airport.
Jenny, Jeremy from Conscience Int'l, Jeffrey from Dunwoody Baptist Church, and Jeanson joined the 11 of us. The 60 km trip in daylight was very revealing. The country is very green, with lush vegetation everywhere. There was smoke everywhere from burning trash. Dust flew everywhere from the dirt roads. I wore a dust mask and a cap the whole ride in the bed. By the end of the trip to the airport, I looked and felt like I had been sandblasted. Every town had an active market with loads of goods and people (Saturday is market day). There were destroyed buildings, tents and broken roads all along the way.
Port-au-Prince is another story. There are people on the streets and in tents everywhere! Traffic was ridiculous, the smoke and smell were overpowering. Poverty is pervasive.
We made it to PAP airport in about 2 1/2 hours. Security, ticketing, immigration, and security again and we were in the air conditioned terminal. Then came the 3 1/2 wait for the plane. It was a strange experience to use the rest room, have running water and see myself in the mirror. What, no suntan? What kind of Caribbean vacation was this?
We hung out together in the lounge area. Since Carol wanted to buy white rum, I had her buy a bottle for me - $5.
We boarded the plane, AA 1042, at 1:00. Hallelujah! The flight was uneventful, save for having to fill out the French version of the Customs declaration. The woman in the next seat had been working with midwifes in Haiti. She was from Richmond, VA. She did not talk much, mostly slept.
The plane touched down in Miami to passenger applause. Could it be that others were as glad to be back in the USA as we?
Immigration was the first step in reentering the US. After what seemed the longest possible walk (it felt almost as long as the walk to the job site that one day), we got to the passport check. Melaney had had a relapse of her painful diverticulitis, so the walk was a killer (note: she found out when she went to the doctor that the problem was kidney stones).
William was first through the line. He was rejected for completing the form in pencil. I made it through with my French form, no problem. There was a second checkpoint, then the Customs station. Again, no problem. Finally, those who checked bags had to collect them and carry them to American Airlines for rechecking.
As far as I was concerned, MIA (Miami airport) had the most confusing signs. We made so many wrong moves just following instructions. Eventually, we got into D terminal for the final leg, flight 1973.
Each of us was looking for something a little different to eat for dinner, so we were on our own. Charles Fry and I had Chinese food. I chose Kung Pao chicken and chicken wings over white rice (rice again? my teammates asked). I found Melaney Dudley, Phil Barger, James Cook, Alex Dean, Joe Wood, William Sullenger, Eli Moreno and Phil McGlothlin in the Island Cafe, so I joined them there. Mostly, people had either burgers or shrimp.
After dinner, we waited at the gate for departure. I passed the phone around a lot, as almost everyone called home.
AA 1973 was another full flight. Unlike the three other flights on Boeing 767's, this was a 757. A mechanical issue delayed us about 40 minutes. That prompted text messages to all the wives about the delay. William must have been working a crossword puzzle, as he kept asking everyone for words.
The flight crew was very responsive and friendly. The attendants gave out headphone sets for free to go with the TV show. First we had "30 Rock" in Spanish. Later, I think "Toy Story 3" was on. I am not sure, since I had dozed off after reading about 96 year old Jack LaLanne. Did you know the jumping jack was named after him?
The pilot made up about half the time of the delay in the air. The plane had a lot of passengers making connections in DFW airport. Miss the connections, they are stranded until Sunday. So I am sure American Airlines cleared the pilot to go faster.
Connections certainly were not an issue for us. Only Melaney had to connect, needing a flight to Harlingen, Texas. That was scheduled for 9:00 Sunday. She was sleeping over with Eli and Ana Moreno.
We finally arrived at DFW terminal D. Before we headed to baggage claim, some of the guys went into the restroom. Melaney was still a bit "out of it" and started to follow them in. All of us got a good laugh out of that, even Melaney!
We got quite a reception in baggage claim. Ana Moreno and two daughters, Susie Roberts (Alex's Mom) and her husband, Terry (he was giving rides to anyone who did not otherwise have one), Rachel Sullenger, Perri Wood (she had the biggest smile of all) and her son, and Carol's Mom were all there.
Best of all, you were there! We embraced long and hard. It was sweet joy being reunited. After recovering the white rum from Melaney's checked bag (she packed it for Carol), a closing prayer by William and goodbyes, we headed home.
Stepping outside to temperatures in the 60's and wind blowing, I knew things were back to normal. When we got to the house, I stripped in the garage while you ran a nice, hot bubble bath. It was such a pleasure to be home.
I will have to put the trip in perspective at another time. For now, I am just glad to be home.
Love you.
Chris
Some concluding thoughts -
I had to reflect on the blessings that I have. Basics like a roof over my head, running water, steady work, food for my meals and a intact structure in which to worship seem so routine in Grand Prairie, Texas. Yet these are anything but routine in Grand Goave. I find myself a lot more content with my life circumstances.
I had seen poverty as bad as Haiti's in Mexico, only 10 kilometers from Brownsville, Texas. However, what I had not experienced was poverty this pervasive. As I have told anyone who would listen, I don't recall in all the driving we did seeing affluence. I know there is some in Haiti, just not where I had been.
I often find myself taking a leader role in situations without a defined leader. This time, that did not happen. It surprised me early on in the trip. As time passed, I saw clearly why. William Sullenger was God's choice in this situation. He was certainly capable. He had a limited knowledge of French from high school, 35 or so years ago, which resurfaced and grew as the week progressed. But more importantly, he reached out to our Haitian co-workers and our brothers and sisters in Christ who attended Temple Baptist Church in ways I did not. He truly set the positive tone for our work in Grand Goave.
One of the traits that defines me is being able to influence others. My ability to communicate and be comfortable in almost all situations affects all my interactions and is basic to how I deal with life. My comfort zone was shattered by my ignorance of Creole/French. My discomfort persisted to varying degrees throughout the trip. Only after taking a required personality test at work after returning did I really see the source of my discomfort. I depend so much on being in control, using my verbal skills to influence others.
People ask me, "would you go back?" My answer might sound evasive, but it is this - I will if the Holy Spirit calls me to do so. For the approximate amount of money we spent for one of us to go to work in Haiti for a week, a Haitian laborer could be employed on the Siloe Church School project for a year (1,200 goud ($30) per week, about $1,500 per year). So from a pure financial standpoint, it is easier to argue for sending the money to employ labor than for spending it going there. But is money the only criterion for judging my participation? And with a world full of needs, is Haiti the place the men of Matthew Road Baptist Church can best be used? We have ongoing ministries in our community and have provided disaster relief for victims of Hurricanes Rita and Ike and the flood in Gainesville, Texas. We already have an active ministry in Mexico - support for church plantings, development of pastors, and sponsorship for an orphanage. Church members have made numerous trips there. We have sent our people to Nagaland, India, Romania and Darfur. If Haiti is my calling, I would expect to learn some French beforehand.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Haiti Diary, Day 7
Seventh Day -
Dearest Debbie -
I woke up early this morning. The coconut milk had the predicted laxative effect. The night apparently had a lot of music and singing. I missed that. I journaled the sixth day, then went back to bed. Before falling back to sleep, I heard church bells tolling at 5. Thinking of the unrest in Haiti, I wondered if this signaled something ominous. I fell back asleep and got up at 6.
Riding to and from the job site is cool in part because, every day, there are children that chant,"hey,you!" as we go by. We call them our cheerleaders. Breakfast was Cinnamon Toast Crunch (yuck) and pear juice. I dropped my malaria medicine, which had broken into pieces, on the kitchen floor. In spite of Mike's admonition that "there's no 5 second rule in Haiti," I recovered the pieces I could find and swallowed them.
We finished the foundation hole for the patio in short order. Joe Wood, William Sullenger, Charles Fry and I were driven back to the house to bring one picnic table back to the site. That took much longer than expected because a key got stuck in a little used door.
When we got back to the site, we unloaded the table, then sat. Briefly, the work for the volunteers had slowed.
Jenny, who runs the medical clinic, reported that the demonstrations in Port-au-Prince were around the palace. Since our route to the
PAP airport does not go near there, we should be fine.
Finally, about 10:30, we got another digging assignment. We had to dig the holes for the 7 columns. These had to be a foot wider all around than the foundation and a foot deeper. I know that it doesn't sound like much, but it was. There was debris and foundation from the market and the two school buildings that had occupied this space to break up and remove.
That work would continue until almost quitting time in the afternoon. The toughest part for me was that the holes I was digging were right by the cement mixer. I had to deal with the exhaust and the noise. This was a bad day to neglect to bring my mask and ear plugs. I finally stuffed my ears with toilet paper.
Just before lunch, I came across a campaign poster for Haitian President. There are a lot of candidates from a lot of parties vying in the 11/28/2010 election. I noticed that this poster had a picture of a bull, in addition to the candidate's picture, name and party. I had seen other posters with a picture of a cock on them. I found out that the pictures of animals and other symbols are there for the many people who cannot read. The pictures will be on the ballot, too.
Lunch was boiled fish, sweet corn mush and black bean sauce. And a half-liter bottle of Coca-Cola! This was my first Coke in years. It was really nice. Eli, James and I tried out the new picnic table. What an improvement from eating food in my lap! Most of the guys didn't eat the fish or anything it touched. I had no problem eating it, though it did not taste good. If you would ask my parents, they would quote me from 1971 - "it's not my usual fare." In fact, little of what I have eaten over the last few days has been my usual fare, and has not tasted good. I don't think I will seek out a Haitian food restaurant after I leave here. The talk among the guys gravitated to cheeseburgers.
Speaking of my parents, having my Mom occasionally mixing French phrases into everyday conversations while I was young finally paid dividends. Being able to say please, thank you, excuse me and other niceties pays off where the language barrier exists. Creole is different from French, but not too much. Merci, mama.
We did finish the holes for the columns just before quitting time. The Haitian workers had to work 10 minutes late to finish the last of the concrete work before quitting. One of the foremen was angry about wasted concrete causing the delay. There was little anger displayed this week, so this stuck out.
Afterward, Mike and Brenda used team members' cameras to take pictures. Eli etched his first name in the fresh concrete. Phil Mc changed it to Elvis. I etched Chris.
Since Carol had gone to the mountains to do medical with Jenny, dinner was delayed awhile. We hung out and talked. After a time, I walked down to the river one last time. It was still muddy and flowing fast. On the way back, I saw some children eating sugar cane. One of the boys had a wheelbarrow full of canes to sell. I knew the price already - 50 goud, or $ .125 (exchange rate is 400 goud per dollar). Since I did not have any goud or 12 1/2 cents, I offered the boy a quarter. He was fine with that! He trimmed the cane with his knife. I returned to my team with my treat. It was delicious. It does, however, require a lot of spitting out of the wood.
Melaney had a bout of diverticulitis and had been laying down most of the day. She got up when Carol returned. Dinner was boiled bass, rice, potato salad (prepared like earlier in the week, possibly left over) and fried plantain. I was able to eat the plantain and potato salad. I could not stomach the fish or rice. Maybe the sugar cane had spoiled my appetite. Or maybe I had had enough of Haitian cuisine.
Maurice (pronounced Mo-ees), the head guy on the construction project, and Pressoir (Press-wa), a church elder who had worked with us a couple of days and had visited us at the house twice, arrived. With Jeanson (Zhohn-son) interpreting, they spoke to us at length about our efforts this week. Jeanson spoke for himself, with Mike interpreting in Creole. Carol, Melaney (in French), William and Phil Mc spoke. I wished them God's blessing for the upcoming election. Maurice broke out champagne to celebrate. William poured. All of us toasted and drank. We bid each other farewell.
Let me see - Coke, sugar cane and champagne in one day! Add that to Sprite from the other day.
We loaded up the ten buckets of wash water and one container of drinking water and headed back. Each of us started packing, discarding unneeded supplies and clothes (all will be donated for the church or future volunteers), cup showering and cleaning our rooms. By 9, the generator was shut off.
What an interesting last full day in Grand Goave, Haiti. Any apprehensions entering the day disappeared in the joy of work completed and celebrated.
Love you.
Chris
Dearest Debbie -
I woke up early this morning. The coconut milk had the predicted laxative effect. The night apparently had a lot of music and singing. I missed that. I journaled the sixth day, then went back to bed. Before falling back to sleep, I heard church bells tolling at 5. Thinking of the unrest in Haiti, I wondered if this signaled something ominous. I fell back asleep and got up at 6.
Riding to and from the job site is cool in part because, every day, there are children that chant,"hey,you!" as we go by. We call them our cheerleaders. Breakfast was Cinnamon Toast Crunch (yuck) and pear juice. I dropped my malaria medicine, which had broken into pieces, on the kitchen floor. In spite of Mike's admonition that "there's no 5 second rule in Haiti," I recovered the pieces I could find and swallowed them.
We finished the foundation hole for the patio in short order. Joe Wood, William Sullenger, Charles Fry and I were driven back to the house to bring one picnic table back to the site. That took much longer than expected because a key got stuck in a little used door.
When we got back to the site, we unloaded the table, then sat. Briefly, the work for the volunteers had slowed.
Jenny, who runs the medical clinic, reported that the demonstrations in Port-au-Prince were around the palace. Since our route to the
PAP airport does not go near there, we should be fine.
Finally, about 10:30, we got another digging assignment. We had to dig the holes for the 7 columns. These had to be a foot wider all around than the foundation and a foot deeper. I know that it doesn't sound like much, but it was. There was debris and foundation from the market and the two school buildings that had occupied this space to break up and remove.
That work would continue until almost quitting time in the afternoon. The toughest part for me was that the holes I was digging were right by the cement mixer. I had to deal with the exhaust and the noise. This was a bad day to neglect to bring my mask and ear plugs. I finally stuffed my ears with toilet paper.
Just before lunch, I came across a campaign poster for Haitian President. There are a lot of candidates from a lot of parties vying in the 11/28/2010 election. I noticed that this poster had a picture of a bull, in addition to the candidate's picture, name and party. I had seen other posters with a picture of a cock on them. I found out that the pictures of animals and other symbols are there for the many people who cannot read. The pictures will be on the ballot, too.
Lunch was boiled fish, sweet corn mush and black bean sauce. And a half-liter bottle of Coca-Cola! This was my first Coke in years. It was really nice. Eli, James and I tried out the new picnic table. What an improvement from eating food in my lap! Most of the guys didn't eat the fish or anything it touched. I had no problem eating it, though it did not taste good. If you would ask my parents, they would quote me from 1971 - "it's not my usual fare." In fact, little of what I have eaten over the last few days has been my usual fare, and has not tasted good. I don't think I will seek out a Haitian food restaurant after I leave here. The talk among the guys gravitated to cheeseburgers.
Speaking of my parents, having my Mom occasionally mixing French phrases into everyday conversations while I was young finally paid dividends. Being able to say please, thank you, excuse me and other niceties pays off where the language barrier exists. Creole is different from French, but not too much. Merci, mama.
We did finish the holes for the columns just before quitting time. The Haitian workers had to work 10 minutes late to finish the last of the concrete work before quitting. One of the foremen was angry about wasted concrete causing the delay. There was little anger displayed this week, so this stuck out.
Afterward, Mike and Brenda used team members' cameras to take pictures. Eli etched his first name in the fresh concrete. Phil Mc changed it to Elvis. I etched Chris.
Since Carol had gone to the mountains to do medical with Jenny, dinner was delayed awhile. We hung out and talked. After a time, I walked down to the river one last time. It was still muddy and flowing fast. On the way back, I saw some children eating sugar cane. One of the boys had a wheelbarrow full of canes to sell. I knew the price already - 50 goud, or $ .125 (exchange rate is 400 goud per dollar). Since I did not have any goud or 12 1/2 cents, I offered the boy a quarter. He was fine with that! He trimmed the cane with his knife. I returned to my team with my treat. It was delicious. It does, however, require a lot of spitting out of the wood.
Melaney had a bout of diverticulitis and had been laying down most of the day. She got up when Carol returned. Dinner was boiled bass, rice, potato salad (prepared like earlier in the week, possibly left over) and fried plantain. I was able to eat the plantain and potato salad. I could not stomach the fish or rice. Maybe the sugar cane had spoiled my appetite. Or maybe I had had enough of Haitian cuisine.
Maurice (pronounced Mo-ees), the head guy on the construction project, and Pressoir (Press-wa), a church elder who had worked with us a couple of days and had visited us at the house twice, arrived. With Jeanson (Zhohn-son) interpreting, they spoke to us at length about our efforts this week. Jeanson spoke for himself, with Mike interpreting in Creole. Carol, Melaney (in French), William and Phil Mc spoke. I wished them God's blessing for the upcoming election. Maurice broke out champagne to celebrate. William poured. All of us toasted and drank. We bid each other farewell.
Let me see - Coke, sugar cane and champagne in one day! Add that to Sprite from the other day.
We loaded up the ten buckets of wash water and one container of drinking water and headed back. Each of us started packing, discarding unneeded supplies and clothes (all will be donated for the church or future volunteers), cup showering and cleaning our rooms. By 9, the generator was shut off.
What an interesting last full day in Grand Goave, Haiti. Any apprehensions entering the day disappeared in the joy of work completed and celebrated.
Love you.
Chris
Haiti Diary, Day 6
Sixth Day -
Dearest Debbie -
My sleep was interrupted by a new distraction - the smell of burning garbage. So the roosters had an ally in awakening me.
Breakfast was pancakes, bacon and pear juice. After carrying out two 42.5 kg sacks of cement to the mixer, I joined the 8 others not on the medical team to visit the rubble homes. Conscience International designed and is building earthquake and hurricane resistant homes using concrete rubble from the devastation. The rubble is broken into small pieces, placed in a cage of wire mesh, and covered with concrete. That makes the walls of the house. The foundation is a standard type. The roof is corrugated metal. They are relatively inexpensive to build and use the existing rubble.
While looking at the first house, which was completed, two children jumped up into Mike's arms. He held them for awhile, until they got bored. A third child, a girl about 6, tried to join them. He refused her (three is too many), so she ended up in mine.
After seeing a completed home and one being built, we broke up the group. Joe Wood, James Cook, Charles Fry, Eli Moreno, the women and I went back to the house. Our assignment was to varnish the 4 picnic tables used for dining and build shelves from 1x12 sheets of lumber. We had to stop by Mike and Brenda's house to get the lumber, tools, varnish, and paint brushes. It is a nicely furnished home with a lot of room and tile floors. I joined Charles, Melaney and Carol putting 2 coats of varnish on the tables. That work ran into the afternoon.
While we were doing work at the house, William, Phil Mc, Phil Barger, Alex Dean and Ed Geisendorff were digging the foundation for the porch on the 7-9 grade classrooms. That was some ridiculously hard work because there was some buried concrete work in the path. That required them to break it up using a 16 lb. sledgehammer.
Carol had a migraine headache, so she did not ride back with us to the school/church. Lunch was rice, beans and a beet and potato mix. Then a ride back to the house to complete the varnishing and shelf building. As we left, I carried the 5 gallon water jug on my head. Not bad! I would need a lot of practice to do as well as the locals.
We finished putting the two coats of varnish on the tables without Carol. The guys were not quite finished with the bookshelves when it was time to head back. What a sight when we got back. The team at the school had almost dug out the entire trench for the patio foundation!
Melaney, William, Ed and I decided to attend the church service scheduled for 4:30. It actually started about 4:55. What's the hurry? It had singing and preaching. One song we recognized was This is My Story. We sang it in English while the dozen other attendees sang in Creole.
Our attendance delayed dinner to 5:45. It consisted of chicken, pasta, leftover shepherd pie, fried plantain and mango. Dessert was fresh coconut. Mike, then Matt of CI, attempted with varying success to chop open the coconuts. Only when a local took over the machete did the coconuts get properly opened. I had plenty of coconut milk (it is clear) and the white insides to drink and eat. Coconut is supposed to be a natural laxative. I guess I will find out!
It was late (about 7) when we rode back to the house. The crew working on the shelves finished them off relatively quickly. They put the 7 units in the rooms. I put ours to use right away, as did several others.
A couple of Haitians from the job visited. William and I went back with David to his tent. He, his wife, baby and in-laws live there. It was well-kept inside. The baby slept in a mosquito net and the sitting area was separated from the couple bedroom by a curtain. There was a TV and radio in the sitting area. David was waiting for his house to be rebuilt. It reminded me that these tents were just temporary replacements for homes.
At some point during the evening, all the guys ended up in our room talking. There was nothing heavy, just varying threads of travel, home purchase and remodel stories. I cup showered later than usual because my shorts were not dry from hand washing them, along with my jeans, earlier. I didn't really want to put the jeans I was wearing back on because I had spilled coconut milk on them. But finally I gave in to fatigue and went for it.
Several guys used the phone to call or text. Since there were reports of riots in Cape Haitian (about 9 hours away) and Port-au-Prince, reassuring loved ones was important. Ed is leaving tomorrow. That will be a good test run for us leaving on Saturday.
Finally, things broke up and the room was cleared for me to put the air mattress on the floor to sleep. There was some massive commotion in the area, with singing and shouting. Was there something up here, too? Time will tell.
Love you.
Chris
Dearest Debbie -
My sleep was interrupted by a new distraction - the smell of burning garbage. So the roosters had an ally in awakening me.
Breakfast was pancakes, bacon and pear juice. After carrying out two 42.5 kg sacks of cement to the mixer, I joined the 8 others not on the medical team to visit the rubble homes. Conscience International designed and is building earthquake and hurricane resistant homes using concrete rubble from the devastation. The rubble is broken into small pieces, placed in a cage of wire mesh, and covered with concrete. That makes the walls of the house. The foundation is a standard type. The roof is corrugated metal. They are relatively inexpensive to build and use the existing rubble.
While looking at the first house, which was completed, two children jumped up into Mike's arms. He held them for awhile, until they got bored. A third child, a girl about 6, tried to join them. He refused her (three is too many), so she ended up in mine.
After seeing a completed home and one being built, we broke up the group. Joe Wood, James Cook, Charles Fry, Eli Moreno, the women and I went back to the house. Our assignment was to varnish the 4 picnic tables used for dining and build shelves from 1x12 sheets of lumber. We had to stop by Mike and Brenda's house to get the lumber, tools, varnish, and paint brushes. It is a nicely furnished home with a lot of room and tile floors. I joined Charles, Melaney and Carol putting 2 coats of varnish on the tables. That work ran into the afternoon.
While we were doing work at the house, William, Phil Mc, Phil Barger, Alex Dean and Ed Geisendorff were digging the foundation for the porch on the 7-9 grade classrooms. That was some ridiculously hard work because there was some buried concrete work in the path. That required them to break it up using a 16 lb. sledgehammer.
Carol had a migraine headache, so she did not ride back with us to the school/church. Lunch was rice, beans and a beet and potato mix. Then a ride back to the house to complete the varnishing and shelf building. As we left, I carried the 5 gallon water jug on my head. Not bad! I would need a lot of practice to do as well as the locals.
We finished putting the two coats of varnish on the tables without Carol. The guys were not quite finished with the bookshelves when it was time to head back. What a sight when we got back. The team at the school had almost dug out the entire trench for the patio foundation!
Melaney, William, Ed and I decided to attend the church service scheduled for 4:30. It actually started about 4:55. What's the hurry? It had singing and preaching. One song we recognized was This is My Story. We sang it in English while the dozen other attendees sang in Creole.
Our attendance delayed dinner to 5:45. It consisted of chicken, pasta, leftover shepherd pie, fried plantain and mango. Dessert was fresh coconut. Mike, then Matt of CI, attempted with varying success to chop open the coconuts. Only when a local took over the machete did the coconuts get properly opened. I had plenty of coconut milk (it is clear) and the white insides to drink and eat. Coconut is supposed to be a natural laxative. I guess I will find out!
It was late (about 7) when we rode back to the house. The crew working on the shelves finished them off relatively quickly. They put the 7 units in the rooms. I put ours to use right away, as did several others.
A couple of Haitians from the job visited. William and I went back with David to his tent. He, his wife, baby and in-laws live there. It was well-kept inside. The baby slept in a mosquito net and the sitting area was separated from the couple bedroom by a curtain. There was a TV and radio in the sitting area. David was waiting for his house to be rebuilt. It reminded me that these tents were just temporary replacements for homes.
At some point during the evening, all the guys ended up in our room talking. There was nothing heavy, just varying threads of travel, home purchase and remodel stories. I cup showered later than usual because my shorts were not dry from hand washing them, along with my jeans, earlier. I didn't really want to put the jeans I was wearing back on because I had spilled coconut milk on them. But finally I gave in to fatigue and went for it.
Several guys used the phone to call or text. Since there were reports of riots in Cape Haitian (about 9 hours away) and Port-au-Prince, reassuring loved ones was important. Ed is leaving tomorrow. That will be a good test run for us leaving on Saturday.
Finally, things broke up and the room was cleared for me to put the air mattress on the floor to sleep. There was some massive commotion in the area, with singing and shouting. Was there something up here, too? Time will tell.
Love you.
Chris
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Haiti Diary, Day 5
Fifth Day -
Dearest Debbie -
Today, Wednesday, started about like the other days, with roosters and dogs and people stirring before dawn. I arose about 6, just after our 3 on the medical team (Ed, Carol and Melaney) left for Port-au-Prince. But the feel changed dramatically when I turned on my phone. Messages from Rachel from church and you about riots turned me to Psalm 23:"Thou art with me." I am glad we talked so you were reassured. The guys said there was no problem when I reported to them about the situation.
We walked to the job site today. I considered this a good test to see if there were any unrest in Grand Goave. No, just a normal day. Some of the people were friendly; most of them just stared. That was about what I expected, but no problems. It is poor here, that's for sure.
Breakfast was cereal (Frosted Mini-Wheats) and pear juice. We started on the job early. Phil Barger, Charles Fry and I bent rebar somewhat straight to hand off to the crew member with the tool to finish the job. The others were digging dirt to fill the floor.
Soon we had a real back breaker assignment. We had to move the river rock pile 15 feet away from the foundation. The role pile was over 5 feet high, so this was something! For safety sake since we were tossing the rocks, we divided into 3 man teams. Otherwise, we could get in each other's way and potentially get hit with a rock.
The advantage was that now the shifts were 10 minutes on, 20 minutes off. Still, this was tough. It was surprising how I thought my team would be making little progress, but would return with much progress made. That is what each of the teams experienced.
Next was back to digging and moving dirt to level the floor. That work would continue into the afternoon.
One of the fun sights is watching the local boys play football in the dirt lot across the street. Most times it is a few boys in bare feet kicking a plastic bottle. Today, though, the boys from the school played with a real ball while wearing their school uniforms. I got a kick out of one play where a bigger boy stole the ball by putting the smaller boy in a headlock. Where's my whistle and red card?
We got a visit from an "advance team" from Dunwoody Baptist Church near Atlanta. They were meeting with Conscience International, the group building the rubble houses. Dunwoody has supported a church in Ecuador for 20 years. It is stable, so they are looking for a new ministry opportunity. They are the second group so far to visit. Awaken Haiti had been by yesterday to see how Jenny of CBF runs the medical clinic and to go on rounds with our 3 and her.
Lunch was grits and beans and a fresh-picked banana. Oddly, the locals call bananas "figs" and plantains "bananas." At 1:00, we got back to digging. That continued through the rest of the day, with moving rocks from other locations onto the pile mixed in. All the while, the Haitian crew was making support columns out of rebar and concrete.
After quitting time and before dinner, I took a walk around the neighborhood. It was depressing to see the poverty and destruction. I was ignored, acknowledged, solicited for money - about a normal range of behaviors. I sat to watch the boys play football. I was joined by Alex Dean and Eli Moreno watching. A teenage boy rode his bike over to Alex and said, "oh, I thought you were Colin Farrell. I was hoping to get in a movie." After hearing Creole or heavily accented English from the locals, I was surprised by how well he spoke English. Maybe he can act, too!
Melaney, Carol and Ed were late getting back, so we ate without them. Dinner was goat, baked and deep fried, really spicy cole slaw, French fries and fried plantain. The goat had the consistency of jerky but tasted OK. We finished off the birthday cake.
Mike of CBF gave us the lowdown on the unrest in Haiti. The UN contingent from Nepal is blamed for the cholera outbreak. This is because the strain of cholera was of southeast Asian origin. The location of the unrest is northeast of Port-au-Prince, far from us.
After we got back to the house, I took a cup shower and got in my night clothes. That seemed more convenient than showering at the work site and spending hours sweating.
The 3 on the medical team had shepherd's pie delivered by Brenda and Mike of CBF when they got back to the house.
I got involved in some spirited scriptural and church politics discussions with William, Phil Mc, Charles and Ed. We had an intermission for a group share and prayer session. The discussions ended at 10.
Love you.
Chris
Dearest Debbie -
Today, Wednesday, started about like the other days, with roosters and dogs and people stirring before dawn. I arose about 6, just after our 3 on the medical team (Ed, Carol and Melaney) left for Port-au-Prince. But the feel changed dramatically when I turned on my phone. Messages from Rachel from church and you about riots turned me to Psalm 23:"Thou art with me." I am glad we talked so you were reassured. The guys said there was no problem when I reported to them about the situation.
We walked to the job site today. I considered this a good test to see if there were any unrest in Grand Goave. No, just a normal day. Some of the people were friendly; most of them just stared. That was about what I expected, but no problems. It is poor here, that's for sure.
Breakfast was cereal (Frosted Mini-Wheats) and pear juice. We started on the job early. Phil Barger, Charles Fry and I bent rebar somewhat straight to hand off to the crew member with the tool to finish the job. The others were digging dirt to fill the floor.
Soon we had a real back breaker assignment. We had to move the river rock pile 15 feet away from the foundation. The role pile was over 5 feet high, so this was something! For safety sake since we were tossing the rocks, we divided into 3 man teams. Otherwise, we could get in each other's way and potentially get hit with a rock.
The advantage was that now the shifts were 10 minutes on, 20 minutes off. Still, this was tough. It was surprising how I thought my team would be making little progress, but would return with much progress made. That is what each of the teams experienced.
Next was back to digging and moving dirt to level the floor. That work would continue into the afternoon.
One of the fun sights is watching the local boys play football in the dirt lot across the street. Most times it is a few boys in bare feet kicking a plastic bottle. Today, though, the boys from the school played with a real ball while wearing their school uniforms. I got a kick out of one play where a bigger boy stole the ball by putting the smaller boy in a headlock. Where's my whistle and red card?
We got a visit from an "advance team" from Dunwoody Baptist Church near Atlanta. They were meeting with Conscience International, the group building the rubble houses. Dunwoody has supported a church in Ecuador for 20 years. It is stable, so they are looking for a new ministry opportunity. They are the second group so far to visit. Awaken Haiti had been by yesterday to see how Jenny of CBF runs the medical clinic and to go on rounds with our 3 and her.
Lunch was grits and beans and a fresh-picked banana. Oddly, the locals call bananas "figs" and plantains "bananas." At 1:00, we got back to digging. That continued through the rest of the day, with moving rocks from other locations onto the pile mixed in. All the while, the Haitian crew was making support columns out of rebar and concrete.
After quitting time and before dinner, I took a walk around the neighborhood. It was depressing to see the poverty and destruction. I was ignored, acknowledged, solicited for money - about a normal range of behaviors. I sat to watch the boys play football. I was joined by Alex Dean and Eli Moreno watching. A teenage boy rode his bike over to Alex and said, "oh, I thought you were Colin Farrell. I was hoping to get in a movie." After hearing Creole or heavily accented English from the locals, I was surprised by how well he spoke English. Maybe he can act, too!
Melaney, Carol and Ed were late getting back, so we ate without them. Dinner was goat, baked and deep fried, really spicy cole slaw, French fries and fried plantain. The goat had the consistency of jerky but tasted OK. We finished off the birthday cake.
Mike of CBF gave us the lowdown on the unrest in Haiti. The UN contingent from Nepal is blamed for the cholera outbreak. This is because the strain of cholera was of southeast Asian origin. The location of the unrest is northeast of Port-au-Prince, far from us.
After we got back to the house, I took a cup shower and got in my night clothes. That seemed more convenient than showering at the work site and spending hours sweating.
The 3 on the medical team had shepherd's pie delivered by Brenda and Mike of CBF when they got back to the house.
I got involved in some spirited scriptural and church politics discussions with William, Phil Mc, Charles and Ed. We had an intermission for a group share and prayer session. The discussions ended at 10.
Love you.
Chris
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Nice Little Saturday
Some days just turn out wonderfully! Saturday was breakfast out with family and a zoo trip with the most amazing weather! It was just gorgeous....Momma, Dadda and B had a marvelous time together :)
Haiti Diary, Day 4
Fourth Day -
Dearest Debbie -
This was another early start in Grand Goave - roosters and dogs signaled the middle of the night. Thanks, you beasts! I did doze off before the dawn rousted me. I had no soreness from the labors yesterday. Praise God! I shaved, dressed, and then prayed on the roof. I was treated to a spectacular sunrise over the mountain to the east. I noticed the grey buildings to the west beyond the tents seem to be underutilized. They had no roofs, so that must be a result of the earthquake or maybe a hurricane. Sad that the permanent buildings are such that tents are preferable. Of course, ownership is always an issue, too.
Melaney's luggage arrived. As you can imagine, she is so pleased to wear her own clothes!
Breakfast was scrambled eggs, sausage and toast with guava jelly. The day was hot, reaching 98 degrees with high humidity by noon. Since the town is in a valley, there has been little breeze, and none today. A little taste of home! We and the Haitians worked hard in the morning. My big fun was capturing a six legged creature. It looked like a crab in body, a spider in legs. Brenda of CBF claimed it was poisonous since it has red legs. It didn't bite me, so I don't know.
We made great progress on the foundation for the 7-9 grade classrooms. The children deserve better than the two separate classrooms for all grades, both of which having a tarp wall.
Lunch was beans and rice and deep fried chicken leg without breading. Clearly, the local preference is to fry all the moisture out of the meat. We sang Happy Birthday to James Cook, 57, and Ed Geisendorff, 39. Joining us for lunch were folks from Awaken Haiti. They are Americans who build houses and tend to medical needs.
The afternoon weather was stifling. The saving grace was that the foundation was about 97% completed at quitting time. And a cool sight - a woman carrying bunches of bananas on her head.
Mike indicated that he had new plans for us tomorrow. The house needs shelves and repairs to the bunks in all the rooms. The picnic tables that another team built need two coats of varnish. Forms for the bases of the walls must be made out of rebar.
After my shower, we had dinner - lasagna (or something that resembled it), potato salad made with ham, tomatoes and carrots, and fried plantain. What made it special was that the cook surprised us with a birthday cake!
The evening at the house was enlivened by separate visits from Jean-Baptiste, one of the workers, and Pressoir (pronounced press-wa) Pertil, a church elder volunteering like us. These are guys befriended by William Sullenger and Phil McGlothlin. They found the house and came calling. They entertained us with Creole hymns, some of them the same as our hymns. One good experience was 8 of the team and Jean-Baptiste praying in Creole, French, Spanish and English.
Love you.
Chris
Dearest Debbie -
This was another early start in Grand Goave - roosters and dogs signaled the middle of the night. Thanks, you beasts! I did doze off before the dawn rousted me. I had no soreness from the labors yesterday. Praise God! I shaved, dressed, and then prayed on the roof. I was treated to a spectacular sunrise over the mountain to the east. I noticed the grey buildings to the west beyond the tents seem to be underutilized. They had no roofs, so that must be a result of the earthquake or maybe a hurricane. Sad that the permanent buildings are such that tents are preferable. Of course, ownership is always an issue, too.
Melaney's luggage arrived. As you can imagine, she is so pleased to wear her own clothes!
Breakfast was scrambled eggs, sausage and toast with guava jelly. The day was hot, reaching 98 degrees with high humidity by noon. Since the town is in a valley, there has been little breeze, and none today. A little taste of home! We and the Haitians worked hard in the morning. My big fun was capturing a six legged creature. It looked like a crab in body, a spider in legs. Brenda of CBF claimed it was poisonous since it has red legs. It didn't bite me, so I don't know.
We made great progress on the foundation for the 7-9 grade classrooms. The children deserve better than the two separate classrooms for all grades, both of which having a tarp wall.
Lunch was beans and rice and deep fried chicken leg without breading. Clearly, the local preference is to fry all the moisture out of the meat. We sang Happy Birthday to James Cook, 57, and Ed Geisendorff, 39. Joining us for lunch were folks from Awaken Haiti. They are Americans who build houses and tend to medical needs.
The afternoon weather was stifling. The saving grace was that the foundation was about 97% completed at quitting time. And a cool sight - a woman carrying bunches of bananas on her head.
Mike indicated that he had new plans for us tomorrow. The house needs shelves and repairs to the bunks in all the rooms. The picnic tables that another team built need two coats of varnish. Forms for the bases of the walls must be made out of rebar.
After my shower, we had dinner - lasagna (or something that resembled it), potato salad made with ham, tomatoes and carrots, and fried plantain. What made it special was that the cook surprised us with a birthday cake!
The evening at the house was enlivened by separate visits from Jean-Baptiste, one of the workers, and Pressoir (pronounced press-wa) Pertil, a church elder volunteering like us. These are guys befriended by William Sullenger and Phil McGlothlin. They found the house and came calling. They entertained us with Creole hymns, some of them the same as our hymns. One good experience was 8 of the team and Jean-Baptiste praying in Creole, French, Spanish and English.
Love you.
Chris
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Haiti Diary, Day 3
Third Day -
Dearest Debbie -
What a weird start to Monday. Roosters 3 hours before dawn, yes, but something strange - chanting, like a football (soccer) match or a political rally. Sounded like about a hundred or so people. Before first light! I didn't get back to sleep after the roosters woke me. I wish I had been bold enough to search for the source of the chanting.
I got out of bed at 5:30 for a 6:30 start. Dressing for work includes shaving without running water, applying sunscreen and insect repellent, cap and gloves.
We rode to breakfast at the job site - raisin bran again. Since we are helping build the foundation of the 7-9 grade classrooms, our job is to assist the Haitians. We moved river rocks from the big pile to the foundation site by hand. We carried cement bags (42.5 kg, about 93 lbs.) to the portable cement mixer. In order to keep production in order and to prevent guys passing out in the heat and humidity, we "buddied up." Thus, only half the team was working at any time in 15 minute increments. One problem, though - Melaney Culp and Carol McBride insisted on helping. They didn't have any clinic work to do until the afternoon (Carol and Ed Geisendorff are nurses, Melaney speaks French). Melaney got ill from the heat. Tough trip for her - she still doesn't have her luggage. I had loaned her a shirt to wear.
The morning shifts, 7:30 - 12:00, were tough because none of us were used to the work or the heat/humility. Lunch came none too soon. Out of the sun for an hour was probably as important as the rice and beans. Charles Fry really needed the break. Not quite like Melaney, but he struggled.
Afternoon, 1-4, was a lot easier for some reason. The work went faster by the stone workers and us. By the end of the shift the foundation walls were more than half finished. I showered at the work site after work and before dinner. It was roughly equivalent to standing under a watering can, but it was a step up from the cup shower.
Dinner at 5 was chicken hot dogs (no bun or condiments), pasta, fried plantain and mango. It hit the spot. Of course, the spot was hard to miss:-).
We rode back in the dark at 6. There was some downtime as the others took their cup showers. I climbed onto the roof to look around. Right outside the south wall of the grounds was a religious service for about 25 people in a courtyard. The chanting they were doing was similar to what I had heard overnight. So maybe it was not a football match or political rally after all.
Charles, Alex Dean (at 23, our youngest group member), Phil Mc, William and I launched into a wide range of topics, mostly scriptural. Before lights out, Jeanson (pronounced like Johnson), a Haitian who works for CBF and speaks English, joined the guys for a round of impressions and prayers. Jeanson let us know that he had never been to the USA but seemed to think we were brothers. We certainly agree, as he is a prominent member of the church we attended on Sunday, in spite of his youth. I shared that I saw that the Haitians that I had experienced seemed to be fine with living in close quarters.
Love you.
Chris
Dearest Debbie -
What a weird start to Monday. Roosters 3 hours before dawn, yes, but something strange - chanting, like a football (soccer) match or a political rally. Sounded like about a hundred or so people. Before first light! I didn't get back to sleep after the roosters woke me. I wish I had been bold enough to search for the source of the chanting.
I got out of bed at 5:30 for a 6:30 start. Dressing for work includes shaving without running water, applying sunscreen and insect repellent, cap and gloves.
We rode to breakfast at the job site - raisin bran again. Since we are helping build the foundation of the 7-9 grade classrooms, our job is to assist the Haitians. We moved river rocks from the big pile to the foundation site by hand. We carried cement bags (42.5 kg, about 93 lbs.) to the portable cement mixer. In order to keep production in order and to prevent guys passing out in the heat and humidity, we "buddied up." Thus, only half the team was working at any time in 15 minute increments. One problem, though - Melaney Culp and Carol McBride insisted on helping. They didn't have any clinic work to do until the afternoon (Carol and Ed Geisendorff are nurses, Melaney speaks French). Melaney got ill from the heat. Tough trip for her - she still doesn't have her luggage. I had loaned her a shirt to wear.
The morning shifts, 7:30 - 12:00, were tough because none of us were used to the work or the heat/humility. Lunch came none too soon. Out of the sun for an hour was probably as important as the rice and beans. Charles Fry really needed the break. Not quite like Melaney, but he struggled.
Afternoon, 1-4, was a lot easier for some reason. The work went faster by the stone workers and us. By the end of the shift the foundation walls were more than half finished. I showered at the work site after work and before dinner. It was roughly equivalent to standing under a watering can, but it was a step up from the cup shower.
Dinner at 5 was chicken hot dogs (no bun or condiments), pasta, fried plantain and mango. It hit the spot. Of course, the spot was hard to miss:-).
We rode back in the dark at 6. There was some downtime as the others took their cup showers. I climbed onto the roof to look around. Right outside the south wall of the grounds was a religious service for about 25 people in a courtyard. The chanting they were doing was similar to what I had heard overnight. So maybe it was not a football match or political rally after all.
Charles, Alex Dean (at 23, our youngest group member), Phil Mc, William and I launched into a wide range of topics, mostly scriptural. Before lights out, Jeanson (pronounced like Johnson), a Haitian who works for CBF and speaks English, joined the guys for a round of impressions and prayers. Jeanson let us know that he had never been to the USA but seemed to think we were brothers. We certainly agree, as he is a prominent member of the church we attended on Sunday, in spite of his youth. I shared that I saw that the Haitians that I had experienced seemed to be fine with living in close quarters.
Love you.
Chris
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Haiti Diary, Day 2
Second Day -
Dearest Debbie -
Sunday started early! Roosters have no sense of time. I thought they signaled dawn. If so, they're 3 hours ahead. At first light, before 5:45, I shaved (no mirror or running water). I dressed for church. 7:30 our group of 12 loaded up in the pickup truck and went for breakfast. Since it was light, we could see what the town looked like. Sad. There is destruction everywhere; many people with only tents for homes.
All the meals (save last night's and tonight's supper) will be eaten at the work site. I had raisin bran, papaya and banana. The fruit is on the trees here, so it is so sweet and fresh! It is unlike ours, which is shipped green and ripens in transit.
We had orientation following. Essentially, don't give anything away (to encourage self-reliance by the locals) and stay hydrated. The project is rebuilding the Siloe Church School. We expect to complete the foundation for 7-9 grade classrooms this week.
We will use river rocks and concrete.
Next was church. Temple Baptist Church is right outside the school. It has about 1 1/2 walls and no roof on the temporary sanctuary. The previous sanctuary has structural damage, a casualty of the earthquake. About 100 locals attended the almost 2 hour service. It was in Creole, a version of French. Lots of singing, some preaching, amplified way more than the need. It has to be so they can influence the neighbors in the tents, too. The congregation was really into it. I only had a vague idea of what was being said, but I sang along anyway. Our team was introduced by William Sullenger, probably our longest standing member on the trip. The sermon was on Romans 8 - "if God is with us, who can be against us?" Amazing attitude by the congregants, considering the circumstances. Interesting to see the dogs, goat and chicken wander through during the 2 hour service.
Lunch followed settling up financially with Mike of the Cooperative Baptist Foundation - $320 per person for food, lodging and transportation. It was chicken, deep fried without breading, rice and beans. Different but good.
Before heading back, we fill the 5 gallon buckets with water. The house has no running water or well, so hand-pumping and taking the jugs back is important. Townspeople also use the Swiss built pump for their water needs. Many women walk away carrying the 5 gallon jugs they bring on their heads.
On the way back to the house, I got a better look at the town's destruction. The Catholic church was leveled except for the bell tower. There is rubble everywhere, cracked walls, you name it. Pigs, chickens, goats and dogs roam freely. Young boys are naked (until about 7 years old, reportedly), but others have to cup shower naked outside. Strangers are to respect their privacy by averting their eyes.
Once back at the house, we changed clothes for the beach. Several of us sat on the roof of the house before our ride came. The property is surrounded by a concrete wall and a locking metal gate. Beyond the walls in 3 directions (south, west and north) are tents, set up with virtually no space between them. A dirt street on the east side leads to the street where business takes place. Beyond the tents are mountains reminiscent of the Appalachians near Jason's. This is a spectacular view, as they rise about 4000 feet. They are green covered, though deforested to some extent by the natives.
Since the sea shore close to the house is used for garbage, Mike and Brenda, his wife, drove us to a beach farther west. The roads are terrible and the human scenes along the way are depressing. One part of the road had washed out so badly that we had to backtrack through tent villages to go forward. Once finished driving, the walk to the beach is through some tent dwellings.
The beach was spectacular, the prettiest site so far. The sea is green/blue and clear, the water warm and calm, the mountain directly abutting the sand beach. Only 3 of us swam, plus Mike and Brenda of CBF. I had a great time in the water for almost an hour, while others viewed the crafts and freshly-caught lobsters for sale on the beach. Few natives swam. That I don't have figured out. They live on an island! I drank my first soda this year, a half-liter Sprite.
As we headed back, I saw the two scrawniest cows ever. They made me think of Pharaoh's dream in Genesis.
We got back and hung out talking until dinner at 6:30. It was "Pastor Tim's casserole," chicken, pasta, tomatoes and cream sauce. Dinner talk was religion and Haitian politics. After another run at Calvinism (God selects who gets saved) vs. Armenianism (salvation is open to all), we had a fresh topic - is it OK to pay the bribes to the Haitian customs officials to get needed equipment into the country? I am not sure where I stand on that.
After dinner was a time for sharing before the Honda model EU30is generator gets shut off. The house gets dark instantly when that happens; thus the need to bring a flashlight.
In the dark of our bedroom, Phil McGlothlin, William S and I continued talking about why we were in Haiti. It appears that we needed to see this for ourselves and find a way to help. Tomorrow should prove interesting, as that is when the work starts.
Love to you, Debbie!
Chris
Dearest Debbie -
Sunday started early! Roosters have no sense of time. I thought they signaled dawn. If so, they're 3 hours ahead. At first light, before 5:45, I shaved (no mirror or running water). I dressed for church. 7:30 our group of 12 loaded up in the pickup truck and went for breakfast. Since it was light, we could see what the town looked like. Sad. There is destruction everywhere; many people with only tents for homes.
All the meals (save last night's and tonight's supper) will be eaten at the work site. I had raisin bran, papaya and banana. The fruit is on the trees here, so it is so sweet and fresh! It is unlike ours, which is shipped green and ripens in transit.
We had orientation following. Essentially, don't give anything away (to encourage self-reliance by the locals) and stay hydrated. The project is rebuilding the Siloe Church School. We expect to complete the foundation for 7-9 grade classrooms this week.
We will use river rocks and concrete.
Next was church. Temple Baptist Church is right outside the school. It has about 1 1/2 walls and no roof on the temporary sanctuary. The previous sanctuary has structural damage, a casualty of the earthquake. About 100 locals attended the almost 2 hour service. It was in Creole, a version of French. Lots of singing, some preaching, amplified way more than the need. It has to be so they can influence the neighbors in the tents, too. The congregation was really into it. I only had a vague idea of what was being said, but I sang along anyway. Our team was introduced by William Sullenger, probably our longest standing member on the trip. The sermon was on Romans 8 - "if God is with us, who can be against us?" Amazing attitude by the congregants, considering the circumstances. Interesting to see the dogs, goat and chicken wander through during the 2 hour service.
Lunch followed settling up financially with Mike of the Cooperative Baptist Foundation - $320 per person for food, lodging and transportation. It was chicken, deep fried without breading, rice and beans. Different but good.
Before heading back, we fill the 5 gallon buckets with water. The house has no running water or well, so hand-pumping and taking the jugs back is important. Townspeople also use the Swiss built pump for their water needs. Many women walk away carrying the 5 gallon jugs they bring on their heads.
On the way back to the house, I got a better look at the town's destruction. The Catholic church was leveled except for the bell tower. There is rubble everywhere, cracked walls, you name it. Pigs, chickens, goats and dogs roam freely. Young boys are naked (until about 7 years old, reportedly), but others have to cup shower naked outside. Strangers are to respect their privacy by averting their eyes.
Once back at the house, we changed clothes for the beach. Several of us sat on the roof of the house before our ride came. The property is surrounded by a concrete wall and a locking metal gate. Beyond the walls in 3 directions (south, west and north) are tents, set up with virtually no space between them. A dirt street on the east side leads to the street where business takes place. Beyond the tents are mountains reminiscent of the Appalachians near Jason's. This is a spectacular view, as they rise about 4000 feet. They are green covered, though deforested to some extent by the natives.
Since the sea shore close to the house is used for garbage, Mike and Brenda, his wife, drove us to a beach farther west. The roads are terrible and the human scenes along the way are depressing. One part of the road had washed out so badly that we had to backtrack through tent villages to go forward. Once finished driving, the walk to the beach is through some tent dwellings.
The beach was spectacular, the prettiest site so far. The sea is green/blue and clear, the water warm and calm, the mountain directly abutting the sand beach. Only 3 of us swam, plus Mike and Brenda of CBF. I had a great time in the water for almost an hour, while others viewed the crafts and freshly-caught lobsters for sale on the beach. Few natives swam. That I don't have figured out. They live on an island! I drank my first soda this year, a half-liter Sprite.
As we headed back, I saw the two scrawniest cows ever. They made me think of Pharaoh's dream in Genesis.
We got back and hung out talking until dinner at 6:30. It was "Pastor Tim's casserole," chicken, pasta, tomatoes and cream sauce. Dinner talk was religion and Haitian politics. After another run at Calvinism (God selects who gets saved) vs. Armenianism (salvation is open to all), we had a fresh topic - is it OK to pay the bribes to the Haitian customs officials to get needed equipment into the country? I am not sure where I stand on that.
After dinner was a time for sharing before the Honda model EU30is generator gets shut off. The house gets dark instantly when that happens; thus the need to bring a flashlight.
In the dark of our bedroom, Phil McGlothlin, William S and I continued talking about why we were in Haiti. It appears that we needed to see this for ourselves and find a way to help. Tomorrow should prove interesting, as that is when the work starts.
Love to you, Debbie!
Chris
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Haiti Diary, Day 1
My dad agreed to let me post his personal journal from his Mission trip to Haiti.
From: Christopher de Wolfe, Deacon at Matthew Road Baptist Church in Grand Prairie, TX
I wrote the following log of my trip to Haiti in November, 2010 as a series of emails to my wife, Debbie. I hope you enjoy reading it.
First Day -
Dearest Debbie -
November 13,2010 - What a first day! You and I got up early so I could meet the others at Matthew Road Baptist Church at 5:30. The church had coordinated with Cooperative Baptist Foundation through the Baptist General Convention of Texas to send a dozen workers (10 from MRBC) to Grand Goave, Haiti.
Grand Goave, about 60 km from Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital, was about 90% damaged by the 2010 earthquake. We are tasked with helping build the 7-9 grade classrooms for the Siloe Church School, connected to Temple Baptist Church.
Ten of us - Ed Geisendorff, Alex Dean, William Sullenger, Phil Barger, Charles Fry, James Cook, Joe Wood, Eli Moreno, and myself of MRBC and Carol McBride of First Baptist Universal City (near San Antonio) left together after prayers. The weather was cool, but with a biting wind.
We met Phil McGlothlin of MRBC on the way to Dallas-Fort Worth airport. We got to the airport at 6:30 for a 9:00 American Airlines flight to Miami, to connect with a flight to Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Security was light on Saturday morning, so we had lots of time to kill. Mostly, we sat around talking about the inoculations (hepatitis A + B, typhoid) we had had and the medicines (malaria, Cipro for diarrhea and cholera) we were carrying.
The flight to Miami was full. It left on time and was uneventful. We had a relatively short layover in Miami. We met up with Melaney Dudley of First Baptist Church, Harlingen, TX. She was the 12th member of our group. Melaney, unlike the 31 year old, 6-foot tall and full-bodied Carol, was a short, thin woman in her 50s with short hair.
We purchased lunch at a stand rather than a restaurant. I had a chef salad. While we ate sitting in the gate waiting area, we got to chat with some relief workers from the Salvation Army. They were headed to another part of Haiti. Others in the waiting area had fancy matching t-shirts proclaiming their affiliation to a church or organization.
The 767 was not full, so I had a window seat with no one sitting next to me. The weather was sunny and clear traveling over the water. In a little less than 2 hours, I saw Haiti. I noticed how green it was. What I did not see clearly coming in from the west was the devastation from the earthquake. That is, until we approached Port-au-Prince, the capital and largest city. There were fallen buildings and large tent cities.
Port-au-Prince airport (PAP) has a single runway. I feel pretty certain that an airport in the USA big enough to land a 767 would have several runways. But no matter - the plane landed, then made a U-turn on the runway and headed to the terminal.
We had it relatively easy going through immigration, although the lines were long. There were many Americans, mostly with church groups, headed for various assignments in Haiti. Next, it was time to retrieve our checked bags.
A man with airport credentials had beaten us to our bags, which we had marked with orange ribbons. Phil McGlothlin and I tried to get our group's bags without assistance, but he persisted with staying with the bags throughout. Once everyone but Melaney had their bags, I offered him $2. "Not enough," was his response. He collected all our immigration forms and demanded $20. Folks kicked in a couple of dollars each to cover his extortion.
We were not ready yet. There was no sign of our local contact, Jeanson (pronounced like Johnson). Since I was the one from MRBC with a phone, I called him. He was outside waiting. But we were not ready yet.
Melaney's bag did not arrive. She spent over a half hour dealing with the American Airlines service desk about the lost luggage. While we stand by waiting, some guy in a Cooperative Baptist Foundation cap joined us. I thought it is Jeanson. James Cook questioned it, as this guy spoke little English. I called Jeanson again and, sure enough, he was still outside. He had sent the driver, who spoke no English, inside to get us. That was an interesting approach to his assigned task of meeting us at the airport!
Once Melaney was ready to leave, we headed outside. Jeanson was out there with several men around him. These guys took some of the bags our party was carrying. We walked to a dump truck with bench seats in the rear, our transportation. As we started to load the truck with our bags, it only then became apparent that the guys who carried the bags had nothing to do with CBF. Now they wanted $5 each.
Melaney, who spoke French, tried to talk these guys down, to no avail. So they each got their $5. I was very angry about this sequence of events. These are people we came to help?
Once the truck was loaded, I ended up in the cab with the driver who spoke no English and Phil McGlothlin. I sat in the middle. That meant I held the six French bread loaves between my legs and got whacked in the left leg by the stick shift every time the driver needed fifth gear.
The initial impression I had as we drove through Port-au-Prince was the teeming masses. It was already dark. There were people and vehicles everywhere. Unlike American blacks, who are many shades, the Haitians were a deep, dark skin color. Many of the vehicles were old and mechanically unsound, a breakdown waiting to happen. We poked along with no end in sight in this chaos. Because of this, our driver thought nothing of cutting others off, driving on the sidewalk and challenging other drivers. I was flabbergasted. I had heard stories about driving like this, but never experienced anything like it. And remember, I drove a taxicab for years.
To make the ride even more interesting (like it needed that!), the warning light on the dash indicated the battery was discharging every time the engine idled. When you are stuck in traffic, that happens a lot. The driver compensated somewhat by turning off the headlights. Additionally, the brake pressure warning light shone each time he applied the brakes harder than a tap (which was often an considering his driving style) and the gas gauge read almost empty. If the driver had spoken English, I would have asked about it. So I just prayed and left it to God.
The trip was a wild ride of 3 1/2 hours. Street vendors took advantage of many times we were stopped to hawk their wares. There were plenty of near accidents, including head-ons on the windy mountain roads, a river crossing (the bridge was out), avoiding rubble in the roads and the huge cracks left by the earthquake, and other assorted excitement. The roadways had posters everywhere for the Presidential election on November 28. United Nations troops patrolled some of the areas.
The driver did finally stop for fuel, but never shut the truck off. Imagine the picture in my head of the fireball as the gas station blows up! I dispensed with it quickly, following the advice of my youngest brother, Jim, about thinking only positive thoughts.
We finally reached Grand Goave. Down a dirt alley with pigs eating garbage at the head, around several rubble piles and winding through tent areas, we reached the house. Surrounded by a six-foot high concrete wall and a metal gate, it was a one-story, five-bedroom concrete house set in among the tents.
We were met by Mike and Brenda Harwood of CBF. They had the Honda generator on so the electric lights would work. After we unloaded the truck, they served us our dinner of spaghetti and bread (warmed, no doubt, by being held between my legs for 3 1/2 hours). We sat in the carport at picnic tables made by a prior mission team. As dinner finished, Mike gave us the orientation about the house. There was plumbing, but no running water. We would carry water from the well at the work site in 5 gallon buckets. So we can take cup shower (pour water onto ourselves from the 5 gallon bucket using a cup). Since water was at a premium, we should only flush down feces and not urine. Or, as Mike put it, "if it's yellow, let it mellow; if it's brown, wash it down."
After they left, we got to choose bedrooms. All the bedrooms had two sets of bunk beds with air mattresses. I got in with William Sullenger and Phil McGlothlin, two fellow deacons. I got an upper bunk. It didn't take me very long to figure out that I would be not feel safe there. I took the air mattress and placed it on the floor. This house was so much cleaner than I had anticipated, so I did not have the misgivings about being on the floor. William set up his mosquito net over his bed, but Phil did not. I had not brought one.
After everyone had "showered" and was settled in, we cut off the generator. That created immediate darkness. I laid on the mattress covered by the sheets I had brought and reflected on an eventful first day. All my expectations were overcome by the reality. I hoped that I could absorb the events to come with the same sense of wonder. With that, I drifted off to sleep.
From: Christopher de Wolfe, Deacon at Matthew Road Baptist Church in Grand Prairie, TX
I wrote the following log of my trip to Haiti in November, 2010 as a series of emails to my wife, Debbie. I hope you enjoy reading it.
First Day -
Dearest Debbie -
November 13,2010 - What a first day! You and I got up early so I could meet the others at Matthew Road Baptist Church at 5:30. The church had coordinated with Cooperative Baptist Foundation through the Baptist General Convention of Texas to send a dozen workers (10 from MRBC) to Grand Goave, Haiti.
Grand Goave, about 60 km from Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital, was about 90% damaged by the 2010 earthquake. We are tasked with helping build the 7-9 grade classrooms for the Siloe Church School, connected to Temple Baptist Church.
Ten of us - Ed Geisendorff, Alex Dean, William Sullenger, Phil Barger, Charles Fry, James Cook, Joe Wood, Eli Moreno, and myself of MRBC and Carol McBride of First Baptist Universal City (near San Antonio) left together after prayers. The weather was cool, but with a biting wind.
We met Phil McGlothlin of MRBC on the way to Dallas-Fort Worth airport. We got to the airport at 6:30 for a 9:00 American Airlines flight to Miami, to connect with a flight to Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Security was light on Saturday morning, so we had lots of time to kill. Mostly, we sat around talking about the inoculations (hepatitis A + B, typhoid) we had had and the medicines (malaria, Cipro for diarrhea and cholera) we were carrying.
The flight to Miami was full. It left on time and was uneventful. We had a relatively short layover in Miami. We met up with Melaney Dudley of First Baptist Church, Harlingen, TX. She was the 12th member of our group. Melaney, unlike the 31 year old, 6-foot tall and full-bodied Carol, was a short, thin woman in her 50s with short hair.
We purchased lunch at a stand rather than a restaurant. I had a chef salad. While we ate sitting in the gate waiting area, we got to chat with some relief workers from the Salvation Army. They were headed to another part of Haiti. Others in the waiting area had fancy matching t-shirts proclaiming their affiliation to a church or organization.
The 767 was not full, so I had a window seat with no one sitting next to me. The weather was sunny and clear traveling over the water. In a little less than 2 hours, I saw Haiti. I noticed how green it was. What I did not see clearly coming in from the west was the devastation from the earthquake. That is, until we approached Port-au-Prince, the capital and largest city. There were fallen buildings and large tent cities.
Port-au-Prince airport (PAP) has a single runway. I feel pretty certain that an airport in the USA big enough to land a 767 would have several runways. But no matter - the plane landed, then made a U-turn on the runway and headed to the terminal.
We had it relatively easy going through immigration, although the lines were long. There were many Americans, mostly with church groups, headed for various assignments in Haiti. Next, it was time to retrieve our checked bags.
A man with airport credentials had beaten us to our bags, which we had marked with orange ribbons. Phil McGlothlin and I tried to get our group's bags without assistance, but he persisted with staying with the bags throughout. Once everyone but Melaney had their bags, I offered him $2. "Not enough," was his response. He collected all our immigration forms and demanded $20. Folks kicked in a couple of dollars each to cover his extortion.
We were not ready yet. There was no sign of our local contact, Jeanson (pronounced like Johnson). Since I was the one from MRBC with a phone, I called him. He was outside waiting. But we were not ready yet.
Melaney's bag did not arrive. She spent over a half hour dealing with the American Airlines service desk about the lost luggage. While we stand by waiting, some guy in a Cooperative Baptist Foundation cap joined us. I thought it is Jeanson. James Cook questioned it, as this guy spoke little English. I called Jeanson again and, sure enough, he was still outside. He had sent the driver, who spoke no English, inside to get us. That was an interesting approach to his assigned task of meeting us at the airport!
Once Melaney was ready to leave, we headed outside. Jeanson was out there with several men around him. These guys took some of the bags our party was carrying. We walked to a dump truck with bench seats in the rear, our transportation. As we started to load the truck with our bags, it only then became apparent that the guys who carried the bags had nothing to do with CBF. Now they wanted $5 each.
Melaney, who spoke French, tried to talk these guys down, to no avail. So they each got their $5. I was very angry about this sequence of events. These are people we came to help?
Once the truck was loaded, I ended up in the cab with the driver who spoke no English and Phil McGlothlin. I sat in the middle. That meant I held the six French bread loaves between my legs and got whacked in the left leg by the stick shift every time the driver needed fifth gear.
The initial impression I had as we drove through Port-au-Prince was the teeming masses. It was already dark. There were people and vehicles everywhere. Unlike American blacks, who are many shades, the Haitians were a deep, dark skin color. Many of the vehicles were old and mechanically unsound, a breakdown waiting to happen. We poked along with no end in sight in this chaos. Because of this, our driver thought nothing of cutting others off, driving on the sidewalk and challenging other drivers. I was flabbergasted. I had heard stories about driving like this, but never experienced anything like it. And remember, I drove a taxicab for years.
To make the ride even more interesting (like it needed that!), the warning light on the dash indicated the battery was discharging every time the engine idled. When you are stuck in traffic, that happens a lot. The driver compensated somewhat by turning off the headlights. Additionally, the brake pressure warning light shone each time he applied the brakes harder than a tap (which was often an considering his driving style) and the gas gauge read almost empty. If the driver had spoken English, I would have asked about it. So I just prayed and left it to God.
The trip was a wild ride of 3 1/2 hours. Street vendors took advantage of many times we were stopped to hawk their wares. There were plenty of near accidents, including head-ons on the windy mountain roads, a river crossing (the bridge was out), avoiding rubble in the roads and the huge cracks left by the earthquake, and other assorted excitement. The roadways had posters everywhere for the Presidential election on November 28. United Nations troops patrolled some of the areas.
The driver did finally stop for fuel, but never shut the truck off. Imagine the picture in my head of the fireball as the gas station blows up! I dispensed with it quickly, following the advice of my youngest brother, Jim, about thinking only positive thoughts.
We finally reached Grand Goave. Down a dirt alley with pigs eating garbage at the head, around several rubble piles and winding through tent areas, we reached the house. Surrounded by a six-foot high concrete wall and a metal gate, it was a one-story, five-bedroom concrete house set in among the tents.
We were met by Mike and Brenda Harwood of CBF. They had the Honda generator on so the electric lights would work. After we unloaded the truck, they served us our dinner of spaghetti and bread (warmed, no doubt, by being held between my legs for 3 1/2 hours). We sat in the carport at picnic tables made by a prior mission team. As dinner finished, Mike gave us the orientation about the house. There was plumbing, but no running water. We would carry water from the well at the work site in 5 gallon buckets. So we can take cup shower (pour water onto ourselves from the 5 gallon bucket using a cup). Since water was at a premium, we should only flush down feces and not urine. Or, as Mike put it, "if it's yellow, let it mellow; if it's brown, wash it down."
After they left, we got to choose bedrooms. All the bedrooms had two sets of bunk beds with air mattresses. I got in with William Sullenger and Phil McGlothlin, two fellow deacons. I got an upper bunk. It didn't take me very long to figure out that I would be not feel safe there. I took the air mattress and placed it on the floor. This house was so much cleaner than I had anticipated, so I did not have the misgivings about being on the floor. William set up his mosquito net over his bed, but Phil did not. I had not brought one.
After everyone had "showered" and was settled in, we cut off the generator. That created immediate darkness. I laid on the mattress covered by the sheets I had brought and reflected on an eventful first day. All my expectations were overcome by the reality. I hoped that I could absorb the events to come with the same sense of wonder. With that, I drifted off to sleep.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Oh "NO"
Oh yes! or rather oh "no!!!" Brooklyn is saying "no" now a lot! She is locked and loaded with the word and is not afraid to use it. It is certainly another "take-back" milestone; we wish she had not reached this stage yet, but at least she is a low-key kinda girl and tantrums are far and few in between (except when she is tired....cranking like her Momma!)
Yesterday was loaded with "oh no's" from both B and Momma. I took Brooklyn to the YMCA with me and the childcare lady came into the fitness room to get me (never a good sign to see her coming) to tell me that Brooklyn had fallen and hit her cheek on the table. "She fell and bumped her face. We are applying ice, but she doesn't like that too much. She cried for only a minute, but the area is already bruised," the lady said! Ha, it was definitely purple all right!! Brooklyn was totally fine and I was able to finish my workout. Once we arrived home, I unpacked the groceries and she helped me. Then, she began spinning around (because this is something new and fun), got dizzy, bumped the wall with her head which knocked her to the ground where she busted her lip and it began bleeding. Oh dear, lovely! Dadda came in the house just as the happy times were streaming tears and whaling loudly :)
Fast forward to an hour later, Brooklyn was kicking and throwing her ball upstairs and while chasing it, ran straight into the shelving unit on the wall....fast forward....ran into the wall watching her feet as she walked.....fast forward....tripped during our walk around the block. Hehe!! It was a day!
Later, however, we played in the backyard with Chip and all was right with the world even though he knocked her down about 3 times. Chip is her favorite thing in the world. In fact, when we came inside, she started screaming as we closed the back door on him (he was coming in later). She was very upset that he was not coming inside with us.
Yesterday was loaded with "oh no's" from both B and Momma. I took Brooklyn to the YMCA with me and the childcare lady came into the fitness room to get me (never a good sign to see her coming) to tell me that Brooklyn had fallen and hit her cheek on the table. "She fell and bumped her face. We are applying ice, but she doesn't like that too much. She cried for only a minute, but the area is already bruised," the lady said! Ha, it was definitely purple all right!! Brooklyn was totally fine and I was able to finish my workout. Once we arrived home, I unpacked the groceries and she helped me. Then, she began spinning around (because this is something new and fun), got dizzy, bumped the wall with her head which knocked her to the ground where she busted her lip and it began bleeding. Oh dear, lovely! Dadda came in the house just as the happy times were streaming tears and whaling loudly :)
Fast forward to an hour later, Brooklyn was kicking and throwing her ball upstairs and while chasing it, ran straight into the shelving unit on the wall....fast forward....ran into the wall watching her feet as she walked.....fast forward....tripped during our walk around the block. Hehe!! It was a day!
Later, however, we played in the backyard with Chip and all was right with the world even though he knocked her down about 3 times. Chip is her favorite thing in the world. In fact, when we came inside, she started screaming as we closed the back door on him (he was coming in later). She was very upset that he was not coming inside with us.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Holiday Season
Time has flown by and I have definitely neglected my blogging world....sorry! Christmas came and went by with all its joyfulness!! It was certainly more entertaining this year with Brooklyn. She enjoyed ripping the paper from her gifts and she did know that they were new and fun for her. She has played non stop with her kitchen from Nana and Papa de Wolfe. Her baby doll from Santa and stroller from Uncle Nick and Aunt Amanda Hein has been a total hit!!
The Hein Family!
We spent Christmas Eve at church with Gamma and Gampa Hein and then majority of Christmas Day at there house with all of Brooklyn's aunts, uncles and cousins. It was truly a peaceful and fulfilling time.
Jason, Jen, Addy and Katie came in town shortly after Christmas and we have been able to spend some time with them! New Year's Eve we attended the Dallas Stars game with the Hein's and Brooklyn was a total trooper.....she was ready to ring in the New Year :)
(taken from my Blackberry)
We spent the night at the house with Dan and Amanda Hein, Jonathon Hein and Nicole Hess playing games and enjoying drinks.
Momma, Dadda and Brooklyn slept in on New Years Day!
It is now back to reality for Momma as I had to return to work after two weeks with my sweet girl.
The Hein Family!
We spent Christmas Eve at church with Gamma and Gampa Hein and then majority of Christmas Day at there house with all of Brooklyn's aunts, uncles and cousins. It was truly a peaceful and fulfilling time.
Jason, Jen, Addy and Katie came in town shortly after Christmas and we have been able to spend some time with them! New Year's Eve we attended the Dallas Stars game with the Hein's and Brooklyn was a total trooper.....she was ready to ring in the New Year :)
(taken from my Blackberry)
We spent the night at the house with Dan and Amanda Hein, Jonathon Hein and Nicole Hess playing games and enjoying drinks.
Momma, Dadda and Brooklyn slept in on New Years Day!
It is now back to reality for Momma as I had to return to work after two weeks with my sweet girl.
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