Blogs from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Central America Caribbean - page 5

Henk seems to want to keep me busy going to meetings. (He says he likes the succint way I report the highlights) Attended two this afternoon. Basically, the atmosphere is changing from emergency response to the recovery stage. This is exciting to me as it means forward movement and development projects which, hopefully, will change the face of this nation. Tomorrow June 17 is the first meeting of the newly formed Haiti Interim Reconstrction Commission co-chaired by the Prime Minister of Haitia and former President, Bill Clinton. Also, the World Bank has received the first transfer of funds, from Brazil, and is gearing up to fund approved projects. NGO's will be preparing their development project proposals to be authorized by the Commission and funded by the World Bank. These are in addition to authorized NGO projects ... read more

Today is a "slow" day for me. Last day in Haiti, so have no assignments (at least for now). Therefore, I'm going to try to catch up with some blogging and pictures. It is time to show you where I have been staying. This is a hotel called Coconut Villa. The Salvation Army has had standing rooms reserved here since IES arrived shortly after the earthquake. I shared a room known as the "Palace" because it contains two full size beds with Major Hertj for a few nights and then with Heather Rossouw, from South Africa, who is Camp Management Support. The beds are comfortable; we have a small refrigerator, which actually freezes the bottles of water (but this is a good thing, because they stay cold longer in the heat); a bathroom with a shower ... read more

Tonight is my last team meeting and the last devotion I am responsible for. I have been amazed that God has inspired these devotional times. Just as Alan, my brother-in-law, said - something will happen each day that will give you the inspiration...so it has been. Tonight, as I have thought about leaving Haiti, I chose John 20:6-7: "Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen." How many times I have read this ... understanding that the burial cloths were lying there empty because He was gone...but missing the most important message. The cloth covering His head was neatly folded, ... read more

This entry will be focused on street scenes. The sights and sounds of Haiti are so different than home. I have mentioned about the process of removing rubble for example. Individuals and also groups in the Cash for Work programs are busy at work moving rubble from the building site to piles in the streets for removal by large trucks. Individuals may be working to clear rubble from their own homesite, whereas CFW are hired to clear rubble from identified sites. Several NGOs, including SA, are funding CFW programs in an attempt to aid the debris clearance program. As these piles of rubble accumulate, the impede both pedestrian and vehicle traffic. Coming upon a pile in the street unexpectedly, means swift maneuving of vehicles and a melding of several lanes of traffic. Certainly part of the ... read more

For the week ending June 12, the Salvation Army distributed the following: 1430 boxes of Numana x 220 meals = 314,600 meals to camp families and various small communities. I like to post this for my friends at Numana, who happened upon by blog. Volunteers all over the US meet and pack these boxes for the Salvation Army, as well as other NGO's. Consider volunteering if there is a packing event advertised near you. Each box contains the equivilant of 220 meals of rice with high protein additives that are distributed in third world countries, such as now in Haiti. 3,331 donated water filtration bottles distributed one per family at Camp. These bottles were discovered in one of the recently released containers, apparently a donation to us. Also, we are encouraged that the cots and tarps ... read more