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Blogs from Haiti, Central America Caribbean - page 9
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June 6th 2010
La première fin de semaine ici a été pas mal épuisante. Vendredi soir, on s'est fait une bouffe chez une collègue à son appart. On a bien mangé, bien bu et bien rit. On a mis de la musique et on a dansé toute la soirée dans son appart. On ne se préoccupait pas trop des voisins puisque le building au complet est loué par l'ambassade donc ce sont tous des gens qu'on connait, et on était 4 locataires d'appartements qui se juxtaposaient donc le party était pogné et on ne dérangeait personne ailleurs. On a bien rit et eu ben du fun. Je me suis couchée pas mal ronde et j’ai dormi un gros 4 heures. Winner comme je suis, j'avais comme oublié que j'avais prévu un trek le lendemain. ERREUR! Je pensais être malade ... read more
June 6th 2010
June 3 - Thursday. We discovered this was a Haitian holiday not listed on the official website. Banks were closed and our office was closed. Apparently, this is a Catholic holiday Fete Dieu - Day with God Celebration. The day started with the sound of music in the street outside the hotel wall. Several of us climbed up on the wall to see what was going on. A large truck with loudspeakers blared music and in the truck were a group of men and women singing. Following behind was a large group of men, women and youth walking and singing, with hands raised. Each Catholic Church had its own marchers to their particular churches, so various streets were affected. Perhaps this would be a good time to tell you what I have learned about the Catholic ... read more
June 6th 2010
June 4 - Prayer Shawl My brother-in-law is Alan Bill, pastor of the Barton and Lockwood Methodist Churches. When my sister, Diana, and Alan found out I was being called to Haiti, they placed me on their churchs’ prayer lists. One of the members of their church knits prayer shawls and I was asked to come and select one to bring with me to Haiti. I was charged with finding someone that God would want to have this shawl. I selected this brightly colored blue one. I have, indeed, been praying about and looking for this special person. I have had many conversations with Major Hertj (you’ll remember my roommate from Norway, who is active with the SA children’s school). She had stayed with me only 2 days and then moved down to the school compound ... read more
June 6th 2010
Sunday June 5 We attended the International English speaking church again today. Great music! The pastor introduced a young man, 21 years of age, named Emmanuel. He told Emmanuel's story. He and his brother had been trapped in the collapse of their three story apartment building during the quake. His brother talked with him almost non stop for what is estimated to be about 3 days. Then his brother died. Within the next day, Emmanuel was rescued and taken to a field hospital where he lost his leg. The pastor explained how members of the church who worked at the field hospital reached out to this young man and helped him through many dark days. (this is emotional and spiritual care at it's finest!) Now he invited Emmanuel to walk up and down the aisle with ... read more
June 5th 2010
May 28 - Petit Goave This trip was to the west from PaP along the seacoast. What once was probably a very pleasant ride now is a very sad trip. Damage from the earthquake goes on for miles and miles through this countryside. The quake was centered just off this coastal area, causing significant damage; estimates are in the range of 93% and I believe that to be true by what I’ve seen. There is a great deal of damage to the road infrastructure all along the route. Large sections are under reconstruction. They are also laying up stone, wire and cement drainage ditches (remember, the rainy season is here) to protect what they have managed to rebuild and to also prevent severe washouts of the still damaged areas of road. Since most of the road ... read more
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June 5th 2010
May 29 - Jacmel This trip was to deliver mattresses and Numana to Jacmel, which is northwest of PaP. First, we went west along the seacoast and then headed North up a mountain. Oh my - what a mountain! I took pictures, but I’m sure they don’t convey the breathtaking view I saw. It was also pretty hairy! The road is steep, twisting and turning, snaking its way up the mountain. Sometimes, I would look out my window and see the only thing between this truck and the drop off down the mountainside was a little piece of metal called a guard rail…and in some cases, the guard rail was gone! Adding to the excitement - going around hair pin curves with no way to see what might be coming or, in one case, a truck ... read more
June 5th 2010
The end of a long week. Generated my first ever Situation and Key Statistics reports. This week, the Salvation Army distributed 170 mattresses and 138,380 meals to various Corps, communities, schools and orphanages. And I helped deliver most of them! I certainly got to see the country and meet lots of people and lots of children. I've been blessed.... read more
June 5th 2010
May 30 - Sunday The rest of the team had planned a whole day’s outing to a Haitian officer’s Corp church to hear him preach (French). His church was about 2 hours west of PaP. He has been working with us and negotiating with customs officials for release of containers in port. They planned to eat lunch there and tour the area (which I had seen on the way to Saint Marc and Rossignol). They would have dinner on the way back at one of his friends, arriving back here quite late. I decided not to go for two reasons. First, I was physically tired from so much traveling in a truck over rough roads. But more importantly, I was in visual overload, having seen so much devastation over the course of the week. It is ... read more
June 2nd 2010
I have been asked about the Emotional and Spiritual Care component of my responsibilities here in Haiti. Briefly, I am responsible for support for the staff here. Essentially, this means daily devotions and prayer with the team prior to our evening team debriefing. This occurs at 5:30 p.m. with dinner following. Also, there are many opportunities to come along side staff on a daily basis. We are all far from home and family and sometimes this gets hard. Internet connections are dicey at best, making communication difficult. Just ask my husband John! There are also many frustrations in accomplishing what we would consider to be a simple task. On a daily basis, we see the miseries and the destruction and work to do our very best to help in any way we can. Additionally, there are ... read more
June 2nd 2010
My husband John has located the website for the Numana food I have been talking about. If you are interested - check it out. http://numanainc.com/?page_id=2... read more
