Final post

Today is my last full day in Haiti, and this is my last post to the blog. The day began with worship. Eight of us drove to the church next to the clinic in City Soleil. The service began at 6:30. We had set a meeting back at the compound for 10:00, assuming three hours would be the longest the service might go. At 10:15, the service was not close to ending, so we had to step out early. Three hours and 45 minutes, and still going!

It was a remarkable service on several counts. It was the first time people gathered to worship in the sanctuary since the earthquake. Actually, last Sunday’s worship began outside the building and, at the end of the service, a few people were willing to venture inside. Today, people began to gather in the sanctuary at 6:30 and, by 7:00, the sanctuary was full. (We estimate at least a thousand were in attendance.) Another remarkable feature of the worship service was the level of praise and thanksgiving. The first two hours were devoted to singing and shouting. At one point, a lady seated behind me leaped to her feet and yelled, “Merci, mon Jesus.” In light of the situation here, it is amazing to see people pressing forward full of praise and thanksgiving.

We participated in communion, which, given the concern about unfriendly bacteria, gave me pause. I look my lead from the medical staff in our group, who took the elements. The sermon lasted only about thirty minutes. There was a considerable amount of scripture reading, all done in unison. One particularly poignant passage we read is from Isaiah 54:

¹¹ “O afflicted city, lashed by storms and not comforted,
I will build you with stones of turquoise,
your foundations with sapphires.

¹² I will make your battlements of rubies,
your gates of sparkling jewels,
and all your walls of precious stones.

¹³ All your sons will be taught by the LORD,
and great will be your children’s peace.

An interesting sight on the way back from worship was a number of congregations worshiping along the side of the road. I don’t know if their church buildings were destroyed, or if they were still fearful of holding a service in their buildings. Whatever the reason, it was inspiring to see these small congregations in the midst of the craziness of City Soleil singing, praying, and worshiping–spreading the good news by their example.

The intensity of the effort here has lessened a bit. This is the first week since Samaritan’s Purse arrived that people were not expected to work a seven-day week. Henceforth, volunteers and staff will take Sunday’s off except for essential duties. My only work today was mocking up a third possible temporary structure–simpler than the two I mocked up yesterday and taking into account what I learned from surveying existing structures during the ride to church today.

The new carpenter arrived this afternoon. I will bring him up to speed tomorrow morning, and leave the various projects in his able hands.

In lieu of our usual strategy and report meeting this evening, we worshiped together. I led music and a member of the medical team spoke. It was a fitting end to a refreshing Sabbath day.

Please join with me in committing to pray for the efforts of all the groups here working to meet the physical and spiritual needs of the Haitian people. With rainy season closing in, we should be especially mindful of the need for quick and effective action in terms of providing temporary shelter. Hurricane season begins soon after that, and it is critical that rubble is removed and replaced by safe, permanent housing by that time. Pray, give, and, if you can, go.

Winding down

Today was my next to last work day. I’ll work a few hours tomorrow, then depart for home around midday on Monday. With my time here winding down, I’m trying to tie up loose ends and put things in place for the next carpenter. I began the day by building a second setup for cutting tarp. About three thousand rolls will arrive at the compound next week, and an additional seven thousand rolls will arrive by February 23. The goal is to get them cut, folded, packed, and delivered as quickly as possible. Based on yesterday’s effort, the feeling is that, with enough people, each of the setups can be used to cut 300 rolls per day. The truck holds 200 cut and folded tarps. Thus, with two setups, it will be possible to produce and deliver three truckloads each day. Ideally, the tarps will be out an in the hands of the people who need them no later than mid-March, which is about when rainy season begins.

I also put together a couple of prototypes for framing to be handed out with the tarp and used to build a temporary shelter. The goal is something that is easy to produce and deliver, and easy for the recipient to assemble. Here are two possibilities:

The one on the left requires five 10 ft 2 x 4s and the one on the right requires four. The one on the right is more stable, but it is harder to put together, so we decided against it. The one on the left has a couple of advantages. All angles are the same, and all pieces that have angles cut on them are the same length. All pieces that have square ends are the same length. So there are only two lengths and two angles. The disadvantage is that assembly will not be intuitive for many recipients. Tomorrow I will try a variation on this design, using lumber that has no angles at all. Once we have a roof design, we’ll put it on poles (as will the recipients) and attach a piece of the tarp. The plan is to distribute at least a thousand of these by rainy seasons.

Some very good news: We learned yesterday that the World Food Programme will continue the food distributions in the district where Samaritan’s Purse is distributing for seven more days. We also learned that Samaritan’s Purse has distributed substantially more food than NGOs at other districts–food for over 36,000 families. Samaritan’s Purse staff members who specialize in food distribution have arrived from various places in the world and are developing a plan for longer-term distribution that will be more supplementary than basic. The goal is a model that can be sustained for a least a year.

One continuing issue is rubble removal. At a meeting of relief groups yesterday, an official from the Ministry of Public Health indicated that rubble removal was their top priority. At this point, Samaritan’s Purse is the only organization doing rubble removal in Port-au-Prince. One reason for urgency is that many dead bodies are still buried in the rubble. For this reason, there’s more involved than just scooping and moving concrete, blocks, and wood. Human remains must be dealt with in some way and, as far as I can tell, too little of the work has been done to have an established protocol in place.

Yesterday and today were declared a national holiday in recognition of the one month anniversary of the earthquake. There were many church prayer services, and a number of funerals for family members now assumed dead. It seems to be a time of healing for many of the survivors who have been grieving the loss of family members and friends. Please keep them in your prayer.

Tarp

It turn out that one convoy of trucks loaded with materials from the recently docked barge made it out before the customs officials stepped in. Among other things, several bundles of lumber and 125 rolls of tarp found their way to the compound. This relatively small amount of materials energized the team working here. I put together a device to facilitate cutting. Here’s a photo of the setup and one of the Billy Graham chaplains here doing some cutting:

Each roll holds 100 ft. of the 20 ft. wide material and yields five 20′ x 20′ pieces, which are distributed for use as temporary shelter. After each piece is cut, it is folded and stacked. Here’s a photo of the folding and stacking process:

The 125 rolls yielded 625 tarps, which will be distributed by members of the 82nd Airborne tomorrow. Here’s the truck loaded and ready to roll:

I learned today that, to date, Samaritan’s Purse has shipped 10,000 rolls of tarp to Haiti. Each roll costs $220, so the cost of this small portion of the relief effort here has cost over $2,000,000. An order already is in for 6,000 additional rolls.

The other portion of the load that made it to the compound was lumber. My charge for tomorrow is to mock up a potential temporary shelter that would essentially make use of the 20′ x 20′ piece of tarp and several pieces of lumber to construct a stable roof that could be mounted on poles. The ultimate goal is to mass produce “kits” that include the tarp, the lumber cut to size, and a simple set of instructions. There is enough lumber on the barge to produce 1,000 of these.

I spent the morning working on longer-term living quarters for people who will come to work in Haiti for several months. I mentioned in an earlier post that we had five high tech tents of the sort the military uses in Iraq. These are 20′ x 32′ in size, and when powered by generator, have lights, electrical outlets, and air conditioning. I don’t have a photo of one fully assembled, but here’s a photo of one going up:

The decision was made to subdivide the tents by installing movable partitions. Because there is a door at each end, this would allow two couples or families to live in each tent and have privacy. I built the first partition and installed it today. I will cut the remainder of the pieces before I leave, and leave them for the next carpenter to assemble and install.

Returning to tarp, I spent the afternoon working at the clinic in City Soleil. The door I installed earlier in the week is being used as an entrance and exit for the pharmacy, shown here:

Patients have to stand and wait outside the door and, beginning about 11am, the sun beats down hard in this area. I installed a 10′ x 10′ awning covered with tarp. Benches will be put under the tarp, giving waiting patients a place to sit in the shade.

One more good night’s sleep and I should be fully recovered from the all nighter. I have only two more days to work and hope to be at full strength to the end of my stay. I appreciate your prayer and words of encouragement.

All nighter

Well, I wasn’t sure I had it in me, but I worked all night without sleep last night. At about 8pm we were escorted by two Army Humvees through the heart of City Soleil to the wharf, where we had to unload six 40 ft. containers on a barge by daybreak. We finished at about 6:45 this morning, and arrived back at the compound at 7:30. I slept a couple hours this morning and an hour this afternoon. I’m sure I’ll sleep well tonight.

Here’s a photo of the containers:

A major prayer concern is the disposition of the goods that we off-loaded last night. Haiti Customs continues to stonewall on what should be a simple and straightforward transaction (humanitarian aid is duty free). Tomorrow is a designated day of fasting and prayer (one month since the earthquake), and government offices are closed over the weekend. All they need to do is look over one sheet of paper and sign it, but we were told just after noon that this would take “a few hours” (i.e., until offices close today). A bounty of relief materials are being held hostage, and one doesn’t have to think hard to figure out what the Customs agents are up to. We’re trying to make use of local contacts to get over this last hump, so we can move back into full gear in terms of delivering much needed food and shelter. As an example, here’s a truckload of tarp material, loaded and ready for cutting and distributing for temporary shelter:

And here are bundles of lumber to be used to supply more permanent shelters:

Before leaving for the wharf last night, we met for our daily report and briefing. It was a very emotional meeting. It began with a report from the group that manages food distribution. They met with World Food Programme (WFP) personnel, who are managing the large-scale food distributions that end this weekend. They want to know if Samaritan’s Purse can manage a distribution effort. The tentative plan is to focus on children under 5 and women who are pregnant or lactating. WFP estimates that there are 351,000 such people. The goal will be to provide a small but nutritious meal every 21 days, working distributions through churches across the city.

We next learned that one of the directors met with other NGOs working in Haiti to look for partnership opportunities. The net result of that meeting was that Samaritan’s Purse is the lone organization that is operating at full tilt. The other, small and more focused NGOs are struggling with the enormity of the need. The person describing the meeting showed a stack of papers that were requests from these NGOs to draw on Samaritan’s Purse’s infrastructure through partnerships of one kind or another. The organization cannot honor all of these requests, so some difficult decisions will have to be made.

We then were presented with several stories of treatment by the medical team and the dire situation many of the children are in. One small baby they saw yesterday was extremely underweight. The staff administered fluids and thought the child took more fluid than seemed possible for a person its size.

We also were visited by two local pastors, each of whom lost family members in the earthquake. The most heartbreaking situation was described by Pastor Vladimir. His wife and daughter were killed when their home collapsed on them.  The rubble from the destroyed home has not been removed; his wife and daughter’s remains are buried in it. We will send a team down to take care of this soon.

All this came together to remind us of the enormity of the need here. People are starving, they are living in the most minimal shelters in squalid conditions, and many have lost multiple family members and friends. These conditions persist despite the fact that some of the major aid operations are close to shutting down. It also highlights the absurdity of the customs agents, who won’t release the materials sent over by Samaritan’s Purse for shelter, sanitation, and food.

On a more pleasant note, Michael W. Smith was here a few hours this morning through early afternoon visiting Samaritan’s Purse sites. He gathered prominent Christian artists to record a song from which proceedings will be donated to relief efforts in Haiti (read about it here: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/michael.w.smith.and.friends.record.song.for.haiti/25211.htm ). Some portion (if not all) of the proceeds will go to Samaritan’s Purse.

Samaritan’s Purse is opening a second, smaller compound, which will provide good access to a different outlying area of Port-au-Prince than can be easily served from the central compound. The individual who will lead the effort there arrived yesterday, and that compound is close to opening.

With a month now having passed since the earthquake, Haiti will soon fall out of the news cycle and, eventually, our collective thought. I urge you to commit yourself to investing through an organization committed to Haiti for the long haul.

Shot in the arm

At long last, the barge docked this afternoon. About half of the contents, which includes a dump truck for rubble removal, have been transported to the compound. The remainder will be here later this evening. This is a real shot in the arm for the effort here. Now food and tarp distribution can continue, and more permanent housing can be constructed and distributed to those in greatest need.

I mentioned that we were served bbq goat for dinner yesterday, but I did not tell about the source of the goats. Some of the volunteers removed rubble for a family that lives on the road that leads to the compound. Unable to pay (though she was not asked to pay), the woman of the house gave two goats as a gift. The result was the centerpiece of a fine meal for a few dozen hungry volunteers.

Volunteers who have been here two, three, and in some cases, four weeks, are beginning to leave as new volunteers arrive. Although all those leaving are eager to get home to family and friends, they are leaving reluctantly.  There is much productive activity here and much more work to be done. The fact that the work we have started will be carried on and expanded by others is a reminder that God is the mastermind and we are a small but important part of a communal effort. I looking forward to seeing all that God will do here.

Week 2 begins

Today was the first day of my second week in Haiti. It was the first morning I awoke not feeling sore all over, so it appears my body finally has adjusted to physical labor. What my body has not adjusted to is the heat. I don’t know what the daily high temperatures have been, but they seem to be reached by 10am and stay there until 4pm or so. On a typical day, I’d say I drink 10 bottles of water. I learned pretty quickly not to go more than an hour or so without chugging a bottle. There was a brief shower last night, which served to reduce the dust a bit. So, all things considered, if I drink plenty of water, I get along fine.

The barge-that-won’t-dock saga continues. The barge was supposed to dock at noon today, but a Mexican Naval ship somehow found it’s way to the dock ahead of the barge, blocking its entry; so, it’s still sitting about 300 yards off shore. The last word is that the barge is now moving to a different dock with a promising of docking tomorrow morning by 7am.

There are many reasons we need the barge to dock soon. Primary among these is that unloading the barge, loading trucks, and unloading them at the compound provides work for young men in desperate need of work. They were expecting that opportunity at the end of last week. Another reason we need the barge to dock soon is that it is carrying a much-needed supply of food. At this point, we have no food to give out and, as you might imagine, many people who pass through the compound are asking for food. I sometimes work next to the office where these people meet with one of our staff members, and I hear him tell person after person that we have no food to give. This is not the position we want to be in. Please pray for the arrival of the barge and quick processing of its contents.

You might wonder what I am eating in Haiti. Before I arrived, I was told to expect beans and rice for every meal. Fortunately, a volunteer who arrived just after me has extensive experience cooking in circumstances like these and has significantly improved the daily fare. On the menu at dinner tonight:

• rice and beans (always)
• bbq goat
• mango
• some sort of fried local vegetable
• fried bananas
• “pickly” (a local version of cole slaw not unlike eastern NC cole slaw)

My secret plan to lose weight while in Haiti has been thwarted!

Workwise, I continue playing Rick the Carpenter, preparing the compound for use by staff and volunteers for the next few years.

In terms of staff, the first longer-term staff person arrived today. She will staff the finance office for one year. The hope is that key staff positions like that will soon be filled by longer-term volunteers, because the 2-3 week rotating scheme that is the norm right now does not work well for certain key staff positions.

I don’t think I have mentioned that the clinic in City Soleil opened on Monday. As planned, the volunteer medical personnel working there  saw 50 patients on Monday and 100 patients today. They will go to full capacity, about 150 patients, beginning tomorrow.

Thank you for your continuing prayer for me, Samaritan’s Purse and the other ministries providing aid, and, most importantly, the Haitian people, who are facing an uncertain future while dealing with unimaginable losses and lingering fear.

“Rick the Carpenter”

A second Rick joined the group a few days ago and, to distinguish between us, I am now, “Rick the Carpenter.” Given that I came here almost directly from one professional meeting and will go to another soon after I return, this moniker can only be temporary. But it actually feels quite comfortable here, and I’ll enjoy answering to it for another week.

Today was fairly uneventful for me. I continue working to prepare the compound for full occupancy and operation. A new group arrived, this one including five women; so, I expanded the women’s quarters. I continued building partitions for offices, and we almost completed a second of the large tents.

The long-awaited barge finally will dock tomorrow. It is carrying four 40′ ship containers chock full of equipment and supplies. Of primary interest to me is the 3,000 or so rolls of tarp. Each roll yields five 20′ x 20′ pieces, which is given to a family for shelter. The military personnel on the compound have begun working alongside us, and they will distribute the tarps after we cut them. With rainy season a few weeks away, it is critical that these find their way to people with little or no shelter in time for them to prepare for the rains. Otherwise, the barge carries a great many supplies, some portion of which will be put to good use by Rick the Carpenter.

Some of the folks staying at our compound watched the Super Bowl last night on a theater size screen with more than a hundred troops from the 82nd Airborne. On the way to and from the site, I sat next to two individuals who are partnering with Samaritan’s Purse on a grant application for additional food distribution. One was from World Vision and other other from Food for the Hungry. The grant would fund a one year program to get food to the most impoverished children in Port-au-Prince. It also includes a sanitation component. Like Samaritan’s Purse, these groups plan to be here for several years and are making plans for the next stage of aid. Every group here sees clearly that the end is near for most of the current aid programs and that aid must continue for years into the future. None seems to know exactly what the next stage of aid will be, but the time for it is near. Keep these groups in your prayers, and think about giving to one or more doing work that interests you. Two other groups that have stayed here and seem to be doing very good work are Living Water International  and Water Mission International. Any of these groups would make very good use of any money you give.

Food (and toy) distribution

I dragged out of bed at 4:15 for today’s food distribution. We were on the road to the site by 5:00 and ready to start at 6:30.  We gave out the last bags at 10:30. There was a strong military presence, including both the U.S. military and a U.N. peacekeeping group from Jordan. Using a system that no one seems to quite understand, tickets are distributed for a specific day and distribution site. In order to enter, a valid ticket must be presented. Today was Day 8 of the 14 days of distributions. Each day, more difficult to detect counterfeit tickets are turning up. The time required to check each ticket and deal with individuals who either produced or were given a counterfeit ticket slows the process significantly. Here’s what a legitimate ticket for today looks like:

The pick-ups are made by women. Today, we tried for the first time a double distribution. The rice was in 50 kg bags, with each intended for two recipients. This required women to come through in pairs, secure a bag, then divided it in half. In order to make the double distribution work, trucks were arrayed so that women, as they entered, would form two lines. My job was to keep the lines orderly and moving. Here are the lines nearing the trucks where the food is given:

We distributed food for five to each of 3,344 women. There’s a lot more I could share about the experience, but I’ll leave that for another time.

I was on a personal mission to distribute some toys. My daughter, Jessie,  sent some of her stuffed animal collection for me to give to some children here who looked as if they might love them and give them a good home. Here they are posing before they went out with me to be delivered to their new homes.

Here is the first one going to her (it’s a girl) new home:

Here are some proud beneficiaries of Jessie’s generosity:

Finally, here’s a picture of some children who just wanted to pose for the photographer:

A photo and an opportunity

On the drive to and from the clinic, I pass several large fields in which people have set up shelters away from anything that might fall in the event of an after shock or another earthquake. Here’s a picture of one of them:

In the background on the left you can see one of the buildings that collapsed during the earthquate. In the foreground are the structures many people in this area of town are living in.

The field where this photo was taken is where food distributions take place. I just learned that I will participate in tomorrow’s distribution. To give you an idea of the scale of it, at today’s distribution Samaritan’s Purse gave food to 1600 people, each representing a family of five. The total weight of the food distributed was 42 metric tons. Tomorrow morning, the plan is to double the amount. We’ll leave the compound at about 5am, drive 45 minutes to the distribution point, and begin giving out food at 6am.  It’s an amazing opportunity to participate in God’s provision.

In other events since I posted earlier this evening: We received a large and unexpected shipment of tetanus vaccine. Only half would fit in the refrigerators here. We learned about an hour ago that a hospital two hours away will store the rest. Two guys have headed in that direction. We also learned that the barge arrived today as planned but could not get space at the wharf. It costs $11,000/day for it to sit and wait. It now seems likely that it’ll be ready to unload on Monday afternoon.

Tomorrow will begin with food distribution and end with the Super Bowl. Should be a day to remember.

Making progress

I spent the morning building and installing a door at the clinic in City Soleil. It will open on Monday due in large part to the valiant efforts of one of our volunteers, Mary Lou (don’t know her last name). Mary Lou worked in the emergency room at Johns Hopkins for 18 years and has traveled the world giving to others. She departed today after 24 days in Haiti. The first three weeks she worked at Mission Baptiste Hospital. The last three days she worked at the clinic, setting it up for the next round of volunteers. She rode back and forth with me to the clinic yesterday and today. Her skill and commitment are inspiring. She completely organized the clinic, setting up the supplies I mentioned in an earlier post. Every room is labeled, arrows direct people from one stop to the next in the clinic, and she left a nine page hand written set of instructions for the people who will open the clinic on Monday. (She didn’t want them to lose any time while here.) That group arrived a few hours ago and will benefit greatly from her hard work.

We returned to building floors for the large Alaska Structure tents, which will house couples and families who volunteer. We kept a good size crew of volunteers and Haitian workers busy all day building, leveling, and squaring the first floor. We’ll raise the structure tomorrow and, with a little luck, have the A/C installed and working by day’s end.

We’ve been invited by the soldiers here to join them in watching the Super Bowl somewhere in town on a large projection screen. Should be fun.

One of the major unknowns at the moment is when the next barge will arrive. We hired a large number of locals to help unload today, but the barge couldn’t dock. We were told it’d be Tuesday, but early this afternoon it changed to perhaps on Sunday. Unloading and transporting is a major effort (materials for 500 Haitian homes, 3000 rolls of tarp, a forklift, etc.). Some supplies are running low, so receiving them soon will allow the momentum built over the past three weeks to continue.

I took some pictures today that give a good sense of the situation here. If I have time to upload, I’ll post one or two later on today or tomorrow.

I’ll also be looking into ways you could contribute if so inclined. Obviously, you could give to Samaritan’s Purse and trust them to make good use of your gift. If you’re up for something smaller scale or more personal, stay tuned.