Haiti Experiences

New Norm

2010-05-14T22:05:00.001-04:00

Okay, just to let you know that I am working in the dark - that's literally in the dark - not figuratively. Although some people think that the jury is still out on that one.

I have internet access because I've rewired it that way. But haven't got permission to rewire the rest of the place so I do not have lights or fan, just internet. Perhaps step two will be sometime tomorrow afternoon. But I do have more important things to take care in the morning.

Goin riding with Dr Ed. This is likely only the third time riding with him since I've been back (6 months or so). After a few inoculations - we'll be heading out to the flats around the lake and goat mountain. Its rainy season and its been raining lately so promises to have some water and mud in store. Kinda like the spa - workin out some of the stuff that's built up this week. Hopefully coming back refreshed and ready for new challenges.

I haven't written on my blog for a while. I have been thinking about that and wondering why. One factor has been time, but basically there really hasn't been anything new that I felt compelled to write about.

We have just completed three teams back to back and the progress has been fantastic. Although we've been slowed down by a slurry of problems, some new and some old, the new building is nearly ready to be opened.

Around the city, reconstruction seems to be getting into full swing. Schools are a priority, including temporary buildings as are temporary shelters. You now also see walls and buildings under construction. There still however remains a large amount of rubble from the quake and still a number of buildings that have not even been touched since the quake.

I recently went on a small walk around our area. We looked more closely as we passed some buildings. In the ruins on the ground floor of one building was a human skull and in the building next to it looked like human hair matted into a crevice. The destruction and the death toll is staggering and the impact on the community is overwhelming.

Hardware stores are now very busy. Not just with people, but all kinds of construction supplies are in high demand. It is now getting harder and harder to find common goods and yes, the prices are quickly rising.

I was riding my bike today. I ended up going in two different directions looking for some basic plumbing parts. I had actually found a needle valve that I wanted to install to throttle back a pressure switch on the water pump. However, 4 hardware stores later, I was unable to find the necessary parts/fittings to convert it over. I went in all directions to what I thought would be the best and most likely locations - however, no luck. Fortunately the switch is working okay the way it is, but perhaps a little sensitive to any meddling by the locals.

Haiti seems to be settling into a new post quake norm. There was a transition period, but I think that is now over. Likely been over for a while actually. Many many Haitians are living in tents and other temporary shelters. Most are located near to their pre-quake communities and seem to be relatively happy there. For the most part there is calm and peace in the tent cities/communities. Of course there is always violence in Haiti and these temporary shelters do lend themselves to increases in that violence.

For the most part, Haitians seem to be relatively settled in their new environments. And therein lies the problem. I had raised concerns just after the quake about the potential for unrest. That did not happen because the needs of the average Haitian since the quake have been met. Initially there was a huge demand for medical and that was met, then aid agencies brought in food, water and supplies again addressing basic needs. I have heard it said many times, that the average Haitian in the tent cities do not want to leave these tents. The reason being is that the basic needs are being addressed. Their standard of living has improved significantly since the quake. Food and water is available as is medical attention. Far more abundant than it was prior to the quake.

Basically this all sounds good. However, there is one large drawback. The local Haitian is now dependent upon the international aid to meet their expectations - their new norm. As long as this aid continues there will be peace and contentment. But if/when that aid is removed there will most likely be strife and unrest.

Update

2010-04-10T05:34:00.001-04:00

Ok, I've changed the CD. Promise to be good (maybe not real good though) and give you an update on the project.

We have had a plumbing team here for the past two weeks and they are leaving us next Tuesday. How the time flies by. Great progress, but still have some work to do, so planning on working tomorrow - oh actually that's today. Hopefully I'll cut out at lunch, skip grocery shopping, and go for a bike ride with friends.

I have started to wire up the water pump. However tools that you commonly need have been in high demand, so progress has been slow. Will finish in the morning and whirl up the water pump for the first time tomorrow. We now have most of the fixtures installed in the bathrooms, sorry no pics. Plumbing is pretty well completed for water supply, the gravity feed tank and pressure tank are installed. We have collection systems for septic, grey water and for rain water collection on the top floor. We don't have the septic and grey water tanks completed yet. These are bigger projects and the masons are working on building and plastering these walls. The drainage systems are in place, we just need to complete the tanks and finish plumbing the inputs to them.

Of course the team has been great. Using their skills and advancing the vision of Pastor Michel with a facility to reach out and love the people here in Haiti - honoring God in their commitments to the ministry and to this facility. Its always inspiring and a humbling experience for me to work with such teams.

I'll likely get a little nostalgic in this post and ones to come. Quickly coming up on a decision point on this project and direction.

I have been here almost two years, and nearing the end of this phase of the project. At times its been long, at times its been far to fast. It has not come without a great personal cost and without facing opposition almost constantly along the way. There has been real growth in that of course - but still a lot of kid in me. Just found out recently that:

"... He renews your youth - you are always young in His presence" Psalm 103:5 (The Message)

Watch out now, I can justify my actions. To really appreciate that, you should check out my card I received by clicking here

I returned to Haiti in November of last year after being in Canada for a few months. The objective to complete the first phase of the building so that the facility can be opened and the ministry can move in. Initial guestimate of 4 months plus or minus to complete - not factoring in of course events such as the Jan 12th earthquake and the impacts this has had on us and on the project.

Painting has been progressing nicely and you'll see some, now somewhat dated photos in earlier posts. Still putting in a few walls and security doors. We have had some implications and delays by the lack of resources (sand, cement) but are back on track in that regard.

We are nearing that point - the opening of the facility and moving the ministry into the new building - La Fortressse. Still several steps to complete - but mostly small ones and progress has been great. Already starting to plan beyond the opening.

Update

2010-04-10T03:54:00.001-04:00

Well, I am thinking that this might be an update from Haiti on the project, but then again its early am and at the best of times, I'm prone to wonder.
I just got up, thought that I might do something productive. Last night, I talked to a friend on skype - questionable connection, but they bore with me through it. Certainly some things to think about. Afterwards, I sat and listened to worship music for a while before turning in.

So, I now have a morning coffee and I am listening to the same worship CD as I am writing this. Just listened to "How great is our God", "Here I am to worship", "Famous One" among others. Awesome and uplifting. I guess that I am actually doing more listening and worshiping than writing. That might be good - this post might be shorter than most.

"How great how awesome is He". Just trying to let the depth of that sink in - even just a little. I realize that we all connect with God in different ways, but seems at least with me that coming into a place of awe and worship connects my spirit with His. Not that the messages aren't great, so please Pastors don't take this the wrong way. I do listen, but I often find the time of praise and worship is where I can really connect with Him. Last Sunday, I went to Port au Prince Fellowship - and found that to be exactly the case - it was the time of worship that brought me close to God. Okay, I've just cleared the tears from my eyes and I am now getting ready to write.

I have had my share of mistakes and disappointments in life both as a non-Christian and as a Christian. Far from perfect, but God seems to stand in the gap. Through some of my most difficult times, I work out the stress with physical activity - and gain peace and perspective by simply praising and worshiping God in that very time.

"It's all about You, Jesus". How true. This song brings back awesome memories of Gods provision in my time of need. Difficult and painful times, where I would ride long distances on my bicycle listening to worship music. Probably not a recommended strategy for safety reasons, but an awesome one, for me at least, spiritually.

I am surprised the route that I've gone in this post - wasn't thinking about sharing along these lines - I actually was thinking about the project when I sat down and also about Mr Piggerton. Thinking about erasing and starting over. But, decided to leave as a little glimpse into me.

I know that many of you will understand what I am sharing. I know that as a non-believer and as a young Christian, that I would not have understood.

We have just come through the Easter weekend where we remember the suffering and the price that God paid for us. Unique in all religions, not only did He suffer and die for us, He rose again. That is why Christianity is not about rules, but is about developing our relationship with a living God.

There is substantive evidence to support these claims. The best source of course is your bible, the number one best seller of all time. I am thinking of a book that I read a while ago - Misquoting Jesus - an expert in textual criticism claims to poke holes in the text of the bible. He comes up far short - I do not recommend wasting your time on that book - the only thing misquoted is the title. Gives me great confidence though, when a critic and an expert really can't poke holes in the message of the bible. You can trust the accuracy and authenticity of your bible. And secondly - look for a good Alpha course. Thirdly, you can check out the apologetic section of your local Christian bookstore for good information.

Well not the post that I was expecting. Perhaps one or two will follow.

Updated Photo

2010-04-03T00:08:00.000-04:00

Many of you who know me may have not seen me in several months or even over a year. I've changed a bit in that time - I wouldn't say that I've aged - but lost a little weight coming to Haiti and the heat and sun may have had a little impact as well.

This is really not a photo per se, but an artists painting that I found at the site today. I don't look at myself in the mirror - I mean not that closely - that often, so was a little surprised when I saw it, but have the assurances of the artist that this is an actual portrait - not a caricature.

So, since I often receive teams at the airport, I thought that it would be a good idea to post a more recent picture.

La Forteresse - staircase

2010-04-02T23:42:00.001-04:00

Finally got a picture of two of the staircase along with the construction crew to share. So here they are.

We have removed the forms at the end of this week and cleaned up the resulting pile of 2x4's etc. I've posted pics of the final results below - they are awesome. We had two engineers from Canada inspect the building today. They were impressed with the overall quality of the building and remarked on the fantastic design/layout and the awesome attention grabbing landmark feature staircase.

Decided to post only the results here with other pics in an album on facebook. Here is the link on facebook - warning though - you have to be my friend or know someone in order to get at them. Pretty tall order if you know the people that I hang out with on facebook,

Poke me on facebook, call me, or something of you'd like higher resolution copies. We have a slow network, so I've reduced the size of the images in order to upload a little easier and a little quicker.

The first picture is from the inside hallway looking towards the tower at the North end of the building. Awesome. A great pour. A little finishing work to be done.

From the top looking down. You can also see the top part of the staircase from the basement to the first floor - also built by our CPC team from Elora/Fergus.

And looking at the tower from the outside. I just love the way the staircase crosses over the windows.

La Forteresse - quick progress update

2010-04-02T04:40:00.001-04:00

Each week, there is so much progress. I am very excited to see the project at this state - almost ready to move in. It will be a real treat to see the building dedicated to the work of the Lord and to the needs of the people of Haiti.

This is just a quick update on the project. Progress continues at a quick pace. However, we are now in danger of being slowed down by the availability of raw materials. Sand at the moment. Please pray that we can find the necessary materials easily and finish the remaining work.

We have a team of plumbers here last week and for the next two weeks. They are professional plumbers and they are here to finish the construction and installation of our water systems including greywater treatment, pumps, septic and water collection. The progress has been fantastic. As I am writing this, I realize that I am missing a couple of key photos that I would like to share - perhaps another post.

The picture below is of the septic and grey water tanks. the area is 12m x 6m. Those are tanks! The construction style is stone walls for strength. These are then parged and finished/polished with a concrete finish for durability and of course water proof. The same process is used for constructing our water tanks. I realize that this process is much different than we would do in Canada. The approach is very labor intensive, however the economics are also much different here than in Canada. The walls have been started, on the left is the larger septic tank an on the right is the smaller grey water tank. The plumbing has been installed in the floor and the rebar is in place. We are ready to pour the concrete floor.

We have been busy, a week ago, our team from Elora/Fergus left after a very short (1 week) visit and what accomplishments they made. Painting and the construction of our circular staircase from the 1st to the 2nd floor. Yesterday, we removed the forms. A little cleanup to do in the area and of course some finishing work. The results are awesome. You can see my post on my website here on the construction of the basement staircase. Also awesome. Hard to believe, but they've surpassed themselves!

The picture below is of the final project. All the forms are not yet removed. I guess that I missed the end of day photo. Our carpenter is inspecting and trying to figure just how that middle part comes apart. I think that I've already provided a few instructions, but likely time to give him a refresher. The view is from the top looking down. I will give another post shortly (hopefully over the weekend) on this project.

Painting La Forteresse - progress!

2010-04-02T04:12:00.000-04:00

Another week is almost gone. Time goes very quickly. The progress has been great at the site. I take a couple of pictures one day and then redo them again the next because there has been so much progress.

Many thanks to our team from Elora/Fergus for kicking this off and getting us off to a very good start. The priming and painting of the white ceilings, beams and very time consuming windows was a real boost.

Up at 2 am today, so after devotions, thought that I'd take the time to post a couple more pics. These are updated photos of the main floor to enjoy. We are still working, so you have to imagine the clutter gone. These are mostly pictures of the building, sorry but perhaps in another post we can give you a close up of the team.

The last photo is of two of our volunteer painters. They are from the church and do not get paid for their work. They are excellent painters and work very hard at it. Of course there are other excellent volunteer painters that are not shown. The boy in the middle is actually one of my construction workers that happened to sneak into the photo, brush and all.

Many thanks to Tami Goslow for her excellent work and for co-ordinating the painting.

Green Eggs and Ham

2010-03-27T22:35:00.002-04:00

Newspaper headlines are not always what they seem. Have you ever witnessed an event as it unfolds and then read about it in the paper - makes you wonder sometimes if you were really there. Well perhaps my title for this entry is a little misleading as well.

Our refrigeration has been poor at best. We have a new refrigerator - the problem is that it takes energy if you want it to keep things cold. Since the earthquake energy was at a premium for quite some time, and even after the power came back on there are still rules about when its okay to have your refrigerator plugged in. When I was here last year and had my own place, the refrigerator was plugged in all the time - both battery and EDH and I enjoyed the luxury of ice and frozen foods. That has not been the case this time.

I plan shopping - especially for meat or things that go bad without proper refrigeration. Actually I could go off on a tangent about the outdoor meat markets - but I'll spare you that this time. I normally buy at most two days - the current day and the next day's supper and usually either buy it at noon or after work. So, we are actually talking about 28 hrs tops that I keep my perishables.

Now there is a lesson all in itself in that little food shopping strategy. Nothing is simple. Its not easy here and things that we naturally take for granted in Canada just don't work the same way in the developing countries and especially not in Haiti.

There are very few pics of me, but my work clothes are well a little "used" and grubby looking. Haitians have two sets of clothes, the ones that they wear to and from the work site and the ones that they wear while working. They shower after work, change and then leave. The typical Haitian that you see on the street/commuting is well dressed. I am not. I wear grubbies to work and when I visit the supermarket on my way home from work - to say the least I can turn a few heads. My dress is atypical of a commuting person in Haiti and certainly atypical of a white person in Haiti.

About a week or so ago, I started supper and took my meat out of the freezer to cook it. It was not frozen - I think hardly cold. But it looked okay and I don't think it smelled badly either - so I decided to chance it. Despite my food buying strategy, I actually loose a lot of food here and this fact continually pushes my acceptable food conditions a little further each time. When I started to fry my meat something strange happened. It began to change color - it literally turned green in the pan. Never seen it before nor since and yes I have an eye witness. The line had been crossed and I decided that wasn't going to be supper after all.

So, my green eggs and ham story is really about green meat - but hey, my newspaper title got you to read this far. The story actually has a happy ending.

We've decided to keep the refrigerator plugged a little longer and we more consistently have frozen meat in the freezer - maybe not rock solid - but pretty good ice crystals. Today I went shopping at the super market and at the local outdoor market. Bought my vegetables, onions, tomatoes, mangoes etc at the outdoor market and my meat at the supermarket. My line has not been pushed far enough to buy the outdoor market meat yet. Today was Saturday so, went to a little more trustworthy supermarket. As experience would tell us - the closest market where I bought the green meat has questionable practices - I have been sick on meat that I've bought there before and absolutely refuse to buy their chicken. Today I went to Petion Ville and bought the meat there - much more reputable and even much better looking meat. I bought a record setting 4 (or maybe 5) days worth of meat.

For the first time here in Haiti - I did a broccoli stir fry. Loaded with ginger and garlic. Awesome - gotta be one of my all time favorites. Little heavy on the ginger if that's possible - the ginger root is small but potent. The green in the stir fry reminded me of the green meat and so you have the privilege of this post.

Oh yes, and just one other little bonus today - tomato sandwiches for lunch - not the bland crunchy supermarket variety of tomatoes that you get back home - but the real flavorful vine ripened home grown garden variety.

Also did a little maintenance on my motorcycle today so missed my bike ride. But really what could replace real tomato sandwiches and a broccoli stir fry.

One final note. Gave out our first prayer quilt today. Used an interpreter and I have a video tape of the presentation. That will be another post.

Front of Building

2010-03-26T23:36:00.001-04:00

Just had to add the following picture.

It is of the front of the building - taken from the southwest corner - shows the tower and you'll note the circular staircase inside. You can also see the windows in the side of the building from the outside and the windows in the front of the building starting to take shape. You will also note the steel standing above the first floor ready for the columns to be formed and poured for the second floor.

This is very exciting for me to see the building taking a definite shape - very happy with the progress and the results.

In the lower right of the picture is the adjacent property with a broken front wall.

It may take a little imagination yet - but this will be an awesome building - not only in its design, but even more so in the way that it will be used to provide much needed support to the people of Haiti and to spread the good news of Christ. Certainly a beacon of light here in Haiti.

You can click or right click on the picture to see a larger image.

Painting La Forteresse

2010-03-26T23:20:00.000-04:00

I promised a few pictures of the team from Fergus painting in our new building and here they are.
Unfortunately I found many of my pictures had people from behind only or had their heads and shoulders chopped off. I don't mean that literally - what I mean to say is hidden behind the beam that they were painting at the time.

Judging from the photos I would say that it was back breaking and tedious work that we threw at them and the team resounded brilliantly. Unfortunately our sample colors that you see in one photo were not the right ones - so the team got to paint white, white and more white. The primer and the finishing coat (which in many places it took three coats on top of the primer).

Many thanks for a job well done and for offering a smile for the camera.

The last picture is in the basement where the children's ministry for ages 2-6 will hold their services. All of the other pictures are on the first floor which will become the cafeteria for the feeding program.

I have reduced the size of the pictures for speed of access - you would appreciate that if you were here in Haiti or if you have a low speed connection. If you click on the picture it will open up in a larger window, if you right click, you have some more options. If you would like a higher resolution picture - please ask and I can send you the original full size image via e-mail. Just post a comment containing your e-mail address and tell me which one you'd like.

Painting La Forteresse - colors

2010-03-26T20:57:00.000-04:00

Yes we have colors. I realize that I owe you a few team photos of the excellent work that the team did on painting La Fortresse. That'll come in a subsequent post - hopefully shortly. This one is hot off the press - we've just received the colors today and thanks to Tami's hard work - we've got a enough painted this afternoon to show you.
You can click on the image for a larger picture. If you right click you have the option to open it in another window or another tab. More to follow.

Guardian Angel

2010-03-26T20:44:00.002-04:00

Okay, first of all let me say that this note is not intended to be theologically accurate. I am actually pretty ignorant on this particular subject - but just look at my posts - it hasn't required knowledge for me to write on various subjects in the past.

First of all, I would have to say that I have a very good guardian angel. I can think of at least three situations, ah four... okay I'll stop counting... situations in the past where it must have been my guardian angel that saved me - because it certainly could have turned out much worse.

So, I feel very honored to join the ranks this week of guardian angels in training. Thanks to Camiee - a member of our last team here - I am now the guardian angel of a black pig that roots in the yard next to the new building. I made a promise - perhaps under a little duress - to keep an eye on the pig. We've become good buds and I think he looks forward to my visits.

This is just a quick post for Camiee - to let her know that the pig (and I) are doing well. Please pass the word along.

Here is a pic to show you that all is well. If you click on the picture it will open up as a bigger image.

Quick update from Haiti

2010-03-23T21:06:00.001-04:00

I haven't issued an update in a bit so thought I'd do a quick one tonight.

My internet connection is down, so I am starting this entry offline. Not sure if or when it might make it online.
I have been up between 3 and 4 a.m. the last 3 or 4 days and gone to bed lateish at night - at least for me here in Haiti. I am a bit tired so likely this entry will not be too long and will also wander a bit.

We just poured the circular staircase from the first to the second floor yesterday (Monday). It is awesome. Had a great team here from the Fergus area, who among other great accomplishments, have become our staircase kings. (pun intended Roy) Great team, great camaraderie. Enjoyed their visit and of course it is sad to see them go. Also the first “official” team to come since the earthquake – of course this team was planned from a year ago.

After a very nice time with the team this morning and a quick lunch, we took the team to the airport to catch their flight and also picked up another team just arriving. It is always sad when a team leaves, and I am not a great saying goodbye person.   The airport is not fully operational and what was a zoo has turned even worse. Anyway we made it through both departures and arrivals – and yes – I have to admit that I tipped the redcaps at the airport for the team arriving. I guess that I made quite a show with the redcaps when I picked up the team from Fergus a week ago – they kinda kept their distance for the next 3 or 4 days and you should have seen the drop off. At my pickup point today, I basically stopped in the middle of the road – blocked the already jammed traffic – if you can do that – and picked them up right there. I have to admit that I actually used the readcaps to my advantage today – I am sure the first time ever – so I gave them a tip. This might become my new pattern – one that I am sure the redcaps will enjoy, if adopted.    If not, I’ll probably have to paint the truck and grow a beard or color my hair green or something. So, don't be surprised if I tell you look for the guy with the green hair when you arrive next time.

When we got home, the team settled and then we went off to the site to discuss the plumbing requirements – we’ve had some communication with them already, so really just trying to nail down some details. Of course the Nissan broke down again – overheated – I think it’s the rad hose that’s the problem. So, we left the site to go and meet Louise. When I got home after that, twirled a few kids on the street in front of the gate along with a few high fives - actually not very high when the recipient is about 2 1/2 feet tall - and now here I am. Of course there are a couple dozen other things to throw in – like the UN block aid of our traffic route causing a big delay and traffic jams – just so that they could get their vehicles through the intersection faster - they had the guns so I didn’t complain to loudly – but one Haitian walked up through the traffic giving directions to everyone and was seriously considering his approach to the UN personnel before finally backing down.

Asnique is a great cook and I ate very very well while the team was here - too well.    Not sure that I can handle back to back teams – so taking the night off for sure and will likely get back to my regular - what some would say bland - diet of oatmeal and such stuff. Learned this morning from the team that the cereal boxes were also on the menu. Never had them before, but excellent choice of colors and every bit as nutritious. Great timing – was just called for dinner – maybe I’ll go after all. ...... I’m back and I managed to cut back on the quantity – perhaps I’ll try again tomorrow night.

Well, I am tired, will see if I can post this one and then turn in. Same schedule this week at the site as last – will have my work in front of me to stay ahead of the plumbing team – I’m actually starting from behind so I’ll have a little catch-up to do first.

I was browsing some of my pictures tonight and there are tons – hopefully I managed to even get a few that are good enough to post.

Hopefully I’ll get a chance to post a few pics of the building. The painting accomplished by the team is great and it continues tomorrow with Tami and some of the kids from the church. Pastor Michel plans on picking up the real color tomorrow - so perhaps we'll see lots of color going on this week as well. I’ll be getting ready for our regular work team to return while at the same time preparing for the plumbing to move ahead.

Also want to post the new circular staircase from the 1st to the 2nd floor. But may wait until I strip the forms in a week or so.

A few more observations

2010-03-13T21:03:00.001-05:00

Went out today for a motorcycle ride with Dr Ed. We went up the mountain - stopped for lunch at the Baptist Mission.

We were thinking of doing a little off road touring around of the mountains while we were up there, but by the time we finished lunch, it was starting to look like rain so we came back down into the city. We were going to go out and play in the river bed or out past Croix de Bouquet. However as we were going the traffic was really snarled and we hadn't even reached the worst yet - so we decided to call it off. It was a nice ride. A little weaving in traffic (okay a lot), but by Haitian standards an uneventful ride - which is a good thing on a bike. Much cooler up the mountain which was in itself very pleasant.

I am sitting here in the heat (I know no sympathy) - sweating and drinking lots of water. To make up for it though, I have praise and worship coming in over the wall right now as I write. Now that's nice.

It seems that I put aside the actual situation here - its become a new norm - most things are back to "normal". You can readily get gas, water and food. The house has a few small cracks that weren't there before and I still jump up or move away from the outside walls sometimes at the site.

Sometimes, all of a sudden you realize what your are looking at - I noticed today that the side of the mountain had fallen in one spot - and we passed the sand pit were many trucks were buried during the quake when again a large section of the side of the mountain gave away. In the city, I was looking at buildings either turned in rubble or still in the original post quake devastated condition. One place you look out over a ravine with small ravine houses tiered on top of each other - there are large sections that have been turned to rubble by the quake. This site is unfortunately becoming normal.

Did a little research again today. Topic today is concrete building - the current design for floor uses concrete block as infill between the small supporting floor beams - there has got to be a better way - I have read about a few options - these include lightweight concrete using lighter aggregate, recycled plastics and foam. Of course another option might be to leave the void void.

As I have said before - I think that the majority of Haitians in the city here are likely better off than before the earthquake. I have commonly seen food distributions where whole bags of rice are being given out. The idea is to give more less often which should presumably help with crowds and controls. I think that it ends up with Haitians getting more food. I also saw the boys at the site this week with a kind of ration - a self contain food pouch with a chemical heating unit built in. The food was hot - too hot to touch. Now these are both things that you would not have seen before the quake. If people want it, there is ample supplies of food that are still being given for free. Dr Ed confirms that the same is the case in the very large (50,000 plus) tent camp where he provides a clinic - a good supply of food is available. Some of the statisics to support my claims of being better off are the 80% unemployment before the quake; the $2 USD per day average wage. A typical Haitian the we now seeing carrying a bag of rice - and sometimes sitting on two or three bags - would likely never have a full bag of rice in a year before the quake - subsistence living - never having a meal ahead is common place.

Up the mountain - I think is a different story. These people and their way of living was not directly impacted by the quake - they are still living very much the same subsistence lifestyle that the lived before the quake. I did not see the aid organization up the mountain - except possibly to visit the mission for their own pleasure as many teams do. There is an older christian wormen that sits and sells some fruits at the Baptist Mission. She has been there as long as I can remember. She is a "friend" of Dr Ed - she looked after our helmets and watched our bikes for us while we were at the mission. Dr Ed tipped her well as he always does and she is very appreciative of this. The woman has suffered losses - family that were killed in the quake. My sister is sending prayer quilts due to arrive with a team next week and this woman will be recipient number two.

Well an atypical day for me. I've enjoyed my day, enjoyed my ride. Did a little research, thought about work and I guess that preparing the payroll is likely next on my agenda.

Painting La Forteresse

2010-03-11T03:46:00.002-05:00

Yep, that is right! We are talking about painting - and none too soon - painters are arriving next week. Here are some pics hot off the press - colorized by my niece.

We have a team arriving next week. The team will build the circular staircase (previously featured on my website -> circular staircase ) from the first floor to the second floor. They will also paint the first floor and do some additional work for us.

Here are a few options that we are thinking of for painting the first floor. Please note that the colors are not exact.

Pics from the Site

2010-03-02T20:56:00.001-05:00

Well tonight, I thought I'd give you a little update on the site - this one is pictorial.

I should have told you some time ago, that if you click on the picture it will open up a much larger image in your browser. You can also right-click and select from the context menu to open it up in a new window or in a new tab.

The building project is going very well and we are progressing very nicely on the first floor. We are expecting to start painting - next week even to try out some colors and in a big way in two weeks time when our team arrives. I will try to convey to you the location and direction of each picture taken. They are all on the first floor of the building.

For simplicity, I'll say that:

the front of the building is facing east,
the rear of the building is facing west,
one side faces north (toward the ocean), and
the other side faces south.

However, the building is not exactly rectangular nor is the property. And the front of the building more or less faces east but perhaps a little (or a lot) north (or maybe south) of east.

Anyway, here are the pictures.

This picture is taken standing in the center of the building (from side to side) towards the back and facing towards the front and the south side of the building. The door that you see in the upper middle of the picture goes into our electrical room on the first floor. The area behind that is where our front staircase goes up to the second floor. Our main gate to enter into the building is directly in front of the stairs. The floor is covered with a course sand to protect it as we work plastering the beams and ceiling. We have not yet plastered the columns.

This picture is taken from the back of the building looking towards the front on the north side of the building. The windows on the north wall have just been completed but are not yet fully finished. The windows that you see in the front are just partially constructed and will be completed tomorrow.

And again taken from the rear of the building facing towards the front of the building. This picture is taken of the middle section of the main floor. The sky light allows light through, and as the upper floors are completed, the sky light will be removed allowing for better air circulation. In the far front and in the middle, you can see the ramp that allows access to the second floor. We feel that the ramp will be safer than stairs for handling larger numbers of all ages and sizes.

This is a picture of a section of the rear wall. It is taken from the north side facing south west. To the left of the picture are the washrooms.

This picture is taken from the front of the building in the middle section facing the rear of the building. On the left are the washrooms. Again you can see some of the course sand protecting the floor and a little bit of scaffolding.

This final picture is again taken from the front center of the building facing the rear of the building. Towards the south side (left) you see some more of our scaffolding that the workers use while finishing the ceiling. They are just finishing up the last sections of the ceiling. In the middle of the picture of the three washrooms - boys, girls and staff. The doors have been installed. There is still some work to be done on building walls on the south side of the building. This is probably just about the same position that I was in when the earthquake struck on Jan 12th. It was a long way to the South East corner of the building where I exited the building during the quake.

I guess that I didn't make that good of use of my co-ordinate system, but hopefully you get a feel for the progress that we've made and a sense of the layout of the main floor as well. This floor will be a cafeteria to be used for the feeding program.

I must admit that I posted these pics with and alterior motive in mind. I won't tell you just what that is, but as a by product, I hope you enjoy.

Sign of the times

2010-02-27T11:24:00.002-05:00

Sometimes I just sit down and write a new post for my blog, sometimes I need to think about it for a while. I have had a couple of posts on the back of my mind, but they are not forthcoming. So this one will have to do.

For picture readers (like me) sorry no pics today.

My day started very early this morning - was up before 1 a.m. but I'll say my day started at 1. Debated a bit about going back to bed before I finally made a coffee and got things going. Got my books up to date, my payroll. Did some planning and scheduling. Planning on mixing things up a bit at the work site next week.

I was out this morning and did my usual Saturday morning chores. Bought a loaf of bread at Epi D'Or, some onions and tangerines at a local market. I also went back to the Kubota dealer this morning and picked up the fuel filter - finally they had it.

On Friday (yesterday), I went to Epi D'Or for lunch. Had my favorite sub sandwich - actually had to order it - its not automatic any more (as per early post) - so I've been a little less frequent at Epi D'Or. Also from my earlier post, you'll know that its actually cheaper to eat out than it is to prepare my own lunch - at least that's my claim. I've also just found out that I'm susceptible to the placebo effect - so you probably can't really trust for sure anything that I write. The other thing that I've noticed at the supermarket is that the larger size is often more expensive per unit than the smaller package size. Go figure.

When I was eating lunch I noticed - well actually several different people and organizations - but one happened to stand out. It just kinda clicked to me as a sign of the times. Epi D'Or is very popular and often frequented by many different people and we see lots of military there from all nations in full gear and carrying big guns and/or sidearms.

Today I noticed in particular the Salvation Army Emergency Response Team. Now realize this could be about any organization - I am not singling them out - they just happened to be the organization of my observation. I actually noticed them when they were on their way out - there was calmness, no panic, no urgency. They were carrying what I expect were much needed supplies - three boxes the size of cake boxes. I am guessing cakes or maybe pastries inside.

Now I could have picked many different situations as the sign of the time - thought of doing the top 10 signs. However this one somehow seemed particularly indicative of the pulse of the city. I believe that we are in a new state of normal. Things are not the same, and in fact, in some ways likely much better for the majority of the people - at least for the time being and the foreseeable future. It is probably easier right now for the majority of people to get the basics - food and water. Not withstanding that many have lost their homes and their jobs, and friends and family members.

The other observation that I have is regarding tents. They are still popping up everywhere and now it seems we are upgrading. The supply of tents may be dwindling - although there are an incredible number of tents around the city. There are also many tarps and bed sheet constructed roofs and walls. These are held up by anything that can possibly work - often a neighbors pole is shared. One day last week at the site, I noticed that everything has been cut down on the property next to us. There were many small trees and plants - anything including stalky plants that might be able to make a pole. Initially I had thought that it was being used as fuel for cooking - but then I realized that they were commonly 4,5 or 6 ft long. I have since noticed in many many other places people carrying similar poles.

While the tenting is obviously needed in many cases, there are also a large number of people who will not return into their houses - eventhough their houses suffered little or no damage. The recent tremors only add to that fear. Right now space is becoming a premium and while tents do offer a better shelter - they also take up a lot more space.

I am thinking that shelter is likely the biggest concern for most right now. The rainy season is upon us. We have had some rain and the majority of the shelters are not waterproof. The locations used are any place at all where a makeshift shelter can be erected and are far from ideal locations. With rain, they will turn to mud and/or erode.

I sleep indoor, but quite honestly, I can't say that I always sleep that well. Our buildings where we live have some cracks and these have become a little bit more noticeable since the recent tremors. Now I am not fearful of these - I think they are well within acceptable tolerances - I wouldn't be indoors if I felt that there was an unacceptable risk. Our home has withstood all the tremors and is in remarkable shape - not perfect - but remarkable. You need to take the building style into consideration in assessing the damage. The strength in the building structure varies depending on the style of construction. Most homes are confined masonry and have their own unique characteristics. The good news is that even with relatively poor workmanship they survive well. Much of downtown that collapsed are multiple floors reinforced concrete - columns and beams - this style does not stand up particularly well when insufficiently designed combined with poor workmanship.

I must apologize for my writing style - we will call it conversational. I am just writing as I go and I realize there are lots of tangents. Thanks for putting up with me, hopefully you find some of this useful.

I realize that there are a large number of people in Canada that are praying for the needs and the people of Haiti. And especially for our safety. We truly appreciate your prayer support and we seek the guidance and direction of our Lord and Savour in our lives daily.

Windows - Part 2

2010-02-24T05:43:00.001-05:00

This is the second installment on the windows for the new building.

Please excuse the construction debris that you see in the picture. We are far from done - but this section is actually starting to clean up - since the ceiling and beams have been completed.

To the right of the picture, you see a column in the forefront and another separting the windows. These columns are 6m apart or about 20 ft.

To the left in the picture you can see the staff washroom. It has the first coat of crepisage applied, but still requires a second coat of finer crepisage for finishing. The wall was slightly damaged by the earthquake and it has been repaired.

Now for the ink blob test. Does this help?

Tremors

2010-02-23T21:20:00.002-05:00

You have likely already heard that we've had new tremors here in Haiti - last night and the night before.

I did not feel the one on Sunday night, nor did it wake me up. However my response was much different last night. The first one last night was about 1:30 in the morning and the second one was about 20 minutes later. I popped out of bed very quickly on the first and was able to fully appreciate the second. They were short - but time seems to really slow down so that we can really appreciate the moment.

I was asked in the morning how strong I thought the earthquake was. I compared it to the others and estimated between 4.5 and 5.0 and then revised my estimate to 4.7. This was not a skill I had planned to develop while in Haiti. But unfortunately I seem to have enough experience now to have some degree of accuracy.

I understand that a few buildings toppled from Sunday nights tremor and I would expect that the same might be true of last nights tremors as well. Looking at some of the buildings that you see still standing, you can understand that it wouldn't take very much at all to make them come down and I guess these tremors are enough to do exactly that.

At the worksite, I've had a few false alarms over the last couple of weeks. Sometimes I get an uneasy feeling if I am sitting on a block wall along the edge of the building - so I move. Sometimes its a loud bang or vibrations that go through the building from someone dropping a heavy block or scaffold on the floor.

Last night was basically the same. The tremors were strong but quick - you get over them. After the tremors, I layed in bed for a while - but apparently I did eventually go back to sleep, because I do remember waking up in the morning. There was a lot of disturbances outside after the tremors - a lot of chatter among the people who are sleeping outdoors, dogs were restless etc.

Of course as I am writing this, I am listening to praise and worship coming from the yard next door. There is a bunch of kids from the church staying there and they have praise and worship each night and each morning.

5 am - is not my typical time to get up in Canada - it still comes early for me. So guess I'll keep this post short. I'll have the pics tomorrow for Windows Part 2. Don't forget your homework was to look for the pattern in the block.

Windows

2010-02-21T14:51:00.001-05:00

I am starting this entry on my blog on Sunday and will likely finish it on Monday or Tuesday. We have had great progress at the site - we are working on the first floor doing the finishing including repairing any damage to block walls that was caused by the earthquake. It is moving ahead very nicely. I will issue a little more comprehensive update or progress report on my website, but not likely until the end of March. We have a team coming mid-March and they will complete a couple of significant components that I would like to be able to report on as well.

We have a team here and yesterday we did a little tour of PAP with the team. We drove down into the main part of the old city of PAP - we actually live here in a suburb of PAP - the city of Delmas.

The old city received heavy damage during the earthquake as did the palace. I am armed with lots of pictures - but I am sure that you have already seen many pictures of the palace and the devastation in that area - so I may post just a few in another blog entry.

I have seen this area many times before the earthquake - it is crowded with people - markets on every street and very very busy. Some of the streets were still like that when we were there yesterday, but many others were almost empty. When you look at the damage and the rubble, I cannot imagine the number of people that would have been seriously injured and killed by falling debris during the earthquake.

So, I am a little off topic here, but just wanted to share that with you.

This past week at the worksite, we started installing the decorator block that we are using for windows on the main floor. Using block as windows is a common building style here in Haiti. We choose a block that we felt had a nice pattern to it and that was also fairly open to allow air to pass through.

The process started slow - very slow. Essentially when we lay a block wall, there is not too much attention paid to where the block goes - you just cut the last one in the row, or adjust accordingly at the top. 1/2 blocks or 1/2 rows are no problem with regular block - its all covered anyway with crepisage.

Of course I had a plan for the decorator block and I changed the rules - side to side mattered and top to bottom mattered. I wanted each row and each block precisely placed to achieve the overall effect. I did my calculations ahead of time and cut measuring sticks for each block and for the overall height. Put the sticks into effect. Initially the mason didn't want to use them - just lay the blocks like any other wall. When I got him to use them - then accuracy became a challenge. The mortar joints were at least as wide as - but not precisely as wide as. The row heights met the same challenge. The mason insisted that the mortar joint was the right size when it was close - out by say up to 1/2 cm - but each little bit extra added to the overall problem and I saw our spacing at the top row deteriorating rapidly. Of course my command of the language added to the challenge. By the end of day 1, I was pulling out my hair. Luckily I had just cut it -so it was too short to have much of an impact. Day 2 improved and by day 3 (Friday) we seemed to be more or less on track. Looking forward to getting back at it tomorrow.

You actually got the shorter version of the story. I didn't go into how my new "rules"constantly came back to bite me nor how the blocks were bigger than their stated sizes.

Now for a couple of pics.

You will note the tin roof of our neighbour just outside the window. It's a bakery and you often get the smell of fresh bread wafting into the building. You sometimes get the urge to buy some bread until you look down through their window into the bakery. It would definitely fail a health inspection in Canada.

At the bottom middle of the picture you will see the metal lath that we put into the mortar joint between the rows of blocks. It helps to strengthen the window.

In the picture the mason is on the right hand side and his helper on the left. We've finally got the first two rows placed (day 1) and starting to go up.

In the second picture the pattern of the window block is starting to emerge. The masons and the helper that you see at the bottom of the picture are apply crepisage to the block wall below the window. This window will surround the full floor - approximately 21m x 24m (irreg). The pattern allows lots of light and air to enter the building.

Like in an ink blob test - can you tell me the pattern that you see - think deeper than simple circles and lines/triangles.

Early in the week, I'll update with a picture of the completed window - ready for final finishing (petit crepisage) along with the answer to the ink blob test.

Balloon

2010-02-20T20:15:00.009-05:00

Well, folks be forwarned that this article may be controversial. I have written about many different things on my blog. I never thought that this would be one of the subjects. But why not. I had my balloon pricked tonight - so to speak.

So, thought to myself - I wonder.... so I went to my favorite reference source - the "public library" aka the internet. And this is what I found out - the use of high doses of vitamin C is controversial!

In my family its been a generational thing - and yes, I've passed it on down to my own sons. I am not a regular user of vitamin C - just a high dose user when ever I would feel the effects of a cold coming on. It sure worked for me, or at least it used to. Told tonight that it's likely just a placebo effect - ouch.

Depending on what sites you visit - this is what you might find out:

at quackwatch.org - you will find out after a long dissertation on "scientific principles and biases" that through numerous studies and experiments, it was determined that high doses of vitamin C were ineffective. However, I am wondering - just solely based on the url - if I can trust this site.
Chris Gupta says that the vitamin C fanatics were right all along. Chris, now that's a name you can trust! I didn't read the article though - the headline proved it for me.
And, at the vitamin C foundation - they tell us not to forget to take high doses of vitamin C during the winter. Yes, that's all winter long! I'm inclined to go with this one - after all it agrees with me and its a foundation and so its gotta be right.
I have also learned that the studies used to establish the RDA were flawed. The RDA is way to low and should be much higher. If we would only increase or daily intake it would reduce several other afflictions.

Well, in my case, I have not been a regular user of vitamin C - just a high dosage user when I feel the onset of a cold. So, really only points 1 and 3 above might apply to my particular case.

Thinking back, I do recall one other cure from my childhood that certainly worked. We had this awful home made concoction that, as I recall, included brown sugar and garlic. Secret family recipe passed down through many generations (but stopped at mine). I just remember how horrible it was. Absolutely terrible. I know that it worked - I also know how it worked - it scared the cold right out of us - or at least the symptoms when we were at home.

Isn't there a cough syrup that advertises that it tastes awful but it works. I am left wondering exactly how it works.

So, back to vitamin C. Although I have a very reputable and trusted source that votes for the placebo effect, I just can't accept that right now. I am sticking with a slightly modified Vitamin C Foundation recommendation - my intake is when needed, not all winter long. Its worked for me in the past and afterall you gotta go with the foundation.

By the way great progress at the worksite - likely do a post on this sometime next week. Just need to get you one more picture so that you can really appreciate.

House Construction

2010-02-15T19:30:00.001-05:00

Hard to believe that its Monday evening already. Looking back, I won't say that I had Friday off. We didn't work at the new building, so I ended up spending the day in a much different way.

When I was having breakfast on Friday, I was thinking about my day. All that changed in a hurry. I heard the generator and it was not running smoothly. Figured something was up and shortly after that, Pastor Michel came and asked me to have a look at it. I think I talked about this on Friday, so just a little update. Looked for the filters on Friday - no luck. Looked again on Saturday - again, no luck - I know where to find them. Its a Kubota diesel generator and there is only one place listed in Haiti as a dealer - so I guess only one place to get parts. Tried to look up part numbers on the internet to see if I could get a substitute - possibly from another application - but no luck on that either.

When businesses are closed, its not always obvious why - is it as a result of the quake - many are still closed even when they don't appear from the outside to be damaged. I had asked Pastor Michel to try for the parts today, but I don't think that he went in that direction. Perhaps tomorrow. We seem to be limping along okay for the time being.

The weekend really turned out to be a work weekend (again). Even missed my ride with the guys up the mountain on Saturday morning. Instead, did a bit of maintenance here at the house, a little book work and did some research.

I have been looking into how to build an earthquake resistant house. There actually seems to be a fair bit of good information available on the internet. However, it may not be that straight forward to apply here in Haiti.

I am talking about small one room houses that are common in the ravines around us. They are typically 4M x 4M and about 2.6M high.

I am in the process of designing one. And the design is not all that different from what you would normally find in the ravine - a few design changes and a few improvements though in terms of workmanship are definitely required. I think that'll mean close supervision.

There are two basic approaches to building with concrete/block. The first approach is Reinforced Concrete Frame - basically you erect the frame of the building first - Columns, Beams and floors and then fill in the walls afterward. The walls are not structural and in fact sometimes negatively influence the Frame of the building. This approach is more costly, but the best approach for larger buildings. If NOT properly built, these buildings fall done rather easily in an earthquake!

The second approach is called Confined Masonry - where you build the walls first and fill in the "columns/beams" second. Confined Masonry is cheaper to build, requires less forming and fewer skills. The walls are load bearing - the columns are not. Ideally a good quality clay brick is better suited for this type of construction. This construction style is ideally suited for 1-2 floors, but there are lots of cases where 4 or even more floors are built using this style.

Confined Masonry is the building style used for most houses and small businesses here in Haiti. However concrete block is used and not clay brick. The block is of poor quality as is the workmanship around the iron work, and the mixing and pouring concrete beams and columns.

We've been surveying our church members and assessing the level of damage sustained to their houses. There have been reported back to us that about 27 fell down completely and about 1 in 10 is damaged. We plan to provide assistance in rebuilding and restoring damaged houses and are in the process of determining exactly how that will work. As an example - the Haitians are afraid to go indoors - especially to sleep. So, we are thinking that it is not going to help very much if we repair or rebuild a house, but it remains empty because the occupants won't go back inside. We are also thinking that it could cause a stir in the neighborhoods. People will be saying why not me? Emphasis on emotion!

We feel that when we rebuild a house, we should take the extra care to make sure that the house is better able to withstand an earthquake. Realize though that there is only so much that we can reasonably do to accomplish this. We are limited to the skills and the materials available. There has been some rumours that even the material might not be available - that the various levels of gov't might want to close the gravel and sand pits to maintain a supply for rebuilding gov'ts infrastructure.

Oh yes, and I've also started a guestimate of the materials and costs to build one of these houses.

Anyway - just a little update to let you know what I've been up to lately.

Will likely finish the questimate and do a little more research. I am not really liking the concrete block option - so thinking about ways to bolster this a little - I've added crepisage as a must (to help strengthen) and thinking about upsizing the block.

Pics

2010-02-12T15:47:00.002-05:00

While I was out today, got a few pics that I thought I'd share. Perhaps tomorrow, I'll get some more.

During the week, I travel to and from the worksite - a short route, not very far, and I do not go onto any of the major roads - kinda nice because it does avoid much of the morning traffic. However, at the same time, I am kinda isolated - you see some damage in our immediate area that is from the earthquake - but not the devastation that has occurred in many other areas. Focused on the worksite all the time, it is easy during the week to forget about those around us.

We do have a new normal - this includes tenting and makeshift shelters, singing and praying are common, and now we are seeing food distribution as becoming a much more common site as well. Typically food distribution will be busy with people - some sort of military presence for security and control - and people walking carrying sacs of rice. I was somewhat surprised when I first saw this - I was thinking that it would be dispersed in much smaller quantities and to many more people - however that doesn't seem to be the way it happens. The co-ordination of the distribution requires a lot of effort, so it actually makes sense to give out larger quantities and do so less often.

Here is a pic of people just coming from one distribution point. I saw hundreds of people coming in this manner carrying bags of rice - as the number of people dwindled - I then saw the military vehicles leaving from the point of distribution.

I also know of smaller scale distribution which is handled more discretely where small amounts of food are being hand delivered to people within their communities. This can be done discretely without drawing a lot of attention.

The makeshift shelters that I've talked about are all over the city. Any empty space has been changed into "housing" and makeshift shelters as people have either lost their homes or are afraid to go back indoors. The makeshift shelters are exactly that - they are normally made from sheets and sometimes tarps that are tied up using bits of cord and twine and poles that are usually branches or sometimes boards. These shelters are being replaced with tents - many tents have been donated and are replacing the makeshift shelters. The rotary club is one organization that is placing a very large number of tents thoughout the city. I first saw them at a hospital being distributed through Shelter Box, but I now see them being distributed through a number of aid organizations.

And one final picture. As I have said, many buildings have either partially or completely collapsed as a result of the earthquake. Equipment such as a High Hoe is used to go through the remains and recover bodies. I have talked about the demolition of the building as this happens. Thought I'd show you a picture of what is left when the High Hoe is done.
The brownish mass that you see in the very middle of the picture is rebar from the building that has been stripped out of the concrete as the high goes through the building bit by bit. As you can see from the rubble around the rebar, not much is left.

I also have a picture of the building next door to the one that has been turned into rubble. The top two floors collapsed completely, but the main floor seems to be still standing. I do not know why this building was not also demolished at the same time, perhaps there was no need to recover bodies from this building.

Haitians can be very opportunistic - especially in the city. The competition is high and any little edge can make a difference. I guarantee you that there are Haitains who are taking advantage of this situation - they will get what they can - sometimes whether they need it or not - they will still take advantage of the opportunity for free aid/free assistance. You will no doubt see or here of aid freely given and in turn this is now being sold in the markets - you will find tarps, tents, and food for sale by locals in the markets. Please don't let this deter you and your own personal support for the need and the needy of this country. Most importantly - do not let it impact you - it is not yours to judge and it is not yours to own.

Day Off and its Friday

2010-02-12T14:47:00.000-05:00

I have the day off today from the work site. Today is sort of a national holiday. I asked the men at work if they wanted to work today, but they quickly said that they wanted the day off. However, my day hasn't been exactly my own to plan.
First a little housekeeping. Had breakfast, but not my normal - oats (raw, just flakes, not cooked) with powdered milk - yummy - today was eggs because I had run out of oats. While I was eating breakfast, I heard the generator running - but it wasn't running smoothly - thought to myself - guess I should look into that. Just a minute or so later, Pastor Michel came upstairs in the guest house to ask me to look at it. By this time he had shut the generator down.

After I finished breakfast, I went down to look. Of course you know what happens - I started the generator and it was working fine - running smoothly. I noted though that the fuel filter looked dirty and thought that it should be changed. Went to look for one in the tool room, but didn't find one. By this time, the generator was still running better than before, but a little bit unevenly.

The generator was needed for power today to run the services being held by Pastor Michel for the national day of prayer.

I decided that I should go get a filter, but before I did that, that I should clean the current one, so that it would hopefully run better while I was away. Did that, of course each time you break into the fuel system on a diesel, you want to make sure that you get the air out so that it will start again - air in the system with a diesel fuel pump is not a good thing. I purged the air. Bit rough to get it going, but not too much trouble.

Now, I was dirty and thought I'd better clean up a bit first; and with the diesel now running, it was also a perfect opportunity for me to get a load of laundry started. Did that too - or so I thought. Had a few power issues to work out on the washing machine - hooked up the water and once I had done that got my laundry started. In North America, there is so much convenience - the machine is just ready to go - all hooked up - just turn it on, and any time you want - day or night. Simply not so here.

Off I went to get the fuel filters that I needed. Noted on my way how light the traffic was - incredibly light - the rough roads that are usually bad to go on and congested with traffic were a breeze on my bike without the other traffic to contend with. And on some of the main roads I was able to get up to 80-90 kms/hr.

Should have been a clue - circled around past a hardware store that I wanted to go to - it was closed. Clue #2 and then I went on to the place that has the parts for the generator - they are both in the same vicinity and down towards the airport. Also closed.

On my way down, I was forced to make a few detours. The first one was on a main road that I use - Delmas 31 - the army had it blocked - as I looked up past the roadblock, I really couldn't see a reason, but it was cordoned off - I thought about asking if I could get through - but decided wiser - there guns were pretty big and there were many of them - just one of me. Thought I'd take another road and detour around - went down it a little ways before I decided I had better backtrack and go another - more traditional route.

I am guessing that there may have been food distribution going on and the area may have been cordoned off to control the flow of people. The reason that I think this might be so, was that as I approached the roadblock I saw a number of people carrying bags of rice on their heads - this is becoming a very common sight as food distribution is occurring by many different organizations throughout the city on a regular basis.

So, I turned around and went another way. Again along the way there are many side streets that are more or less equivalent to get you to where you want to go. Selected one of them and went down - about a block down, I could see rubble from a building covering the street and I knew that I wouldn't get through - so again I back tracked. Selected a street a couple more over and went through with no trouble.

In Haiti you drive by sight - i.e. turn at the red building. Sight doesn't work so good anymore becuase many of the landmarks are now gone. Thought that I might have been lost a couple of times, but came out okay.

I decided that since the traffic was so light, that on my way back up to the house, I would swing by the main road - Delmas. So I did that. Again not much traffic and I breezed along - don't think I stopped all the way up except to take a couple of pics and again at times likely go up to about 80 kms/hr on Delmas as well - certainly a first for me.

Oh, and my laundry - never got it done, its now soaking and waiting. After it washed about 5 minutes - I guess the generator was shut off and someone turned the machine off - there are many things that we don't run on batter power - refrigerators and washing machines are among them.

The generator seems to be running okay for now - that won't last - we do need to change the fuel filter. Problem number two - broken water pipe - not that uncommon - no hardware stores are open today - so it'll still be on the list for tomorrow along with trip #2 to get fuel filters for the generator.

Lunch

2010-02-12T14:05:00.000-05:00

I am sometimes puzzled by the economy on a micro or personal level. Take lunch today as an example.

I am eating my lunch right now as I am writing this. I had actually gone to Epi D'Or (a local establishment) to get a sandwich for lunch. It was however so busy at the sandwich counter that I stopped just inside the door, assessed the situation and decided to go to plan "B". They make very good sub sandwiches at Epi D'Or - my favorites is call the Marsailles - ham and cheese on a sub sandwich - heated/toasted in an oven, then topped with lettuce, tomatoes, onion and sauce. Very good. I guess I must eat lunch there more often than I think - I went in one time around noon to buy some bread and the girl at the cash automatically rang in my sandwich.

Okay, so its very good and it costs 90 Gds - that's about $2.50 Cdn.

Today I went to plan B - went up the street to the supermarket. Bought some cold meat - salami - and took it home to make lunch. The cold meet alone cost me over 300 Gds.

Guess I'll stay with plan A next time.

More Pics

2010-02-05T05:07:00.003-05:00

Well, now that I got that currency lesson out of the way - guess I can give you one or two more pics.

I've setup a spreadsheet to manage our expenses. In order to do so, I had to setup formulas for currency calculations which include lookups of exchange rates for gourdes, Haitian dollars and USD. A bit of a touchy point everytime I go through my receipts and update my expenses. The formulas that I've setup are automatic and work nicely.

Okay enough of that. What do I have for you.

I will begin with a picture. This is one of a helicopter that's just landed. Just out of the picture is an ambulance with a young boy. The boy has a badly broken pelvis and there is no facility in the PAP area that can look after it properly. The boy is being airlifted to another hospital outside the city - I believe it is possibly in Jacmel - where they are able to provide appropriate treatment. I know that with adolescents especially the diagnosis and the approach to treatment can be very difficult. My oldest son badly broke his ankle when he was about 14. We were out of town at the time - but still in a larger center. They wanted to operate there to set it, but I decided that I wanted to get him to sick kids in Ottawa where I felt the skill might be a little more qualified in this age group and type of injury. The Drs in Ottawa couldn't agree right away - but after about a day or so, decided that surgery was the best route.

The location of the airlift is from Quesqueya Chapel - the church that I attend here in Haiti. I just happened to be there at the time. They have run many clinics there and food distribution there since the quake.

So, this is chopper picture number two on my site - hope you enjoy. Had to make it just a little bit painful to get to the picture - thanks for reading this far - I have a real treat in store for you after the picture.

I am becoming Haitian. My skin is a little darker than it would normally be in our nothern climate at this time of year. Still find it hot here though and drink lots of water to compensate for the porous skin that I've developed here. But of course that's not my main point. I used to muse with the stuff I see being carried on motor cycles - not any more - because I've joined the club. I have been hauling 5 gallon jugs of water on my bike - not that might now sound like a great feat, but there is really no appropriate place to put the 5 gallon jug - so it gets a little dicey. Then two days ago, I went for gas. Now our gas containers are leaky jugs - so I decided not to take the 5 gallon gas container - went back to the house and got a leaky 1 gallon container - much better approach right! Well got the container filled and juggled it on my lap using arms, elbows, knees and the occasional hand to keep the leaky jug more or less positioned as I bounced along the rough (we are in Haiti) roads. Got to the site - which is on a steep uphill incline - which by the way has been recently partially filled with pieces of broken block wall and broken concrete pieces. No easy feat to navigate over on fairly level terrain - let alone uphill, turning, through a gate, while juggling a can of gas. Mostly successful, but kissed the gate a bit hard on the way through and kinda dumped my bake on the down ramp while still juggling that can of gas. I tried to get my camera out in the middle of all of this, but it just didn't work. I'm sure you excuse me for not having a picture of this one. I am thinking if Darwin was only right - I am sure that I'd been able to pull it off. You can see my blog entry on Darwin for details if you dare.

Yesterday was experience number two. Carried welding rods, three spools of electrical wire, and three brooms to the site. Again, couldn't get a good picture, my arms weren't long enough. But kinda reminded me (and I am sure those watching me pass by) of the wicked witch seen on the broom in The Wizard of OZ. Minus the nose, hat, etc - thought I should clarify.

So, after all that I am now feeling like an experienced Haitian motorcycle driver. You may know that I just recently got my Haitian drivers licence with my motorcycle endorsement to make it all legal.

The kids here at the church appreciated the effort that we put in together as a team at the school when we went down to rescue Gandy just after the quake. We tried but as you know we were not successful - we did recover his body on the Thursday. I think a little bonding took place with the team - we shared a terrible and heart wrenching experience and we worked hard at it. There was a lot of good that also happened of course - including the four that were rescued, clinics that we held both here at Haiti Ministries and at the school. Anyway some of the youth told me after that event that I was now Haitian - not Canadian. I am not about to give up on my Canadian status just yet - even the embassy experience can't get me to do that - I still have a little snowbird blood. However, its also nice to feel a little bit more at home here too.

Well its now past 5 am, the roosters are crowing and its time to get up. So, I'll get my day going. Chow for now. Please let me know if you've read anything from Darwin on natural selection specifically as it relates to longer arms (or more arms) it could use that/those on my motorcycle sometimes.

Currency

2010-02-05T04:19:00.001-05:00

I just finished updating our payroll and our expenses for the project. We are coming along nicely - not planning on giving any details here in this post - but we are roughly looking at completing this phase of the project by the end of March or thereabouts.

Thought I'd give you a quick lesson in Haitian currency. One thing that you must realize is that Haiti is unique and so is its currency. For you picture lovers - that's me - I have an image of a bank note below - I think we can call it a bank note here in Haiti.

This bank note is 250 gourdes. So far so good. The exchange rate is about 40:1 with the American dollar - and fluctuates - so the note above is worth about $6.25 USD.

Its easy to get into the habit of thinking that the gourde isn't worth that much - and it isn't - however it does still add up! For me at least - its a little bit hard to know when it's starting to add up. Take 1,000 gourdes for example - whats that worth - I can't tell you off the top of my head, I have to do the math to figure out that its about $25.00 - so that's starting to add up. When you buy something at the grocery store and its say 349 gourdes - is that expensive or not? I know, it depends on what the item is, but its not always all that easy to convert it. To make matters a little worse for us Canadians - we actually need to do yet another conversion to a fluctuating dollar to figure out how that purchase impacts our budget. Since I have been here I have seen the conversion rate for the Canadian dollar go anywhere from par with the USD to about 1.25. That's a 25% impact on your budget right there.

Now in Haiti there is another currency that is commonly used. Its called the Haitian Dollar. It's conversion rate is fixed at 5 gourdes per Haitian Dollar. This is not a legal currency - there is no Haitian Dollar bank note - its just commonly used. I never new why. I was recently told that when the UN first came to Haiti - the American dollar was worth about 5 gourdes - so the people started using the Haitian Dollar as an equivalent to the USD. The common currency of the common people is the Haitian Dollar. But's its illegal. However many stores and especially small businesses and street vendors still operate and price using Haitian Dollars.

Depending on the store, the currency may be in USD, Haitian Dollars or Gourdes. Most markets and street vendors work in Haitian Dollars. Kinda confusing - I know.

One thing that I noticed is how easy it was for vendors to operated in Haitian Dollars (HD) - I was really impressed with their math - because they could convert from gourdes to HD so quickly. Much much faster than I. What actually happens, is that they have worked in Haitian Dollars for so long - they do not see the number on the bill. The above bank note for example is worth $50 HD. When they look at the bank note - they do not see 250 they actually "see" 50. Ask them to count in Gourdes and they cannot. They will count HD, then get out their calculator and do the math (x*5 gives you gourdes). I was amazed when I first saw this.

A grocery market near us recently - perhaps in Dec - converted their pricing in the store from HD to gourdes. After the conversion - the tellers started using their calculators - they did not know how to make change in gourdes. They would total the purchase - then go to the calculator - convert the total amount from gourdes to HD, then substract that from the amount (in HD) that you gave them to calculate the change, then count out the change in HD and give you your change.

They now have my problem in reverse. When I look at the above bank note, I see 250 - I find it difficult to count it as 50 - I am getting used to that though - since I need to work in HD often - including my payroll for the site. When they look at it - they "see" 50 and find it difficult to count it as 250.

Just thought that I'd give you that little lesson.

Now a truck of sand (7 m^2) is 3850 that's in gourdes. I also pay the driver $400 HD for trucking. Is that expensive or reasonable. I now have experience with these numbers and know that's a good price and to know the difference between gourdes and HD.

Apply it to everyday life and its not all that easy.

Update

2010-02-02T20:21:00.002-05:00

Well, its been five days since I've written on my blog.

Again, another posting without pictures - after today - I realize that I need to get the camera out - I saw the most hilarious vehicle today.

Passed a weekend in that time as well. Saturday was, well, almost a day off. Certainly the closest to one in a long while. I called a friend for a bike ride in the morning, but he couldn't. He is the one that I conned (or that conned me into the trip over the mountain (actually mountains - many mountains). We've only been riding once I think since I've been back - I'm worried. So, hopped on my bike and went down to see another friend. He was feeling a bit sick - and in no mood for a bike ride. Their house collapsed in the quake. His wife was in it at the time but escaped with just bumps and bruises. She and there adopted (in progress) daughter have gone back to the states for the time being. He is doing well, but living out of a van at his garage. He is working/volunteering as a forklift driver at the airport. Says he hasn't damaged too many passenger planes badly - but next time you board a flight glance out the terminal window at the side of your plane just in case. He is actually doing awesome work and one of the cogs in the wheel that gets all the good stuff to where it should go.

Was feeling a little weathered myself in the afternoon. So changed plans and curled up with a good sermon and my bible for the afternoon and evening - awesome. Pastor Bill Johnson spoke out of Nehemiah 6.

We are making great progress at the site.

The boys sometimes don't know how to react to me. I am joking of course at times - but they are not always sure - there just has to be the possibility that maybe.... There are a few that I can get just about every time and repeatedly. I see the other boys laughing when I start - they can see it in my face I guess - but some can't There is one boy here at the church that I've completely blown my cover with - his automatic position is to laugh - I need to set him up with something good. Anyway back to the site. I got one boy several times today - I'd be walking by him and suddenly stop - surprised to seem him - what's he doing here - when did he come. About 4 or 5 times today he actually tried to convince me that I saw him first thing this morning - he even tells me the very first thing that I asked him to do. I see the other boys of course behind grinning.

I was working at our gate at the top of our property and our neighbor across the street from the worksite came to me today - he has just moved into the house across the street - in Dec and paid the rent for a year - that is typical here. He is not sure if his house is safe to live in. Of course like most haitians - afraid after the quake - they are camping outside in their own yard. I looked around the house with him. There are many fine cracks - but mostly in block walls - not too concerned about that, however there are a few cracks along ceilings and beams - little more concern and several fine cracks right across ceilings and between/within columns and beams. These I'd be a little more concerned about - but they are not opened up. I suggested - given the number of cracks and some in key places that he should call his landlord and have the landlord inspect. I am not so sure that his landlord will do the inspection.

He also mentioned his need for food and water - so I think that I'll follow up with him on that tomorrow. I don't believe that I have seen a water truck stop along this street since we've been back at work - and I don't know the status of his family in terms of income and the impacts of the quake. I do know that his immediate family is well, but that he lost a cousin. He speaks a little english and I a little (move - thats Kreyole for bad) Kreyole - so we communicate okay.

Went down to the hardware store at the end of our street to pick up some cement this morning. The hardware store is at a very busy intersection - lots of traffic typically goes by - especially at 7:30 am. The man that loads the cement wasn't there yet so I had to wait a few minutes. While I was waiting, I was talking to the owner and watching the traffic. You see all sorts of stuff, but this one particular vehicle was very unique - I really wish that I had the picture to show you. The driver was driving along as unconcerned as ever - however the car was missing a few parts - obviously it had wheels tires, a motor and everything required to make it go. Stop I don't know, but it was moving - so it could go. The floor was there, the fenders and I think a hood - the back end was basically gone, the roof was gone, no drivers door and no rear door on the drivers side, The passenger door was half there - the top was gone, the rear door on the passenger side had glass, the top half of the steering wheel was missing, there was no roof, no windshield, no rear window, no trunk. It looked just like something out of the salvage yard - that was about 1/2 gone. At one point - our eyes caught and we both grinned.

I also saw rice distribution from a bit of a distance from the same vantage point. Many people were coming down the hill with bags of rice - large - i'd say likely 50 lbs bags - lots of people and lots of bags. I asked the hardware store owner and he indicated to me that the Catholic church just over the top of the hill was doing the distribution - this church collapsed completely in the quake. The people seemed orderly and I didn't see the competition for the rice - however I also couldn't see the point of distribution. By the time this scene was clearing - I saw a UN vehicle come down the same hill with about 15 plus or minus troops, then followed shortly after by two US military vehicles again carrying troops. I can't help but think the security was there to aid in the distribution of the food.

I have heard it said a few times that "people" who "see" the way some things are done - ie dropping food - don't understand why it is done that way and think it should be done differently. Of course there are always going to be critics - always a better way. Some seem to think so, but a week in Haiti does not make an expert. I know many people that have been here 5 or more years - and I think with all of them, the question isn't have they been robbed - the question is how many times have they been robbed. The reality on the ground here in Haiti is disarray, confusion, contention and those that would rob and loot and take from others. That is why in tent cities, you commonly find groups banded together - to protect themselves and their resources (food). I saw recently where there was an attempt to highjack a food convoy - I am sure not an isolated incident. Highjackings, kidnappings, looting and robbing were going on long before the earthquake and if anything is helping to keep a lid on it - then that would be the local police and the military presence. Doctors, food, water are escorted - why is that? Because where there is need - there are those in Haiti that want to take advantage of the resource over and above others - its a way of survival - especially in PAP.

We live in an imperfect world - just ask me, unfortunately I have experience. But there is another side to this coin - we know that one day it will all be perfected and we will no longer need to drop food on people. Our God is a great God and His mercy endures forever.

Okay, as for pictures tomorrow I'll take my camera. Promise.

Update

2010-01-28T04:57:00.002-05:00

Well, thought that I'd give you another little update on what is happening here. Please realize that this is just my own personal view on what is happening around us. I am not going out of my way looking for stories nor for issues to work through.

Yes, I know, I'm lacking pictures for the picture readers. That would be me. Got lots of words for you though - you'll have to imagine the pictures.

Think that I heard just recently of a reporter who said that the issues in dealing with the medical situations here is not the availability of doctors - that its availability of supplies and facilities number one and possibly the logistics of placing the doctors is number two. I think that my blog entry regarding our own personal experiences with the medical team came to that very same conclusion - long before the reporter.

I really have no specific purpose for this blog entry, so I'm likely going to ramble a bit. You've been forewarned.

Well, today, we worked at the site. I had two people drop by looking for work. This is not uncommon - but I think the sense of urgency or desperation was a little stronger. Unfortunately, I cannot hire everyone that comes along.

I have been riding my motorcycle a lot the last few days. Since we were able to finally purchase some gas. Actually, noticed that the gas station that we frequently go to looked more like normal. It was open, but without all the congestion and frenzy of people trying to get some fuel before they run out. There were a couple of vehicles at the pumps, being serviced normally. No propane yet - and somehow it makes you wonder if the fuel supplies will last. The roads are certainly busy again - so people are able to buy fuel - the tap taps are everywhere again - all good signs.

I am seeing what appears to me to be lots of heavy equipment working on the collapsed buildings. While I think that there may be a little bit of search and rescue going on, I believe that it has mostly changed to treatment of injured and the recovery of bodies. The smell of death that I talked about being so strong the first few days is clearing. Large areas where the smell was horrible after the 2nd day have been cleared. The heavy equipment will go through the ruins of a collapsed building floor by floor - stripping away the concrete piece by piece and recovering bodies as they go. Many buildings that had completely collapsed - layered floor on floor just after the earthquake - have now been turned into a pile of rubble as the heavy equipment goes through the whole building bit by bit recovering the bodies.

As I said earlier, I have been using my motorcycle a fair bit the last few days. It is a lot easier to get through traffic for one thing and to get around other obstacles for another. Here in Haiti, motorcycles do not wait in traffic - you essentially have 3 or 4 options: you can go up the shoulder of the road, you can go up the center line, you can use the opposite side of the road as long as you duck out of the way for oncoming traffic, and finally you can do a mix of all of the above - weave up through the traffic. It seems to be quite well accepted, rarely do you have a vehicle that will not co-operate with you. The number of obstacles has increased and includes concrete and tangled metal from buildings, sometimes some broken furniture, perimeter walls that have fallen and people "camping" on the street. Often streets are blocked or partially blocked when "camps" have been setup on the street. Oh yes, there is now one other obstacle - heavy equipment that is working on recovery from the ruins. I have seen many buildings being demolished in this way, but I have only seen one building that was demolished and completely removed from the site by dump truck.

On my way home the other day, a got into a little bit of traffic in an area that is normally pretty clear. So, seeing that there wasn't any traffic coming the other way, I zipped up the lane for oncoming traffic. When I got to the front, found a power line down - I guess the pole had just toppled for some reason. One nice thing about Haiti and its power distribution is that the lines are never (well almost never) live during the day - so its reasonably safe to go over/through/around downed lines. So, that's exactly what I did - as did the traffic (now behind me) only a little more slowly.

We are having some issues with our neighbors. I naively think that we can apply logic - pretty much my approach to most things. Doesn't work here. First it was the medical team. We did not have a chance to properly brief them as the trip was a real whirlwind - normally teams are prepared before they come - we did not have the opportunity to do it before nor during their short stay. The team, well meaning and all, made some pretty big gaffs that really compromised our position in the community. As well, as I have mentioned already - the neighbors felt that we should have a clinic for them - which didn't happen. So, within a week of the quake we are down a couple of key points already with our neighbors. We have a young man who lives next door. Its kind of an extended family next door - an uncle, nieces and nephews, and some cousins all sharing a property with two houses. Pastor Michel and Louise have all but adopted the girls and a brother who live in one of the houses next door - they have a really good relationship with them. However the uncle and now a cousin are a handful. The cousin was deported from the US after spending some time in prison there. He grew up in the US from about the age of 8, but was forced to return to Haiti when he was deported about a year or so ago. He likes to feel important and he likes easy money - and of course that makes us a target. He likes to play us against the neighborhood - "making" an important role for himself in the middle - oh yes and of course never passes up any opportunity to make a little money. You cannot trust his stories, he has many - and he loves to make them up - so he has spread some vicious rumors around the neighborhood since the quake. He is a handful and does not make our lives any easier. Ah yes, and one more tidbit of info - one of his friends - I think you'd call him that - is the local witch doctor.

Incident today came to a head - thanks Mark. Just after the quake, when we were working to rescue people from the school where our friend Gandy was inside - there were a good many workers there and they were searching for tools of all sorts. One of our roles of course was to provide some of these tools and support around that. On one of our many trips back up to the house for equipment, we borrowed a bottle jack from one of our neighbors. Unfortunately that jack was left inside the building and it was never recovered. We decided that we would replace the jack, but as of this morning we hadn't done that yet. My fault for sure, but we've had a few things on the go over the last couple of weeks. At one point, I addressed a group of men and asked that they provide a description of equipment - never got that - I know, it's being too logical. Well it came to a head today with some of our favorite members of our neighborhood. Not by the way including the man who owned the jack - just some of his "friends" and neighbors. The group had decided that they did not want a jack back - they wanted money - lots of money and of course much more than the jack was ever worth - 9 or 10 times more. The men were irate and of course nothing would do, except money. I liken it to the incident with the women looking for medical attention - who, when our nurse looked at her - she really just wanted some money. When your skin is white here - it almost always comes to favor and money.

Anyway after much cafuffle, the man who had loaned the jack was more than happy with the replacement that we had for him. It was in much better condition than the one we had borrowed. Seems at least the man was happy - his "friends" well not sure that they will ever be happy.

Guess who the instigator is behind the jack cafuffle today - you guessed it our "friend" next door. Yes, also looking for us to give him some money. He has actually had a few schemes were we are to essentially "entrust" him.

Pastor Michel is awesome in dealing with all of this. He determines what he is willing to do and what he is not. He has an excellent way of listening and talking. The locals get worked up - they get in your face and they want to intimidate you into doing it their way - Pastor Michel listens and explains why it won't work that way. I think that in some sense the fact that he will not get worked up with them kind of in a way aggravates them. I know my dad, had and still has some fire in him - not a man to back down from a situation - of course not looking for one, but willing to stand in there where there is one. I have a little of that blood running in my veins and I sure appreciate that Pastor Michel can calm situations so well and move towards a solution.

Again, a second little cafuffle today - it involves rumors and allegations. Guess who is prominent in this one as well - our "friend" next door. Seems that Pastor Michel has single handedly told all of the aid organizations to stay away from this area. Of course, there is nothing like a good rumor and our neighbors like to get worked up. Seems rumors and allegations are a big part in the way this neighborhood (and this country) works. I guess when you have somebody to blame - its no longer your fault and you don't have to be proactive - just point the finger and pass the buck. Quickly thinking back in time - its really been a part of human history - I am thinking for example of burning witches at the stake - I'm a lefty, so I'm very happy that I wasn't born a century or two earlier.

Many of our "neighbors" have their kids in the program - you'd think that might be worth a point or two. Apparently not. Of course when I am talking about the "neighbors" - its not everyone in the neighborhood - just a handful of men.

So, as I said in an earlier note, we are regrouping. Dealing with many issues as they arise - determining our next steps. The feeding program has not been running since the earthquake. Friday will be the first. It's moved from the afternoon to 10 am for the kids and the parents - there is some concern about the kids heading home later in the day. Some may walk for an hour or so from their houses to be here.

The workday - well it went okay - the people are certainly happy to be back on the job. We paid them today - they had two days worth of pay owing - the Monday and Tuesday (11th, 12th) before the quake.

It is my feeling that the people of Haiti are generally dissatisfied and disgruntled. They were poor, hungry and thirsty before the quake - many in our area at least have survived the quake without injuries, without losses - but they are still poor, hungry and thirsty - that has not changed. Haitians can be opportunistic and I think that many see this as an opportunity to address their own personal needs - needs that they certainly had before the quake. A kind of hope that their situation will be fixed for them by someone else.

I should also tell you that I think the situation in PAP is a little different from the rest of the population of Haiti. In other areas - particularly rural areas and villages there is much more a sense of community and family. People know each other - families have a history - and that breaks some of these barriers. Here in the city, many of the people have come here from the country - they are "alone" - little or no extended family - little or no sense of community. The stress in the city is much higher - the competition for opportunities is much greater - certainly less of a spirit of co-operation. Much more opportunistic.

I am guessing that I'll likely slow down on posts for a while. As we are putting a plan together and a direction for moving ahead that I can share.

In the interim, please continue to pray for us. For our safety and for wisdom in the various situations that we now face. Please pray for calm; for understanding; for our protection. This ministry is a real light in this city and I ask that you pray against any spirits that would want to bring upheaval and unrest.

Thank you for your interest and your support.

Update

2010-01-24T08:27:00.003-05:00

Think that it is about time to give you another little update. Things are starting to settle for us a little bit. A new kind of normal - really not sure what exactly that is, but it involves staying flexible and it involves change.

We are thinking about opening the site this week - we will check on Monday if we can get sand delivered - we are confident that we can now source the other ingredients.

Many, many, many are out of work. Some businesses are reopening, but many businesses are totally wiped out. These jobs will not be replaced quickly. Of course many people have also died. Many people have lost their housing and their belongings. There will be significant repercussions, the magnitude of which I cannot even begin to comprehend.

All that to say, it will be good for our team if we can get them back to work. We have heard from most of our workers and they are okay - certainly suffered impacts - but need the income in order to continue on.

In my last update, I told about visiting a camp that was about 10,000 - 15,000 people. I now hear that the camp is estimated at 50,000. Dr Ed, a friend of mine is providing a medical clinic in the camp - along with one other Dr in another area of the camp. That is the extent of the medical support provided for these people. It seems to be sufficient for the time being, however, Dr Ed has told me that he is now seeing more infections and fears that the problem will get worse. While there are attempts to get potable water into the camp and to provide sanitation facilities, these efforts fall far short of meeting the need. Cleanliness and proper sanitation of course are key to avoiding a number of other serious illnesses that could also hit this camp.

My focus had been on a medical team that we were supporting. We provided much upfront support to the team to find a placement for them. What we found was that the most serious trauma was getting treatment at medical centers - now, because of the state of things, these centers also have needs and are themselves somewhat in a state of organized chaos. Perhaps very loosely organized. We prepared for the team by finding appropriate lodging for their stay and by providing logistical support and security around the team.

I may have already mentioned, that the team created quite a stir in our neighborhood. When the local people found that we had Drs in the area, they immediately wanted a local clinic setup to meet their needs. My assessment of the situation is that there were no significant needs in our area - yes minor things from the quake and the of course the normal things that we would see weekly at our own medical clinic before the quake. The team was a surgical team and the purpose of the team was to place them where they could do the most good. We had them placed in a medical facility.

The team arrived on Wed of this week. Their stay was for 1 week, returning via the DR tomorrow. I have already mentioned the total chaos on the roads where they entered into the city (Croix des Bouquets). We were very fortunate to have been able to meet them. Just happened that we literally passed on the road creeping along in opposite directions - I said to one guy hanging off of a passing truck - Kurt? as he simultaneously said Bob? with the same level of amazement. Now we were heading in opposite directions creeping along in very heavy and congested traffic - no small feat to get turned around and assembled together. We managed to do that.

The team brought in some much needed supplies. They were not able to get everything that we wanted, but certainly enough to help us out and to provide for their stay. A good reliable source of bottled (potable) drinking water is still unavailable.

Thursday and Friday I spent with the team. Thursday we met with the medical facility where we had a placement, had some adjustments and the team became productive that afternoon. Friday, when the team arrived early in the morning at the facility, it seemed that the plans had changed and the course was reset. We then spent most of the rest of the day making contact through various organizations again for placement of the team. The team had a few key conditions - one of which was to remain together as a full team. The organizations that we met with were prominent organizations here in Haiti. As you may well imagine the logistics and the communications within and between organizations is staggering and in disarray and matching resources to needs is not easy even at the best of times. We ultimately hooked up again with a consortium including the 82nd airborne - the team is now settled at the base where there is a medical operation and the possibility of dispatch into needed situations from that base. We have had some contact with the team since then, but I have not heard about the type of work they were able to do as a team since stationed at the base.

A few lessons learned for us. While organizations are attempting to co-operate there is still large logistical and communication issues - it would be best for a team to have a very specific assignment in place before coming. I believe on the news you hear about the need, you do not likely hear about the logistics involved in matching the skills to the need. This is a very large and complex operation with many large logistical issues to be handled. The process is continually improving but far from perfect and you cannot parachute a small team in quickly. I think this rule applies to all the facets of the relief effort including medical, food distribution, etc. I believe that we diverted our focus because we also felt that the need was great and we would be able to best assist the immediate needs this way - we now have to bring our focus back. We are thinking that we can be most effective by focusing our attention on our community.

We found a grocery store open recently - so, as I started out saying - think that we are settling into a new state of normal. We are not as concerned now about our basic needs although we still need to find potable water - fuel seems to be more available and we are beginning to find food. With the supplies that we have we are now assisting our neighbors and those that are closest to us in the church. The church will organize and will identify the needs of our community that we can best serve.

I have discussed food distribution with a couple of other smaller organizations that are doing so. Their approach has been small scale and discrete. Sending carriers into areas with small amounts of food in backpacks - placing the food in these areas where they see the greatest need. Larger scale operations, as I am sure you have seen on TV need security.

We are asked by many what they can do. The one thing that I hope is abundantly clear is that we who are here in Haiti find ourselves in a situation that no one would have considered before it happened. Life is precious and we take it for granted. In just a few seconds that life was taken from many and changed forever for a great many more. The bible tells us to "let your light shine". Please pray for us that that is exactly what we do through this time. But even more so, I challenge you to do the same. Take a moment to reflect on where you are and what you can do in your community to impact it. If you know Christ, then find new ways to let your light shine where you are. If you do not know Christ, then I urge you to discover who He is.

Today - few pics - airport

2010-01-22T21:34:00.002-05:00

Today was full of surprises. This is not going to be a status update. Perhaps I'll write one of those in a day or so.

The day started with job one to get the medical team to the hospital by 7 am. After that,the day would be mine to start to assess our next steps here as a team. Well, by 7 am plans had changed and impacted my day completely.

Its never pleasant when your plans fall by the wayside especially when its only 7 am - you just know its going to be one of those days.

Nice little surprise in the midst of all this that I'll share.

By the way, I may not have the television and other media to entertain me. No need for those super widescreen HD TVs - why not have the real thing up close and live. Oh, and if the pics aren't enough, I'm listening to praise and worship music coming in over the wall from our neighbors. Also live. Awesome - isn't God good.

Now these aren't just any ordinary pictures - these were taken from the field side of the airport - taken with a military escort - Hows that!

Okay, probably any blog you visit regarding Haiti has at least one chopper picture - taking off/landing or whatever. I didn't have one - at least not until now. I have just joined the ranks of the elite bloggers. Here is your chopper picture. Those blades are whirling - are they ever whirling and the heat from the exhaust.

Evacuations. These are Americans that have chosen to be evacuated and are boarding a plane. There are a large number of Americans and Canadians who are leaving Haiti.

These are the medical facilities that our medical team are now hooked up with. Consists of several tents – one of which is setup for surgery.

And finally saving the best to last. Canada eh - sure beats those choppers.

Thought I'd give you a highlight. Maybe tomorrow I will give you the story behind the pictures - then again maybe not - It won't be in high definition.

Was feeling sad this evening about the loss of Gandy. Seems whenever I have a moment to sit - it starts to become real. Was pretty quickly surrounded by three of our older youth who were concerned about my sadness. Told them that its okay to mourn our loss even though we know that one day we will be with them again.

Quake

2010-01-21T05:52:00.000-05:00

Yesterday morning we had another major tremor – reportedly a 6. We have had so many aftershocks – I just know that the ground shook once again.

We suffered no major damage and all are fine. A number of buildings damaged but still standing further collapsed and there were many injuries.

Late yesterday we finally hooked up with our medical team. The area that they came into PAP through was so badly congested that it took us 1 ½ hrs to go through about 2 km of traffic. Thank God we found them.

Since the quake yesterday morning, we have had very very poor internet service. So you may not hear from us over the next several days. Don’t worry, Please pray for our continued protection and for God’s wisdom as we deal with this situation daily.

Update

2010-01-19T21:53:00.002-05:00

Thought that I would give you a little update of what we have been doing over the last couple of days.

We have visited many tent cities that are popping up all over. Where there is any open space, people who have been displaced are setting up their own temporary shelters. The areas are filled and of course they do not have a water supply and they do not have any sanitation facilities. This could become a huge issue - although I do see that the people are managing to find water and even food. Some have some utensils and are cooking the traditional method of hot oil (over a coal fire). The conditions in the camps are changing and some of the needs are being addressed - it is just a matter of time. How precious time is right now.

Many many buildings have been destroyed. Bodies have been recovered from a number of the larger buildings. We drove back into an area off the main road and there were many houses either partially or totally destroyed and it is obvious that the bodies have not been recovered in these areas.

I have seen a couple of small local market areas - local vendors are there and are selling their stuff - this is including meat and poultry. I good sign I think that there is currently some availability of food in these markets. I do not know the supply line and if the supply can continue. And with so many businesses damaged, I would think that there will be a big shortage of money - people will not be able to earn the money that they need to buy the food.

Personally, I am doing well considering. Slept indoors last night again and got between 5 and 6 hours sleep. Food supplies are limited - we have not yet found an open grocery store. We would normally buy some fruits and vegetables from the local markets - but we have not been able to do so yet - perhaps tomorrow we will. We are still doing okay on food and we are expecting a team for the DR tomorrow that will also bring in some supplies for us. We are not doing any relief at this point in this area - we don't feel that we can do so until we can reliably source food.

We have been running very low on fuel and concerned about that - our truck was on empty. Today we were
able to buy some fuel for the truck - praise God - He knows our needs.

Days are long and we are going, plans ever changing as we move along. We are making arrangements for and supporting a medical team coming in. The team is about 22 people in total and are coming in through the DR. They are a self sufficient trauma unit and we have found a placement for them at a local hospital. This actually was not easy to do. It is extremely difficult to match up resources with the need. Many hospitals are either damaged and closed from the quake or they are inundated - with Drs and with patients. What they badly need is equipment, supplies and space to work with. Of course these hospitals are not well organized - and typically have several organizations working within the facility side by side, and without really knowing each other nor what they are doing.

Based on our observations yesterday and today - it seems that a large number of the medical needs are being addressed. We saw many people in the camps that had some sort of treatment for injuries already.

Our focus right now is threefold:

preparing for the medical team that is coming
meeting our basic needs of fuel, water and food
security - we have started to rebuild the perimeter/security wall at the house the was completely down

We met with the mayor of the city today and we got permission to use a school that has just finished construction beside Pastor Michels. It is not currently occupied. The team coming and their equipment is far to large for us to host - so we will host them in the school - a short block away and will provide their meals at the house. The team is bringing their own food with them - we've asked for basics such as rice, beans and flour. Yummy. Asnique is a great cook so we'll throw a challenge at her.

We are working with a hospital that is more or less in our area. Our team will manage the trauma and the OR over the night shift at the hospital. Still a few details to work out - but it is coming together nicely. We may take some office space and use it as a third OR - that decision will likely be made after we've had our first day (aka night shift) at the facility.

Driving is always interesting in Haiti. I had one standoff with another vehicle - guess we were both stubborn and wanted the right of way. Ended up we both had to stop - side by side in the whole that wasn't big enough - both had to squeeze over into the rubble on both sides a bit to finally get by.

We have worked very hard the last couple of days on two fronts mainly - with lots of little side trips.

On my agenda for tomorrow - will be to find some sand at the site to make mortar for our wall; wire up the school so that the team will have some (albeit very limited) power; go meet the team on my bike sometime around 11 (we think); debrief the team and take the chief surgeon for a meeting at the hospital.

CCP Sponsored Children Status

2010-01-19T08:36:00.000-05:00

As you may well imagine communication is very poor right now. People are dispersed and impossible to trace where they have gone - many have left the city or are in temporary camps. We are providing information as best we can regarding the sponsored children. The note below has been issued to sponsors and we will provide updates as we have new information.

Dear Sponsor,

Many of you are concerned about the situation here, and if your sponsored children are safe. We don’t know the full extent of the situation, but we can tell you this; many families have fled to the country because of fear from falling buildings, others sleep in groups at campsites scattered throughout the city. This causes another problem many of these campsites have been raided by bandits that scour the streets at night.

As far as we know, three of our people have died one being Gandy who is our Assistant Pastor, as well as Dynise Renard who is in the sponsor program and an unknown 7-year-old boy who is in the church but not sponsored.

Devastation has struck our area. Much of the city is in blackout. As a result the stores that are still standing are closed in fear of riots. We are having trouble securing our basic needs such as water and food, and power for communication. This means we have no way of feeding our children.

Your prayers are needed now more than ever for the situation here. When we learn more of what has happened to our children we will let you know.

Relief Teams - Construction

2010-01-18T11:30:00.002-05:00

Here is my current assessment for relief teams. While medical needs are in great need at this moment, I feel that any teams that are considering to come to help restore structures etc are not required at this time and cannot work effectively in the current environment. I sent the note below as a response to one team.

There is a great need to help rebuild here in Haiti for sure. There are a few details that I would need to know to help with any decisions regarding help here in Haiti. What size of team are you talking about; do you speak either Kreyol or French? What timeframe are you thinking?

The situation here in PAP right now is unsafe. In our own ministry we cannot find reliable sources of water and we have not been able to buy food since the quake. Businesses are closed – so you cannot buy fuel, food, nor construction materials. We have looting already and we may be facing a period of unrest and violence.

How long it will take to go through this period, I do not know. I would expect that at a minimum it could be several weeks or even months. I would not suggest that a team to rebuild comes in this period. The greatest need right now is medical. We are working on a team coming next week, and I am finding out that medical supplies are also scarce – so even medical which is urgently needed is facing the same hurdles.

In my opinion, there is not the same urgency associated with rebuilding as there is with medical and I would think that construction teams should wait until peace and stability are restored.

Medical team

2010-01-17T21:15:00.003-05:00

A friend of mine Dr Ed finally arrived. I have not seen him nor have I been able to contact him since the quake hit.
I knew that he had a medical team out of Port, so I was pretty sure that he and his team were okay. Still with all the destruction around, you still wonder and think about it until you can confirm. I hear the same from many people who e-mail me and of course the distance makes it that much harder.

We are currently looking into hosting a medical team. This is not our area of strength, but medical help is certainly needed here in Haiti at this time. What great timing for Dr Ed to arrive. You can imagine that there might be a few wrinkles to work out when the airport is closed and you cannot find fuel, food, medical supplies locally.

We visited a location today that has become a large camp of people who have been displaced from their homes by the quake. It is estimated that there are between 10,000 and 20,000 in this area without water, food, & sanitation. These shelters are cobbled together with some sheets and pieces of plastic. Some are cooking in this area with the traditional charcoal and hot oil technique. Combined these ingredients my lead to serious burns - usually of children; infections and other sanatary issues.

We also found a military base was being established at the higher end of this area. The plan is for the base to provide security for the area and also assist in establishing water sources, sanitation etc.

As we first heard about this area, we were questioning how we might provide the medical help needed without endangering ourselves. As you may know already - it is not a wise idea to take insufficient resources into an area and start to address a need. Once some people realize that their own personal needs will not be met, unrest and rioting often occurs.

We talked with the military staff present and were warmly received. They were also painfully aware of the need and did not know how they would be able to approach

The purpose of visiting today was to assess the need the security of the location. There is currently no capability in this camp to address medical needs - we were approached by several while we were there.

Dr Ed will begin a clinic tomorrow. While not officially under military protection - the presence of the military and close approximation of the clinic to the base certainly addresses our security concerns.

Now how is that for getting off the ground super fast.

We are going to visit another area tomorrow to assess the need there as well.

The new building - minimal damage

2010-01-17T11:11:00.001-05:00

In an earlier post, I mentioned that I had gone to the site yesterday and had a closer look at the building. As I had anticipated the damage to the building is minor and superficial
The bathrooms on the first floor have been effected though, so we will need to make some decisions on how to repair that. The other areas of damage are straight forward - they are sections of block wall (mostly 4 rows high) that came down.

Our security walls on the perimeter of the property suffered a lot of damage and will take a lot of time and effort to repair.

I have a few pics to show of the site. It will give you an idea of the limited amount of damage that has occurred.

Security wall at the south end of the property. The section in the middle that remains standing has a heavy lean to it - it is close to collapsing and dangerous. There is a section in the wall in the wall at the back that is also leaning and will need to be rebuilt. The wall to the south of the propery is mostly stone. 4 rows of blocks that were on the top of the stone has fallen.

This picture is of the front staircase built recently by a team from Canada. The staircase is covered with blocks that tumbled onto the landing from the second floor. No structural damage - just a few blocks have fallen.

This picture was taken inside the staff washroom on the first floor. The wall has been plastered and ready for painting. You can see a major crack (perhaps 1/4 inch) running along the join between the column and the wall. While the wall itself didn't crack - it shifted about 1/4 of an inch. To the left of the beam you can see other cracks coming out from the window and running up and down. Again blocks - no structural damage. There are several other areas in the washrooms with cracks in the block walls.

Switching Gears

2010-01-16T20:08:00.010-05:00

Today has been a much easier day. Fixed a wiring issue on the generator - of course most things here seem to set off a sequence of other stuff that needs to be addressed first. I got some boys to do some of the work for me, but had to go after more boys about 3 times to finally get it done. We also did a tuneup on the water filter turns out the UV bulb was burned out - so good thing we did. That’s really about it.

Oh, there is one other thing - visited the site today - did a closer inspection and it looks really good. There is some damage, but not structural. That's another post with some pics - maybe tomorrow

It's hard for Haitians to see past today - so the idea of conservation is counter to what they know/do. Got mad at one of the youth who directly disobeyed me – maybe that was yesterday.

Michel and Louise are back.

We are now getting concerned for our own security – it will come. Last night there were about 30 or so gunshots very close by. I expect at one point we will need to sit up all night to protect ourselves – gun in hand. How is that for tough love.

Our perimeter walls are down – so I believe that we will start to get them at least partially back up. When people in Haiti are hungry, need water, or for some it’s just an opportunity – to rob and loot. Stores are not opening – I think mainly because of that. There could very easily be a mob mentality. Imagine having food for 100 when 1000 want to be fed. The 100 are happy the other 900 are much less so. That’s when things easily escalate. Its real powder keg material.

I am happy to hear that the churches are praying. They need to know that this is not a short term thing. The needs and our roles will definitely change over time. In our area the damage and destruction is less than others – our neighborhood survived remarkably well, but we are surrounded with multi level buildings fully collapsed. Many churches, schools, supermarkets, businesses – across the board. The businesses that are intact are not opening and I think that they are afraid of looting.

As of 5 minutes ago we just finished our tuneup on the water filter – we now have the magic ingredients to make good potable water – we have ordinary water, electricity, pump, filter and jugs. We are providing water for our neighbors as well. Pastor Michel talked with some kids next door who have not had any water all day. They are now filling a 5 gallon jug and we will continue to give them water.

We are now in a state of transition – going from rescue and recovery the first 3 days now into a phase of addressing our basic needs – we don’t have a food solution yet but working on that. We have sourced some cement and will reuse blocks that we can to partially rebuild one of our bigger walls – it won’t be perfect, but far better than now. Right now, all an intruder needs to do is just step over the rubble. We just had a tremor as I am writing – forth one today - still many aftershocks occurring.

Went to the Canadian embassy today to ask a few questions – to sum it up – seems they really aren’t all that interested in servicing Canadians – polite though eh.

I have been communicating with a MS on the HMCS Halifax – left port yesterday heading for Haiti. They will arrive Sunday. The MS has some supplies for us – mainly clothes and some other things. We talked with a commander in the military and they may airlift the supplies from the ship by helicopter to a prearranged drop off point. Of course the embassy isn’t really all that particular to help us – so we may use a nearby international school for the drop. Of course again, once we receive the goods we have something that may be of interest to others – that raises our risks.

We are thinking about starting a shelter with food and using the new building for that. It has come through with only very minor/superficial damage – nothing structural. One of the key issues of course for us will be a good reliable supply of food. Not money, but food. We need the money, but unless you can buy the food...

We have a medical team coming via the DR – I will be working on that a bit tonight. They will be here on Tuesday next week I believe – but we need to communicate with them regarding some supplies.

Slept in my bed last night – figured I would start showing that its safe to go back into your house – I figure our house was undamaged with a 7 so it will more than likely survive anything that we get over the next week or so (when we would eventually move back in anyways). It was nice spending a night under the stars – its dark here and the sky is clear – great combination. Brings back fishing memories – big bay – punt.

There is apparently an area with perhaps 10,000 or 15,000 people congregated near our place – they have no support. We will likely take our medical team into that area – but we are a bit afraid of the mob mentality. If we have 10 drs – we can only see 10 people at a time – how do you choose which 10. And what about the 100’s or 1000’s of others. Again – a potential powder keg. We may go in without the medical team and bring a few out at a time. Decisions. Decisions.

When we come from Canada it is really hard to understand places like Haiti. Unfortunately what happens here is all to common I think world wide. People here do not have support systems behind them – they can’t just go see a Dr, they can’t get help – they need to fend for themselves – to help themselves. It’s a tough life here – and many don’t survive – statistics certainly tell us that’s true.

Pics from Haiti

2010-01-16T00:39:00.002-05:00

Here are a few pics from Haiti. These pictures are from our area between Delmas 31 and 75. I understand that the worst devastation (if you can compare) is more in the core part of the city of PAP.

Apartment building – completely collapsed – I think it was 3 or 4 floors – we pass by it on our way to the airport from Pastor Michels. Its about 1/2 way down on the corner of Delmas 31

A Hotel – the first floor is now about 3 feet high and the building has a lean to it. Big cracks all through the structure, but it stayed up and very survivable.

The school were we recovered Gandy’s body along with about 18 others. We were able to bring 4 people out of the wreckage alive over a period of about 40 hours. The Church of the Rock is the damaged building that you can see in the background. The ruble and twisted rebar is all that remains after the high hoe finished its search through the site to recover the bodies.

This Inn is across the road from the school. At the main gate, the first floor is now about 4 ft high and the second floor has been completely flattened.

People are now putting up their own makeshift shelters. MANY are sleeping on the streets in groups. I would estimate thousands were sleeping on Delmas between #75 and #31 – a route that I’ve traveled several times of the last few days & nights.

Status

2010-01-14T19:00:00.005-05:00

Since the earthquake – all businesses, gas stations etc have been closed. There is no hydro and our house has some damage to the main electrical panel – it has not been on my priority list yet, but will become one hopefully tomorrow, but if not the next day.

I am without phone and without hydro – my “quick” stop by the Canadian embassy to get a quick message out was a laugh – I left after wasting some of my time.

When the earthquake struck – we were at the worksite – it was maybe 4:30-5 pm time window – we had just finished packing up and I was still inside the building, some others were as well, but many were outside washing. The building stood up – I have not inspected it yet, but think only minor damage – 1 or 2 block walls may be cracked/tumbled. Large sections of the perimeter wall that surrounds the site – has fallen and will need to be rebuilt. The structure of the building is intact. As I ran out of the building the earth by that time was shaking very hard – not easy to run. Out of my eye, I saw one block wall tumble beside me, within a few feet – I did not get hit. One of our workers was hit with some other blocks that fell. He had some scrapes – most not too deep, but complained about a lot of pain in his back. Audet our nurse looked at him once we got back to the house – she thought he was okay, but he still complained about a lot of pain – however, by the next day – he seemed to be much better and walking fairly normally. Last I saw seemed he was good.

Our area seemed to have survived fairly well. We only had one house in the ravine immediately behind us collapse – there were however some injuries in the area. We set up a little clinic at our gate at tended to the needs. Once the word got our, more people started coming, but the number was quite manageable – most were fairly small injuries – requiring cleaning bandaging and many stitches. There were a couple of cases at least that we well beyond that. We provided basic medical and told the parents that they needed more.

Throughout the city, some buildings collapsed completely and some seriously damaged - barely left standing. Of course there is also a high percentage (guessing 25-35% that suffered no damage). With the housing in our area – most only received minor damage, but many walls on the perimeter of the property fell. The buildings that were seriously damaged were mostly larger buildings – churches, schools, apartment buildings, businesses. I do not have any access to news so, I can only tell you what I have seen – so might be somewhat limited in scope. I understand that the quake was fairly local to the capital city – here in Port au Prince.

About 9 o’clock on Tuesday evening, we got word that a school had collapsed, It is attached to a church at Delmas 31 (Church of the Rock) – it is a small school and it collapsed – the first floor completely, the top floor partially (about 1/3 of it completely). One of our boys from the church was trapped inside on the first floor – another girl from the church was on the top floor and was able to escape from the damaged building after the quake. We decided that we should put our focus on this problem. A number of the girls in our church are studying to become nurses, so they prepared medical aid to take along with the team. We went down to help out. To make a long story short, I have spent almost every moment of the last 48hrs or so at that school. I have had great support from our youth in stepping in and helping out – including medical at that sight and helping out with the recovery plans etc. I assessed the situation and those that were currently working on it. A few people had opened up passage ways into those trapped using hammers, sledge hammers etc – to work their way through the twisted metal, concrete and debris. I decided that we has some tools to assist – so first trip, I brought a floodlight and some hand tools. When I returned, I was able to reassess the situation further and have some discussion with those working on getting trapped people out. I made trip number two and brought in a little heavier equipment – the generator and an electric hammer. Before I brought it into the site, I determined a plan with those already onsite and then offered the equipment. My role became more of a backup problem solver – when things didn’t work – lights etc, I got them working – when then didn’t know how to use the grinder, and other tools – I gave an impromptu lesson. Not before long, people from the site were coming to me to solve their problems with tools etc. The tools that I brought I am happy to say were all returned and they served a very useful purpose at the site. We worked all night and in the early morning – the first person that we were trying to reach had died before we got to them. A little after that we were able to reach a person and bring them out. We got one out alive. We then worked all the next day and well into the night. We were successful in reaching others, but the way they were trapped made it impossible for us to free them with our equipment.

One of the other men working that had connections and was able to bring in a specialized team on the site. They brought in big equipment – a high hoe and a big front end loader. With these equipment they were easily able to remove rubble and break through concrete, but the issue was how to build and fine tune the process. What they did was to clear and access point into the first floor area. From there we were able to determine locations of some of the individuals. By 1 or 2 am of Thursday morning they were able to rescue another boy. That is now two saved – by the end of the morning – 2 others had been rescued – sadly no others were. In the process – another 18 or so others were recovered. I provided the small equipment to complement the big equipment. We used the electric hammer to cut through each layer from the roof down (now about 3 feet per floor) to get to them. And then moved even more slowly as we got closer.

Tonight is the first time that I have stopped (I haven’t yet, but will) since the earthquake. I have either been at the school or running errands from the school. The kids here from the church at Pastor Michels have been great. They have responded to the situation and have jumped right in as well.

There is so much that I could and should write. I can’t right now – I have been running and can’t even process it. I have seen so much destruction, people with all kinds of injuries and bodies of some that did not make it. Many of course of the ones that didn’t make it are still trapped in the rubble. The smell of death is prominent in the city.

The boy from our church that we had hoped to find and to bring out alive. He was the very last body recovered at the school. A very promising young man and studying theology at the school. He was becoming a Pastor and actively involved here at Pastor Michels. His body was recovered around mid day. At the wishes of his family – we buried him this afternoon. At some point, a service will follow.

We are doing okay – kind of on autopilot right now. It has been very long and hard past couple of days with only little catnaps. Not sleeping indoors – we are still experiencing tremors – I just had one while I was writing this note.

All is well. You likely will NOT hear from me again for a couple of days at least. I have very limited battery power on my UPS that I just bought and NO other power. Hope to solve that over the next day or two. Drinking water and seeing if I can get food is also starting to come up on the list.

Trust me – all is well – especially considering the situation. So far it is calm here in the city and people are mostly very co-operative. I do expect that to change. The prison suffered damage and many prisoners escaped. The main police building in our area collapsed and I believe it was 42 police men were killed.

I have a large number of e-mail messages and thank you for your concern and especially for your prayer support. I have not read your messages – need to solve my power problem first. I do not have phone support.

Naturally Speaking

2009-12-25T10:36:00.003-05:00

I have a background in mathematics. I still remember in first year math were I learned that you can disprove a theory by one example. You cannot prove a theory by example, but you can disprove it by just one.

I have come to the realization that when "scientists" use variations of the word nature (aka, natural, naturally), what they are way out in left field and will use "nature" to justify just about anything they want - proof by example so to speak. Appealing to a higher order - nature - but failing to realize that nature is itself a creation.

There is a field of study called natural science that's anything but scientific. It's interesting how we choose our words to put a spin on an idea that is far from true. Natural science is NOT science. I say this because theories abound in natural science despite contrary evidence - evolution for example and the the age of the earth as billions of years are two great examples of "theories" that exist despite substantial contrary evidence. Natural scientists know these "theories" as fact.

I am certainly no expert and I am sure that therein lies the problem. However, thought I'd mention just a few examples of where these "theories" fail to stand up:

The fossil record does not support the theory of evolution. The missing links are still missing.
complexity of a single cell. DNA error checking and correction
polystrate fossils (trees)
human artifacts found in coal
coal seams that contain dinosaur footprints
distribution of meteorites are near surface, why are they not embedded in the strata
folded rock/strata - evidence indicates no force
The second law of thermodynamics - you cannot get order out of chaos. That's why office building don't just happen. The closest we get in nature is called "caves"
Each species is distinct and unto itself
Origin of matter - where did the "big bang" come from

Of course there are many many others.

So, beware of natural, especially "natural science"

Christmas came early

2009-12-24T09:32:00.000-05:00

Well, Christmas came early in Haiti.

Been kinda roughing it. I think back many times just how well equipped I was the first time here - very disruptive to pull up roots and come back again - there are so many things that just make it so much easier/convenient. I had some of these conveniences, but I don't any more. If you hear of a good garage sale in Haiti, please let me know. I'm not set up exactly as I would like and there are limited options to change that. So, I finally made a few changes - and for the better I might add. Still wanta make a couple more - and looking for the chance to do so.

If you have ever done the weekend camping thing, then you will understand making do. However, when the weekend turns into several weeks and the conditions take a turn for the worse - there eventually comes a point were you decide to make a few changes.

The break from the site finally gave me the opportunity to make a few changes. Number one was addressing hydro - even if only on a temporary basis. So, Monday I bought Christmas present number one - a UPS for my computer. It gives me about 5 hrs running time when all other sources of hydro have gone caput. Takes about two - three hours to recharge. How convenient to have a little electricity when you want. I've cooked dinner a few times in the dark - I mean in the dark - my cell phone display hardly counts as a light. So, present number two - bought some kerosene for my lamp. Awesome. I'm still looking for a small desk lamp that I can plug into my UPS. I love to make a stir fry where I chop up onions, fresh garlic and ginger into it. However, our kitchen is equiped with a knife where the handle extends below the blade - not a good chopping knife. So, present number three - found a $2 knife where the blade is bigger and allows the full edge of the blade to be on the chopping board while the handle is still in the air - awesome chopping knife. My one cup coffee filter/maker is kinda a jerry rigged thing - doesn't work great, but works even worse on a small cup. So, present number four - bought some mugs. Holds a cup if you know what I mean and has a big broad rim on the top. Awesome, now I can get some of the coffe in the cup.

I also received my Hatian drivers licence. I applied for both auto and motorcycle and I'm told that its good for both. But mine is a little different. Definitely an auto licence, but not so sure about the motorcycle. So I still need to check a couple of things. Hate to have the argument on my bike, stopped by the police - that yep I'm legit - while they are saying no your not. Thought that was going to be my Christmas present - but all the conveniences above far outweight the privilege of my motorcycle. Planning soon to get a day off for R&R so the motorcycle licence is now at the top.

Ravines

2009-12-24T09:26:00.001-05:00

Hello Folks,

My pen has fallen silent. That's not because I haven't had any "experiences". I have had many of them - daily even. However, I've lacked one vital ingredient (well actually two) to write about them.
One is time - been running like crazy at the site - working six days per week (and Sunday turns out pretty much to be a work day as well with the ministry at Pastor Michel and Louise's place). Two is electricity - now here in Haiti, electricity takes many forms - the most common are EDH (grid power), battery and generator. We've been lacking battery power and that makes a huge difference - can't charge the batteries from either of the other two sources and it becomes very expensive to run the generator for any amount of time. I am very happy to say that problem got solved yesterday - Christmas eve eve.

Yesterday it rained - think they called it a tropical storm. It is unusual to get rain during the day, even in rainy season. Now think back to when you were a child - I have a special fondness for rainy days - we had a great big mud puddle out front of our house and got to play in it. I kinda remember as we got older - playing was more with it, not in it - but when I was younger - seems to me, we got right into it - hands on, thick oozey mud. I don't remember too many treasures - unless of course lost a dinky toy or something like that in the mud the last time.

I got to play a similar game here in Haiti yesterday. The setting is slightly different however. Here they call them ravines - drainage ditches that course there way naturally down the mountain side. They are replete with everything - used that is, well used. Thankfully the rain wasn't heavy, about 8 or 9 in the morning - I decided that I should go by the worksite to check out what was happening where the ravine goes through/under the building. We've just finished pouring the floor over that section and have a number of support colums in the ravine supporting the forms and the fresh concrete over the ravine.

Everything under the building was fine, however the issue was a jam up in the ravine on our property just before it goes under the building. About 3 ft of water and "stuff" was backed up at that point. Obviously I was concerned as to what might happen if the rain got harder and the jam burst open. It would likely make a real mess under the building and most like jam up again under there.

Now the most common ingredient found in ravines here is plastic. All shapes and size of bottles and pails. The second most common ingredient would be all sorts of garbage in various states of deteriation. Of course ravines always have human waste - commonly used as public washrooms - and other stuff that I'd rather not even mention. The thick oozey stuff that I played with as a child had a substitute here - thick and oozey - but it really didn't make the best alternative.

Now ravines have never really been my favorite place. And yesterday was no exception. However, the only way to tackle the problem was hands on - so to speak. So, I climbed on down into the ravine - cautiously and began working. Slowly - avoiding contact as much as I could, but slowly getting a little wetter and dirtier as I worked. Finally after an hour or so, helped arrived. Two Haitian boys from the church. I'm equipped with work boots - they are equipped with sandals. No problem, they just climb right in - walking in it - and start moving stuff. I was working to take it out of the ravine - not an easy task. The were working to dislodge and move it downstream - aided by the water. There approach and there method worked best.

The tropical storm passed and there wasn't any additional problems with the ravine. On Monday, we will be back in business at the site and will remove all of the support that's in the ravine under the floor we've just poured.

So, what's my approach next time. Think I'm getting too old to play in the muck. I'll call the boys sooner next time.

Driving 101

2009-12-10T19:35:00.001-05:00

I remember many years ago, having a car on my foot. Well, I repeated that experience today... sorta.
Made many trips to the hardware store today - fortunately we've worked out a good deal with one that is very close to our worksite for our key ingredients - cement and steel. I was buying some cement today.

Just as I finished the purchase and was about to leave, I was approached by a gentleman. He came right up to the drivers window to ask for money. This is not uncommon - but usually at the hardware store, it occurs when the truck is being loaded, not when you are about to leave. Often though you are also approach in your vehicle. I listened a bit, picking up about 1/2 the words. Enough to know that the man was asking for money. My position that I've taken here, might sound a bit harsh to some, but I tip for service (ie the man that loads the bags on cement into my truck) but I do not give something for nothing. I realize that the need is huge here, but I simply cannot give to eveyone who asks.

After listening for a bit and responding with "No" a few times, I prepare to leave. The truck is a diesel, so when you turn the key on, you let the glow plugs warm up, that way it'll start right away and saves on the starter. As I am letting it warm up, I push the clutch in and the KIA rolls forward a few inches.

The man looks and me and says - your on my foot. I didn't understand at first. So he repeats himself. I understood, started the vehicle and backed up a bit to get off his foot. Up to this point, the man was calm and quite, but suddenly he saw opportunity. Actually, I think he saw opportunity as he approached the truck - why else would his foot be under my tire? Suddenly he was hurt. Now I think if I continue much more here you'll probably think that I'm really cold. So, I'll fast forward a bit.

I got the man a chair, had him come over (behind the vehicle) to the front of the hardware store and sit. Take off his shoe and sock. There were a few melodramatics along the way. Foot looked normal to me. I noted the tire marks on his shoe - reached up about half way across his toes - it was his right foot, and the tracks started on the little toe side. I saw no swelling, no twisted, broken or damaged toes - looked normal to me. I asked him where it hurt and showed me the outside of his bit toe, the truck never even got that far.

Now this is a small hardware store, and the vendor was out front. He speaks a little English and he is very proud of my Kreyole. (hadda get that plug in). He says to me in English - talking about the man whose foot I ran over - he is Haitian - if you know what I mean. I understood. He too saw the melodramatics. I think that it comes on strongest when blanc is the driver. Spells opportunity. So he says to me - offer him $20 hd. So I did. The man said no, said that he was injured (aka holding our for more).

Okay, so being fair, perhaps he was injured. so the next step was to get medical attention. Of course can't just do that, we need to have an x-ray first. So, we sent the man with with an aid to get an x-ray. The jury is still out - tomorrow we will get the x-ray and go to the Doctor.

I remember cars - big old cars - right on top of my foot - got the tire tread imprint, that was all. His foot, no marks, no tread. I am still thinking no problem with the foot.

Changing a Tire - only in Haiti

2009-12-10T19:08:00.000-05:00

First of all let me say that I am capable okay. But yesterday, I ran into a little challenge.

Louise was out and had a flat tire. A flat is not all that uncommon here in Haiti. She had one just a couple of days earlier. The car (Pathfinder) was at home and someone noticed that the left front tire was very low - the boys went to pump it up and it blew out through the cords in the tire. The roads are very rough here and full of harzards, so it is not unusual to run into these types of problems with the tire. The boys had a little bit of trouble changing the tire - like finding the proper equipment (yes it was in the car). They could not lower the spare - stored under the rear of the vehicle and they couldn't get the wheel bolts lossened. I gave them a little help, and they caught on quickly. Little did I know my turn was coming.

Well when I got there, sure enough the tire was flat. Left front - this was the spare that was just put on. Step one - I took the rim with the bad tire on it to a tire shop, bought another tire and had it put on the rim - no problem. Just a little traffic along the way, but it was close and didn't take too long. My broken Kreyole seemed to work well enough. Step 2 - I returned with the tire - again no problem - well I went in the exit, raised a few eyebrows, but the security guard eventually let me in after I pointed to the long and blocked line of traffic between me and the entrance downstream a bit. I loosened the wheel bolts. Jacked the vehicle up. Problem number 1. The jack was a small bottle jack and couldn't raise the vehicle enough to allow the new tire/rim to go on. So, wanted some blocks of wood so that I could jack/block, then reset the jack and jack again.

In Haiti, there is an expression - which basically says make do with what you got. That's what I did. After searching around and asking for help, I managed to scrounge up a couple of round stones and a cement paver block. That was it. So. gotta make do. Was able to rest the vehicle on the paver and "ROUND" rock to reposition the jack. I know, I know, I know - cement blocks and round stones do not make good jack stands. Decided not to go under myself and kept well clear of anything that could hit the ground if it fell. Fortunately nothing did fall. Was able to install the new tire/rim on the vehicle. And off we go!

Acclimatizing

2009-11-11T20:11:00.001-05:00

So, what's up. Guess I'll start by telling you a little about my day. Up at 5 am. Its great to get a little time in the morning to start the day right - with a time for devotions and prayer. It also allows me time to plan for the day. However, a word of caution - the day often changes - by 8 am today my list was out the window and I now had a new list to work on. Spent some time early this morning doing a little design work for the new building - its coming along nicely. Also been doing accounting the last few days and its now nearly up to date.

So, today my plans got superceded by about 8 am. Had maintenance to do on the cement mixer; office/network/wan issues to resolve and a couple of other priority items. Of course there is always plumbing, electrical and other work that needs to get done. Plumbing was on my list, although its a priority, didn't get that far on it, some progress, but the problem is now on the list for tomorrow. I always find it "interesting" to work on building mtce here - because you'll never know what new and "interesting" plumbing you'll encounter.

I hope you can read the slight element of sarcasm in my writing.

Anyway, we got a call early this morning from one of the boys in the church who was very ill. I went with a couple of others to see him, and to take him to see a doctor. Now this doctor runs several different clinics here in Haiti and so the clinic that he was at today was down near the airport. Not that terribly far in distance, but far in time. Hopefully you can recall some elements from one of my early observations regarding time warps that occur here in Haiti. Also, don't forget that this is still rainy season here and I've discovered that there is a correlation between rain and the strength of the time warp over the next several days or weeks.

Driving here is at best difficult - and today I've discovered yet even more (many more) mini grand canyons in our roads.

So, got off track this morning first thing. Now on my list for early afternoon was taking Pastor Michel to the airport to catch his flight and on the way stopping off to order cement blocks from the bloc factory - these are custom made to order - just cause it makes life more interesting so that's the way we do things here. Mission accomplished.

This afternoon, plumbing was going to be back on my list - hey but wait - higher priority item. The fridge in the guest house has not been working. 3 or 4 days ago, borrowed a R12 hose from a friend to add R134a refrigerant - just cause it makes life more interesting so that's the way we do things here. The refrigerator had an R12 connection, but the compressor is labeled as R134a. The refrigerant helped for a few days - but never got cold enough to freeze things - of course the limited amount of hydro and aging batteries would be a contributing factor as well. Now its not an automatic decision as to where to buy appliances and what models are available, so it takes some time (there is that warp again) and some energy to figure things out. That was on the agenda for this afternoon.

Please hang in there, I'm almost through my day.

Finally when I got back, started to look into the plumbing issue, but it was too late, my "helper" had left for the day. So, finished up the afternoon with a little office work and straightened out (at least temporarily) the DNS errors.

Today I went into autopilot at one point. What's autopilot - you know - when you start to drive in a certain direction - you always end up at the same place - like for example going to work. When I was in Ottawa - if I left my house driving and made the first two turns towards work - I hit autopilot and went to work - even if that is not where I was intending to go. The fact that I went into autopilot here in Haiti is truly amazing. First of all, I'm in Haiti, and if you haven't already guessed it, everything, including driving, is anything but routine. Secondly its rainy season which sharpens your navigation skills.

So, the good news - If I can hit autopilot in Haiti - it must mean that I'm acclimatizing quite well.

Rocky Road

2009-11-08T07:58:00.003-05:00

Yes, I mean that literally.

I have now been back in Haiti for just under a week. My return has really been quite smooth and I'm certainly glad to be back. There seems to be one thing that stands out more than others and that's the roads.

It is rainy season here. The roads as you likely already know are mostly made up of the natural terrain. Houses and walls are built up on each side of the road and what remains in the middle, by default, becomes the road. Now Haiti is mountainous, but don't think of the shear rock faces that might drop hundreds or thousands of feet straight down. The mountains here are much more gravelly, boulders, rock, gravel and sand tightly compacted.

Now, picture the grand canyon. We won't go into its origins here, but you can vividly see how water has eroded the walls of the canyon. Apply that same process to the roads here in Haiti during the rainy seasons and you may begin to understand the roads that we drive on here. Yep, many mini grand canyons right here in our roads.

How quickly I had forgotten. In Canada for just a few months, I quickly adapted to driving in Canada. I am now back and adapting much more slowly to the conditions here. First you use the whole road - in a co-operative way - with the traffic in both directions. You carefully asses the conditions vis-a-vis your vehicle and plot your course through the next section of road. You then attempt to co-ordinate that route with the traffic that's moving in both directions. This takes you to within inches of other vehicles, walls, and a few nervous pedestrians.

I've been observing the rate at which the roads are changing and eroding. The math puzzles me. Every time I arrive in Haiti, I can't help but notice the ring of pollution and runoff and erosion that surrounds the island (or at least Porte au Prince). Our property for the new building is on the side of a hill and has a small ravine that runs through the property. I can't help but notice the rate at which both the road and the ravine is eroding. A tremendous amount of sand and gravel is continually eroded. Last year we added perhaps 10 truckloads of fill onto the road just to level and to smoothen it out. Not only is that all gone, but so is much of the road. I'd estimate, that the level of the road has dropped by maybe as much as a foot along the length of the property. More at the top of course and perhaps a little less at the bottom. This all washes away, downhill and into the next ravine. The process continues downstream and eventually ends up in the ocean - and thus the ring of pollution and erosion that surrounds the island.

So, my question is this, where does it all come from - the rock that is. How can the island continually erode at such a fast pace and still be mountainous. Why isn't it flat by now? I think the traditional view of the age of the earth puts it 15 or so billions of years old. Evolutionists simply add time when specific processes don't add up. By my guestimate, perhaps only a few thousand or millions of years should be required to completely flatten the terrain. I think that we need to start subtracting time from the scale to make the picture fit.

Had some more information to post regarding my motorcycle license. But perhaps a future post.

La Fortresse November 09 Update

2009-11-01T23:01:00.000-05:00

The construction project for the new Haiti Ministries Center is underway again, completing the first phase of the building so that the ministry can relocate into the new facilities.

I am excited to join Pastor Michel and Louise for a second term to complete the first phase of the Haiti Ministries Center. It will provide about 10,000 sq ft of floorspace.

The first term was a year long and began with finalizing the architectural drawings, obtaining building permits and excavating the site mostly by hand! A complete basement level, first and second floors were constructed during this phase using a concrete pillar and beam construction style. Much of the plumbing and electrical is also in place.

The work that needs to be completed now includes water tank or cistern, septic tank, stairs, walls, doors and windows, security access and controls.

Here are some documents on the building project and some of the work that was completed during the first term. They are PDF files showing construction of:

There is also a video posted on youtube showing some work in progress and providing some more background information on the project.

Haiti Ministries - Overview of the Program

2009-10-21T23:26:00.001-04:00

The following video is posted on youtube and provides background information for the ministry of Pastor Michel and Louise Charbonneau. You may visit their website at Haiti Ministries

R&R - repost

2009-06-09T06:54:00.000-04:00

What comes to mind when you think of having a little R&R in the Caribbean. For many, the first thought would be the wonderful beaches and the turquoise waters; lying in the sun, no agenda and sipping a cool refreshment. Ahh!

Well, that was not the first thing that crossed mine - but maybe it shoulda been.

As many of you already know, my time here in Haiti is quickly drawing to a close. I have completed my contract here through the PAOC, but have decided to stay on a little bit longer to complete some things, to wrap things up, and also to finally come up for a little air. I've been pushing pretty hard over the last year, still pushing hard, but decided on my extended time to get a little R&R in as well before I head north.

Before I launch into my little R&R report. I need to reset the stage for what is "normal" down here. What had seemed abnormal to me at first here in Haiti has become, well, normal. I'm simply accepting the way some things work here. You go to pay bills, its not uncommon to have to go back more than once because, for example, the computer is down! This is in stark contrast with the process we are accustomed to where the bill is either automatically debited to your account or, just a few clicks on the internet and you've paid it. Here in Haiti, its not uncommon to take up to a 1/2 a day or more to go to the airport, to go to the bank or to buy a few tons of rebar for the worksite. I once waited well over 2 hrs in the lineup just to pay - just one of several steps involved in the overall process.

So, what's normal? I am sitting in my home in the dark, without electricity sweating profusely because of the heat and humidity as I write this note. Our hydro has gone out. The last time I received Hydro was 4 nights ago. I've lost everything in my fridge for the second time since I've been here. After the first time, I learned not to keep all that much in the fridge - so this time I didn't loose nearly as much. I found out today that the blackout area this time is very large. Apparently a fire at a substation has knocked us out and it could quite easily be 3 weeks or a month or even longer before the problem is rectified. How is that for a disaster recovery plan. Surprise, surprise, the infrastructure has no resilience and no spare capacity.

Now remember that I am merely letting you know what's "normal". I am also finding out that I don't really type very well when I can't look at the keys on the keyboard. So, I'm not really very sure how much of the note I'll get done tonight (as my battery in my laptop runs down).

I will be leaving Haiti at the end of this month. I am still working, but I've also begun my wind down. I am selling things and I've decided that a little R&R was in order before I head back. Most of the time I've been kept very busy at the worksite. I have done many of the planning activities during the evenings and weekends and been on the worksite to provide expertise and to supervise the work. I have a 3D model of the building which seems to be constantly out of date - and needs much attention. Lately I've been working on the electricity for the first floor - the plan was complete in my head a while ago, but getting it down on paper so that I can transition the plan is another story - I have since completed that and am happy with the results. Anyways I am digressing again. This note is not about the job - which has actually been a remarkable experience. A tremendous opportunity and I am really happy that I have been a part of this project. All that to say is that I haven't really "enjoyed" the sights that Haiti has to offer - I have pretty much been heads down most of the time that I've been here.

Well, I decided that before I left, I should see some of Haiti outside the capital. Haiti inside the city and outside the city is much different. The stress and demands on the average Haitian in the city and outside of it are totally different. In the country it is more agricultural based and people are more self reliant. In the city - its crowded, congested and people compete for any little opportunity that comes along - I believe I recently heard that the unemployment figure was something like 80%. How is that for difficult job hunting prospects.

Anyway, this past weekend I completed one of these little trips - a two day trip through the mountains - I'll call it R&R for the time being - it was anything but Rest and Relaxation. The trip was a two day trek across the island starting at Port au Prince following "trails" through the mountain to Jacmel and returning back to Port au Prince using the main roads.

A friend of mine - Dr Ed has done this trek in the past - basically following the only route through. The trek takes you from sea level to an elevation of about 2200 meters and back to sea level again on the other side. Based on previous experience, we figured that it would be about a six hour journey to Jacmel and we had a place to stay in Jacmel for the night.

So the trek begins. We were setting out early - 7 am to get a good start - should be lots of time to clear the mountains and get to Jacmel in the daylight. Our third partner decided that he should change his rear tire for better traction over the rocks before leaving - he started the work on Friday afternoon, but ran into difficulties with the tire - so it didn't get completed until Saturday morning. We left about 10 am, with the new tire ready to rock and roll.

We had planned to stop at "the lodge" for breakfast - this then became brunch/early lunch. We still made the stop and all was well. We were getting into a remote area, but the roads/trails in at this point were still good - likely still passable by cars or at least trucks. The Lodge was very pleasant and relaxing - so far so good. We had now already climbed to about 1800 meters elevation.

We started on from there - the roads quickly dwindled to trail and you would no longer pass these in a vehicle - our bikes where still fine, donkeys, horses and foot were the norm. We began to attract local attention as we passed by the small groupings of houses (maybe 3 or 4) clumped together along the trail. The road got rougher - but really still okay and we were making fairly good time.

Our first big challenge was a very steep incline - we were headed down it and soon realized that we couldn't possibly ride down - took us a fall or two on the top part to figure that out and the incline got worse further down. We worked our bikes down over this area one at a time - of course our friend "Mr Gravity" was on our side - I think really just luring us into what was ahead. We got through - but figured that we had pretty much committed ourselves to the rest of the journey - we had reached a point of no return - we wouldn't get our bikes back up that incline.

So we moved on, more or less downhill for the time being. Now remember the peak was at about 2200 meters - so you know that whatever distance we traveled going down were going to more than make it back going UP!

It wasn't too long until we came to our second problem another steep incline, but this time we were going up it. The trail made a hook to the right and we could see where it came out on top - the bottom looked tough, but optimistically, the part in behind (where we couldn't see) would be okay - right? Wrong! Our attempt to climb the first section failed miserably. With some local help, we got our bikes up around the first bend. Time to hop on the bikes again and give it another shot - well again this did not last very long and we were down again. I think by this time, my luck had run out - I was the newbie on the bike - had been following more than leading, but already the bumps and bruises were starting to set in and the newbie got to have the first go at it. I made it a little way - realize that we are talking a pretty steep climb and Mr Gravity was no longer co-operating. I had a course set - was doing pretty good - so I thought. On rough terrain you are never really in control of what’s happening - the objective really is to have some input on the general direction and speed - sometimes it seems that you're just along for the ride. I hit a big rut that I was wanting to avoid - just the way it works out sometimes. I wasn't able to recover and down I went - being the newbie I can blame it on lack of experience. My other more experienced cohorts blamed it on age. You know how that goes....well when I was younger.... I am still reserving that one (or at least pretending to).

What I've found out on this trip is that your momentum isn't totally absorbed by the obstacle - really it just deflects and changes the direction of that momentum, abruptly. Have you ever had a slow motion experience? Things slow down so you can really get the most out of that moment. I don't know how many times I thought - oooh, this might really hurt - as I fell off my bike with time seemingly almost standing still so I could savour the moment - helplessly watching the turf (aka sharp jagged rocks) come up to great me. On occasion, we ended up pinned under our bikes and had to wait to be rescued.

I don't think it's very often that the locals have seen blancs hurl themselves at the side of the mountain. Some find it very amusing and very entertaining. Considering the low population density in the area we were able to draw a pretty good crowd.

Well I'm really only skinning the surface here - there is just so much more than I can put into words. Experience is golden they say, so, if there are any takers - I'll "guide" - how's that for an offer.

Remember that we have passed the point of no return and that we are really just at our first big climb. We are getting beat up a little bit, but hey its going to get better right! We struggle up the first climb - I think this one was pretty much on our own - walking, pulling, pushing our bikes (and perhaps a little riding too) until we reached the top - real team work - things are going good now. In Haiti there is a saying that is roughly translated as mountain behind mountain - guess what - its true. We had what seemed like a short fairly tolerable ride to our next totally unexpected surprise. This one turned out to be a little bigger than the last one - but hey optimistically approaching and sitting at the bottom - we're trying to figure our path up through - figuring out how to avoid the biggest (of the big) rocks and ruts.

So our attempts to conquer this one fails - the enthusiasm of dragging our bikes over yet another peak is already waning. As I said before, we are attracting local attention - so we invite some of our spectators to participate - providing a little extra muscle to manoeuvre the bike up and over. We actually end up kind of wrestling with the Haitians over the route to the top.

As we move along - "mountain behind mountain" up and down again - we've more or less conquered the downs, but some of the ups are giving us real problems. Through it all we refine the process - all in all we had help about three or four times pulling our bikes up over the mountain ranges. Of course, true to IBM process we applied our lessons learned and refined the process each time. On the second attempt we have a new team, but refined our process to include a newly acquired rope - equipment furnished by the team. And on our third, we reuse the same team - they have come along with us, partly for the entertainment of watching the crazy blancs, but also along the way they stop and negotiate a sole source contract for the next time we need to enlist their help.

I have learned something about the mountain rock in Haiti. It is an old mountain range - so we didn't experience the sheer cliffs that drop hundreds or thousands of feet straight down. But we did experienced several types of rock, all of us got pretty intimate with all types - stumbling over it, riding over it, and of course greeting face to face.

In total we climbed up (and down) four main peaks, of course with lots of minor ups and downs in between. The trail was exactly that, just a trail - barely a trail. It had been put in several years ago, but never maintain - as a result many sections of the trail were washed out/eroded resulting in all kinds of rock conditions; some sections were more like riverbeds with loose/rounded rocks of all sizes; other sections were strewn/covered by small land slides and in other places the trail was covered with rocks that had tumbled down from above. We had sharp rocks, round rocks and boulders of all shapes and sizes. A few springs and a little mud, but not much of either.

The trail is well used, but by foot or donkey - carrying goods to market. We saw many local people walking, carrying baskets on various crops on their heads. They will walk many miles to go to market over this terrain. We toughed it out for 20Km or so on our bikes and were dead tired by the end.

My bike went up for sale at one point. In broken Kreyol, I offered it for sale real cheap, However, I guess the lady carrying her basket who was passing by at the time didn’t see any real value in adding a 150kg bike to carry along as well.

Mountain behind mountain - every peak we reached there was another one to go. When we reached the last, it looked just like all the rest - we had no idea if it was the last - or just how many more peaks we might need to cross over yet. It was beginning to get dark - we thought many times about asking to stay at one of the houses along the way - we pushed on and to our surprise we conquered what turned out to be the last peak.

Now the roads don't instantly get better, but at that point they became passable by vehicles. Word had traveled ahead of us that we were coming through. As we came over the last peak, we were met by a man with a 4WD truck that ran a bed and breakfast about 1/2 an hour away. Dinner was already on! So we obliged. Had a very pleasant stay, good food and good conversation. Exhausted we retired for the night.

The next day, we left after breakfast and headed down the mountain. The B&B was near Sequin and still at an elevation of about 2000 meters - so our trip to Jacmel on the second day was mostly downhill. Roads began very rough but gradually improved the further we went. We had three flats that day and crippled our way along to the next nearest small village. The process was painful to watch at times, but my learned friends said that its best to stay out of it - they will eventually get the tire repaired - and they did.

We had climbed the mountains, were rained on, crossed rivers (without bridges, and yes its rainy season). Accumulated a few bumps and bruises! But we made it through. Far tougher than we had expected - in typical Haitian style, the trail had not been maintained in any way and had degraded significantly. It was really not passable except by foot or donkey. The distance we traveled in the middle sections was up and down over four main ranges, but only about 15 or 20 km in distance. This section took us 5 1/2 hrs to complete. Luckily an entrepreneurial B&B owner had heard about us and decided to meet us and treat us with his services.

It's now been a week since we completed this trip. Done a little mending and feeling a little more punchy right now. You know how these experiences improve with age - think we should give the mountain trail another go - I'll talk to the guys about that - I'm sure second time through will be a charm.

I’ve attached a couple of pics. But didn’t get too many as I broke my camera on one of the “downs” early on.

RAH, RAH - repost Easter 08

2009-04-13T06:45:00.000-04:00

As you already know this past weekend was Easter. There are many events on our calendar that lead up to Easter –these include Ash Wednesday, Shrove Tuesday, and Lent. Lent is generally considered to be a time of mourning and repentance, it is also designated as a time of new life and hope based on the death and resurrection of Christ. Ash Wednesday begins the period of lent. Ashes (and sackcloth) traditionally represent mourning. The day before Ash Wednesday, Shrove Tuesday, which is also known as Madis Gras or “Fat” Tuesday - has little or no religious significance and developed as a time of partying.

Here in Haiti,voodoo is openly practiced and the rah-rah season corresponds to the period of Lent. Rah-rah bands are especially active during this time. These are ceremonial gatherings of the local voodoo participants
in the area and can get quite large. The voodoo priests are in full custom including ceremonial headdresses and skirts. Participants carry flags and banners and are accompanied by drummers and trumpets. The music is unique and has a strange sort of offbeat and accompanied by the sound of a cracking whip. The streets fill with people dancing and chanting in a procession. Many nights over the last several weeks, I have heard the rah rah bands in our neighbourhood, but have not encountered them up close.

That changed this past weekend. Saturday afternoon, I went biking with a friend. We were late coming back – normally I want to be home before dark, but that did not happen this time – it was about 7 o’clock, an hour after dark when we got home. We had been up one particular mountain route – and there only really is one road back into town. On our way home we encountered three rah-rah bands. They of course block the road and the traffic and often the voodoo priest (and participants) will try to intimidate drivers into participating. We were on our motorcycles and were able to make a third lane down past the traffic and squeezed our way through the band and participants. Thankfully uneventful.

Why the same season? Why the sound of the whip? They are actually celebrating the same event we are, or at least part of it. They are celebrating the scourging and the death of Christ. If you have seen the movie “The Passion of the Christ” then you know what I’m talking about when I say scourging. Christ’s suffering and death for us is beyond description.

However, what the voodoo seem to be missing is that Christ rose again and we celebrate the resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday. That’s when the rah-rah bands go silent again.

Evolving - repost

2009-03-18T06:42:00.002-04:00

The subject of evolution is a fascinating one. It was 150 years ago that Darwin first proposed his theory. Not that this was necessarily a new idea, but his contribution was more in the way of explaining the process of Natural Selection – essentially as I understand it – small mutations occur within species, some of these may be advantageous to the species and so the process of Natural Selection generally favours the mutations which give the alleged advantage. Apparently over time (large amounts of time), and many many mutations, one
species will become or will mutate into another species. In this way all forms of plant and animal life have evolved from a primordial soup and over billions and billions of years. 150 years ago, Darwin himself noted a problem in that the fossil record does not show evidence of these mutations.

Has there been much progress since then? Certainly there has. There have been many more fossils that have been discovered – with over 250 million catalogued fossils. However what about the variations in the fossil record – the missing links? These are still missing! The fossil record has abrupt transitions and offers no support for gradual change. So, a theory of major creative episodes; abrupt speciation, known as punctuated equilibrium - is proposed to account for the fossil record as it exists. I think that this theory does two things. It recognizes that Darwin’s theory is in fact wrong. It moves a little towards the concept of intelligent design. Certainly with intelligent design species would appear abruptly. However, there are still major issues with punctuated equilibrium. It is very unlikely that it can be expanded to explain larger systematic gaps – for example between a land mammal and a whale. It is even more of a miracle than Darwin’s theory to believe that these changes can occur with the abrupt appearance of a new species.

I read a bit about these subjects and find them fascinating. I am by no means an expert, wouldn’t even consider myself an amateur. But I wonder sometimes how with the lack of evidence and in some cases despite opposing evidence, how do theories still abound. In fact I see much information that expounds evolution as a fact, not simply a theory. I think that evolution requires a belief in miracles and postulate that it requires more faith to believe in evolution than it does to believe in a Creator.

So, what led to this note. The other day, at the worksite, I climbed up on scaffolding to inspect some of the workmanship. A ladder wasn’t in the immediate vicinity so I found a place to climb up. No problem, struggled a bit on the way up, but I got there. Thought to myself this would have been much easier if I were a monkey, chimpanzee or one of my closer relatives (ie Duane). Why did I give up those characteristics that would be of advantage to me right now? I climbed around a bit and looked at stuff. Finally, decided I was done and time to go down. Looked where I came up and decided I wasn’t going to go down there. Looked around and didn’t see a ladder or any other place that I thought was suitable to climb down. In a flash, I thought oh oh, I’m stuck. Mused to myself, just like a cat in a tree – so, exactly what branch did I come from anyway. Where is that fossil record with all those branches and mutations.

A little smirk came across my face. After all, I have just enough faith to believe in the miracle of creation, but not enough to believe in the miracle of evolution.

Update from Haiti - repost

2009-02-23T06:40:00.001-05:00

I haven’t done this in a long while, so I thought I’d share with you a few (or one anecdote) from Haiti.

Its hot here, and I know that you snowbirds would really appreciate that at this time, but I’m thinking that cooler temperatures back home would be more enjoyable to me at least. We had a little break – where at least it would cool off at night – but I’ve noticed the temperature steadily climbing and I’m not looking forward at all to where it’s going. We are approaching rainy season and I will appreciate any cloud/rain that we get during the day. Unfortunately the way it works here is sunny days – rain at night. I know just what you snowbirds would be looking for.

Today I tipped the cement mixer over while towing it behind my truck. I have done that once before in the past – so I know that its top heavy and there are some holes and bumps that I truly worry about. You guessed it – where it happened – never been concerned there. So, the mixer is laying on its side in the street. Lots of room to go around, but the road was reduced to just one lane and traffic was coming in all directions – I was blocking one lane of the exit from an intersection that had three roads meeting.

I had lots of curious lookers walking by, several offered their advice, but no one offered to help upright it. No problem, thankfully I was only a block away from the site. So, I walked up to the site and asked for help. Oops they had just started break, so had to wait until break was over. I don`t ever remember that being my work ethic, but that is the way it is here. Well, about 15 minutes later 3 or 4 guys walk down from the site to help me upright the mixer. By that time, the oil had run out of the motor. I also had time to inspect the damage and there was some. So, the plan at that point was get it up and get it home.

Okay, now as an aside let me give you a little info that came abundantly to light during this whole episode. As I said, I was blocking on lane, so traffic had to wait to pass if traffic was coming in the other direction. Actually there is a real art of not waiting – squeezing into the hole until the traffic can no longer make it through – they usually, not always stop to let you go. Face to face in the one remaining lane does not resolve things very well – sometimes you get a Texas showdown until someone finally agrees to back down.

First I need to tell you that it is very common practice to just stop – anywhere convenient for you and without regard for drivers around you. You actually act surprised and you don`t move too quickly if someone comes up behind you and expects you to move. What... I was here first seems to be the logic. So, don`t bother me, just wait – till I`m done.

As I think I relayed in an earlier message, they use the horn hear a lot in Haiti. I feel that I`m very privileged because the honks that I get are always the nice ones. Now this one person pulled up and was honking with what seemed like lots of emotion – the movement of the mouth kinda gave it away, but her windows were up so I couldn’t hear what the driver was saying. I don`t think that I can categorize this honking incident for sure – but, I`m thinking it might not be a nice one. No, the person in the car did not offer to help upright it. Just honked and a few gestures. Now I`m standing there thinking – I`m just doing the Haiti thing – be patient right! You can still get past, just need to work with the traffic coming the other way. The driver was adamant that I should move – I was helpless to do so at that time – but nevertheless I was impacting their world from their perspective and I should fix that.

This I feel is a generally engrained attitude here in Haiti – one of self first. In fact, you know as I write this, its probably not all that surprising – might get much the same reaction in Canada as well. Will one of you please do a little test for me in Canada – rent a mixer and tip it over on a two lane road – see how long it takes for the reaction that I got. Perhaps you’ll be pleasantly surprised and get help first.

I now have the mixer apart in the yard. It is easily repairable – but I`m seeing that the taper bearings that support the drum are not in good shape at all and the grease is full of sand and whatnot. I likely cannot get the parts here easily or quickly – so my guess is that I`ll hopefully put it back together tomorrow using the parts that I have and fresh grease and order the parts over the internet or with another team and replace them when they come in. 8weeks is not uncommon from the time you order until they clear customs in Haiti.

I already knew the bearings were loose and figured that it was something that would eventually need my attention. Just wasn`t planning on it today though.

I guess that life is just like that and so are projects.

For those at IBM, it would be good to hear from you as to how the unit is doing and the projects. There were many changes occurring when I left. For the others, it is always good to here from you. I am planning on sending out an update on the project shortly.

I sent one out in December, but not to everyone, because I planned to post it on the Web. Hey why make something small when you can make it big – never got it on the web – had to take 3 steps backward to get going and never got back to start on that particular plan anyway. Going gangbusters on the project and its moving in the right direction – up that is. We started with down (a fair bit) to establish our footings and foundation but definitely on the upswing now.

Oh yeah, bought a motorcycle – off road – 200cc Chinese bike. Go out almost every weekend for a few hours on Saturday with a few of the guys. What a way to really see Haiti. Driving around town on a bike is really crazy – the rules totally change – some for the good (i guess) but maybe not all of them. Like driving a car you need to be a little bit aggressive – and the holes are usually much bigger (relatively speaking) when you’re on a bike. However that is offset by the lack of any protection on a bike – so, you weigh the risks, make decisions and go (or not). Glad when I get out of the traffic though – it’s a little more relaxing off road – well not all of it, some of it is challenging. Only dumped the bike once. Oh, that’s on road, guess there are a couple more off road.

Still living and breathing. Just trying to stay one step ahead of the pack – more or less managing to do that. But hadn’t planned on the work that I’ve got cut out for tomorrow.

That’s all for now.

Update from Haiti - repost

2008-07-13T06:32:00.000-04:00

Well, today is Sunday. Pastor Michel and Louise have been away and are returning on Tuesday. We have a whole new appreciation of their work and the respect that they have. It has been challenging for us to keep things running, and we are really only dealing with a very small part of the workload that Pastor Michel would normally handle. Much of the supplies, the services etc were all put in place by Pastor Michel prior to their departure.

We have been tested a bit and I think that we've learned a bit about the culture as well through this experience. The first week ran a little rougher, but we were able to make some adjustments and the program seemed to run much better this week than last. We needed to show that there were still certain expectations while Pastor Michel was away. The team under him is very good and they needed to know the expectations and also that they were being fully supported.

At the end of last week, we were getting overwhelmed with so many things on the go. In addition to the program, we were also getting ready to finally move into our new house. Things that would have been handled very easily by us back home were not easy at all here in Haiti to accomplish. The process is much different and our inability to communicate in Kreyol is a huge stumbling block right now.

It took a lot of effort, countless hours driving from here to there, appointments, missed appointments, finding offices etc.... but eventually it all worked out. By the end of last week, we had our security guard in place, we now have the first of two guard dogs, bought some furniture, did a little more work around the house and moved in. Our first night at our new house, we got the batteries charged, moved a few circuits around, and greeted our new security guard.

Remember kerosene lamps - some of you likely don't or at least won't admit it. They are now big item on our list. You buy kerosene at the gas station and they pump it just like gas. 2 lamps, plus a few windup flashlights were our source of light the first few hours in our new house until the hydro finally came on.

We still have a few wrinkles to iron out - okay maybe a lot of wrinkles - but that will all happen with time. I think actually in Haiti that its the norm to have wrinkles that need to be attended to. Keep them on a priority list and deal with what you can as you can. Last night I hooked up the gas stove and we had our very first breakfast here this morning.

Our plan is to get language training back on the agenda again next week. We had to put it on the side burner for a few days and focus on getting moved. Even prior to that, we always seemed to be too busy to give it the proper attention that it needs. It takes a lot of energy to learn a new language and we need to prioritize this as the language is a huge barrier to us being effective here.

Now that Pastor Michel is back, we will also pick up the pace with respect to the new site. There is apparently a large church here in Haiti that was built in 8 months by the congregation. We are planning on visiting to see how that was done. It would be great to tap into some of these resources as well.

There are a million (I exaggerate not!) other personal stories that I could tell. Like for example, the ant colony in our refrigerator. Perhaps a few will eventually be told, but we'll have to save that for another time.

Experiences in Haiti - repost

2008-07-08T06:26:00.000-04:00

This note is likely going to ramble on a bit about how things are happening down here. I'm likely not going to say all that much so you might want to stop reading right here. There may be one or two good little tidbits though so perhaps you should read on.

Apparently, some appreciate my long stories - that go nowhere. You have been forewarned.

Let me begin be recapping a few driving rules.

you have a horn - use it. A honk can mean watch out, get out of my way, or thanks. Interpret liberally. I get lots of thank-you's.
the road has two sides, use them both
if there is space - use it; and I mean any space at all - we are talking fractions of inches here.
you have a steering wheel - use it (vigorously)
never go in reverse - use all the above countermeasures first

How to judge how far to the right you can go - when you have pedestrians walking towards you, then you're in luck - keep going over until they begin to move out of the way, get excited, and/or provide hand directions. If there are pedestrians, but they are not facing you - then you need to be a little more careful.

I have been driving in Haiti now for 2+ weeks. What got the most attention - driving in reverse up the main street about as fast as you normally drive forward. I don't think you're supposed to use reverse except to get out of a parking spot. Strangest predicament - making a third (middle lane) on a left turn.

Average speed I'd say is about 20-30 km/hr. Fast is 40 km, and really fast is anything over that. This has a huge impact in time & space. For example I thought that it was a long distance from our place to the airport. It really is not. But because of speed , traffic congestion, etc, it just seems long. When you ask someone what they are doing this morning - I'm going to the airport - that's it, that's all - its a plan all in itself.

The really good news about time and space - fuel economy. You can drive "seemingly" far and it doesn't use all that much gas.

We have located a dog in Florida, and there is an incredible story behind the people that are providing us with the dog. It is coming as soon as we can figure out all the paperwork that we need to complete in order to bring the dog into Haiti. That's in progress. We are going to see another dog that is already in Haiti tomorrow. We were going to see the dog this afternoon - but guess what - the owner went to the airport this morning - he called me back this afternoon saying that we wouldn't be able to meet after all. So now we are going to do it tomorrow. My point in all this is that it takes time to go to the airport - it seems far even though it really isn't.

Language training is going well. The boy's name that is teaching us Creole is Lukinson. He is a great guy - just finished high school and is hoping somehow to go to university - not likely this year though. He wants to study political science and get a job in government. He has been at Pastor Michel and Louise's church for 8 years - and what a good kid. We went to his home yesterday, and it is typical of many who attend Pastor Michel's program. There house is in a ravine, its two rooms - no running water, sanitation etc. just two rooms with a corrugated tin roof. He lives there with his mother who only has one leg, 2 other brothers and a cousin. They all share what they have - which is not that much. Lukinson is very happy that he is teaching us Creole and able to make a some money. It is so hard to find any work. His older brother finished High School a few years ago. He also would like to go to university but cannot. He also would like to find a job, but cannot. The hard reality is that it is very difficult to get ahead in this country. The opportunities are limited but we can and do make a difference.

People say that Creole is a lot like French. I would agree - but LIKE is the key word. It is also very different - many words sound somewhat similar - but they are not the same - if you use the frrench word it often is not understood or is misunderstood. Simple example - Lundi - Lendi - are French and Creole respectively for Monday - they are not the same. Sentence construction is more like English than French. Usually adjectives precede the noun.

We have a very long way to go in our language training. We (I) have not been good students - we need to practice, practice, practice - but we've been so busy with other things - our new house, the minstry, and still tying up loose ends back in Canada,

Highlight of today is that we went furniture shopping with Julio. He works for Dr Ed and he took us shopping for furniture. We were successful. We went the long way and I was beginning to worry why Julio was taking us the way he did. Turns out I think that its kinda like following the bus routes. In this case tap tap routes. When across and down would work , we went way up, then across, then back down. We came back a new route - still way up, then across and down, just came down a different route. Totally lost - not sure how they navigate on these roads. Many of the roads do not have names - they just seem to know the corner to turn at. I have a good sense of direction - but the roads here are definitely very challenging. They go in all directions - up, down and lots of turns - and they have so many pot holes, your focused on the next 50 ft or so all the time.

Anyway the shopping was very successful. This is like market shopping - street corner - hand made furniture - I like to think of it as furniture with character. We negotiated for a kitchen table and chairs and eventually got to the point of going to buy it. Ah, but then we decided that we wanted one table and a set of chairs that were at another table. The deal was done. Ah but we couldn't bring it with us. No problem - they would deliver - right away. So we started to pick out the chairs from the other table - that caused some consternation. Turns out it was a problem. The chairs belonged to another vendor and they couldn't agree on the deal. So what do we do? After some discussion, we decided to sleep on it - maybe we'd be back, maybe not. As we drove away - about 1/2 a block - one vendor came running after us - they had worked it out. We talked a bit - decided to go back and they delivered. We are now the proud owners of a wooden kitchen table and chairs "with character". We also got some living room furniture - wood with banana leaves - nice, unique. But the story there is no where near as exciting.

We put the furniture into our house this afternnon. What a nice feeling. We still need to arrange for the guard and the guard dog. The one from Florida doesn't seem to be coming to quickly - hopefully tomorrow the one here in Haiti will work out. We need the dog. We have been calling the Guard company for over a week - with no luck at getting through. Think tomorrow we will need to visit them again. Language will be an issue; and they will only likely be able to tell us to call the director. This is who we are already trying to call.

I think I've shared my "new house" stories. Just one additional note on that one. Put the water pump on yesterday when we were there working. We have no hydro, so we used the generator - en Creole - delco. The circuit breaker kept flipping on the generator every 2-4 minutes - not enough power to run the water pump. THat's okay, after starting the delco - went to check the pump and water was coming out all over the place - the main water line from the pump to the roof had separated. No need to buy connectors here - you just heat the pipe and stretch it over the end of the other. Apparently no need to use glue when you do it that way either.

You have to improvise a lot here - the solution - wire it together. You work with what you have.

Okay so where do we stand. If we could get the guard thing happening that would wonderful. Everything else seems to be moving along. We have some furniture now and good potential to solve the dog problem. We do have internet and skype - but the service seems to have been downgraded somewhat after a good start.

Hopefully I can get this note out and maybe even make a couple of calls.

Keys are another storey. We'll get to that one some time.

Chow for now.