The commentary after dinner went something like this: “Megan, are you writing the blog tonight? OK, great!”, and my Dad saying, “Oh, good…we’ll write it together! What’s a blog?” And then after reading through the last few postings, I am anxious about posting my (our) re-cap of the day across the internet and through cyberspace for all to see, but here goes!
We started our day at 5am, which is beginning to feel like a normal wake-up hour…breakfast at 7am (thanks for the scrambled eggs today, Dad!) and we’re all ready for naps and lunch by 10am! At 9am, we headed out towards Port-Au-Prince, hoping that by heading out a little “later” we would avoid the morning rush hour through the streets. Our intention was to go sight-seeing in the downtown, hardest hit areas that are still recovering from the damage of the earthquake over three months ago. Recovery is a tough word to use in order to describe what we saw…the general feeling is that the damage is done, and life is continuing on. It was eye-opening to observe the random devastation spread around the city. We could drive down one block and see two buildings standing and open for business, the next one in a pile of dust that people had to climb over and around in order to get to the next two buildings in the same row that are open and functioning. Rubble is piled in the main streets, making them nearly impassable, and the rubble is piled in the side streets, which are now closed to anything other than foot traffic. Morning rush hour was indescribable before the earthquake, and is now overwhelming to be a part of – thank goodness neither one of us are driving!! Cars that were crushed or have become broken-down, are stopped in their tracks, often in the middle of the road as an obstacle to avoid. We heard the occasional sounds of sirens, presumably coming to the aid of impaired motorists and the few car collisions that we witnessed, but no one could get through to help, and the rest of us were just trying to get by and move on. Roads that were probably designed to be two-lane roads hold 4 cars across, and tap-taps on the sidewalks! Very few traffic lights are visible and honored…we made several maneuvers that required easing our way through inches of space on either side of the truck.
We had the good fortune to stop at a restaurant for lunch and were able to get fries and ice cream – a real treat! Our other errands to hit on the way home included a stop at the “Eco Depot”, a personal favorite of Dad’s…I even lost him temporarily inside, which is typical…he was in his element – right Mom? One more stop at the lumberyard (third stop in three days at this same lumberyard – those guys start smiling and high-fiving when they see us pull up!), where we loaded up with 20 more 2x4x16’s to continue our bench and temporary church re-building in the afternoon. As a point of reference, the lumberyard stop also included a 1x8x14 and a 1x4x14 and the total cost for rough lumber that we will still need to sand, plane and paint cost us $330 (US, not Haitian dollars!) A quick stop at home to load up on icy cold beverages and we returned to the Orphanage – we were able to finish the extension on the church space and re-work the temporary classroom space being used by the preschool and Kindergarten children. Stable roofing, walls and tarps are now in place. One bench proto-type was completed, so our efforts tomorrow will be to mass-produce benches for church on Sunday. Megan and Brad joined the cast of Avatar, and painted the church wall blue…we were pretty messy by the end, but the girls were eager to help and supplied us with rags to clean up (“More blue here, Megan!”)…honestly, how did I paint a wall and end up covered in blue?!
14 hours after we rose, we were seated around our dinner table enjoying time to re-group and refresh our minds and bodies with the conversation and great food provided for us. We are still waiting for the power to come on today so that our batteries (for the power tools…we recharged during dinner!) can be charged up and ready to go for tomorrow…Marie says it will happen – she has FAITH! At this point, we’ve had electricity for about 6-8 hours total in the past four days since we arrived…our flashlights and bug spray are constant companions as the sun begins to set! We have 10 rechargeable batteries to operate our four power tools, and they need to be recharged more frequently than in the States because of the increased temperatures and heat down here. The temperature was a cool 97 degrees in the shade today, with climbing humidity and very little breeze…we’ve got our fingers crossed for a nice evening breeze and maybe even a little rain shower?!? We haven’t felt much of a breeze and have not had any rain all week…Isn’t this the rainy season?
Time to sign off, so we are ready for Bill’s 5am alarm – the one that sounds like a rooster downstairs….I (Megan) still need to try to get a shower in before the water runs out for the night! Until then…
Ed and Megan Grimaldi
4.30.2010
4.29.2010
Gracious Uncertainty
Our natural inclination is to be so precise- trying always to forecast accurately what will happen next- that we look upon uncertainty as a bad thing. We think that we must reach some predetermined goal, but that is not the nature of the spiritual life. The nature of the spiritual life is that we are certain in God, and uncertain in our certainty.
This is the devotional I began my day with today, while watching the sun rise… After reading it several times I gained the knowledge I believed was being expressed. It wasn’t until the experience of today that I now understand.
Even before we ate breakfast this morning a crew of several men arrived at Marie’s to continue rebuilding a security wall that was damaged in the earthquake. The old wall was broke into small pieces and added to the road where they had done the same with many of the damaged buildings, turning the dirt road into a gravel road. The upgraded roads appear to be an unseen blessing. With temperatures reaching near 100 today it was decided to wait until late afternoon to continue on the construction of the church at Marie’s. We instead took the opportunity to visit the water purification facility, where we purchased 100 bags, containing 60 single servings of purified water each. 90 of these bags were given to the orphanage, the remaining 10 will be used for the teams supply for the week. This trip gave me my first sight of large rural tent cities. Though they were in the distance what drew my attention was a group of kids playing soccer. No worries, just kids being kids. Traveling back into town I noticed the intricate metal workings of the gates entering into people’s homes. It seems almost signature architecture of the culture, where no matter how big or small the home, they share beautiful ornate metal work.
After lunch we decided to visit one of the tent cities, to visit the people and actually see the conditions they were living in. I, like all of you, have seen the pictures, and watched the news stories of these tent cities, but I was completely unprepared for what I experienced. The Haitian smell that has permeated my clothes and skin was intensified. The only way I can describe the smell is a combination of rotting garbage and burning tires. But meeting us at the gate was a crowd of kids. These kids had the same expression my kids do when I come home from work, and they run and meet me at the door, sharing hugs and laughs. All I knew to do was to hug them, and play with them, as they lead me through the tent city. I was overwhelmed by the conditions of the tent city… Tents were literally right next to each other, with narrow pathways wandering through. The tents are literally tarps being held up by tree branches, most didn’t appear to be much larger than 8’x8’. But as my heart broke for these people, I would look into their eyes and see joy. The smiles on their faces, the handshakes and hugs… they were joyful. Joyful in what we would perceive as chaos, and devastation, joyful in having their lives, joyful in their faith, and I was instantly humbled. It was described to me that the Haitians are resourceful and resilient. This is exactly what I have witnessed today. They live life one day at a time, as the devotional says, they have become uncertain in certainty, and instead rely on their faith.
This experience was nearly too overwhelming for me, and as we drove back to the orphanage I noticed I was becoming numb to the destruction that was all around, instead I saw businesses running, street vendors selling, kids walking home from school proudly wearing their uniforms, I saw a country that is striving and pushing on through whatever struggles, a country of proud people. Unable to understand and take this all in, I found myself shutting down emotionally. I was nearly unable to make heads or tails of this trip. Then we entered the orphanage, and the girls ran and met us at the gate, smiles, hugs, wanting to be lifted up and loved, and of course giving everyone a fist bump, which Brad and I officially brought to Haiti! The kids think it is the coolest thing! But having three girls climbing on me, fighting for who got the first hug just brings reality back. (1 Corinthians 13:13) Three things will last forever – Faith, Hope and Love- and the greatest of these is love. The Haitians in their uncertain certainty in everything but their faith continue to witness this to me.
Chris
This is the devotional I began my day with today, while watching the sun rise… After reading it several times I gained the knowledge I believed was being expressed. It wasn’t until the experience of today that I now understand.
Even before we ate breakfast this morning a crew of several men arrived at Marie’s to continue rebuilding a security wall that was damaged in the earthquake. The old wall was broke into small pieces and added to the road where they had done the same with many of the damaged buildings, turning the dirt road into a gravel road. The upgraded roads appear to be an unseen blessing. With temperatures reaching near 100 today it was decided to wait until late afternoon to continue on the construction of the church at Marie’s. We instead took the opportunity to visit the water purification facility, where we purchased 100 bags, containing 60 single servings of purified water each. 90 of these bags were given to the orphanage, the remaining 10 will be used for the teams supply for the week. This trip gave me my first sight of large rural tent cities. Though they were in the distance what drew my attention was a group of kids playing soccer. No worries, just kids being kids. Traveling back into town I noticed the intricate metal workings of the gates entering into people’s homes. It seems almost signature architecture of the culture, where no matter how big or small the home, they share beautiful ornate metal work.
After lunch we decided to visit one of the tent cities, to visit the people and actually see the conditions they were living in. I, like all of you, have seen the pictures, and watched the news stories of these tent cities, but I was completely unprepared for what I experienced. The Haitian smell that has permeated my clothes and skin was intensified. The only way I can describe the smell is a combination of rotting garbage and burning tires. But meeting us at the gate was a crowd of kids. These kids had the same expression my kids do when I come home from work, and they run and meet me at the door, sharing hugs and laughs. All I knew to do was to hug them, and play with them, as they lead me through the tent city. I was overwhelmed by the conditions of the tent city… Tents were literally right next to each other, with narrow pathways wandering through. The tents are literally tarps being held up by tree branches, most didn’t appear to be much larger than 8’x8’. But as my heart broke for these people, I would look into their eyes and see joy. The smiles on their faces, the handshakes and hugs… they were joyful. Joyful in what we would perceive as chaos, and devastation, joyful in having their lives, joyful in their faith, and I was instantly humbled. It was described to me that the Haitians are resourceful and resilient. This is exactly what I have witnessed today. They live life one day at a time, as the devotional says, they have become uncertain in certainty, and instead rely on their faith.
This experience was nearly too overwhelming for me, and as we drove back to the orphanage I noticed I was becoming numb to the destruction that was all around, instead I saw businesses running, street vendors selling, kids walking home from school proudly wearing their uniforms, I saw a country that is striving and pushing on through whatever struggles, a country of proud people. Unable to understand and take this all in, I found myself shutting down emotionally. I was nearly unable to make heads or tails of this trip. Then we entered the orphanage, and the girls ran and met us at the gate, smiles, hugs, wanting to be lifted up and loved, and of course giving everyone a fist bump, which Brad and I officially brought to Haiti! The kids think it is the coolest thing! But having three girls climbing on me, fighting for who got the first hug just brings reality back. (1 Corinthians 13:13) Three things will last forever – Faith, Hope and Love- and the greatest of these is love. The Haitians in their uncertain certainty in everything but their faith continue to witness this to me.
Chris
4.28.2010
Our First Full Day...
Our first full day in Haiti started at a bright and early 5:00 am to the singing rosters outside our windows. The wall outside Marie’s was being torn down as we all headed to the orphanage to hear the students sing their national anthem and watched the raising of the Haitian flag. They sang beautifully. It made me wonder why we stopped doing that in our own schools. The children there are so sweet and all seem so happy when they have so many reasons to be anything but. Its awe inspiring to witness and I am so glad to have been given the opportunity to meet these wonderful children. They are very inquisitive and the girls have taken quite interest in my hair. It makes me laugh as they pet my head.
Our mission for the day was to start on the extension of the church. After picking up some wood we were back at the orphanage and hammering away before we knew it. It’s amazing how much work can be done with so many helpful hands. We were able to finish most of the framework for the church and are making great progress. I didn’t understand most of the carpentry talk but I felt privileged to be able to help. Jim and his group are some of the warmest, caring people. At the end of the day we returned to Marie’s and the wall that was torn down this morning was almost completely rebuilt. The Haitians worked all day in temperatures well into the 90’s with little food or water. I thought of this as we were eating the meal cooked by Gina, which we are very fortunate to have. I am so very grateful for everything I’ve been provided. Thank you Marie!
This is definitely a humbling experience. It’s hard not to think just how well we have things in the US when you see how little the people have here. Their hearts are large and their needs are many. It will continue to amaze me how positive they are after everything they have been through. It will be hard to leave in a week knowing that there is so much more to do. I will definitely go home with a new perspective and be more appreciative of the many things I am lucky to have in my life. This experience will be something I hold in my heart for life. I look forward to what tomorrow brings.
Tina Miller
Our mission for the day was to start on the extension of the church. After picking up some wood we were back at the orphanage and hammering away before we knew it. It’s amazing how much work can be done with so many helpful hands. We were able to finish most of the framework for the church and are making great progress. I didn’t understand most of the carpentry talk but I felt privileged to be able to help. Jim and his group are some of the warmest, caring people. At the end of the day we returned to Marie’s and the wall that was torn down this morning was almost completely rebuilt. The Haitians worked all day in temperatures well into the 90’s with little food or water. I thought of this as we were eating the meal cooked by Gina, which we are very fortunate to have. I am so very grateful for everything I’ve been provided. Thank you Marie!
This is definitely a humbling experience. It’s hard not to think just how well we have things in the US when you see how little the people have here. Their hearts are large and their needs are many. It will continue to amaze me how positive they are after everything they have been through. It will be hard to leave in a week knowing that there is so much more to do. I will definitely go home with a new perspective and be more appreciative of the many things I am lucky to have in my life. This experience will be something I hold in my heart for life. I look forward to what tomorrow brings.
Tina Miller
4.27.2010
A Head Full of Doubt becomes a Mind Full of Wonder
About 2 weeks ago a co-worker of mine suggested that we have Jim Meyer come speak to our seventh grade students. We had just finished Greg Mortenson’s “Three Cups of Tea” and found that our students had quite a bit of humanitarian inside them, but it just never had the chance to escape and blossom. Jim came in and gave an incredible slideshow presentation filled with images of destruction but symbols and themes of hope and perseverance. After talking with him for about an hour after-school, he offered me a spot on his next adventure in Haiti, the catch was that it was in 2 weeks! I made a game time decision and the next thing I knew I was in Port Au Prince this afternoon, while my students were over a thousand miles away in our Chicago classroom.
When we arrived today, I really had no idea what to expect. I was like any other American who only knew about Haiti from the news and Hollywood fundraisers, but after meeting Jim I saw that there was an incredible place and story behind this mysterious land. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous, the weird thing is I didn’t even know what I was nervous about. Maybe just soaking everything in, and experiencing something very different from what I’m used to. Well, I was right, at least a little bit. Haiti was different, and overwhelming, but also strangely beautiful and inspirational.
After cruising the streets for a bit, I found myself staring a bit, and quickly tried to correct that so I didn’t stand out that much! Being a 6’5’’ white American in Haiti already had me targeted from the second I stepped off the plane! But something amazing began to happen… instead of meeting my lost stare with hostility or a look of apprehension, I found just about every Haitian, young and old, happy or sad, smiling a sometimes weathered but also optimistic grin in my direction. This land that I was so nervous about entering had already welcomed me in, and I knew this would be an incredible experience.
As we ate dinner, which was well-needed after a long day of travel, the idea to pop into the orphanage came up. “Sure!”I thought, those kids were one of the major reasons I wanted to come in the first place. What transpired in the next 45 minutes would be an experience I will never ever forget.
Endless smiles, echoing laughter, continuous hugs and introductions, broken attempts at me speaking French and these incredible, beautiful young ladies speaking much better English! Did they have a formal education? No. Did they have supportive parents who encouraged them to study? No. But an enduring spirit, and incredible leaders (Marie and her staff, and Jim and his relentless crew), has inspired these girls to not only see the bright side of things, but to be unconditionally happy and full of love. Lifting these girls to the sky, counting the stars with them, playing jump rope, and just hugging and holding them, made me truly realize, for the first time in my life, how right it is to care. These girls taught me a lesson I will never forget, and they didn’t even speak English! It was an amazing feeling to experience a bond where there are no boundaries… culture, race, age, background… it didn’t matter. My head full of doubt turned into a mind full of wonder… what else is out there in the world for me to experience? What other lessons can I learn and share? I guess time will tell, after all, it’s only been 4 hours!!!
So… what are we doing tomorrow?!
Brad Parker
When we arrived today, I really had no idea what to expect. I was like any other American who only knew about Haiti from the news and Hollywood fundraisers, but after meeting Jim I saw that there was an incredible place and story behind this mysterious land. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous, the weird thing is I didn’t even know what I was nervous about. Maybe just soaking everything in, and experiencing something very different from what I’m used to. Well, I was right, at least a little bit. Haiti was different, and overwhelming, but also strangely beautiful and inspirational.
After cruising the streets for a bit, I found myself staring a bit, and quickly tried to correct that so I didn’t stand out that much! Being a 6’5’’ white American in Haiti already had me targeted from the second I stepped off the plane! But something amazing began to happen… instead of meeting my lost stare with hostility or a look of apprehension, I found just about every Haitian, young and old, happy or sad, smiling a sometimes weathered but also optimistic grin in my direction. This land that I was so nervous about entering had already welcomed me in, and I knew this would be an incredible experience.
As we ate dinner, which was well-needed after a long day of travel, the idea to pop into the orphanage came up. “Sure!”I thought, those kids were one of the major reasons I wanted to come in the first place. What transpired in the next 45 minutes would be an experience I will never ever forget.
Endless smiles, echoing laughter, continuous hugs and introductions, broken attempts at me speaking French and these incredible, beautiful young ladies speaking much better English! Did they have a formal education? No. Did they have supportive parents who encouraged them to study? No. But an enduring spirit, and incredible leaders (Marie and her staff, and Jim and his relentless crew), has inspired these girls to not only see the bright side of things, but to be unconditionally happy and full of love. Lifting these girls to the sky, counting the stars with them, playing jump rope, and just hugging and holding them, made me truly realize, for the first time in my life, how right it is to care. These girls taught me a lesson I will never forget, and they didn’t even speak English! It was an amazing feeling to experience a bond where there are no boundaries… culture, race, age, background… it didn’t matter. My head full of doubt turned into a mind full of wonder… what else is out there in the world for me to experience? What other lessons can I learn and share? I guess time will tell, after all, it’s only been 4 hours!!!
So… what are we doing tomorrow?!
Brad Parker
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