Today was a little bit of everything. Marie’s house with the girls, destruction site, Marie’s house, destruction site, Port au Prince looking for a few items which we never found, airport to pick up a TV camera crew of two from Canada, traffic jams everywhere, home about an hour after dark. It was a busy day but I feel like I didn’t really accomplish anything.
The work crew continued with the destruction of the church/orphanage and they are still making progress one hammer blow at a time. I am still amazed at their determination. It is hard, hot work, and they are there every morning at 7:00 AM with hammers in their hands. There is another crew finishing the inside of the temporary orphanage building…smoothing out the concrete ceiling and walls, getting it ready to paint. Another crew began rebuilding the outhouses out of salvaged block from the wall that fell. There are so many projects going and Marie is directing traffic and doing a good job of it.
As we drove around we still see tent cities everywhere and the government is telling everyone to sleep outside for fear of another earthquake…and they are, millions of the Haitian people sleeping in their makeshift tents for over three weeks now. We see more military vehicles and US troops on the ground now as well. The airport looks like a military base with US Army barracks/tents all around the airfield. Then the Haitian tent cities start were the airfield ends. Other countries are here as well. China, Canada, many others, helping people in whatever ways they can.
Debbie, the missionary that I am staying with at Hope House, got a call from someone who knew someone who had given them her phone number. Debbie is Canadian and the TV crew from her home town news station is here and arrived in PAP airport late this afternoon. Debbie agreed to put them up for the night or two or more. They came from a different area of Haiti Jackmel and are filming several of the Canadian mission organizations work efforts. I will be sharing a room with them for a few days. Good guys with quite an adventure behind them and more in front of them as the face the destruction of PAP. They came in from Jamaica by a Canadian Navy ship, helicopters and pontoon boats…quite a story in itself.
I went to the airport with Debbie to pick them up and inquired about my leaving and how that may work on Saturday. They say first come first serve…but the first guy in line at 8 AM has not entered the airport yet. The military wants to get out of the civilian transportation business as their main job was rescue and injured and has become people (like me) who are looking for a way home. I found out that they are chartering flight out each day to the DR, Santo Domingo, so I bought a ticket for Saturday morning back to the DR and I will find my way back from there, which should be relatively easy. So I may be home by late Saturday or sometime Sunday. Pizza and a shower and about 12 hours of sleep and I will be good.
Tomorrow will be difficult because I will be saying goodbye to the girls and Marie and that is never easy. I am glad I came and would not have changed anything.
2.04.2010
Photo of the Hero!!
Jeanna had the girls crawling on their bellies because they could not walk with the quake shaking the building. She had them crawl down the stairs on their bellies too. fast. She was the last one out of the building. It was her quick thinking that saved them.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
