So we have arrived safe and sound, but it was quite a ride! Got to the airport in PaP fighting all the travelers to find bags of luggage and then down the curbs and bumpy streets to the waiting pickup truck, yes I said pickup truck for 20 sum odd bags of luggage and five people sitting on top of the luggage and three people helping to drive. As we drove through rush hour traffic we were trying to catch the glances of all the people along the streets. Most smiled, said hello and the kids smiled, waved and ran after the pickup. How unbelievable it was looking at the devastating conditions people are living in yet so hopeful to be able to smile, wave and say hello to perfect strangers! As we got close to riding by the orphanage Patty called out to the kids and they were hooting and hollering as they realized who it was. Because it was dark we were not able to see the girls tonight but sent treats to tuck them in with and are looking forward to seeing them in the morning. Had a wonderful dinner with Marie and some great conversation and a little girl talk to boot. We asked her what we can do for her this week and she said, “just make me laugh”. That should be easy enough. Thanks to all of you that are praying and supporting this work as we still have miles to go! God Bless all of you.
Renee
5.06.2010
5.03.2010
The Second Trip
Sitting here on the last night wondering where the week went. It is difficult to separate the days, everything runs together. I was wondering how the second trip to Haiti would differ from the trip a little over three weeks ago. For the most part the orphanage, city, and Marie’s have all looked the same, and work is work. What has changed is my sensitivity to the environment. Earlier in the week Jim made a comment that stuck with me. He was talking about becoming accustomed to the dirt, traffic, noise and all, and whether it was a good thing or not. One of the things that bothered and humbled me during the last trip was that there were very few times when it was quiet. During the day, traffic noise, construction noise, people going about their day noise, etc. At night, generators, dogs, roosters (thank the Lord that young lady had her baby) and people going about their night noise, etc. When times became tough due to the noise or whatever I would think about the thousands of people living in the tent camps and my problems seem quite insignificant. I can say for certain that I have become accustomed to and have accepted that all you experience in Haiti is a normal and admirable way of life for the people of Haiti. So in a way I have become desensitized and that is a good thing.
A little while ago we returned from the orphanage to say our goodbyes. For me this is the part of the trip I have been dreading. I have always felt uncomfortable when saying goodbye. Most of the girls were in the bedroom watching a movie when we arrived. Everyone spread out in the room to mingle and get a few more lasting hugs. I sat for awhile admiring the girls as they enjoyed their movie, exchanged a few smiles and glances, and then slipped away to the kitchen area. A few minutes later one of the older girls came out, spotted me in at the edge of the building and came over to say goodbye, that’s all it took, tears. Also for certain this second time around, my love and compassion for the girls and the Haitian people in general has strengthened. I will be back.
A little while ago we returned from the orphanage to say our goodbyes. For me this is the part of the trip I have been dreading. I have always felt uncomfortable when saying goodbye. Most of the girls were in the bedroom watching a movie when we arrived. Everyone spread out in the room to mingle and get a few more lasting hugs. I sat for awhile admiring the girls as they enjoyed their movie, exchanged a few smiles and glances, and then slipped away to the kitchen area. A few minutes later one of the older girls came out, spotted me in at the edge of the building and came over to say goodbye, that’s all it took, tears. Also for certain this second time around, my love and compassion for the girls and the Haitian people in general has strengthened. I will be back.
5.02.2010
May 2nd 2010
May 2nd, 2010. About a week ago I had no idea of what to expect coming to Haiti. I never thought that right after getting my passport, this would be the first place that I would visit. I actually never even knew anything about this country before the earthquake and just a few short months after, here I am!
My first impression of the sights that I had seen coming off the plane was absolutely chaos. There were people just relentless to help with your bags or whatever you are bringing. I didn’t know that they would so much as go through the trouble of creating, “speed bumps” on the sidewalk just to make you purposely drop your cart of luggage so they could help you and then ask for money for that help. As I chuckle to myself I think, “What the heck did I get myself into?” A lot of this country, from what I have seen, reminds me of Iraq. Everything in rubble, people everywhere in tattered clothing, the smell of that choking exhaust from old vehicles. Oh and that awful unforgiving sun. (Just to name a few)
Today I had the pleasure of witnessing a sermon at a church that we finished building over the last week. The people in and around this neighborhood gathered under the sun during the hottest part of the day to hear the word. Just being glad to be there, to hear the word of the lord, and rejoice. We finished the pews on Saturday just in time and to be perfectly honest, I felt some sense of accomplishment and proud that I could help. Everyone worked very hard this past week and I’m sure they share some of the same feelings as I do.
After church we went out about an hour later to see the smiling faces of Cohena children’s orphanage. Mostly boys this time and I had a few small conversations with some of them in Spanish. It absolutely amazes me that a lot of these children are already speaking two and three languages when I had a hard enough time with English at that age. One of the other team members brought a Frisbee for them and we had a few throws before we left. I love seeing the kids so happy. I always wish I could do more.
The end of our night ended with a very short visit to a few “very different” markets looking for the ingredients for spaghetti of all things to make in Haiti. Around the market people look at me funny because I’m lighter skinned…( HA HA) I have never had that kind of attention before. Marie walked around those places like she owned them which in ways is a good thing. We got what we needed and left, but not before the first thunderstorm of the month, which lasted awhile. Riding in the bed of the truck getting soaked, we capped it off with a delicious dinner, lots of laughs, and one sprained ankle to which I still don’t know how it happened!
I have been truly blessed with the opportunity to come down to this country, with a team of angels with huge hearts and helping hands. I will cherish these memories. I look forward to coming back and helping more.
Matthew Johnson
My first impression of the sights that I had seen coming off the plane was absolutely chaos. There were people just relentless to help with your bags or whatever you are bringing. I didn’t know that they would so much as go through the trouble of creating, “speed bumps” on the sidewalk just to make you purposely drop your cart of luggage so they could help you and then ask for money for that help. As I chuckle to myself I think, “What the heck did I get myself into?” A lot of this country, from what I have seen, reminds me of Iraq. Everything in rubble, people everywhere in tattered clothing, the smell of that choking exhaust from old vehicles. Oh and that awful unforgiving sun. (Just to name a few)
Today I had the pleasure of witnessing a sermon at a church that we finished building over the last week. The people in and around this neighborhood gathered under the sun during the hottest part of the day to hear the word. Just being glad to be there, to hear the word of the lord, and rejoice. We finished the pews on Saturday just in time and to be perfectly honest, I felt some sense of accomplishment and proud that I could help. Everyone worked very hard this past week and I’m sure they share some of the same feelings as I do.
After church we went out about an hour later to see the smiling faces of Cohena children’s orphanage. Mostly boys this time and I had a few small conversations with some of them in Spanish. It absolutely amazes me that a lot of these children are already speaking two and three languages when I had a hard enough time with English at that age. One of the other team members brought a Frisbee for them and we had a few throws before we left. I love seeing the kids so happy. I always wish I could do more.
The end of our night ended with a very short visit to a few “very different” markets looking for the ingredients for spaghetti of all things to make in Haiti. Around the market people look at me funny because I’m lighter skinned…( HA HA) I have never had that kind of attention before. Marie walked around those places like she owned them which in ways is a good thing. We got what we needed and left, but not before the first thunderstorm of the month, which lasted awhile. Riding in the bed of the truck getting soaked, we capped it off with a delicious dinner, lots of laughs, and one sprained ankle to which I still don’t know how it happened!
I have been truly blessed with the opportunity to come down to this country, with a team of angels with huge hearts and helping hands. I will cherish these memories. I look forward to coming back and helping more.
Matthew Johnson
5.01.2010
Happy May Day....
Well it was my first MAY DAY in Haiti…..And it was unlike those in my past. Since I was a grade school student and into my married life it was always a time of gathering flowers, placing them on the door step, knocking and running. Maybe this seems strange to anyone else but to this retired man, it’s comforting.
As we awoke today, once again there was no power and it was like this off and on all day. The flowering tree outside our balcony helped make this day beautiful, in spite of not having any power. Once again, we loaded into the pickup truck and made a run to the business where we buy our lumber. Today’s load was much larger than we’ve had in the past, because today we were “scheduled” to build 20 benches that Bill designed and he and Tim made a prototype yesterday. As one might realize in this situation, power is essential in order to charge up batteries for the drills, saws and other battery operated tools. Without it, we are pretty well stopped, so we went as far as we could and then took a break, consisting of snacking, talking, cat-napping, and just waiting for God to intervene so we could continue His work her at “Maries church”…….and guess what He came thru one more time allowing us to have enough generated power for our batteries and the operation to plane the 2 X 4’s.
By 6:00 pm all 20 benches were complete and already some of the local ladies were enjoying the comfort of their new furniture. The acronym of TEAM was the t-shirt that Marie had on today and it was obvious this was the case (Together Everyone Achieves More). We ate by candlelight for a short while, some having their first taste of Haitian Goat, which is pretty tasty, when prepared properly with rice, and veggies. The power came back on momentarily, but in a few minutes the generator was blowing black smoke and once again, our power was gone. And people wonder why life in a third world country is at a much slower pace?? Take a trip someday and see for yourself, it’s a HUGE BLESSING for the people you are visiting, but especially to us Americans to have our eyes opened to how most of the world lives on a daily basis. For them it’s a survival technique every day of their existence.
The people we work with and meet is something that cannot be described in words, but believe me, it can change a person’s view on life as we know it back in the states. Not to mention all the smiling children that just want to be held and loved by anyone willing to spend some time away from the United States.
One other quick workman’s comp. story was how one of our team members brushed up against a piece of wood and received a splinter like I have never seen before. He was lucky that there were a couple of Fireman / EMT on our particular team and they were able to remove with extreme professionalism, along with 4-6 curious on-lookers with flashlights. When all the dust settled, a one inch pc came out and we all cheered.
OK, so much for May Day and all it stands for. May God continue to bless you and your family in the days and weeks to come thru out the balance of 2010.
Terry A.
As we awoke today, once again there was no power and it was like this off and on all day. The flowering tree outside our balcony helped make this day beautiful, in spite of not having any power. Once again, we loaded into the pickup truck and made a run to the business where we buy our lumber. Today’s load was much larger than we’ve had in the past, because today we were “scheduled” to build 20 benches that Bill designed and he and Tim made a prototype yesterday. As one might realize in this situation, power is essential in order to charge up batteries for the drills, saws and other battery operated tools. Without it, we are pretty well stopped, so we went as far as we could and then took a break, consisting of snacking, talking, cat-napping, and just waiting for God to intervene so we could continue His work her at “Maries church”…….and guess what He came thru one more time allowing us to have enough generated power for our batteries and the operation to plane the 2 X 4’s.
By 6:00 pm all 20 benches were complete and already some of the local ladies were enjoying the comfort of their new furniture. The acronym of TEAM was the t-shirt that Marie had on today and it was obvious this was the case (Together Everyone Achieves More). We ate by candlelight for a short while, some having their first taste of Haitian Goat, which is pretty tasty, when prepared properly with rice, and veggies. The power came back on momentarily, but in a few minutes the generator was blowing black smoke and once again, our power was gone. And people wonder why life in a third world country is at a much slower pace?? Take a trip someday and see for yourself, it’s a HUGE BLESSING for the people you are visiting, but especially to us Americans to have our eyes opened to how most of the world lives on a daily basis. For them it’s a survival technique every day of their existence.
The people we work with and meet is something that cannot be described in words, but believe me, it can change a person’s view on life as we know it back in the states. Not to mention all the smiling children that just want to be held and loved by anyone willing to spend some time away from the United States.
One other quick workman’s comp. story was how one of our team members brushed up against a piece of wood and received a splinter like I have never seen before. He was lucky that there were a couple of Fireman / EMT on our particular team and they were able to remove with extreme professionalism, along with 4-6 curious on-lookers with flashlights. When all the dust settled, a one inch pc came out and we all cheered.
OK, so much for May Day and all it stands for. May God continue to bless you and your family in the days and weeks to come thru out the balance of 2010.
Terry A.
4.30.2010
Mid-Week Report...TGIF!
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
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
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