Updates
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Earthquake Update from Hope House
the following are daily emails from Debbie Berquist, VOH Director for the week of Feb 7 - 13, 2010
Feb 13 7:00 pm Hi there !
I have my sous chef, Joel, busy in the kitchen cutting up meat and vegetables for a stir fry I will make for our dinner tonight...his first time trying out a Chinese style dish. It is kind of nice knowing all I have do it throw it all together and plus it leaves me this time to write to you.
The day started out well but a mini disaster struck when Joel accidently broke the tap off the PVC to one of the yard taps. It was lucky I happened to be going by and noticed him getting soaked with a big spray of water as he attempted to put the broken piece back on. I quickly ran and turned off the generator as the water was coming out of the pipe like a geyser. Just what I didn't need to start my day. I went rummaging around in the depot and found a piece of pipe to at least cap the other pipe. Then I did the next best thing and called Jean. Luckily he planned to come to the house this afternoon, so he said he would have a look at it when he came. He kept his promise and now we are all set and Joel and I both watched and had our plumbing lesson for the day.....you never know when you may need to use those skills. I hope it will not be for some time.
Next on the agenda was a trip to Agape to pick up mail and to see if a box of drugs sent by Dr Newman in Sarasota had arrived. Surprisingly enough it was..it is true they are giving medical supplies priority because there was no mail to be had. I am not complaining. I was also able to get some more canned goods, baby food for the staff and some medical supplies which I will share with Food for the Poor, Little Children of Jesus and Hopital Eben-Ezer, plus replace a bit of the stock I gave away just after the earthquake.
The trip to Agape only took me 40 minutes today...less than 1/2 of what it took me the last two weeks. It was another day of prayer and I witnessed so many people attending churches as I drove along. The one closest to us, is being held under a huge tarp and the over flow crowd was standing or sitting on both sides of the road. It was the same scene all along the way. Several churches even had boy scouts out controlling traffic to make sure no one got hurt as they crossed the road back and forth. Some of the real savvy congregansts even carried their own chair to the service.
I don't know the scientific reason for this, but for the last two days the sun has been shining extra brightly just before sunset time. The non scientific reaons for it is cause for quite a bit of discussion since it coincides with the beginning of the special days of prayer. Many are looking at is a good portent for Haiti. One of the neighbours said a member of her church reported seeing "Haiti pap peri" (Haiti won't perish) in the sun and another person reported seeing a cross. I caught the end of a church service on the radio and minister was also making reference to the sun shining so brightly.
Our back door neighbour Patrick (from the catholic school) came over to talk about the repairs to our common wall. I had called him last week to chat with him about it but got sidetracked with one thing and another and never did see him. He is going to get a cost estimate for the wall and will let me know what it will be to fix it. That is a big help for me and was more than happy to let him do the legwork.
The rest of the day was filled by a variety of items: cutting up more of the plastic sheeting, sorting the goods I got at Agape into various boxes for delivery; bagging over 100 lbs or dried beans for distribution to the staff this month, taking care of some billing issues. I also stopped by my place to check it out and was totally shocked to see the light in the refrigerator shining away. Lo and behold the electrical repairs reached that area.....amazing! I am glad for my Dominican neighbours as it makes it possible for them to get water and have peace from time to time instead of running their generator. Maybe soon it will reach down to Santo 3.
Needless to say the hours raced by and I cannot believe it is already approaching 7:00 PM. So, I am going to bid you fond farewell and will head to the kitchen to throw our dinner together. I even grabbed some movies from my apt. and will invite Joel to watch one with me as we eat.
Hope you are all enjoying a nice Saturday too!
Debbie
Feb 12, 6:30 pm Good afternoon all: Plans for the day changed early when Clovis called me at 6:00 AM to let me know they worked extra long packing food yesterday because all of the staff wished to participate in memorial services today. I was happy to have the day to work at Hope House. It was nice not to be running around here and there.
As New Yorkers and Americans in general mark many things by Sept 11 and the downing of the towers, Haitians mark Jan 12 begin to mark various anniversaries of this life altering event. Today was a month from the earthquake and it was marked by special church services all over Haiti but especially in the PAP region. Joel reported that the Catholic church in Croix des Bouquets was standing room only. I tuned into a service on the radio being broadcast from an of PAP called PACOT where an open air service was held with President Preval in attendance. After a bit of listening on the radio, I remembered the television in the bedroom so went and turned it on and was able to follow the service from there. It was quite moving..at least the part I saw and both the Mayor of PAP and President Preval spoke eloquently. President Preval spoke of the night of the earthquake when upon returning home his wife suggested he should make a pubic statement right away. His response in resume was to say what words could he possibly say in a moment of such disaster that would comfort anyone. It was obvious at least to me that he too was overwhelmed with what he experienced and saw on the evening of the 12th.
At the conclusion of that service he headed to Champ Mars area.....a big park type area near the Palace where a large religous ceremony, almost like a revivial, was taking place in the amphitheatre. The place was packed with people. I missed some of that because the transmisson failed and then I headed out to the little cottage cum depot to do some more shirt sorting. Joel eventually joined me and we got the 900 shirts sorted into the various size groupings. I'm not thinking of creative ways that size 2XL ad 3XL shirts can be used other than the normal purpose.....some I came up with: shawls for cool evenings, baby blankets/wraps, ground cover, sleepwear, overhead shade. I am sure the innovative Haitian folks will come up with many more. On top of that I now have to figure out the least cumbersome manner in which to distribute them....as at times doing something "good" like this can be like maneuvering through a mine field.....as my friends who ever helped with the L'Escale bazaars at HAS could testify too.
The last chore of the day was cutting up three more pieces of plastic sheeting to give to the Church staff on Sunday. Joel had stepped out so I attempted this feat on my own. All I can say is I sure earned my cold beer at the end of it all!! Those rolls are HEAVY!!
I had a little chat with Jean who was returning the large camion which I had leant him in order that he could get his sister and her family moved to a new area, on the outskirts of Croix des Bouquets. I am sure they are happy to get settled into a new area instead of camping out in a large yard with 40 others.
My mom wrote to me telling me that she had seen an interview that Nick Dixon gave on his TV station after his return from Haiti. When asked what was one of the most memorable moments for him of his time in Haiti, his response was attending the church service at the Village of Hope. The services conducted by the school children are pretty simple and yet they are so sincere and hearfelt, one cannot help but be touched. I'm sure that those of you who have had the same opportunity can fully understand his feelings.
On this special day I will leave you with the following few words written by Sir Thomas Browne " By compassion we make others' misery our own and so, by relieving them, we relieve ourselves also.". Thank you for the many compassionate ways you have shown your care and support of the Haitian people and the manners in which you have and are working to alleviate their suffering and misery.
Blessings one and all,
Debbie
Feb 11, 6:30 pm Hello all: You will all get an idea of where my head is or isn't, so to speak, when you read that I started my day by sending Valentine wishes to Wilner and the rest of my family. I think I was accidently looking at the month of January when I checked out the date this AM. As my mother said though any day is good to send message of love to family and friends. None of my staff said anything either as I handed them each a little packet of Valentine candies as they left work today but I guess that can be explained because I won't see them all again until after the day has occurred......at least I don't look completely out of it in their view. Thank Goodness!
It was a day packed full as we had to make two trips to Mission of Hope (MOH) in order to recieve the various generous donation of goods they provided VOH. I was so pleased just to get the big rolls of heavy duty plastic that everything else they gave us was like icing on the cake.....it included 100 cases of drinking water, baby diapers, fortified rice meals, some blankets a bunch of shirts and a few other items. The fellows who loaded and unloaded the goods sure got their work out today. The rolls of sheeting weighed a ton each or at least that it was it seemed like to me as when I tried to lift one. Hauling the cases of water was also heavy going. Everyone helped which was nice...even the fellows doing the body work on Jean's car and Jimmie his 11 yr old son also put his muscles to good use....a true example of "anpil min chay pa lou" (many hands make light work).
  They were each rewarded with a jug of water, a shirt and a piece of the sheeting. I unrolled one of the rolls as I wanted to see how many pieces we would get out out of it. The pieces aren't very wide but we were able to get 12 good length pieces out of one roll. That will be a project over the next couple of weeks to get the rolls cut up to be able to give everyone a piece (or two) when they come to get paid...or before that if we get them done quickly. It is my goal to try and do that since we had a very good rain last night. Alll I could think of was all of those poor folks with the sheets that they had to protect them.....which are as good as nothing when the rain comes. I sent a roll of the sheeting down to Marie along with a few cases of the water. She sent me several fellows and a pick up truck to help us out..which was a godsend as it saved us from having to make a third trip. Unfortunately I missed out meeting the Site Manager at MOH as he was out and about. I was very amazed at what I saw during the little time I was there. I have seen that compound grow over the years as I drove back and forth from Deschapelles but never imagined it was such a big thriving organization behind the walls. They have a school, clinic, orphanage, a feeding program and other outreach projects in the area...about 1/2 hour drive outside of PAP. Their wharehouse was a hive of activity as other folks also benefitted from their generosity.
While I was doing that Clovis was getting the folks at the school underway, filling up bags of rice, beans etc and measuring out cooking oil. I will be very careful when I join them tomorrow as last time, we did a distribution I slipped on the oily floor and landed on my derriere!
I started sorting out shirts for a bit this afternoon. I think a lot of them will be turned into sleep wear as the first few boxes I opened I was hauling out 2 XL, 3XL and 4 XL.shirts.....there are some big folks here...but not that many!! I can just imagine that the donor was offloading a large unused stock and figuring it good be useful in any case. I'm not always sure of that philosophy but maybe something is better than nothing in this case. I also thought that the tailors around here could probably alter them and make something useful out of them.
As we drove out of town, Joseph pointed out to me an area in the distance where people are starting to move to and setting up their little shelters. He said the gov't was granting the land but that people were starting to claim little areas, before the process was really set up or something to that affect. It will be interesting to see what develops over the coming weeks/months. The area is pretty desolate and certainly not the most ideal place to set up a house. I am attaching a picture in which you will see a blurb of blue in the middle of a pretty arid area. It is a group of folks who were working together to set up a large tarp. It gives you an idea of the terrain to which folks are moving.
 On the news today:
report from WFP (world food program) regarding the food distribution that has been taking place in 16 different points of distribution around the town. They are now giving out 700 tonnes of rice each day. They are working in collaboration with the City Halls /mayors for each commune and an NGO or two are assigned to each area. For example in the Delmas area, it is World Vision and Care that work with the gov't officials and WFP to coodinate the distributions. Over the coming days, other efforts will be made focusing on vulnerable children and pregnant women. Despite all of these efforts, groups of people are still crying out that they are not receiving any aid. As well there are reports that people are being hastled and attacked as they leave the distribution centers to head for home. It is definately a challenging, stressful and frustrating activity, I am sure, for all of those involved.
New norms announced for the construction/repairs/renovation of houses and buildings and for the preparation of concrete blocks, pillars and other materials for constructing houses and buildings. I didn't catch all of the details but at least I have an idea of what to look for or ask engineers as we consider building our health center, so that was a help.
The closure of the LaBoule sand/limestone excavation area for an indefinite period of time. Many of you will have passed the area as Larry took you up into the mountains to the overlook of PAP. Many people lost their lives during the earthquake buried in the sand. It is deemed still too dangerous for them to re-open. Natuarlly the surviving workers are protesting as their livelihood depended on working at the excavation site.
...and that folks is the news for today.
Remember to keep Haiti and its people in your prayers over the next three days as Haitians join together to mourn their losses as a result of the earthquake.
have a good evening,
Debbie
Another big day in our little corner of Haiti. Again it started early with a 5:00 alarm set in order to get the coffee going so that Nick and John, the TV fellows from Hamilton, could get their jump start for the day. They had to be off just after 6:00 to get to the aiport for their 8:00 AM departure to the DR....a repeat of what I did a few days ago when Jim left to catch the same flight.
 saying good bye to Nick and John at 6:00 AM Between their deparute and mine at 8:30 to go to Food for the Poor I got some correspondence and money matters attended to. I had organized a crew of 4 to come with us to load the truck and away we headed. However rules have changed at FFTP and they only let us in with one of the fellow so three of them got to cool their jets standing outside. After a short wait we were allowed in to the loading dock area. That place is a bustle with large container trucks coming and going. I tell you they have some very skilled drivers the way the fellows manoeuver the trucks around in rather tight quarters. We sat and waited for about an hour before our load was ready to be heaved into the truck. Nick and I talked this AM of these type of long waits being rather a privilege....thinking of their waits at the various airports today and our wait at FFTP..why a privilege..because they had the liberty of catching a plane in the first place and for us that we were fortunate to get such a generous donation. that makes the wait more than worth our while.....in other words a privilege to be able to be in that position. The truck was laden down with sacks of rice, beans, cornmeal, water, canned veggies and more.
Just like yesterday while I was at Food for the Poor I once again had a call from a very frustrated Clovis, telling me that the fellow who had agreed to transport our food, was refusing to take it all because he said it was too much for his truck. It was unexpected that is for sure as Clovis had told him yesterday what load we were expecting. I don't know what changed but we had a problem...especially since BND refused to let us make two trips...we had to take it all in one fell swoop. So it was either take half the load or scurry around and try to find a second truck. We couldn't do it because at that point we were still sitting on the dock not knowing how long we would be there. Finally after a number of phone calls between the truck driver, our driver, Dumas and Clovis another truck was organized.
Before arriving back at Hope House we had another go around on the phones because Dumas called saying the one truck driver needed to put gas in his truck and Dumas didn't have extra money to give him gas money and to be able to pay the second driver. Once we got the handling of the funds juggled about we were once again in business.
They got the food delivered to the school and we got ours delivered to Hope House. The little cottage is once again put to use as a storeroom but thanks to some other clean up we did, we only had to put the rice,beans and cornmeal there. Everything else went elsewhere. I tell you the fellows were sure sweatin away hauling those sacks of rice and beans and cases of water about.
After lunch, I made a quick trip to Marie's to check in and to deliver some beans (dried and canned) to her. I offered her a sack of rice and one of cornmeal which she was quite delighted about. She will send a car to pick it up tomorrow.
Joseph dropped me off and he headed to fill up the truck and some jerry cans and I headed to the depot to do some more clean up before tackled correspondence and paper work late in the afternoon.
Post earthquake news...the Director General of EDH (electricite d'Haiti) announced yesterday that they have 40% of the power to PAP restored and part of Croix des Bouquets (sorry to say it is not our part). That work was quickly accomplished thanks to emergency supplies they had in place in preparation for more hurricane relief if it had become necessary. He said that before more work could be accomplished they would need more supplies, equipment etc etc to the tune of 40 million dollars....his estimation to bring the service up to where it was pre earthquake. Even if his figures are inflated somewhat it is still a healthy chunk of change. It makes me wonder how long it will be before we see any EDH at Hope House. This will have an impact on our budget for sure having to purchase more fuel for the generators although that may be offset a bit as we are running them fewer hours each day.
The President announced three days of National mourning for Friday, Saturday and Sunday this week. Clovis said we will do our praying and reflecting while we are packing bags of rice and beans for the food distribution as we don't want to postpone the delivery a second time and we are already scheduled to give it out Monday.
So there you have it for this fine day.
Debbie
 busy street corner close to the bank where I watched all the goings on yesterday My day started early. I was out the gate at 6:00 AM to get to the bank and hopefully a good place in line. What a thrill it was to see that I was going to be the 6th one in place. Joseph parked the car and I took my place. I took along my Suduko book to entertain myself until the bank opened (at 9). However I found myself well entertained just by watching the goings on in the street. The bank is very close to a busy intersection and market and today was a market day, so there was lots of action. I was wishing my eyes could be a camcorder in order to be able play back for you what I observed of the vibrant, lively every changing activities and LIFE! For example there were the 4 men who made a business with their wheelbarrows as they carted goods from the taps taps from which the market ladies descended with their sacks and bags to their places in the market area. I saw, coconuts, chaddek (grapefruit), onions, bananas, spinach, other greens and much more pass in front of me. I never fail to marvel at the graceful movements of the women as they load big bundles on their head and then not dropping a thing stoop down to pick up a smaller bag to be carried in their hand. They put me to shame that is for sure! As for the barrow men, they were often trotting along with loads of at least 100 lbs or more......their calf and arm muscles sure were well defined.
It was also interesting seeing how the folks in line with me handled those who came later and tried to butt in. One lady was inching her way to me and bumped into my back so I just tapped her on the shoulder and asked her to move forward and to be careful. A few minutes later the felllows behind me said something and soon she was sidling her way to the back of the line.
Before I knew it the doors opened (surprisingly at 8:30) and we were ushered in by the security person. By 9:00 AM I had the money I had changed in hand and was standing in front of the reception desk getting my US and Gourdes chequing accounts opened up (more detail in another mail). That process took a little longer but I was pleasantly surprised to be getting it done period, so the wait was a delight. Now I just have to wait 2 weeks to a month (delay due to the earthquake) for my cheques and then I will be one step closer to making my tasks easier.
From their I planned to change more money by the aiport and then head out to the school on an errand. However on the way I decided to take a detour by Food for the Poor to check in with Dr Laurent about a couple of items and then I took the opportunity to see Mme Calixte about the distribution of donations. Talk about good timing! Today they were processing donations for a number of people and they agreed to do one for us after Mme Calixte got confirmation of the email I had sent to the Director. Mind you it took nearly 2 hours before I had the paper in hand but heh it was worth it. Tomorrow now we will have to take two trips to pick up the rice, beans, milk powder, canned beans and veggies, running shoes and more. This means we will be able to prepare another goodie bag for the staff members for February and probably March too.
In the meantime I heard from Clovis. Remember the other day when I mentioned things can change from moment to moment. Well BND did it again....changed their mind and said it wasn't possible to give us the kits they had promised to deliver today. This was a disaster for us as we had already sent word around to the parents of the school kids to come tomorrow for the boxes. After some, lets say heated, discussion, BND fiinally agreed to give us dry rations to hand out. However instead of using the school stock we had to organize transport to get a new supply from their depot. By this time, we had met up with Clovis and Dumas at BND so I could hand over funds to pay for the men who would load and unload the truck and also for the truck itself. Since as often the case, It doesn't rain but it pours....we had to get another truck because ours was now scheduled for the trips (at least 2) to FFTP and there wouldn't be time to do both. So then we had to go to the truck rental area......to see if we could find a fellow that had told Clovis he would be available. It was not to be....but luck was with us as Joseph had a friend with a truck . A quick phone call and a little negotiating sealed the deal for the use of the truck. Hallelujah!! Trucks are at a premium these days too what with carting goods from the DR and back and working for various AID organizations, so I was glad that we were able to get Joseph's friend.
Finally about 4 hours after it had been originally planned we changed money by the airport and headed to Ganthier.......oh I forgot ..there was one stop to buy plastic bags...remember the ones I started to purchase several days ago?! This time I did the smart thing and bought 600 of them from a street vendor.....much cheaper and it helped her out...she was happy with her sale.
One of my tasks at the school was to once again try to locate Pastor Phil's little church in Galette Chambon. This time around I had a name to go by and we found the small church nestled in a small "suburb" of Galette Chambon. The folks were very friendly and helpful. They were happy to have news of their US friends.
Shortly after we stopped off at the school so I could get some more vitamins to pack for our Distribution....now scheduled for Monday (si Dye vle...God willing). Michelet had just returned from letting people know that the plans had been changed.
So all and all is was a fruitful day despite the little hiccups here and there.
More and more camps are appearing everyday and you can find them just about anywhere.- parks, roadside areas, gas stations, industrial yards..anywhere there is a flat space available.....attached a couple of pictures.....
  For the past several days, I have felt a little shaking but it is so slight I was asking myself if it was just me or was it really a tremor...well as I typed this we had one big enough that I knew it was not me......Mother Nature is incredible! on that profound note, I will say tira for today.
Feb 8, 7:32 Hello all: Another short report for you today as I took a break from "earthquake" business and got down to tackle some tasks for the day to day work. My biggest feat of the day was balancing the books (at least to my satisfaction). I was truly satisfied I came out as good as I did, considering the madhouse it was the last few weeks and trying to keep track of the money flowing every which way. My accountant brother or Darrly may raise and eyebrow a wee tad, but at least the tiny difference can be explained. So I feel good about my day's accomplishment and we are off to a good start for the next round.
On another positive note, thanks to some information I received from Nick and John who also did a story about Mission of Hope (manned by Canadians from the Hamilton/Niagara region) I was able to contact them and they have agreed to provide me with some relief supplies for our staff......some plastic sheeting, water, clothes etc. They are just outside PAP heading North and I will go with the truck on Thursday to pick up the supplies they will share with us. The plastic sheeting in addition to the tarps I hope will arrive soon with a Mission team coming next week, will be a great boon to our staff. Last night I woke up to a few drops of rain, and I couldn't help but wonder what difficulties people living in "sheet' tents are going to haven the real rains start.
I have had a number of notes from people who have been reading the daily postings and who also saw the little TV blurb from CHCH U-tube presentation. Even had a query from a woman in Hamilton who would like to come with a Mission team. Who knows how it will all play out but it is encouraging.
I am sure I will hear interesting stories tonight from Nick and John. They were visiting a food distribution covered by World Vision today.
On that note I will leave you for today.
Debbie
Feb 8 Click here to see Debbie's interview with Nick Dixon of CHCH News, Hamilton Feb 7, 7:00 pm Hello all: It's been a relatively quiet day for me today...even managed to read for 1/2 hour and close my eyes for an 1 hour.....what a treat it was! Wilner was off early to get his transport back to Deschapelles. Sundays can take a little time because there are less vehicles running. After dropping him off at a spot where he could get a tap tap to the meeting point for the Artibonite buses I got breakfast for John and Nick. Then they started their TV work with me, setting up an interview in the office and then some shots around the yard. As I was afraid I would I did start blubbering at one point during the interview. I kept telling myself to "steel" myself so I wouldn't do it, but it just came out. I was so mad at myself! ... but those who know me will not be too surprised.....I do take after my mother after all!!
We went out to the school and they did some shooting around there. They were both quite taken and touched by the simple yet heartfelt service put on by the kids. Before arriving back at Hope House, I took them to have a quick look at Marie's and to meet both she and the girls. We didn't have time to make it into Little Children of Jesus. Jean was waiting for them when got back and following a quick lunch they headed downtown to the Plaza hotel where they are using CNN's set up there to send their reports back to Hamilton for the 6:00 news.
I talked to a friend (Jan Flanagan) today and asked how her week went. With Keith's connections to the US military, Jan is now overseeing the washing of the clothes for about 700 US personal. She cracked me up when she told me they could scrimp from a daily fee they get to pay for the ladies to wash their clothes but they didn't have any money in the budget to buy soap to do the washing! However they were happy anyway not having had anyone to do laundry since landing in Haiti. One doesn't think of these everyday practicalities does one? They have various and sundry ladies they know helping out.....its great that they are able to get a little money for their pockets.
On that note I will close for today. We'll see tomorrow what the week will hold.
here's a little thought to close the day from Frederick Buechner " You can kiss your family and friends goodbye and put miles between you, but at the same time you carry them with you in your heart, your mind, your stomach because you do not just live in a world but a world lives in you" Thank you ALL for being in the world within me.
Debbie
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