Updates
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Earthquake Update from Hope House
the following are daily emails from Debbie Berquist, VOH Director for the week of Jan 17 - 23, 2010
Jan 23, 7:30 pm Greetings:
I don't have a lot to report to you today. I left Joel looking after the compound and cooking up rice and sauce for Christophe and helpers who continued on with the wall repairs I headed to get some more money changed and getting inventive with places to hide the gourdes...they take up a whole lot more room than the USD do. I told someone there were advantages to being big chested...the extra padding doesn't show up as much!
Then I waded my way through all of the traffic to get out to Love a Child Clinic/Orphange/School in Fonds Parisien to help my friend Carole. They are only about 9 miles from the border and have a HUGE compound and good facilities. While heading out of town I passed at least 25 long flatbed trucks hauling stuff from the DR into PAP and that does not include all the med and large trucks. One of them was loaded with bottled water! The line up was so long that traffice didn't clear until nearly the far side of Croix des Bouquets.....
As I arrived at LaC, Carole was escorting the head of PAHO/OMS WHO and high level dignitiaries from the DR and Haiti's Minister of Health around. They were inspecting the buildings before putting the final stamp on the plans to turn it into a mobile Hospital. Others were busy putting up patient tents.....for now patients are on mattresses strewn on the ground under any piece of shade they can find. One of their buildings was being used as a MASH type operating room. A couple of helicopters landed and took off while I was there,so it is a busy place. I helped Carole to take care of a back log of paper work she had sitting on her desk. She also told me that just beside their land is another big piece of free land and it looks like an IDP camp (Internally Displaced People) for about 100,000 people is going to be developed. The information is that "they" are going to have about 3 of them on different sites oustide of PAP. I heard rumors of one going in at the plain area just outside of Croix des Bouquets as you head towards Goat Mountain....the new road to the Central Plateau.....some of you may have been by if Larry took you up the mtn to see PAP from on high.
I was happy to see that great progress was made on the wall today and I admit to feeling a bit more at ease with those bricks up. There is still a ways to go but at least the most obvious part by the road is a good height.
I did stop at the school on my way by just to check in on the fellows. They are doing okay and I said I would be back next week. Now I actually plan to go tomorrow as Jorel managed to get through to me and he and Dumas were planning to go out for church. I told him I would pick them up at Karfou Marasa and we would head out to the school together....so that is my plan for tommorrow AM. I was surprised but pleased to know they were making the effort.
I've attached a couple of pictures of the tents going up and the patient "rooms" under the trees. They are not the best pictures I have ever taken but will give you and idea at any rate.
 Tomorrow being Sunday I know there will be a multitude of prayers going up for Haiti and all who are here. I ask they we also pray for all those who have come to assist and who are having trouble adjusting as they get back home, after witnessing so many heart rending scenes during their rescue work.
Good night all....a demain,
Debbie
Jan 22, 7:20 pm Good Evening: The end of another week, but with no end of the work in sight for many. Today was the eye opener for me...I got to see what you folks have been looking at for a week on TV. All I wanted to do was cry as we drove up and down Delmas on our VOH business today. We passed by Accra Factory Outlet store and it is no longer. As many of you know Robert Accra is one of our Haitian Board members. I also passed by Valerio Canez where our other Board member Rene Max August is. I spoke with him, extending sympathies on VOH behalf and letting him know I just wanted to check in with him. He was quite busy but gave me a couple of minutes. He told me Robert Accra and his staff, includiing his son, survived the collapse of the store and were rescued after about 6 hours....uninjured. As for Valerio Canez, Rene Max's mother told me that they had major damage at the store by the US embassy and at the park,I noted the water wheel was down. They did not lose any staff members but some of them lost family members. What amazes me is the way the people carry on despite their grief....maybe because all are in the same boat it makes it easier to carry on. It will not surprise me at all if in the future we see a lot of mental health issues as a result of all of this. As we drove we listened to the radio and heard cries for help from various neighbourhood groups around the city that had not recieved any relief supplies. Little tent cities are popping up all over the place as people group together and help each other out. The shelters are made out of whatever the folks can make....most with a few sticks with sheets or plastic tarps tied to them. In one area people had made little rooms with leftover or ruined pieces of tin roofing. At the same time one feels helpleess listening to those still needing help there are signs everywhere that more and more aid is getting to where it needs to. Big water trucks were lined up outside CAMEP which is the gov't water control area not too far from the airport, waiting their turn to be filled up. Large trucks and camions were lined up outside the UN compound waiting to get assignments to deliver goods and supplies. Garbage trucks were being filled by bulldozers or men with shovels. Small businesses were open and market ladies out selling cooked food, dried goods and many other items. We drove by the Cnd embassy and it was charged with people. I noted they even had a little tent city set up inside the compound. Vehicles of all sizes and types continue to pour in from the DR, all laden down with various and sundry supplies. You should have seen the lines outside of the Western Union office on Delmas...talk about a throng......everyone waiting for funds sent by loved ones from afar. Demolition is now going on and their were trucks laden down with chunks of concrete and blocks etc. headed to the outskirts of PAP (going N) to dump the stuff. Work crews are still working away to free the folks in the Caribbean market.....announcers on the radio were requesting heavy equipment to go up to help move some of the big slabs. Students were found alive in a school by Delmas 29......right at the One Stop market......a small grocer store and plaza that has been there for ages......it too suffered major damages.
The marines or at least some military group have quite a camp set up on the airport grounds already.....a big change from 2 days ago when I was by the same area and there was nothing there.
Checked in with Gladys at Little Children of Jesus and delivered her some blankets. Will also get her some water when I go by the school in the next few days. She was in much better spirits today. The kids were all gathered in the dining room eating as I visited. Had my daily visit with Marie too.....she was feeling much fresher having braved going into the house for a bathe.
We've had a few more gentle shakes over the past 18 hours...I heard on the radio today we can expect them for another 4 weeks or more. I just keep telling myself they won't be as bad as the first,but they do make your heart skip a beat....maybe I have said that already.
So that is a little snapshot of the day. To end on a humorous note, because moments of humor keep us going, here is a little story from last evening.
I decided that a nice cold beer would be something to look forward to at the end of the day when I closed up the office and sat down to relax. Since it was late in the day planning this, I had put one bottle in the freezer. I had the computer set up to watch a DVD, dinner was heating nicely and then I went to get my beer out of the freezer....ah how nicely chilled it was....my mouth was watering......and then the next thing you know I was dripping in beer. I had popped the cap on the wall mounted bottle opener we have and who knew the freezer would be so efficient. The beer was nearly frozen and when I opened it the pressure inside had this fountain of beer shooting up at me and flowing out of the bottle. Joel had quite a good chuckle when he walked into the kitchen and saw me covered in the golden nectar. I wish I had had a picture of that!...I did manage to save a drop or two and enjoyed it immensely once it thawed out.
and that brings me to the end for this time around...have a good weekend all.
Debbie
PS I was going to send several photos but it is slow as molasses so will try for it tomorrow instead
Jan 21, 6:30 pm Hello all: Where has the day gone.....I can't believe how the hours race by. I filled them in the following manner: Visited with Marie and delivered several message to her. I think both of us benefit from these little get togethers. We sit and have a chuckle here and there and mull over the situation. She is going to use some of her resources to help me get some USD changed to local currency. There is some talk about trying to get her girls adopted to the US due to the change in restrictions as a result of the hurricane. I had an email from a friend of mine in Holland and she said 100 orphans arrived their in the last day or two.....I guess their adoptions were in the process. So there are some positive benefits for those parents who thought they would be waiting months to get through the red tape and now here they are welcoming their kids. The girls were under her "tonnel" or Haitian gazebo playing games, chatting or just lolling about (picture attached of the "upgraded palace")  Our backdoor neighbours (the Catholic School) agreed to let us use their incinerator so we got rid of some of the garbage collecting up...that was a good thing! It paid off letting them use our Internet services.
Work on the wall continued...no blocks in place yet but the re-bar frame is just about set and Jean did some welding on it this evening to make it stronger.
I met this afternoon with folks from an AIDE agency from the Chicago area who are interested in long term partnerships with folks in Haiti..for medical care, psycho social care and other and helping with mobile clinics. We talked about ways they could assist us. It is a ways off for us since we haven't got the clinic going. However I told them about the LCJ orphanage and they were quite interested in that. Their organization is attached to a medical school and they have other resources as occupational health folks and possibly physio therapists. I arranged to meet them at the orphange tomorrow and will introduce them to Gladys. I'll get more details of the group tomorrow.
Each morning I have been cooking up a big pot of rice and this morning it was spaghetti to give to the fellows working around the yard. The housekeepers have had a few days off for reasons of transport difficulties and ill family members.
In between the various activities I try to keep up with the email correspondence and hallelujah I even got the payroll form re- formatted to my liking (to ease the work in future months) and got it up to date for the Jan. pay, with hopes that we will (by the grace of God) be able to give everyone their pay on time. I feel confident we will be able to work something out. The banks will start opening for limited hours this weekend but are limiting the amount that each person can get.
I also had the radio turned on and heard that there were groups of people still found alive under several different buildings....one of them being the Carribean market (the largest grocery store in Haiti) and where a number of visitors have bought Haitian vanilla and coffee to take home. I have to say I got choked up when I heard that news..just Imaging what they must be going through!! I just wanted to go up there and start pulling the rubble away.
President Preval made a speech which I thought was pretty good. It was filled with sympathy as well as encouragement. He mentioned the progress made so far, what still needed to be done and thanked everyone around the world and in Haiti for any and all assistance given. He asked everyone to work together and in solidarity as we struggled to get Haiti back together. He said one of the biggest challenge was getting the work of all the aide agencies and helpers coordinated and organized so that they could work in the most efficient manner as possible. That I agreed with 100%. A lot of progress has been made but those still awaiting help or not recieving any aide don't think so. The folks in Jacmel in the south will be relieved as several big ships with supplies arrived at their port today.
The radios have been a life line for so many.....delivering messages to family members, sending out urgent messages where help was needed, and on and on. The importance of their work has been recognized in that they are one of the top priorities to get fuel to keep their generators running in order to keep broadcasting.
That about covers my day.. Tomorrow I will head up Delmas on VOH business so will see for the first time the damage with my own eyes.
Until tomorrow.....keep those still alive and waiting rescue in your prayers......give them courage to face those dark hours and the strength to stay alive until there rescue.
My day is made as Wilner was able to get through and we were able to have a little chat. I have called him since Monday with no luck so it was great to hear his voice when I answered my phone.
Debbie
Jan 20 6:30 pm Good afternoon to all: As you know our day started with more excitement as we were shaken awake in a manner not too many of us appreciated. I was actually sitting at our outside table folding laundry when the shaking began. I just started praying..please stop, please stop. To me it felt like it was one of the strongest tremors I felt since the 12th and later when I heard reports I figured I guessed right. Maybe we are getting used to them in a way, because after it all settled down, the bunch of us went about our daily business. Had I but realized that it would make such big news at home..I would have sent out an earlier message. Sorry for giving you all more grey hairs. We are all fine, so is Marie and no more damage at Hope House or at Grace Mission or Marie's place. I was afraid more of the church would come tumbling down but it stayed where it was.
Did you all hear that they pulled an 8 year old boy from the wreckage this AM, still alive and yesterday and another person was freed still alive? I feel for those poor folks wondering what kind of Post traumatic stress they will deal with.
Most of our morning was taken up with preparing the relief bags for the staff. Each of them has a package of rice and beans, several pkgs of Feed MY Starving Children rice packages, toothpaste toothbrushes, wash clothes, toweling, soap, and various and sundry other articles I could find around the place. The staff helping me seemed to think the bags were good. I'm attaching a picture of Fleury and Joel putting in the final articles.  Hope House was a meeting place for the Hopital Albert Schweitzer bus and the volunteers arrriving from the States via the DR. It was good to see my friends (for those who know...David Ubogy, Beth Dowell and Frantz Ovide) and I was able to pass some cash for Wilner to one of them and asked him to give Wilner a big hug for me.
I went and saw Marie for a few minutes this PM..to deliver her high BP pills and to check in. She has her open air shelter built now..it even as a tin roof on it. She is keeping the girls with her all of the time now and many were stretched out on the pieces of carpet they are using for their beds and having an afternoon nap. Previously they would go and spend a few hours by the dining area in the church/school compound but they were getting careless and she is afraid the building may fall on them.
Christophe continued preparing the poles for the new walls and tomorrow I think he will start to put up some blocks.
So that pretty much brings you up to date with the happenings in Haiti for today. I will say tira and be in touch again tomorrow.
a pita......Debbie
Jan 20 Hi all: yes we are all okay......sorry I didn't send a message right away. Had I but known it would be such big news at home I would have sent a message earlier. We have been busy all morning putting the relief packages together for the staff. Debbie Jan 20 Read about the team's return home to PA! http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=188304 Before turning back we headed to Food for the Poor which was my hext Mission. I was taking some medicines and medical supplies to Dr Laurent to use in her clinic. The compound looked in pretty good shape. One side of the entrance gate was broken but we were still able to get in. The staff dining room is flat as a pancake but the rest of the buildings were okay. The military from Jamaica is manning their compound. You can imagine the need for security there as it is such a large distributor of food aid. I finally got the okay to enter and was able to deliver the goods to Dr Laurenet. She told me for the most part of all their staff were okay but everyone had lost at least one family member or close friends and a lot their houses. She was quite delighted to recieve the medical goods. I then went looking for some information for a couple who is wishing to adopt two little children (orphans from the hurricane floods in Gonaive) who are at one of the Food for the Poor Orphanges. Unfortunately it was a no go as the priority this week is getting medical and other aid out to those affected by the earthquake. In one of the offices the staff was gathered and packing dry beans into small sacks to be distributed. In the medical clinic among other work, clothing was being sorted. Everyone was doing their part, as it was in our compound. For those of you who know the road up to Food for the Poor..imagine it half strewn with debris from several houses that collapsed and then the rest of it half occupied with tents people have set up to live in.....that is what I saw today.......sorry forgot to take my camer along. Little tent cities (actual tents too) or lean toos made of sticks and sheets or any available cloth are anywhere you can find a free space.....the big park by the airport is full. Jospeh was telling me he and his family sleep in an area like this in his neighbourhood but during the day sit under a tree that is in front of where his house use to be. He said they couldn't stay in the park all the time as conditions were so bad....imagine all of those people together with no latrines or toilet facilities of any kind....I think you can get the picture.
Next stop the UN compound. It was like a circus as car after car entered the compound...all with various logos of the AIDE agencies....Concern, WFP, CRS, UNDP, UN, Red Cross etc etc etc. I got to the gate faster going by foot. However I didn't get passed the guards at the second gate. The only information I got was that the distribution of the medical aid had not yet started. I then Headed to the US embassy to see if I could make head way there and lo and behold I did....I even made it to the inner sanctum, escored all the way by a special agent. I didn't work miracles getting drugs and supplies for HAS but at least I got them some contact information. Each afternoon at 4:00 there is a meeting of Medical AId agencies to start the coordination and pass on information. It too was at the UN compound.....I will try and go tomorrow as I still had VOH errands to run. By now it was nearing 3:00 and traffic had started to ease up. I stopped in at my apt to check on the house get some DVD;s for the evening I find time to sit and watch something and also watered my plants.
Final stop was at Little Children of Jesus where I delivered soap, toothbrushes and toothpaste that Gladys had requested. I was happy to see that she seemed to be in better spirits today. Our depot of exrtra supplies is quickly dwindling but I don't think they could go to a better effort.
When I got back I found a big pile of sand, and Christophe working on the support bars for the new wall......so Jean and he had success with the list I left behind.
I forgot to mention that Roberta Edwards who runs the orphange on Santo 11 came by to borrow our truck. A contact in the DR had a load of supplies for her and her truck was too small to carry it all, so we leant her ours. It was a fair trade as far as I was concerned as we got a sack of rice and one of cornmeal as well as two large buckets of diesel fuel and 5 gallons of gas.
Jean also had luck at getting the pick up truck filled at a gas station he frequents...even getting a cheaper price than the going rate. He is sure earning his pay these days.
Other snapshots of sites seen today:
. a reporter and her photographer each on the back of a small motorcyle weaving in and out of the traffic and the photographer filming what he can
. lots of journalists on the roof of the airport filming the activites there....I saw an AA flight taking off..presumably filled with returning citizens or new refugees heading to relatives in the States
. many vehicles piled with people furniture, beds, mattresses even one had a stove.........whatever they could jam in as they headed to family in the countryside.....taking as much as they can so it wouldn't be stolen by looters going through the downed and vacant buildings
. marines, flaked out sleeping away on the grass outside the main US embassy building while sirens rang, loudspeakers roared, trucks and vehicles and people passed....obviously they learn to sleep when you can.
Well folks it has been a bit of a wordy report this evening..but thought you would be interested in a day in the life of Debbie.
I am looking forward to my couch this evening....its cooler there and somehow I can't face being totally inside as yet.
Tomorrow will be more of the same plus planning for helping John Beardon and his rescue crew of 8 to get to the DR border Sat. AM, and working with Marie to get ready for Jim Myer's arrival.
that's it for today.....
Debbie
Jan 18, 7:00pm Good evening: First off I recieved an email from Cathy Renshaw (Pat' wife) that the team had arrived in the DR and were being lodged at the Hotel Hilton and awaiting departure Tues AM at 11:30. Don't know the details of why the flights from the DR didn't work out yesterday but after a long day at the DR airport they were taken to the Hotel. They are enjoying their little bit of paradise but anxious to get home.
Other than that the day was filled with chores: more laundry while the generator was on; getting some accounting taken care of, teaching Joel about garbage separation so we can reduce the amt of garbage we have hanging around..some of it we will burn. Got the team of three going on clearing up more blocks and then when Jean got here mid morning we headed to the school.
Lots of traffic coming from the DR that is for sure. One of the small bridges we cross has a small crack in the road just as the beginning of the bridge so we pray that it holds p with all of the traffic passing over it. I picked up two tanks of propane and cleared out pretty much the rest of the medical supplies and medicines I had there. I sent some out to Carole Stufflebeam at Love a Child...they have been very busy with folks who have travelled from PAP to be seen by them.
Coming home we stopped by Little Children of Jesus. Gladys was there. I was happy to see her but she is sure carrying a great weight upon her. She lost one of her inlaws and several of her neighbours. She is so concerned for her staff, most of whom have lost everything..just as ours. One of her young staff a boy of 19 is still missing....he was attending school and it was one of the ones that had collapsed. I left a few supplies for her and said I would see what else I could scrounge for her at Hope House.
I asked about Whitney and Philip as there is a couple in the states wishing to adopt them. They have been moved to another FFTP site as they wanted them to be with "normal" children. I am trying to conctact the Director at FFTP to get the information the folks in the US need for the adoption process.
We managed to find battery acid so when we got back Jean worked on the batteries for the invertor.
This AM before heading out I met with Clovis the school director about a number of issues. Many have encourged us to get the school up and running as soon as possible. There are many issues to be taken care of before that is done but we are starting to work on that.
Tomorrow Jean will look into trying to get a camion of sand for me. I have called Christophe to come and help with the walls and hopefully if we get sand he can start to work on repairing at least a portion of it. Even if we have a short wall I will feel more comfortable. Sad as it is to say, crime of all sorts is rapidly increasing in the town. Fleury will talk to our neighbours about setting up some sort of brigade as they do in other neighbourhoods when there is a lot of insecurity.
That's it for the day.
a demen
Debbie
Jan 17, 7 pm Hello all: It seems so quiet around here without the team. Now I am on the other side of the fence as I anxiously await word of how their travels went today and to learn that they are home safe and sound. After my nice siesta I got down to some chores...like laundry and straightening up the place. Joel has been very helpful and takes some of the load off. Fleury was having a well deserved weekend off with his family.
Clovis called me this afternoon with other great news. He has confirmed that "ALIVE" status of all of our teachers but two. He still awaits word from Richard Duton and Willy. It seems that reports of the demise of two of the Guerriers was false information. Clovis will come to see me tomorrow and we will discuss some plans of attack for VOH school and what next. I will also share some of our diesel fuel with him.
Today I had several people knocking on the door. One of them was Midy whom some of you have enjoyed massages from. She is a physio therapist and nurse. She and her family are well but her house destroyed. She is living in a small open space with a number of other families. She was telling me how she has been called upon to help those with little injuries. Last night she delivered a baby onto a little scrap of plastic she could find and cut the cord with an old razor blade she happened to have. The baby survived the delivery and the mother is okay too. She said how great the people are being sharing whatever they have with each other. I sent her off with a few provisions and some small medical supplies so she could continue her first aid work..everyone is doing there part.
Now that the team is gone I will be out and about more thus I plan to only send one report a day from here on in unless there is something urgent to report.
Have a restful Sunday night
Debbie
Jan 17, 6:15am Hello all: I am just back from dropping the group off at the airport. They are now safetly ensconsed in the VIP lounge awaiting their 9:00 AM flight. I have heard from the Europ Assist person and 11 of them (in two groups) are booked out of the DR today and the last three are on flights out tomorrow, all routed right to Allentown. We have asked the agent to be in contact with Delta airlines as they promised to have them travel as a group which they would prefer to do. But they are prepared to be split of if there is no other way. So folks, I am going to go have a good cup of coffee and sit and breath a big sigh of relief and then hit the sack for a few hours of shut eye.
Until the next report......Praise the Lord!
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