Updates
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Updates |
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Earthquake Update from Hope House
the following are emails from Debbie Berquist, VOH Director for the week of March 1 - 6, 2010
Mar 6, 8:00 Hello all: It has been another gray and overcast day and for some of us with tropical blood..even a little chilly. It also has been a relatively quiet one since seeing The 'D" team (les disributeurs extraordinaires) off at the airport mid morning. Wilner arrived just before they were leaving so at least he got to see everyone and they him. I got last minute information from some of the gents about tools, breaker panels and even a quick lesson on power point.
The team did not let down at all the name of the church they represented.which was Joyful Spirit Lutheran Church. For the returning members of the group, they sure demonstrated their joy of returning to Haiti and the people they have come to know love. The newcomers showed it in the manner they took to everything here and especially the bonds they made with the children at Little Children of Jesus. To me it was simply a "joy" to be with them for the week.
The afternoon was spent getting the depot straightened out, watching as the two vets that came to see Hopie did their work and making sure the dump truck put his load in the right spot of the yard. A load of rocks arrived today as a beginning step to getting work started on completing the new depot which has been on standstill since November. Back to Hopie for a minute as I know so will be wondering.....she is the Hope House dog and we called my friendly vet Dr Keith to come and have a look at her as she has been coughing, off her food and lost some weight. Keith was busy so sent two lovely ladies in his stead to take care of her. Luckily it is nothing serious..a mild cold and have some medicines I have to give her over the next few days.
 For the last hour and a half I have actually been stretched out on the couch getting my nose into one of the books that the team so graciously provided for me. Wilner is snoozing away and Joel in his room listening to music.
I am going to take tomorrow "off" from reporting so my next communique will come Monday evening after I pick up Pastor Ron at the airport. I look forward to my meetings and time with him. We both made up "to talk about" lists and it was pretty amazing the number of items we have in common on our lists.
Wishing you all a good weekend.
 Joyful Spirit group
Blessings to one and all
Debbie
Mar 5, 10:00 pm Hello all: A dull gray cloudy day all day today with rain drizzling down from time to time. I just wanted to stay snuggled in bed..but alas the active team I am with did not make that possible. The morning was filled with various activities and before I knew it the time to head to LCJ to pick up the crew working there was upon us. It took a while to leave as Lori it seemed bade a personal good bye to all of the kids and the staff. She, Julie and the others sure connected with the kids and you could tell they were sad to see them go.
I took the team on a short circular tour of a section of PAP so the newcomers could get a sense of the city and also to see the impact of the earthquake first hand. Luckily the rains held off and we only got a little spray from time to time. We enjoyed lunch at the Epi Dor bakery/fast food place. It is still going strong.
On the way home we returned to LCJ as Gladys has a little gift for everyone..she said I whisked them away too quickly in the morning. She was most appreciative of all of the work the team did and even forgave them for the shocking pink dining area!
Someone asked about school opening. The latest projection is for April 5.......this is yet to be confirmed. I will let you know when I get any more information. Clovis and I talked about the pros and cons of using tents, the trauma the teachers are experiencing and their instilling fear into the kids who have been less affected, plans for safety/evacuation-emergency planning to share with the kids and teachers.....in the meantime we wait.
The internet was down all day due to the overcast skies and I was thinking I may get a night off from writing. However I said I would go and try it one last time and wouldn't you know it ....up popped the page. But I am going to keep it short tonight.
The team is off tomorrow AM and I will welcome Wilner for the weekend. He is hoping to arrive early so he can meet the gang before we take them to the airport.
That's all for this evening..have a good weekend one and all,
Debbie
Mar 4, 10:00 pmHello once again: Another day has flown by with much accomplished. 1. Sent the various teams off to their work sites.....Little Children of Jesus and the school.
2. Showed the school team the cracks in the walls that needed repairing and escorted Rebecca to my office where she cleaned and re-stocked shelves.
3. Caught up with the Mayor of Ganthier and now hold the signed letter authorizing our building for the health center in my hands. He was very pleased with the donation of rice and plastic sheeting that I delivered yesterday. I pray it will be given to those in need.
4. Returned to the school to meet up with Clovis to discuss various school related items
5. Met up with Dr Randy Smith (from Pittman Park Methodist church in Statesboro Ga) and his team at the Hotel Concorde where they had been staying while working at Hopital Eben Ezer. Despite a few hiccoughs along the way, they had a good week and saw over 700 patients in the 3 1/2 days they held clinics.
6. Gave the team a tour of Little Children of Jesus and ended up running a mini clinic for their staff. It was Glady's first day back (she looks like a new person.....the rest obvioulsy did her good) and we created quite a stir for her but she was so grateful for the care provided to her staff.
7. Made a quick visit to Marie's .......they have had a police escort all week (their Haitian friend felt it would be good to have the extra security) and this fellow was very nervous having them roam our neighbourhood and he wanted them to get a move on. To us it was no different than normal but we cut it short and got everyone moving. News at Marie's.....she has moved the girls to their new sleeping quarters she has created at the back of the churchyard. She had all new showers and Latrines built for them. The yard is still quite the mess but now at least there is no danger of the ruined building falling on them.
8. Stopped at Hope House to recieve the large donation of drugs and supplies that Randy and crew were leaving behind for me to divide between VOH and any other organizations that could use it. I managed to help them as they needed some Cipro of which I had a small supply left behind by the last team.
9. Booked Randy's return to VOH with his team for a medical clinic in October
10. Heated and served up dinner...a delicious Haitian boullion (stew) filled with plantain, yams, potatoes, carrot, militon and other good stuff.
11. Did a laundry
12. Participated in devotion time with the team...perfectly timed as the rain started coming down just as we finished......I am so happy thinking that our staff and their families were staying a little drier thanks to the generosity of so many back home.
13. Sold some greeting cards and book marks
14. Finally..sending off this missive to you.
One of the team highlights for today was music time with Jorel. While cleaning up the depot the other day, I found a bag with various percussion type instruments in it....tambourines, triangles and sticks, marachies and other. I thought the kids would love having them to shake, rattle and clang as Jorel played the accordian. The crew took the bag along with them today and sure enought the kids LOVED it. Apparently it was quite a lively session. We will have to wait for the team pictures in order to see them in action as unfortunately I was elsewhere when they had music hour.
Instead I attach a picture of Dr Randy and team unloading the generous gift of drugs and supplies left for us.....how Blessed we are.
 and with that...I bid you a fond goodnight.
Debbie
Mar 3, 9:30 pm Hello all.....welcome to March 3 the second time around....it seems I got dates mixed up and gave yesterday's report as March 3 instead of the 2. ....kinda like ground hog day except my activities for March 3 the second, are different than March 3 the first.....are you totally confused??Highlights of the day for the newcomers on the team was their visit to Food for the Poor. Despite all of the inconveniences the staff are facing due to repair work going on they have still been gracious and welcoming. The wharehouse is full and getting fuller...normally they empty about 40 - 40' containers a week but this week they are expecting approx. 66 containers to come.....but still as fast as it comes in a lot of it goes out just as quickly. Those fellows sure have their work cut out for them. We had a quick visit to the medical clinic and then we went to the feeding center. They continue to provide meals for approx 1,200 families (average 5 people) that means 6,000 people per day. They were just getting started to serve as we were going through, so Rebecca, Cheryl and Eric jumped in and helped to serve for a while. Rebecca and Cheryl couldn't believe how tiring it was on their arm muscle scooping the rice. Today they got beans sauce with the rice.  Food in preparation to be served to the 1200 families  Rebecca and Cheryl serving up for the grateful recipients. I asked it they had more people coming as a result of the earthquake. Mme Daudier said it was up and down...as people hear about dry food distributions going on they will run to take advantage of those but when that food runs out they come back. Some have migrated out of the city or to areas further away that make it difficult for them to come by. Never the less there are still plenty waiting to be served. While we did that the others got to work at Hope House and at the orphanage....the peach coloured dining room at the LCJ is now a vibrant like neon pink.....and they even had the original can of paint with them when they went to purchase it. However the folks at the orphanage are happy and it sure brightens up the place. The crew at Hope House led by Christophe is making good progress with the wall or at least with getting the new base made for it. The poles are already installed...thanks to the assembly line they got going to prepare the re-bar.
Rebecca joined me for the rest of the morning after we dropped folks off at Little Children of Jesus after our tour of FFTP. We delivered some rice, and plastic sheeting to the Mayor in Ganthier, well actually to his asst. He had an "emergency" and couldn't wait for the appointed time for my arrival....that was a bit of a frustration. So back I go tomorrow morning to hopefully get the letter signed. We passed by the Ministry health center so I could show Rebecca and I learned that the nurse I had worked so well with is no longer working there...apparently some money they recieved for her salary was no longer available. I met the new nurse today. I'll be anxious to see how it goes with her once we get going again with our services at the school.
We dropped by the school to pick up some vitamins for the Randy Smith crew. They were still as busy as ever when we stopped by to drop off the pills. They are pleased with how the week has gone thus far......that's a relief for me as it was a bit of an experiment setting them up at Hospital Eben Ezer. Tomorrow I will pick them up and take them to LCJ and to Marie's. We'll have fun juggling vehicles and chaufffeurs but it should all work out.
Didn't hear much on the news today other than AA airlines celebrating 30 years of flying to Haiti and that the airport is supposedly back to normal operations...I guess I 'll see when I take the crew there on Sat. Air France is now flying in and Air Canada is supposed to start next week.
and there you have it for March the 3rd #2.
have a restful night all
Debbie
Mar 2, 9:30 pm Greetings: Another busy but fruitful day filled with the following activities:
. one part of the team stayed behind at Hope House and helped Christophe begin work on repair to the section of wall by the workshop area......they used their saws to cut the old blocks so that came down pretty easy. Next they found out most of the base rocks were loose so that was all pulled apart. Holes were dug for the news posts and Christophe started crafting the posts themselves. Other tasks accomplished....a new toilet purchased and installed; shopped for water heaters...we will order one from the US and ship via FFTP...they were more than twice what it could be purchased for in the US; Filters were cleaned for the AC units.
. the team taken to LCJ helped feed the children, washed dishes, had craft time and physiotherapy also took place. The fellows in the group painted, cleaned walls and tried to fix door knobs. I left them there in Jorel's good hands.
. I proceeded to deliver vitamins to the Dr Randy Smith team who are doing clinics at Hopital Eben Ezer just outside of Croix des Bouquets. That group has things down pat and they were working away like a well oiled machine when I got there. It was so good to see Randy, Lin, Lois, Nancy, Maria, Eldonna and to meet several new members they had with them. I will be taking them to LCJ and Marie's on Thursday so will have more time to visit with them then. Following that I dropped off some medical supplies and I was able to scrounge for the MSPP maternite center in Croix des Bouquets. From there I attended a UCS coordinating meeting led by our Dept Director Dr Vital Herne.
I was glad to be there to get the lay of the land. They are working hard to try and get all of the aid agencies working in our UCS organized and coordinated so that folks are not overlapping services or that health initiatives are being carried out in a unified and organized manner....such as vaccination campaigns they are carrying out in the camps.
I learned there are 116 camps but not all of them "official" as many of them are family or neighbourhood groupings. There are 37 of the official camps and that is where many of their efforts are going. Ganthier is in a bit of a no man's land at the moment as far as all of the earthquake relief efforts are going. Action is in Croix des Bouquets not only for the damage done in the area, but also that so many people have migrated from the City Center to the areas in CdB. On the other side, efforts are going on in Fond Parisien and Malpasse which are the two areas closest to the border. They have the camp set up at Love a Child for the repatriation of injured people from the DR.
. I did put in a word though for support for us re psychological care for the students and teachers at the school and note was taken of that by Dr VH. He is expecting some physicians from the US and/or can request some help from others within Haiti. Plan International has done training of young people in CdB and were willing to consider doing some training for a number of our students....once they have things settled in CdB......we'll see what happens but I will keep checking from time to time. I was really glad I went and will try to go each week as they have planned to meet each Tues from 10-12.
. Just before leaving the meeting I grabbed Dr VH and just gave him a heads up that we were still planning the clinic and got the go ahead from the Mayor. He is interested in coming out to visit us once things have settled down. He didn't have anything to add when I asked about any reorganizing of health care services following the earthquake. He is still supportive of us going ahead.
.Then it was back to Hope House for a late lunch and a little computer work before heading out to pick up the team and take them to the metal workers shops in CdB. Once again I managed to drop a few gourdes as I walked around with the gang (folks in Hamilton...some of it is for next year's silent auction).
We are all thankful this evening for divine intervention which had Brien being taken to the hospital in Ft Lauderdale instead of traveling on with the team. It seems he has had a heart attack and word we got today was that his heart was functioning at 35% capacity and he was headed for some special tests / treatment tomorrow. I would not want to have had to take care of all of that in Haiti. I am sorry he is sick and pray for a speedy recovery but if he had to be sick I am doubly thankful that he is in the US and not here.
I've reorganized our schedule for the next two days in order for the team to be able to accomplish it's goals...which is helping me!
I feel a bit tuckerd out this evening, so I will quit here for tonight and will head for be bed ...once the breakfast items are organized.
all the best,
Debbie
Mar 1, 10:00 pm Howdy: It has been a whirlwind day for me and felt my head spinning by the end of it. I was happy to be able to come and "hide out" in the office and enjoy a few minutes of peace and quiet. Today was pay day and distribution of the tarps and other supplies for the staff. I was busy to medical calls while Helene handed out the pays and the team passed out the other items. They said the staff seemed pleased with their goodie bags...especially the tarps. We had a very brief meeting before hand. The teachers are still very concerned about going back into the buildings if school opens. One suggested that we look at adding a second staircase to faciliate quick exit from the second floor if necessary....I thought it was a rather reasonable request and will add it to items to discuss with Ron next week. Another was for psychological preparation for both the teachers and the students. I responded that we were trying to find resources and also share the observation that the kids at the school did not seem to be as traumatized as kids in PAP seem to be or maybe in a different way. We will also have to plan for "safety/evacuation lessons for staff and students....something to discuss with Clovis.
The men "saved me" this AM. I walked into the small depot and heard water running where it wasn't supposed to be. I quickly called one of the gents to come have a look see and I ran and turned off the generator as it has the pump going full force. They also turned off the valve to the main water pipe. After the goodies were handed out they fixed the pvc pipe which had broken in two spots...maybe hit by one of the boxes that was being stored in the shower stall. Of course this caused more work because all of the soaking wet cartons had to be removed and the rice packets put into new boxes...of which we had plenty from handing out the gallons of water that had been boxed.
Then is was more plumbing duty fixing a clogged toilet bowl and checking out others that had shifed with the earth tremors. The ladies re-organized the depot as once again it was in dissarray after things were moved to take down the damaged wall.
All of this......before lunch. Needless to say my morning flew by as I was called in many different directions. This afternoon we visited Little Children of Jesue and Maire's. A number of duffel bags containing supplies for LCJ were dropped off and the team will unpack them tomorrow. The "returnees" were so impressed with the compound as they were seeing the new orphange for the first time. It really is a step or two above the house they used to rent. I was impressed by seeing the reaction of the kids to seeing Julie and her team mates arrive. They are obviously well remembered and loved. The radiant smiles and beaming faces of the kids was so heartwarming. They may be handicapped and not able to express themselves as we do but they sure were able to share their message of happiness at seeing Julie and the others in their own way.
We got the work plan for tomorrow organized at LCJ and then headed off for a visit to Marie's. She met us on the road so we pulled into the church yard and she showed us the work going on there...new latrines and showers built, removal of the old building continuing and preparation of the temporary sleeping quarters for the girls...former depot/sewing room and kindergarden classroom. Then we walked over to the house and had a wee visit with the girls.
Back at Hope House the team was anxious to "get to work" so I had them clean up the rubble from our downed wall from our next door neighbour's bean field. All of the potholes within one or two city blocks distance from Hope House are now filled.
For several fellows on the team this is their 9 year visiting VOH and they have been the handymen doing many tasks around the House and at the school. I am like a sponge soaking up all of what they are telling me....about plumbing, water heaters and all sorts of other little details that are good to know.
 Marie France Elien and Jn Robert Gossin both primary school teachers receiving their donation of water.  The last remnants of Grace Mission Church with that I will bid you goodnight.
Debbie
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