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