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 with 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.
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 with 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 Churchwith that I will bid you goodnight.
Debbie
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