Good Morning: another fine day has commenced. The gang from Bettendorf are still snoozing away....a bit "jet lagged" from their 2:45 AM departure from their church yesterday. There "adventure" began as soon as they arrived. As I awaited them the skies got blacker blacker. I had hoped we would make it back to HH in time but it was not to be. As soon as the truck was loaded and pulling out of the parking lot, the skies opened up, bolts of lightening lit up the clouds and claps of thunder rattled overhead. Those of us in the car behind felt fortunate to be inside. Some put on their rain capes but others just soaked up the rain. We were just around the corner from the house when I saw Odney pulling over, only to look and see that there was a flat tire on the truck. Not a pleasant thing at the best of times but when it is dark and in the pouring rain that is a whole other matter. We squished another person in the car with a few more bags and we headed to the house. Those guys worked fast as once we arrived at the house, I called Odney to see if I should come back for any reason and he was already heading down our road to the gate. It just goes to prove the Haiti proverb...anpil men, chay pa lou......(many hands make light work).

Soon everyone was dried off and we then enjoyed dinner and good fellowship time together before everyone turned in.

a la prochaine......Debbie

Hi folks: This will be a quick report as it is payroll time and I have to go and sign a few more cheques before I call it a day. It has been a full one. I started by doing paper work, then a quick trip to the school to drop off ice for the juice the kids were having today (along with chicken). Tomorrow is the last official day of school for them. I have a staff meeting so we decided to have the treat for lunch today. Only the kids writing their official exams will come to school over the next week or so until they write the exams. The teachers are there to coach them and give them practice questions.

After that I headed to Food for the Poor for the distribution that I was told to get this week, only to learn when I got there that they decided to do an inventory of the depot and everything was closed up. .....rats! But not to waste the entire trip I dropped in at Eko Depot to look for a small metal plate to shore up some desk legs. I didn't find exactly what I was looking for, but I did manage to get paint, varnish and paint thinner so I am all set for the team coming tomorrow.

Then it was back to Hope House and more computer and paper work. Late in the afternoon I went and did some work in the depots.....had to get outside to see the light of day for a bit. Then it was into the kitchen to bake a couple of cakes, lemon square and heat up dinner for Joel and myself......and Jean as he worked late getting the big truck tuned up. After dinner I was doing several other chores in the kitchen when all of a sudden it started to rain....a nice tropical down pour. I just couldn't resist the call of the that wonderful cool water, so I quickly got my beach wrapper on, grabbed a towel and headed outside to the big water spout and ducked my head in...............ah..ah...ah what a heavenly treat....so cool and invigorating. I am sure some will think I am crazy when I have a nice shower inside.....but never the less it was a wonderful little break.

Once dried off I finished the items in the kitchen, got the cakes in the freezer and now here I am.

The news of the day in town is that Wycliffe Jean is supposed to be jumping into the political arean in Haiti by running for President. Jean told me there was a talk show today on the subject and people from all over the country were giving him their support. Whether it is true or not is another thing time will tell.

there I will leave you for the day.....cheerio
Debbie

Good morning one and all: A new week begins. It will be filled with routine paper / computer work, bank affairs, payroll etc until I go to the airport Friday to pick up the group coming from Bettendorf, Iowa. Before all of that though I must put last week to a close.

Saturday morning I was up bright and early to get the Enrichment team off to the airport at 6:00 AM....or just shortly thereafter. It was rather an overcast morning and I had a few goose bumps as we breezed along to the airport. I could have used a jacket that is for sure. Everyone else found it to be quite refreshing after the heat they had been experiencing.

As Marni said they came as two groups but left as one. It was such a pleasure seeing how the gang all melded together. There was never a lack of conversation and that is how they got their nickname of the "Mme Sarah Magpies plus two". The plus two is for Tom and Patrick who were the "bookends" to all of the gals on the trip. The ladies who sell goods at the local markets are nicknamed Mme Sarah's, after a bird in Haiti called Mme Sarah ( a yellow and black weaver type bird). The characteristic of these birds is that they are always chittering and chatting away. I had just told them I was nicknaming them the Magpies plus two, when I went to help Joel with something in the kitchen. He quietly asked me if I knew what Mme Sarah's were. Immediately I knew what he was intimating and said "yes, I do, why.....do you think this group are like the Mme Sarah's". He chuckled and said yes. I definately got a big kick out of this and knew for sure they had been nicknamed appropriately but I did adjust the name to the "Mme Sarah" Magpies......thanks to Joel's astute observation as well. They too got a chuckle out of the story when I shared his comments with them. Mind you Tom and Patrick were not wallflowers and kept up their bit to add to the conversations.

The kids were very proud to take their crafts home on Friday. Many of them were already wearing the various pieces of jewellry they had made. Several of the girls had their paper mache bowls pinned to their heads, acting as a little cap.

Marie, Patty and Renee (accompanying Patty) dropped by Thursday evening for a little visit. It is a small world indeed as several of the team members from Bollingbrook/Naperville area, realized they only live several blocks away from Renee and Patty.

Although tiring, I have to say that the last two weeks with VBS and Enrichment week have been very rewarding. The kids really enjoy having the opportunity to experience both events, which do enrich their lives in many different ways. They are already talking about what they will do next year.!

..and now folks, I will leave to get and get my first cup of coffee for the day and enjoy a few sips in peace and solitude.

Have a good week
Debbie

PS. Hopie is recuperating very well from her operation. Her little girl Peanut (the Felon) kept tugging at the strings to get the protective hood Hopie had to wear off of her. Yesterday I gave up the "fight" of keeping it on as long as I didn't see Hopie irritating her operative sites. Luckily she seems to be healed up well enough and she didn't do anything against the doctors advice. I know I sure would't have wanted to be walking around with a big plastic bottle tied to my neck either. As much as the energetic Peanut has tested my patience this past week, I will be a little sorry to see her go to Fleury's home today, as she was promised to him. I know he wants her to have puppies for him, so maybe we'll have one of them in the future.

Hi Everyone: What a week it has been....lots of activity that is for sure. I saw the "Energizer" team off last Friday evening and then quickly got ready for the arrival of the Enrichment team on Saturday afternoon. The group arrived on two different flights but the first arrivees agreed to wait for the second group which gave us a little more "breathing" space.

The team has jumped right in there and beside getting their craft and first aid classess ready, they have been helping sort clothes, and all the items from the container that arrived. Today we got more boxes from FFTP and they ended up counting school report card booklets before they got placed on the truck for school delivery tomorrow.

Yesterday was shopping day at the Metal workers and today they enjoyed a mini tour of Delmas road and a "tourist" visit to the grocery store to pick up some Haitian coffee, peanut butter and the likes.

Other "excitement" yesterday was helping the Vets who were operating on Hopie. They had set up outside and lo and behold before the procedure was done it started raining. I quickly got three umbrellas and we held them over the docs and Hopie while they completed the operation. Hopie had a growth that had to be removed..neither Vet had seen anything like it. Now she is on a powerful antibiotic and has this huge collor hood type of get up on her neck to prevent her from getting at the stitches on her belly. I am happy to report that she is thus far recovery nicely and ate her food right up tonight.

Kelly and Kevin operating while Lori and Lennie hold the flashlights and others hold the umbrellas. Hopie out like a light did not realize a thing that was going on around her.

The Enrichment week goes well and the kids are enjoying their lessons in jewellry making, music, painting, weaving and various others. Unfortunately the paper mache group has had unexpected challenges...seems the hot humid weather is not condusive to drying glue too quickly.

The boys show off the broaches they have made while another group learns how to braid bracelets from Cynde.

I talked to Wilner last night and got good news in that he got his passport renewed and it is in his hands..or at least in Mimi's (his daughter's hands). It was quite a process and a few dollars exchanged hand in order for him to get it. He knows some poor fellow who has been waiting over 4 months for an "urgent" passport and he too coughed over the gourdes for the "valet" service to speed things up Man, I am saying many thanks for our good fortune. Now we can apply to get his Cdn visa renewed. I actualkly believe we may get away for our holidays as planned.

He also told me that they had had LOTS of rain and as a result the LesForges ravine flooded and caused a lot of damage to houses, gardens etc not too far from HAS. This happened several years ago. It is amazing to see how fast that water can flow and how high up it gets in a short period of time. Fortunately no one lost their life. ...the challenges just never seem to end. ....but the folks "just keep on truckin".........!!

On that note, I will bid you fond farwell until next time,

Debbie

Hi everyone: I am POOPED! what a couple of days we have had...out of the house at 6:30 to get to the school for VBS and then once back at Hope House we have unloaded and moved 4 camions full of donated goods...... Between these two activities the team has also visited the Metal workers boutiques in Croix des Bouquets and made a visit to Food for the Poor and the hardware store. Because the truck was busy with getting the goods from FFTP...we have had a convoy of 3 vehicles going to the school and out and about the last two days. Greg one of the volunteers drove my car, I drove one of our and had a cousin of Jean's driving the third. Jean stayed back at the house to take care of our electrical problem......the invertor kept going out.

Today he thinks he solved the problem....hallelujah.....the other nigth I was up every 15-20 minutes resetting the darn thing...I did allow myself two hours of sleep and said to heck with the fridge and freezer for that bit of time.

The saying goes..it doesn't rain but it pours and that has been true this week. Not only did the container shipment arrive, but a donation of clothes collected by a friend arrived and then another donation of goods collected by Advent church arrived......am I ever glad of that new depot...it is packed and so is every other depot and the little apt house.

Several ladies of next week's team were worried they wouldn't have enough work to do......that is sure not the case. I think I have enough to keep the next several teams going....as we have to sort out, organize, count and deliver the goods to various places or arrange to have them picked up.

I have very much appreciated the efforts of this VBS team which I am going to nick name the Energizer team as they just kept on going like the Engergizer Bunny.


The "delivery" truck....one uses the resources at hand.....the dump truck part of it was great for emptying all of the 2 x 4's out of it. The driver just hoisted the back end and they all slipped out of the truck to the ground. You can see one of the wheelbarrows being off loaded.. They were put to immediate use hauling boxes of goods to the depots.

Speaking of which,here is Becky delivering some goods herself...lots of school binders for the kids to go back to school with.

what can I say......it's "men's work...stacking the lumber

Just to show you that I don't just wave the baton around as the conductor.....geez..I didn't know the top of my head was so white!!

Let me introduce you to the "Engergizer Team"

First row LtoR: Steve, Lisa, Greg, Janis
Second row LtoR: Christa, Pastor Rich, Matt, Martina, Becky, Cassie
Top row LtR: Mark, Barrett, Drew, Pastor Veronica

they are standing in front of the stacks of rice at Food for the Poor..all will be delivered within a month to 6 weeks!

Now I bid you good night..until next time. ..Debbie

Greetings from Hot and steamy Port au Prince...the little rain we had this afternoon didn't do much to help cool things done. Everyone is spread about doing various and sundry activities. I was sorting a new shipment of donations we recieved from Food for the Poor yesterday. Some folks are rinsing out the tie-dye t-shirts they are making with the kids....(all 150 of them). Others are organizing photos of the kids. Matt and Jean got the wiring at the school changed over from the solar panels, so hopefully they won't have any more "blackouts".

The Hope House Chinese laundry...first step to tie-dying......is prepping the shirts so the colours last longer and appear "brighter"..even I am learning something this week.

My next big challenge is organizing the vehicles and people so that we can go and get the container of donations that have also finally cleared customs....I just knew it would happen this week or next when we were so occupied.....naturally it couldn't have come out last week when I had vehicles and people to spare. However always looking at the silver lining, the team is free in the afternoon and will be a big help putting it all in the depot and getting it organized.

Meanwhile they were busy today with their bible story skits....the highs seas adventure of Paul imprisoned on a boat heading to Rome for his trial. Matt and Barrett are making the waves of the ocean with their blue cloth. The kids were quite enthralled and followed along very well. They especially liked it when they felt the raindrops falling on their heads (water being squirted by Pastors Rich and Veronica)

While the grade 3 and 4 classes enjoy VBS the grade 6 class is preparing for the final state exams. Today they had a preporatory exam to help the teachers identify their weak areas. Space for writing the exams (to discourage cheating) is limited so some of the kids were spread out on the chapel benches. Here is one of the girls writing her exams......can you imagine a scene like this at home!?

This photo takes us back to Sunday but I wanted you to get an idea of the scene that was repeated all over the country as folks were glued to their radios and TV sets following the final game between Spain and Holland.

until next time.....take care.

Debbie

Sunday greeetings to one and all: A fine day has been had thus far by myself and the VBS (vacation bible school) team. We had an early start to get to the school as we were hauling all of the VBS supplies to the school and they wanted to check out the rooms and organization for the classes which are to begin tomorrow. As well, they met with their interpretors and getting acquainted with them and showing them what type of things they will be doing.

I must give the team credit as I forgot to mention their singing duties at chapel this AM, but they came out very well..not only doing 1 song but Jorel even coaxed two more out of them.

Then it was on to the Visa Lodge where we enjoyed the buffet lunch. The place, as I suspected it would be, was packed with folks who came for lunch and to watch the final match of the World Cup. I wore my orange blouse in support of Holland but it was for naught as they lost 1-0 in the second overtime period. We managed to catch the overtime periods....how was that possible? We made record time getting back to Hope House from our circuit tour...why...because there was absolutely NO traffic....everyone was inside watching the game. Now that the series is over..life will go back to "normal". I am wondering when we will see the EDH electricity for the next time......the company squeezed a lot of extra hours in order that more people could watch the games.

Yesterday I met a friend a the Visa Lodge for breakfast before heading to the airport to pick up the gang. It was a pleasant interlude. I was really glad I did that too, because Odney and the big truck got caught in a huge traffic jam and the team exited the airport before Odney even got there. Normally I would have been driving right along behind him.....things always seem to happen for a reason. Being from Florida, waiting around in the hot sun, didn't bother them too much. Fortunately Odney got their about 15 minutes after and soon we were bumping our way back to Hope House.

That brings you up to date at this end of things. We are looking forward to a great week and we wish you a good one too!

Debbie

Hello all: I missed my promise of being in touch yesterday....I got carried away I guess with the afternoon that I took "off" and let it extend into the evening...well I did answer a few emails, but decided to give all of the other stuff a rest. A friend of mine from Germany, who spent the past 2 weeks in Leogane and I got together yesterday afternoon for lunch, a little shopping and viewing of the soccer match between Germany and Spain. I told her if felt decadent to be sitting relaxing on a mid week afternoon and that I didn't feel TOO guilty about it. I know I shouldn't have felt any guilt at all,....but what can I say.....my parents raised me with a good work ethic. It was a lovely little interlude and it was so good to catch up on each other's news.

Other than that, I have been revising contracts and job descriptions and getting ready for the Vacation Bible School team (July 10-16) and the Enrichment (arts and crafts) team that will be here from July 17-24.

Sorry it is not too exciting of a report but for me it is good......no crisis to attend to.

have a good evening,
Debbie

Howdy: Tuesday today and the day breezes by. I am keeping it short because my computer is acting up and the cursor keeps jumping around willy nilly which means I am making corrections every few words..very frustrating. First off thanks to Marni for getting the graphis to appear in Judith's report..that will be a new lesson for me when she is here in two weeks. Second find the promised pictures

Joel's 18th Birthday celebration.

Jean, Wilner, Joel

My Dutch friends are celebrating Holland's advancement to the World Cup after their 3-2 defeat over Uruguay today.

That's if for today folks...this computer glitch is just too frustrating to type with. I'll be back in touch tomorrow and hopefully the probelm will have passed...as it has done in the past.

cheerio,

Debbie

Happy 4th of July to all of my friends and acquaintances. Hope you had an enjoyable day and that the firworks were superb. While the US citizenry celebrate this special day,the folks in Haiti are in mourning. It is with utmost disbelief that they saw both Brazil and Argentina eliminated from the world cup. Argentinan fans were really "giving it" to the Brazil fans Friday after Brazil lost. Then yesterday all of the Brazilian fans were gung ho for Germany and there were many dancing on the streets (literally) when Argentina lost 4-0 against Germany. Wilner and I watched a replay of the game last evening and even before the game was over, the stations were starting to play funeral dirges. On the screen they had a fake airplane going across the field...the name of the plane...."Air Bye Bye". I was leaving Agape mail service just as the match finished and the radio announcers were all making like they were crying over the waves. It really was something to behold with these soccer fanatics!

So now with Uraguay being the only non European team in the semi finals, Wilner is switching allegencies. He does support Holland at times as our good friend Els is from Holland but now his loyalties lay with the "Americas".

After Wilner left to head back to Deschapelles today, I had a very domestic day at Hope House.....making up some baked goods for the upcoming teams, cleaning out the fridges, cleaning out more donated items and I thoroughly enjoyed it all.

Last night we enjoyed a BBQ steak dinner along with Joel and Jean......I made a special dinner as we were celebrating Joel's 18th birthday which is today. Jean was working on his vehicle and I asked if he would like to stay and have dinner with us...which he did. Joel was pretty pleased and also enjoyed the special breakfast I cooked up for us this morning. Once I got back from dropping Wilner off he went and spent the day with his friends and I enjoyed the peace and quiet while I did "my thing".

Other than that not much has happened since I last wrote....just took care of the usual business at hand and things in the city are as ever.

Below is the latest report from my friend Judith which I think you will find interesting. Several graphs she included did not copy/paste. If anyone is interested in seeing them let me know and I will forward her report to you directly.

Haïti continues pretty much as it has been the last few months. The camps are even fuller than before as people are either returning to PAP or choosing the camps over their homes because of some perceived benefits they might receive. Here are a few details...

Tent camps…There are presently 1.6 million displaced persons scattered in 1,342 camp sites in the earthquake affected areas of Haïti. In Port-au-Prince, there are about 1,000 of the sites. Fifty-four of the 1,342 sites have more than 1,000 households and these account for 29% of the displaced people. Two of those are in Pétion Ville, the town nearest to me. The commune (like a county) of Delmas, which is very close to the heart of downtown, has the highest concentration of displaced persons. There are 200 camps, 11 of which accommodate more than 1,000 families; and there is a total of 315,500 homeless persons (19% of all displaced persons) in the camps. The map below gives you an idea of the immensity of the problem. The darkest red is the commune of Delmas near the downtown:

Water and hygiene facilities…The WASH teams have been working overtime to help meet these needs; and despite less than required levels of water and hygiene facilities in the camps, no waterborne infections have been reported--truly God’s grace and a testimony to how carefully the Haitian people work at managing these scarce resources. But the teams believe that they should be able to add enough latrines to provide 1 for every 100 persons by October, a very decent figure. Nonetheless, the teams caution that although the WASH surveillance may be able to be suspended in a few months in the rural areas, it will need to continue for another year or two within PAP because of the scarcity of resources.

Insecurity and personal safety….One of the most unpleasant part of the camps has been the insecurity. A couple weeks ago the National Police teamed up with the UN troops (called MINUSTAH here) in an early morning raid on one of the large camps in the commune of Delmas. About 30 persons believed to be thieves were apprehended, some were escaped prisoners from the national penitentiary whose walls were damaged in the earthquake. Another part of the insecurity relates to teens and young women who are being forced into sexual relationships. With many family members either dead or dispersed, these young people are particularly vulnerable. Security has increased in the camps, but it is still a concern. Pregnancy and STIs…Along with the concern about personal safety is a very sharp rise in the number of pregnancies. This has not yet been measured to my knowledge, but we have all noticed the large number of young women walking about in the earlier stages of pregnancy. Of course, if one is vulnerable to pregnancy, there is also a significant risk for sexually transmitted infection, like HIV. In fact, health providers in some of the camps have noted a higher than national average prevalence among the camp dwellers--though it is uncertain whether this is a cluster effect (a higher number of infected persons who just happen to be living in the same camp) or a real increase in prevalence.

Population growth….Along with these concerns, the US Census Bureau released its population projections for Haïti this week. It estimates that the Haitian population is currently 9.6 million (last census in 2003 showed 7.9 million)—and that’s taking into account the loss of about 230,000 persons to the earthquake. The Bureau predicts that the persons killed in the earthquake will be replaced within 2 years; and that the population will continue to grow at a rate of 1% per year, reaching 13.4 million by 2050. Yikes! It’s hard to feed everyone as it is! Temporary homes…Some of the tents and tarps have been damaged by the large and frequent rains we’ve been having and will need replaced. As I mentioned in the last update, people are starting to add more permanent fixtures to their very temporary shelters, like tin doors, wood framing, and the like. Roughly about 2,500 temporary homes (more like a regular home and built to last at least 3 years) have been constructed; but these are mostly in the more rural areas. The picture below shows the situation at hand:

Debris…The Shelter Cluster estimates that all in all there is about 19 million m3 of debris to remove—1 m3 is basically the size of a pallet, so that much debris would fill 19,000 warehouses like ours, and we’ve one of the largest in Haïti! All in all, about 125,000 temporary homes are expected to be constructed by this time next year, the huge majority in the metropolitan PAP area.

Home Structural Assessments….Houses are still being evaluated in order to help persons resettle in their own homes. About 130,000 of the estimated 188,000 damaged homes have been assessed and a good portion are ‘green’, meaning that they can be lived in without first undergoing repairs. Roughly half of the homes that have been assessed as ‘green’ are being inhabited. The engineers have been reminding families that the homes evaluated as yellow will need some relatively minor repairs to be able to be inhabited; AND that not all those that have been assessed as ‘red’ will have to be torn down. A good number may still be able to be salvaged with the right kind of earthquake resistant technology applied. Now that’s good news! As of right now, 46% have been assessed as ‘green’, another 30% as ‘yellow’, and the rest as ‘red’. The engineers estimate that about 500,000 persons will be able to return to properly repaired homes.

Food…Although food rations are no longer being distributed, there is good news on the horizon! The spring harvest looks like it will be rather productive, which will both increase the availability of food staples as well as decrease the price. The maps below give an idea of the projections concerning the availability of food for the next few months (yes, green is good!). This is very heartening because prices continue to be well above pre-earthquake level—roughly 25% more.


MAY 2010 AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2010
Jobs…Another brighter star on the horizon. The food for work programs are not only helping to clear the rubble, clean out canals to avoid lowland flooding and repair rural roads, these over 100,000 people are receiving a reasonable wage with which to help support their families. The need for this kind of work will be there for quite some time in the future—along with labor for reconstruction; and these should significantly help to re-establish families. But the financial losses have been great here. One thing that helps Haitian people to get by on such limited income is that they do not need to pay great sums for living quarters. But modest sized homes that used to cost perhaps $2,500 per year to rent are now going for $500/month--that is more than the average middle class Haitian person earns in a month! Housing relief, and not just the temporary shelters, must be made a major priority in order to be able to stabilize the country.

Non-profit organizations…Again a reminder, the Government of Haïti is asking all 1,000+ NGOs operating within the country to register. The registration must be renewed every 6 months. If you would like more information on any Government-related business in Haïti, I’d encourage you to either become a member of the NGO Coordination Support at http://www.oneresponse.info/ or contact them directly for at ngocoordinationsupport@gmail.com
Some more subjects of prayer:
For everyone’s personal safety, especially for the young and the vulnerable
That food and housing will indeed begin to be affordable and at levels to meet everyone’s need
That reconstruction can proceed well:
Settling of the land ownership issues
No longer be hindered by such high prices—some materials are up about 50% over pre-earthquake prices, even though there is no shortage
Driving:That the rains and floods will not do any more damage That the road damage will be promptly prepared so that it does not take forever and at risk of life and limb to travel to and from normal activities. Video games have nothing on the ‘real deal’ take-your-life-in-your-hands events that regularly occur on the roads here!
That the Lord will give us grace to deal with those few but significant numbers of persons who do not believe that laws were meant for the well-being of everyone. It adds greatly to the stress to share narrow, broken down roads with others who ignore the danger they put themselves as well as the rest of us in.

...and there you have if for this Sunday July 4th......didn't Walter Cronkite used to close with a statement something like that?!

Have a good week...Debbie
PS birthday pictures will come tomorrow...for somer reason they will not upload this evening.