grant's haiti journal: arriving in haiti

The remaining two hours from the border to Port-au-Prince were remarkable. Traveling the desolate roads in the dead of night only made the feeling of "I swear I've seen this in a movie" even more real. "Dodge the pothole" became less and less of a game and more of a survival technique. Pulling into Port-au-Prince we were in awe, and upon discussing it, Britt and I decided that "war zone" best described the scene. The streets were so dark and desolated. Fitting of the "war zone" atmosphere, the only other vehicle on the street was a U.N. Jeep with a .50 cal mounted machine gun on the back. They stopped us and we explained that we were lost, they pointed us in the right direction. With divine inspiration we finally spotted "The Palm Inn" deep into Delmas 31. Delmas Avenue is a main thoroughfare through the capital city and the streets off of Delmas Ave are named "Delmas" followed by a number. The issue is that's about all the info you get, "it's on Delmas 31". Finding something on a given street without someone who knows which street alley or sometimes trail to take... is a miracle in and of itself. The hotel where my mom usually stays was destroyed in the quake, so we were going to stay at a place she had never been before. Phone service in Haiti is not always reliable and we couldn't get through to the owner for directions. He had graciously volunteered to rent us his home- a gesture embracing the warmth and kindness of the Haitian people. The accommodations were far better than any of us had hoped for. We would have been happy in tents. The hotel owner had pulled enough mattresses for all of us into his home. We arrived around one or two a.m. and hauled all the bags inside. We thought it would be safer to bring the supplies inside even though the house had a 7-8 ft. gate around it. The sight of our combined efforts was truly amazing. We brought down over 1200 pounds of antibiotics, medical supplies, vitamins, baby formula and a variety of other meds.

day two.

We woke early and began sorting and taking inventory of our now combined meds. We had scheduled for a doctor from a nearby clinic to come by and have first pick at what supplies he could use. Plans have a way of changing in Haiti. A number of times on the trip we had to hurry up and wait. This was largely because of the nature of our relief. Some of us have medical experience/training, but our main help to the people was bringing them these life saving supplies. The only way for this to be done effectively is working directly with community leaders, doctors or heads of clinics. Because of the state of the nation and gravity of daily decisions for the survival of so many, time tables often get altered. After frantically working to catalogue and organize the meds, we waited for the doctor while formulating plans B, C and D for the day. This lull afforded us our first chance to interact with the people. Opening the gate revealed a man working to rebuild/salvage fallen structures, women transporting water in buckets on their heads and dogs, cats, goats, chickens, pigs and wandering children.

We played with a group of kids that lived near by and couldn't have been more grateful that Chris spoke Creole. A reoccurring frustration throughout our trip was the inability to communicate with many of these dear people. Some of the children knew only a phrase or two in english and it was usually "gimme one dolla". We gave them one of the balls we brought and they absolutely loved it. Soon one child came back asking for milk for his younger sister. They must have seen the formula as we were cleaning out one of the bags. It was very humbling and it brought my mom to tears. It took us a few minutes to put together that he/they were more concerned about feeding their families than playing with a ball. I was happy we had gathered so much formula. They ran back home delivering the treasure.

Just down the street from our house was a tent city. These makeshift communities are all over the place and are so sad. Very few have actual tents donated by some global aide organization. But most are tents made using sticks stuck into the ground with bed sheets tied between them. The doctor was a no show for the morning so we headed to the Matthew 25 house.

grant's haiti journal: day one

we definitely feel we should have done this earlier but life has just been busy. this is the first time i have been able to read grant's journal (because he just finished it). i have really loved remembering all the details he has so eloquently described. he is so cool and i wanna be just like him (even though he dumps laundry baskets of crackers on me when i'm really comfortable on the couch)(if that is confusing, see below post).

2/4/10 9:50pm
Ahh, finally time to breath. We're in the airport in Salt Lake City waiting to leave on the first leg of our journey to Haiti. After seeing the Lord's hands pour out blessings in the form of baby formula, infant Tylenol, prenatal vitamins & Advil, we just saw the first of hopefully many more blessings. The Jet Blue employees at the ticket counter were kind enough to call corporate and waive the charges for our extra bags. That felt especially sweet due to the fact that I had been on the phone trying to accomplish that feat for the past few days... with no success. We're all excited and anxious to actually see what we have gotten ourselves into. All we know is that we are part of something bigger than ourselves. I feel blessed to be able to put so much effort into collecting, packing and delivering these supplies to the people of Haiti.

2/5/10 12:10am
As I sit in a chair flying through the air, I can't help but think how spoiled I am. I think of the clip from Conan when guest Louis C.K. explains, "Everything's amazing and nobody's happy". Though I feel that he put into words exactly how I feel, I fear that I too, at times, fall into the category of "zeros" he talks about. The television in front of me flashed in and out of signal as we took off. I became increasingly more impatient as I flipped through channel after channel of "we're sorry, this channel is temporarily unavailable". Just about the time the stewardess handed me an eye mask for sleeping and informed me that blankets would cost $7, the tv flashed "to continue watching this program, swipe your card ($6)". No I don't need a $7 blanket or $6 movie. For now I will be content with my complimentary eye mask and 5.5 oz. apple juice. I have a feeling that after this trip, I will be content with far less.

2/5/10 6:57am
Boarshead pastrami with crumbled blue cheese and peppercorn gourmaise sauce on marbled rye was a good choice... breakfast of champions.

2/6/10
We landed yesterday in Santa Domingo and had a few hours until my mom and her crew from California arrived. The day before we left, I was put in charge of the rental cars; something that was supposed to be taken care of long before we left. Anywho, I called the Dominican Republic and spoke with Eddie. I was able to talk him down $400 from his original asking price. After we were greeted by Eddie at the airport, Caleb and I were able to talk him down another $400. That money will be much better spent on the trip instead of paying for vans. During the hour or so we had before the California crew arrived, Eddie took us around and showed us the local beach and arena. Eddie drove one van and I drove the other. I quickly learned that follow the leader is more of a game of "let's see if you can keep up whilst dodging potholes and other cars on the road while pretending that there are no lanes" "all while countless motorbikes dodged in and out of traffic". Luckily, learning to drive in California.. helped me to navigate without killing anyone. Or any stray cows, dogs or goats dotting the road. But it was nice to have a little time to just see a bit of Santa Domingo while we were there. We were elated to greet my mom and her crew and happy to load the vans with 12 people, 1200+ lbs. of supplies and make our way towards Haiti.

Sidenote: I found it interesting that when you rent a car in the U.S., it comes with a full tank of gas and you return it full.. paying for the gas used. Here, the vans come running on fumes (we spent $160 filling them) and were told to bring them back empty... sounds like any gas above empty is a tip. Makes sense for them, I guess.

Downtown Santa Domingo was crowded and chaotic. It seemed that the nearer we got to the Haitian border, the fewer the cars and the worse the roads. As night fell, my focus switched from dodging cars to dodging potholes, spending at least half of the trip driving in the opposite lane (I say potholes but sometimes the "pothole" was a hundred yard section of road missing). Speed bumps in the D.R. and Haiti are brutally high, especially for a weighed down van.  They are also very well watched, it seemed a rarity to pass a speed bump without a person or ten sitting and watching the action. I write this as my DVR at home fills with episodes of The Office, Lost and Oprah (Britt). Entertainment has a different meaning here. We reach the border around midnight to the sight of soldiers wielding assault rifles. We were told crossing at night wasn't normally aloud but because of the tragedy in Haiti, supposedly they would let people through. They told us straight away that it was closed and that we would have to wait til morning. Our driver (a native Dominican) explained our situation but they still didn't seem convinced. A soldier came to my van and in non fluent spanish, I explained that we were part of a medical team and showed him our badges. They didn't seem too impressed or inclined in the least to open the gate. Our native driver, Misael went with the shady border control officers behind a dimly lit wall. We waited, each of us praying that we would get the medicine and supplies through tonight. I couldn't help but think that the scene was reminiscent of something out of a movie. I sensed Britt's anxiety as we all sat there quietly. It was definitely a tense moment. Misael returned and informed us that they would let us through for $30 a vehicle. We had already anticipated a border bribe, so we were happy.

Then came the Haitian border. A little less intimidating. They originally asked us for $50 US and Paul's earring to get across. But when they heard Chris speaking Creole, they were so excited and forgot their "tough guy" front. They joked with him for a minute before waving us through.

Finally in Haiti.

sopudep neighborhood

over the last six years while providing aide to haiti, leisa has become close with many community leaders. one of which is a woman named rea. leisa refers to her as "the unofficial mayor of port-au-prince". with that description, i imagined rea to be a politician like business woman. and although she was a very motivated person and a natural leader, when i met her, she was much warmer than i thought she would be. she exudes energy and happiness. she was such a joy to be around. she has a way of making everyone around her feel so special. one of her many responsibilities is running a school in sopudep (a neighborhood in port-au-prince). in between distributing medical supplies to clinics, rea and her friend chener (another favorite of ours) took us around the neighborhood surrounding her school. had we just walked through it on our own, it would have just seemed like piles of rubble. chener knew many people in the neighborhood and told us intimate stories of the families who lived there. this part of our trip changed our lives.

rea and chener had just told leisa that there were still 3 children in the rubble, "here, here and here".

this is chener. he told us the woman that lived here always cooked for everyone in the community.
here is her refrigerator, what's left of her kitchen and home.

a family pet left dead in the rubble.

even without being told where the bodies were, we could always tell because of the smell.
in one area, chener told us that there were still 21 people burried in rubble.

while walking through everything, this man approached grant and held out these two pictures. we grabbed t-paul to help translate. we learned that over the past fourteen years he had been raising his two daughters alone. he told about how they were gifted scholastically; even being on national television for their accomplishments. he owned a boutique that they helped him run, his girls were his life. with tears welling up in his eyes, he pointed to the spot where his daughters were still under thousands of pounds of rubble. his home, his business, his family all gone. in leisa's six years of visiting haiti she said that she had never seen a haitian man cry until this day. as rea helped to comfort him, all of us got emotional. i couldn't stop crying. he expressed the intense feeling of now having nothing else to live for. despite all of this, when he walked away, he said "it was a pleasure to meet you". i will never forget him.

disclaimer

we are back from vegas and ready to roll. this week is so busy and we are just trying to stay on top of everything. i really want to post on haiti, especially while i have many emotions from the trip still fresh on my mind and even in my heart. i've realized that there are some people who choose simply to not get involved when there are huge tragedies like this because their hearts just can't hold that pain. and i definitely don't judge anyone for wanting to distance themselves from sadness. but i think that it's important that all of us understand the gravity of the situation down there. there will be no quick fix. it was a complete disaster in haiti before the quake. i just wanted to put out a little warning before our next post, it won't be a very uplifting one. but hopefully it will help everyone to have a more intimate understanding of what life is like down there.

become as a child

we took almost a thousand pictures, each of them has a story. though we won't be able to, we feel responsible to try to portray the spirit, feeling and emotion of each of the stories. some are so special, they deserve their own post. for now, here are pictures of some of the kids that completely stole our hearts. and despite the absolute tragedy that they've lived through, they still have smiles on their faces. 

n'ap boule!

well here we are back in our apartment. it seems so crazy that yesterday we were in haiti. i miss it. while i uploaded all our pictures today, i just cried and cried. i know that this trip will not be our last, we both are really looking forward to going again. soon. i can't wait to tell stories and share pictures that will no doubt bring tears to my eyes again. our trip was awe-inspiring. life changing and just incredible. please keep haiti in your prayers, just because the media moves on to something "bigger and better", it doesn't mean that haiti is okay now or that they have enough help. no. no. no. my heart is still in pain, thinking about how long it will take them to recover. it is a war zone down there. war zone. one blessing that they have, is that they are such a beautiful people. so positive and just a joy to be around. as much as i cried, i laughed more. i just love them all so much!!!!!!!!

we are off.

we are overwhelmed with everyone's generosity. can't say it enough. i wish i would have written down everyone's name that donated so i could send you all thankyou cards. we'll be back soon!

i love people

we have 48 hrs before we leave. again we just want to sincerely thank everyone who has donated, as most of our donations have come through the blog. there just aren't words to express our gratitude! our expectations were definitely exceeded and we've all but reached our weight limit. that being said, if anyone is still wanting to help, the following items are more weight conscious and are definitely needed:

infant tylenol drops
medical tape (the kind you use to secure bandages, not athletic tape)
band aids

we're asking that donations be dropped off by midnight tomorrow night (Wednesday February 3rd). checks can still be made out to childrens hope.

amongst all the donations, we received letters written by some students to the children in haiti. they also each brought one thing to donate. precious.

haiti journal #6 (leisa)

2010 Haiti Journal #6      Survivor Camps       January 27, 2010
On a good day, Port au Prince streets are dusty evidence of years of road neglect mixed with sidewalk-kitchen's charcoal smoke and plumes of unchecked diesel exhaust. Now death mixes with the dust, causing folks to reach anxious arms into the back of our truck when I pulled out my own face mask, a tactical error on my part. Another bounce of our pick-up truck forced more dust up from earthquake rubble kicking back. Our six bags of meds and supplies were safe. We all felt safe, maybe even more than any other time in Haiti. The people are numb, my friends are numb and in lucky moments I felt numb too.It’s those quiet moments you have to watch out for. Those times when the death and agony take on faces and sounds you think you will never stop hearing and seeing.

Working at the Matthew 25 house field hospital brought many of those moments; the near ghost of a woman carried out post-surgery from our dining room table, who wouldn’t make it through the night; the newly arrived doctor from the states who couldn’t stop muttering as we transferred one of his patients onto a dirty piece of cardboard in the dust…“this is post-op?…this is post-op?….this is post-op?”

But between them all was a special end to the day. After working with a local doctor in the make-shift pharmacy we heard something quite welcome and different rise up from the field out back. Sweet voices raised in prayer and song drew us again out into the soccer-field-turned-survivor-camp. Without electricity, running water or enough to eat, everyone in the survivor camp seemed to remember it was Sunday, and welcomed us into their circle. I could have as well been in any Californian congregation during the “peace-be-with-you-welcome”. The local priest presided over the sacrament. Someone found a drum to gently respond to the cadence. We shook hands and felt lifted for a moment out of the shared sorrow, or maybe lifted because we were all sharing the same sorrow. There was mostly and profoundly, calm.

We distributed all the medical supplies we carried, are home now for just one week, and will return next Thursday with a team of ten and over a thousand pounds of medicine and supplies. Please remember to keep pledging…or just encourage someone you know to make their own pledge. We are in this recovery for the long haul…there is much work to do…but as the Haitian saying goes, “many hands make the burden lighter.” If you want to see some of the images from our January trip into Haiti, please take a moment to look over these images by Paul Taggart (for AARP). Thanks Paul, for staying in Haiti and helping even after your assignment finished.

http://bulletin.aarp.org/yourworld/politics/articles/haiti_earthquake_.html