Allo! Sorry I missed yesterday.....Wednesday was a very full day. Betty and I signed up for Baby Orphanage in the morning, and rubble in the afternoon. Don helped moving trusses in the morning, with Sri Lanka army troops in a UN truck - which caused a bit of commotion with some locals upset with the UN for bringing cholera into the country. After that, Don joined us on the rubble site. Raine & Khaya worked on the bio-sand filter project. These filters enable the locals to have clean, safe water. They have so far distributed over 700 of them. Awesome project.
The orphanage was heart-wrenching. It houses about 40 children - in a home originally planned for about 10. The babies are kept in the baby room, which basically is one big room; there`s only 1 small playpen - most babies lay on the floor on mats. The look in the eyes of some of the more traumatized children is haunting. As soon as we arrived, the children met us with raised arms, wanting to be picked up and cuddled. But even with all they`ve been through, they are still kids - they still love to play, love to sing. Amazing how resilient they are. Many of the children are not truly orphans - their parents just can`t care for them anymore. The day we were there, a dad was dropping off his 3 children. So sad... I couldn`t help think of my healthy grand-babies....
Rubbling is quite the experience. When we first drove up to the site...to say it looked daunting is a huge understatement. The Haitian homes are cinder blocks, with 6 inches of concrete between each floor, and for the roof, with rebar reinforcing everything. You can imagine the weight, and the amount of rubble to clear. We started by sledging - swinging 10 lb sledges to break the concrete. Fun, fun....Very satisfying when you finally break through... Needless to say we were all exhausted by day`s end.
Thursday, Don & I were on an all-day rubble site, working with about 7 locals who were hired under the Cash for Work program. The plan is to teach them how to do the work, and then leave them to finish it. That project will be done tomorrow. Another exhausting day.... learned a few Creole words Betty also did rubble on another site. Raine & Khiya did housekeeping in the morning, and worked rubble in the pm. We are all going to sleep really well tonight!
It actually was an interesting day today; lots of the local children stopped by - very cute. There were 3 supervisors watching the local workers (yes 3) - sat in the shade, killed a kitten, cut it up and hung it from a tree... amazing what you`ll eat when you`re hungry. Also, saw some locals carrying a corpse (covered) on their shoulders up the street. One of our local workers, Jean, has a beautiful singing voice, and sang a few songs he had written about Haiti, and his hope for his country. He has a beautiful spirit
Well, tomorrow`s another day... keep you posted!.
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