Today we travelled to Arcahaie for worship. As it was mothers day in Haiti there was a special moment for mothers, and there were two dedications. The preacher was our Jamaican colleague Major Vilo Exalus, who grew up in Arcahaie. The Corps fed us at lunch - a massive meal.
After a tour of the Division's summer camp we went to Luly Corps who also fed us. According to Vilo, the fish's head is the best part. I'm not so convinced.
A long day, and I'm paying for it. Very hot, and a bit of a headache. Time for an early night.
Monday, 31 May 2010
Saturday, 29 May 2010
Ouch
Today started well enough. I managed to reconcile the camp cash books, which is in three currencies and had advances from four different places. We are moving over to a new system this week, so it was good make sense of it all.
We then went to the camp where we have conducted a second registration of people that have moved into the camp. This will enable us to include them in any distributions and make our statistics more complete. We had to issue their cards to them today. These cards can be scanned for recieving a distribution and are used against our database if we want to target particular populations, e.g. pregnant women or handicapped people, for services. Unfortunately we only managed to get half the intended cards out.
As the day went on my arm started to give me more trouble. I slipped yesterday and hurt my forearm a bit. Today it hurt a lot. A trip to the University of Miami field hospital at the Port-au-Prince airport, including time in their x-ray tent, showed no fractures, but I have done some damage down the side of the bone (scraped it or bruised it or something) and I'm a bit sore. So... my arm's in an immobilisation splint for "a week or two". Given that it's already hot and uncomfortable, I can't see it staying on for that long, but it'll stay until it's not so sore.
And I'll keep typing primarily with my left arm.
(The lesson - don't break your fall with your preferred hand)
We then went to the camp where we have conducted a second registration of people that have moved into the camp. This will enable us to include them in any distributions and make our statistics more complete. We had to issue their cards to them today. These cards can be scanned for recieving a distribution and are used against our database if we want to target particular populations, e.g. pregnant women or handicapped people, for services. Unfortunately we only managed to get half the intended cards out.
As the day went on my arm started to give me more trouble. I slipped yesterday and hurt my forearm a bit. Today it hurt a lot. A trip to the University of Miami field hospital at the Port-au-Prince airport, including time in their x-ray tent, showed no fractures, but I have done some damage down the side of the bone (scraped it or bruised it or something) and I'm a bit sore. So... my arm's in an immobilisation splint for "a week or two". Given that it's already hot and uncomfortable, I can't see it staying on for that long, but it'll stay until it's not so sore.
And I'll keep typing primarily with my left arm.
(The lesson - don't break your fall with your preferred hand)
Friday, 28 May 2010
Crazy
Well, it feels a little crazy. Not that it should surprise anyone, but at the moment we are juggling a number of balls at once.
The well that we've been trying to tap into has passed all of its chemical tests, now we are tracking down an engineer that can do a flow test to see how well it replenishes itself. We are planning at least one food distribution and a distribution of nutritional supplement to pregnant women and their children next week. All up trying to feed 20,000 people in a few days. We are also fixing an error in our registration process that will add a further 600 families to our official beneficiary list. We have 100 residents currently undertaking first aid training and we are planning conflict resolution training for our security team. We are also having a site plan on the camp done in the next few days using a GPS system that will allow us to see where everything actually is from the air, and hopefully do some better planning about where we place community facilities in the future.
We are also planning to work with a Dutch documentary team next week... could be interesting.
In the meantime, one of the great things happening this week is that I have a new team member. Heather Russouw has joined me from South Africa and is working in the camp as well. She's had an overwhelming first day or two, as we all do when we arrive in country. But she's a welcome addition.
The well that we've been trying to tap into has passed all of its chemical tests, now we are tracking down an engineer that can do a flow test to see how well it replenishes itself. We are planning at least one food distribution and a distribution of nutritional supplement to pregnant women and their children next week. All up trying to feed 20,000 people in a few days. We are also fixing an error in our registration process that will add a further 600 families to our official beneficiary list. We have 100 residents currently undertaking first aid training and we are planning conflict resolution training for our security team. We are also having a site plan on the camp done in the next few days using a GPS system that will allow us to see where everything actually is from the air, and hopefully do some better planning about where we place community facilities in the future.
We are also planning to work with a Dutch documentary team next week... could be interesting.
In the meantime, one of the great things happening this week is that I have a new team member. Heather Russouw has joined me from South Africa and is working in the camp as well. She's had an overwhelming first day or two, as we all do when we arrive in country. But she's a welcome addition.
Wednesday, 26 May 2010
Fast?
Some days things happen so suddenly. It catches you by surprise over here.
All of a sudden some things fell into place yesterday. One of our guys that had his passport and suitcase stolen finally got his passport back. Six containers that have been sitting on the docks for weeks while we've been dealing with customs etc were released. First aid training for camp residents that we've been trying to organise has come together and starts today. Some information on people's intentions to relocate away from the camps suddenly came together. We even think we may have found more appropriate accommodation for our own team.
And... I think that I've almost got a deal with Nike to sponsor a screening of world cup matches in our camp.
We finished the day with a great meal at a local hotel courtesy of Georgia Tech University. They are studying the use of technology in humanitarian relief. We were able to speak about our UPS trackins system for registering IDP's and doing distributions. We also were able to speak about the way that population movements can be tracked in Haiti using mobile phones.
A good night. A good end to a good day.
All of a sudden some things fell into place yesterday. One of our guys that had his passport and suitcase stolen finally got his passport back. Six containers that have been sitting on the docks for weeks while we've been dealing with customs etc were released. First aid training for camp residents that we've been trying to organise has come together and starts today. Some information on people's intentions to relocate away from the camps suddenly came together. We even think we may have found more appropriate accommodation for our own team.
And... I think that I've almost got a deal with Nike to sponsor a screening of world cup matches in our camp.
We finished the day with a great meal at a local hotel courtesy of Georgia Tech University. They are studying the use of technology in humanitarian relief. We were able to speak about our UPS trackins system for registering IDP's and doing distributions. We also were able to speak about the way that population movements can be tracked in Haiti using mobile phones.
A good night. A good end to a good day.
Tuesday, 25 May 2010
A long day
Today was a bit frustrating. Struggling with language barriers. My french has progressed from non-existant to embarassing and my creole is still non-existant. Struggling with waiting for funds to arrive and for goods to get through customs. Struggling to wait for other people to do things that are required before you can move on.
But we'll get there.
On a brighter note I spent some time this afternoon with people from the Humanitarian Logistics Centre at Georgia Tech. They are interested in the registration and scanning system that The Salvation Army have pioneered in this disaster to assist with our distributions to beneficiaries. It is a pioneering system. Good to speak to them, and perhaps it will help many others in the future.
But we'll get there.
On a brighter note I spent some time this afternoon with people from the Humanitarian Logistics Centre at Georgia Tech. They are interested in the registration and scanning system that The Salvation Army have pioneered in this disaster to assist with our distributions to beneficiaries. It is a pioneering system. Good to speak to them, and perhaps it will help many others in the future.
Monday, 24 May 2010
Worship
Again my perspectives have been challenged through worship. This morning we went to an international church where the service was predominantly in English but also in Creole and French.
Again, let's think about the context in which this church worships. Imagine if you can a city reduced to rubble. Everyone has lost someone they know. Everyone knows someone permenantly disabled. Many have lost homes. Many still live under tarpaulins.
Then they gather for worship and sing:
You give and take away
You give and take away
And I will choose to say
Blessed be your name
How dare we ever whinge about what we do and don't have. How dare we get so focussed on ourselves and how we think we've been treated or hurt. How challenging to hear this absolute worship. How liberating to hear this sung - and sung in celebration (add in your imagining, if you can, that this is sung with a Caribbean/Reggae beat as people dance together).
They don't stop there. They go an and sing:
Who can know your infinite wisdom?
Who can tell the depths of your love?
You are beautiful beyond description
Too marvelous for words
And I stand, I stand in awe of you
I stand, I stand in awe of you
Holy God, to whom all praise is due
I stand in awe of you
God help us keep things in perspective.
Again, let's think about the context in which this church worships. Imagine if you can a city reduced to rubble. Everyone has lost someone they know. Everyone knows someone permenantly disabled. Many have lost homes. Many still live under tarpaulins.
Then they gather for worship and sing:
You give and take away
You give and take away
And I will choose to say
Blessed be your name
How dare we ever whinge about what we do and don't have. How dare we get so focussed on ourselves and how we think we've been treated or hurt. How challenging to hear this absolute worship. How liberating to hear this sung - and sung in celebration (add in your imagining, if you can, that this is sung with a Caribbean/Reggae beat as people dance together).
They don't stop there. They go an and sing:
Who can know your infinite wisdom?
Who can tell the depths of your love?
You are beautiful beyond description
Too marvelous for words
And I stand, I stand in awe of you
I stand, I stand in awe of you
Holy God, to whom all praise is due
I stand in awe of you
God help us keep things in perspective.
Saturday, 22 May 2010
The Well
Today was quite packed. So one story for now.
We have a well in the camp. It was built in 2004, for what purpose we don't know. It's never been used and it was capped a few years ago by the city, probably for safety reasons.
Today we were finally able to crack the top to see what was in there. We found that it was almost 50m deep. We also found that there were no nitrates or nitrites in the water and that it wasn't hard water (according to a calcium magnesium test). We also are running a faecal bacteria test...
This is the funny part. To run the fb test you need to take a sample from the well and add a fertiliser ingredient which turns the water yellow. The yellow water is then held/ sat upright for 24-48 hours to see if it turns black. If the water colour doesn't change -that's good. However, you end up walking around with a bag looking suspiciously like a urine sample until you get somewhere you can stand it. So imagine, if you will, me carrying around this 'sample' throughout the camp, back to the office, in the van on the way to our accommodation until I was finally able to stand it in a cup in our room.
Hopefully it still looks like a urine sample tomorrow. Then we'll be able to get the Korean UN engineers in to do a flow test and see how fast the well can replenish itself. This will tell us whether it is a renewable water source. Here's hoping.
In the meantime, there's much too much water falling from the sky. People in the camp will be standing most of tonight so that they don't lie down in the mud. Some will sit on a bucket with their children sleeping on their lap.
All things being equal, the drainage works start on Monday. But even that is not soon enough.
We have a well in the camp. It was built in 2004, for what purpose we don't know. It's never been used and it was capped a few years ago by the city, probably for safety reasons.
Today we were finally able to crack the top to see what was in there. We found that it was almost 50m deep. We also found that there were no nitrates or nitrites in the water and that it wasn't hard water (according to a calcium magnesium test). We also are running a faecal bacteria test...
This is the funny part. To run the fb test you need to take a sample from the well and add a fertiliser ingredient which turns the water yellow. The yellow water is then held/ sat upright for 24-48 hours to see if it turns black. If the water colour doesn't change -that's good. However, you end up walking around with a bag looking suspiciously like a urine sample until you get somewhere you can stand it. So imagine, if you will, me carrying around this 'sample' throughout the camp, back to the office, in the van on the way to our accommodation until I was finally able to stand it in a cup in our room.
Hopefully it still looks like a urine sample tomorrow. Then we'll be able to get the Korean UN engineers in to do a flow test and see how fast the well can replenish itself. This will tell us whether it is a renewable water source. Here's hoping.
In the meantime, there's much too much water falling from the sky. People in the camp will be standing most of tonight so that they don't lie down in the mud. Some will sit on a bucket with their children sleeping on their lap.
All things being equal, the drainage works start on Monday. But even that is not soon enough.
Friday, 21 May 2010
Slow Progress
Today was a day of progress, albeit slow.
This morning we walked the field where the drains are going to be installed next week (hopefully). We had originally anticipated that we would need to move around 50 families to make way for all the drains, but with some quick thinking from the engineer that we had on site, it appears that we only need to move three shelters. And each of them only needs to move a matter of a few feet.
This afternoon we distributed boxes of food to some elderly and handicapped people in the camp. Around 260 people who have no means of supporting themselves recieved asisstance. Of course, we could categorise the entire population of the camp as vulnerable, but these are among the most extreme cases.
The day finished with a trip to a chinese restaurant for the staff as we farewelled a colleague heading home to the states. It is a bit surreal eating out when you've just distributed food to people that will never enjoy a restaurant. On the other hand it was a great team night, and apart from saying goodbye to a teammate, it gave us an opportunity to share with the local DC, Major Lucien Lemartinierre. Many of you would have read his story in the Warcry sometime in April. He is a humble, gentle man, but a giant of a spiritual leader. It was a great night.
This morning we walked the field where the drains are going to be installed next week (hopefully). We had originally anticipated that we would need to move around 50 families to make way for all the drains, but with some quick thinking from the engineer that we had on site, it appears that we only need to move three shelters. And each of them only needs to move a matter of a few feet.
This afternoon we distributed boxes of food to some elderly and handicapped people in the camp. Around 260 people who have no means of supporting themselves recieved asisstance. Of course, we could categorise the entire population of the camp as vulnerable, but these are among the most extreme cases.
The day finished with a trip to a chinese restaurant for the staff as we farewelled a colleague heading home to the states. It is a bit surreal eating out when you've just distributed food to people that will never enjoy a restaurant. On the other hand it was a great team night, and apart from saying goodbye to a teammate, it gave us an opportunity to share with the local DC, Major Lucien Lemartinierre. Many of you would have read his story in the Warcry sometime in April. He is a humble, gentle man, but a giant of a spiritual leader. It was a great night.
Thursday, 20 May 2010
Celebrations
Yesterday was "Flag Day". It is the annual national holiday marking the birth of the flag of Haiti in 1803 which is a French tri-colour with the white ripped out. (In other words, a red and blue flag). This represents independance from France (achieved in 1804) when Haiti become only the second independant state in the Western hemisphere and the first black republic anywhere in the world. Of course, its history since 1804 has been anything but peaceful or simple.
Yesterday we held a party in the camp for Flag Day. Hundreds came out for the party which included a singing and dancing competition, a DJ, drinks, a flag raising ceremony and of course, the national anthem. This was organised by our new community worker, Fornia Cenezir, who did a great job. She managed also to make hygiene promotion part of the event - each 'competitor' had to mention a hygiene message in their songs or dances.
After we packed up in the afternoon, the ex pat staff had a day apart - the first time we've had off together since I've been here (almost a month). We drove up the coast to just near the city of Sant Marc. There's a beach there that you expect to see in those Caribbean tourist brochures. It was a nice change from Port-au-Prince and having dinner by the sea was magnificent. Of course, it started to rain, and all I could think of was the people in my camp. Put a literal dampner on things.
Today was a shopping experience. I had to run around getting kit for our security guards - raincoats, gumboots, disinfectant (which of course leaked throughout the van), torches, batteries, high visibility coats, whistles etc. Of course, nothing was available in one place.
The planned drainage of the camp is starting to gain momentum. There is string marking where the main drain will start. There is an outlet built to the neighbouring canal. We are meeting for the second time tomorrow with the committee to see how many shelters we need to move.
In the meantime the UN clusters have asked for us to provide our contigency plan for the upcoming hurricane season. Given that I haven't mitigated for rainy season yet, I'm not sure how we're going to come up with a hurricane plan. Job for tomorrow... or next week.
Yesterday we held a party in the camp for Flag Day. Hundreds came out for the party which included a singing and dancing competition, a DJ, drinks, a flag raising ceremony and of course, the national anthem. This was organised by our new community worker, Fornia Cenezir, who did a great job. She managed also to make hygiene promotion part of the event - each 'competitor' had to mention a hygiene message in their songs or dances.
After we packed up in the afternoon, the ex pat staff had a day apart - the first time we've had off together since I've been here (almost a month). We drove up the coast to just near the city of Sant Marc. There's a beach there that you expect to see in those Caribbean tourist brochures. It was a nice change from Port-au-Prince and having dinner by the sea was magnificent. Of course, it started to rain, and all I could think of was the people in my camp. Put a literal dampner on things.
Today was a shopping experience. I had to run around getting kit for our security guards - raincoats, gumboots, disinfectant (which of course leaked throughout the van), torches, batteries, high visibility coats, whistles etc. Of course, nothing was available in one place.
The planned drainage of the camp is starting to gain momentum. There is string marking where the main drain will start. There is an outlet built to the neighbouring canal. We are meeting for the second time tomorrow with the committee to see how many shelters we need to move.
In the meantime the UN clusters have asked for us to provide our contigency plan for the upcoming hurricane season. Given that I haven't mitigated for rainy season yet, I'm not sure how we're going to come up with a hurricane plan. Job for tomorrow... or next week.
Tuesday, 18 May 2010
Monday
Today was up and down. I started with an attempt to reconcile my cash float. Would have been fine if I was working in one currency, and not three.
I met with a local Corps Officer first thing to talk about whether we can assist people connected with the Corps and had to explain that if we help, we help everyone, not just Corps folk. But the positive side was he is willing to offer recreational activities in the camp and his home league may be able to work with the city to offer a micro-finance project with some women of the camp in a laundering business.
When I got to the camp itself the road was blocked at one end by a protest - it's a national holiday tomorrow so everyone is taking the chance to have a say. The other end of the road was blocked by a heap of rubbish. Someone decided to get rid of it - so they set it on fire.
There was a poor old lady we found in the camp. The camp committee asked if we could help get her into care. She suffers incredibly from mental illness. We tried a local asylum-style facility but they are overrun and referred us elsewhere. One of my team are trying to follow this up now.
One good piece of today is that one of the first drains was marked out, and we met with the committee about how many people we are going to have to move to make the drainage system work for everyone. This process is going to take some significant negotiation.
The four new members of our security team had their hands full today. On their first day on the job, too. Sadly a fight broke out at one of our water delivery stations. We are going to work with teh delivrey team to see if we can improve the security, and perhaps dedicate one delivery point to women only for safety sake.
Otherwise it is unbearably hot and humid this evening. Late today it was still 36 degrees and about 90% humidity.
I met with a local Corps Officer first thing to talk about whether we can assist people connected with the Corps and had to explain that if we help, we help everyone, not just Corps folk. But the positive side was he is willing to offer recreational activities in the camp and his home league may be able to work with the city to offer a micro-finance project with some women of the camp in a laundering business.
When I got to the camp itself the road was blocked at one end by a protest - it's a national holiday tomorrow so everyone is taking the chance to have a say. The other end of the road was blocked by a heap of rubbish. Someone decided to get rid of it - so they set it on fire.
There was a poor old lady we found in the camp. The camp committee asked if we could help get her into care. She suffers incredibly from mental illness. We tried a local asylum-style facility but they are overrun and referred us elsewhere. One of my team are trying to follow this up now.
One good piece of today is that one of the first drains was marked out, and we met with the committee about how many people we are going to have to move to make the drainage system work for everyone. This process is going to take some significant negotiation.
The four new members of our security team had their hands full today. On their first day on the job, too. Sadly a fight broke out at one of our water delivery stations. We are going to work with teh delivrey team to see if we can improve the security, and perhaps dedicate one delivery point to women only for safety sake.
Otherwise it is unbearably hot and humid this evening. Late today it was still 36 degrees and about 90% humidity.
Sunday, 16 May 2010
Saturday
It's very hot today. Well it's hot and humid everyday, but the sun feels very hot.
We spent the day running around. This morning we did payroll at the camp and then spoke to World Vision about a partnership to provide work in the camp. We also tried to buy a camera for someone, went shopping for phone cards, got prices on quotes - well found a supplier anyway, etc etc.
This afternoon was report writing time. One of the chores of deployments is writing reports, but I have to say that it can be really encouraging when you look back over a period of time and make a report to people about the progress that you are making.
We have new staff in the camp and this week their focus was on starting the health education programs. We are also a step closer to fixing the drainage problems - but wish it happened yesterday.
We spent the day running around. This morning we did payroll at the camp and then spoke to World Vision about a partnership to provide work in the camp. We also tried to buy a camera for someone, went shopping for phone cards, got prices on quotes - well found a supplier anyway, etc etc.
This afternoon was report writing time. One of the chores of deployments is writing reports, but I have to say that it can be really encouraging when you look back over a period of time and make a report to people about the progress that you are making.
We have new staff in the camp and this week their focus was on starting the health education programs. We are also a step closer to fixing the drainage problems - but wish it happened yesterday.
Friday, 14 May 2010
Felix
Firstly - YAY!!! Today started with the money coming in to lay rubble and aggregate through the camp (i.e. less mud). Also we finished the day with step one toward the plan to lay drainage underneath the aggregate. We might actually mitigate the flooding within a few weeks. Getting things done relatively fast in the circumstances, culture etc etc - but not nearly fast enough for the people in the camp, of course.
But all of that that aside, today I'm just grateful for the amazing people that God places in our journey.
Today I met Felix. Felix is Nigerian, married to an American. He studied medicine in the US before working in a major hospital in Antigua. There he felt the call to become a Salvation Army officer, so travelled to Jamaica to train. He has spent his whole officership (around a decade so far) running an AIDS/ HIV hospital here in Haiti. Well and truly settled, he and his wife have adopted an AIDS orphan from Haiti.
Felix talked tonight about his adopted country. He talked about survivors. He talked about prayer. He talked about the response from the international community. He talked about people turning to God. He talked about mourning and dancing.
We saw Jesus crying over Jerusalem. We saw a man embracing his nation and taking them to his heavenly Father. We saw a man who not only treats hundreds of people physically each day, but a man of love that is presenting Christ to this world.
Thank you God for Felix. Bless him, his wife and his son. Guard their ministry and honour their dedication to you.
But all of that that aside, today I'm just grateful for the amazing people that God places in our journey.
Today I met Felix. Felix is Nigerian, married to an American. He studied medicine in the US before working in a major hospital in Antigua. There he felt the call to become a Salvation Army officer, so travelled to Jamaica to train. He has spent his whole officership (around a decade so far) running an AIDS/ HIV hospital here in Haiti. Well and truly settled, he and his wife have adopted an AIDS orphan from Haiti.
Felix talked tonight about his adopted country. He talked about survivors. He talked about prayer. He talked about the response from the international community. He talked about people turning to God. He talked about mourning and dancing.
We saw Jesus crying over Jerusalem. We saw a man embracing his nation and taking them to his heavenly Father. We saw a man who not only treats hundreds of people physically each day, but a man of love that is presenting Christ to this world.
Thank you God for Felix. Bless him, his wife and his son. Guard their ministry and honour their dedication to you.
Wednesday, 12 May 2010
Frustrations
Today was just plain frustrating.
The day started with the sad news that my old training partner (from my slightly more serious running days) had died on a run on Saturday afternoon near Stawell, Victoria. Ray was a great friend. He was a generous spirit, a community-minded individual, and a man that not only taught but modelled respect. He is survived by his wife Alison and their four sons - teenagers. I am saddened that I can't attend his memorial this week, but hope Ange can get there. I was honoured to hear that Alison had asked for me to help with the service and wish I could. Encouraging to know when we've been a good part of people's lives.
Then I had a guy at our camp get really angry with me. He has every right to be angry. The rains are miserable and most of the people in the camp are living in mud. We have plans to drain the pitch and make it better, but we are waiting on all sorts of things before that can happen. In the meantime it rains. Some people are standing all night because they can't lie in the mud. One lady said that she has been sitting on a bucket all night with her children on her lap. It is miserable and I know that every day when I get to the camp I will get another mouthful about how no-one is doing much... and I can't blame people for being angry when we are there, but things take so long. I keep telling our team that if we were in their position we would be angry, too.
Then I went to the UN for a cluster meeting. I was five minutes late so I didn't get into the room (which is horribly small) and had to try and hear from outside. I then tried three gates to get out of the compound, only to be continually sent on. There has been some unrest in the capital - nothing serious, but all of a sudden the UN are on a higher security level. I finally got out of the compound (when I found the right exit, complete with metal detector etc) and got stuck in a traffic jam.
By this stage I was angry and gave a colleague a mouthful he didn't deserve about how the UN can get their security upgrade almost overnight, but I can't get a tarpaulin so that a mother can sleep at night. He understood my current frustration. (For the record - it's not getting tarpaulins that is an issue. It's getting enough - 5000 for my camp alone - that is an issue).
Then this afternoon I had a partner NGO state that they wanted to return to pre-earthquake service delivery asap and will take on no further commitments in the camp.
Then... well the other frustrations are things we'll work through.
Please pray for the people of Haiti. 1.3 million people are still displaced. 500,000 are still physically wounded. Almost all government buildings have been destroyed and over 1300 schools and 50 hospitals were lost in the earthquake. The whole nation is grieving the 300,000 that died.
Now we struggle to get anything in place to help as it is monsoon season and will probably rain non-stop now until late June, early July.
The day started with the sad news that my old training partner (from my slightly more serious running days) had died on a run on Saturday afternoon near Stawell, Victoria. Ray was a great friend. He was a generous spirit, a community-minded individual, and a man that not only taught but modelled respect. He is survived by his wife Alison and their four sons - teenagers. I am saddened that I can't attend his memorial this week, but hope Ange can get there. I was honoured to hear that Alison had asked for me to help with the service and wish I could. Encouraging to know when we've been a good part of people's lives.
Then I had a guy at our camp get really angry with me. He has every right to be angry. The rains are miserable and most of the people in the camp are living in mud. We have plans to drain the pitch and make it better, but we are waiting on all sorts of things before that can happen. In the meantime it rains. Some people are standing all night because they can't lie in the mud. One lady said that she has been sitting on a bucket all night with her children on her lap. It is miserable and I know that every day when I get to the camp I will get another mouthful about how no-one is doing much... and I can't blame people for being angry when we are there, but things take so long. I keep telling our team that if we were in their position we would be angry, too.
Then I went to the UN for a cluster meeting. I was five minutes late so I didn't get into the room (which is horribly small) and had to try and hear from outside. I then tried three gates to get out of the compound, only to be continually sent on. There has been some unrest in the capital - nothing serious, but all of a sudden the UN are on a higher security level. I finally got out of the compound (when I found the right exit, complete with metal detector etc) and got stuck in a traffic jam.
By this stage I was angry and gave a colleague a mouthful he didn't deserve about how the UN can get their security upgrade almost overnight, but I can't get a tarpaulin so that a mother can sleep at night. He understood my current frustration. (For the record - it's not getting tarpaulins that is an issue. It's getting enough - 5000 for my camp alone - that is an issue).
Then this afternoon I had a partner NGO state that they wanted to return to pre-earthquake service delivery asap and will take on no further commitments in the camp.
Then... well the other frustrations are things we'll work through.
Please pray for the people of Haiti. 1.3 million people are still displaced. 500,000 are still physically wounded. Almost all government buildings have been destroyed and over 1300 schools and 50 hospitals were lost in the earthquake. The whole nation is grieving the 300,000 that died.
Now we struggle to get anything in place to help as it is monsoon season and will probably rain non-stop now until late June, early July.
Monday, 10 May 2010
Sunday
Today we drove out to the country for a change of scenery. We attended worship at The Salvation Army's Lafforoney Corps. This year it has grown dramatically. At the start of the year they averaged 150 in worship. They now have over 300 every Sunday morning. They have already constructed a larger worship hall on their compound, and may need to expand again.
This is not unusual in Haiti. Haiti Division has over 40 Corps and at least 20 outposts. These 60 churches are rarely small and their members constitute two thirds of the soldiery of the Caribbean territory. They are growing fast - Port-au-Prince Central Corps has reported 300 converts this year. 60% of the officers in the territory come from this Division. It causes a few issues - apart from French Guinea, the rest of the territory is English speaking. It means that all of the Haitians, including the second year session of cadets who are all Haitian, need to learn English to attend college in Jamaica and that many of them won't come home to Haiti for their whole officership.
This afternoon was an adminsitrative effort. A report on a grant for the UN. A report for The Salvation Army on the operations of the camp. A project proposal to improve security and safety by fixing some more lighting at the camp, ready for the territory to approve tomorrow (he says in hope). Writing up three contracts for new staff that we hope to start this week.
Back to the camp tomorrow to distribute mosquito nets, soaps, condoms, sanitary pads and jerry cans courtesy of Unicef and Concern Worldwide.
This is not unusual in Haiti. Haiti Division has over 40 Corps and at least 20 outposts. These 60 churches are rarely small and their members constitute two thirds of the soldiery of the Caribbean territory. They are growing fast - Port-au-Prince Central Corps has reported 300 converts this year. 60% of the officers in the territory come from this Division. It causes a few issues - apart from French Guinea, the rest of the territory is English speaking. It means that all of the Haitians, including the second year session of cadets who are all Haitian, need to learn English to attend college in Jamaica and that many of them won't come home to Haiti for their whole officership.
This afternoon was an adminsitrative effort. A report on a grant for the UN. A report for The Salvation Army on the operations of the camp. A project proposal to improve security and safety by fixing some more lighting at the camp, ready for the territory to approve tomorrow (he says in hope). Writing up three contracts for new staff that we hope to start this week.
Back to the camp tomorrow to distribute mosquito nets, soaps, condoms, sanitary pads and jerry cans courtesy of Unicef and Concern Worldwide.
Sunday, 9 May 2010
Saturday
A long couple of days, exacerbated by a lack of internet. Back on line now, so can share some news.
On a small scale we've started targetting some groups in the camp for specific assistance. Over the last few days we've given food to many of the elderly and blind. Sadly a planned distribution of mosquito nets, condoms, hygiene gear and gerry cans had to be delayed for security reasons. People weren't happy, but we'll try again on Monday.
On a large scale, I've managed to get the quotes in and plans in for some big improvements to camp life. Hopefully with the support of the American Red Cross and Concern Worldwide we will soon have a sufficient drainage solution. The only hassle is that the city are insisting that The Salvation Army restore the soccer pitch when the camp closes. That will cost a fortune, but may not be a problem for a while. While there may be shelters built elsewhere that people can move to and be safer and drier, they aren't willing to leave their old neighbourhood to go to something else that is also temporary. Going home isn't an option, even for those whose homes can be repaired - they were mostly rented and if they get fixed the rent will be so high because of the rental shortage. So I think the camp will be here for a while.
We've also started to engage the local Salvation Army school and some other groups to create a back to school programme. Our ultimate goal is to get school attendance to be higher than pre-earthquake levels. At the same time we have to consider the cost of schooling (please consider child sponsorship), the cultural approach to school (less than 50% of children in Haiti attend school anyway) and the practicalities of child centred education that still meets the national cirriculum... while conducting classes in an IDP camp covered in mud.
Will be going to bed soon. The team are taking a combined morning off tomorrow to travel to a country Corps for the sake of a change of scenery. Mind you... raining again and if the storm gets too heavy we may opt to stay home. We'll see.
On a small scale we've started targetting some groups in the camp for specific assistance. Over the last few days we've given food to many of the elderly and blind. Sadly a planned distribution of mosquito nets, condoms, hygiene gear and gerry cans had to be delayed for security reasons. People weren't happy, but we'll try again on Monday.
On a large scale, I've managed to get the quotes in and plans in for some big improvements to camp life. Hopefully with the support of the American Red Cross and Concern Worldwide we will soon have a sufficient drainage solution. The only hassle is that the city are insisting that The Salvation Army restore the soccer pitch when the camp closes. That will cost a fortune, but may not be a problem for a while. While there may be shelters built elsewhere that people can move to and be safer and drier, they aren't willing to leave their old neighbourhood to go to something else that is also temporary. Going home isn't an option, even for those whose homes can be repaired - they were mostly rented and if they get fixed the rent will be so high because of the rental shortage. So I think the camp will be here for a while.
We've also started to engage the local Salvation Army school and some other groups to create a back to school programme. Our ultimate goal is to get school attendance to be higher than pre-earthquake levels. At the same time we have to consider the cost of schooling (please consider child sponsorship), the cultural approach to school (less than 50% of children in Haiti attend school anyway) and the practicalities of child centred education that still meets the national cirriculum... while conducting classes in an IDP camp covered in mud.
Will be going to bed soon. The team are taking a combined morning off tomorrow to travel to a country Corps for the sake of a change of scenery. Mind you... raining again and if the storm gets too heavy we may opt to stay home. We'll see.
Thursday, 6 May 2010
Wednesday
Today was frenetic. It started in frustration because our modem went for repairs, so the time I set aside to do some stuff in the office was potenitally going to be wasted.
Not thwarted I prepared for some job interviews (I am looking for nationals to fill the roles as assistant camp manager, a development worker and a community worker). The first two interviews went well, and I am confident that I have found a community worker. I have three more people to speak to out of the 11 that we initially narrowed down. Sadly, one of the applicants wasn't too excited about how much The Salvation Army was willing to pay... sounds like home, hey.
When I got to the camp, I was confronted by the usual sort of frustration that can make your feel like you are making no progress. One of our shower blocks is being used as a storage space by one of our security guards. I suspect he is leasing storage space. To make a point to him, the camp committee have padlocked the showers so he can't get at his stuff. So I have stuff in a shower block that I want out, and the guy can't get it out. On top of this, someone else has stuff in the other side of the block and won't move it until the first guy does. AND... because people can't use the showers, they are showering next to our office to make a point to us. AND... the water from their bathing is gathering in a pool and attracting insects (i.e. the disease carrying type). AND... to move this water we have to dig a drain behind the shower block to allow it to flow. AND... the committee have cunningly asked some of the campers to do this - which The Salvation Army will pay for (of course). AND... well you get the picture.
A walk around the camp this morning emphasised the tragedy of the situation again for me. The rains have arrived, so it is a mud pit. People have water running through their shelters and we can't move fast enough to remedy the plans. This afternoon I met with engineers to talk about the drainage, and we have quotes, but by the time we get funding we could be in a real mess.
To top the day off, I found some nurses wandering around the camp looking for infants to assess their health. This isn't bad in itself, except that we already have our own clinic, and a partnership with Concern Worldwide who are providing this service on our behalf - including full maternal health classes. I went around to their HQ (I.e. the nurses who are from another NGO) and asked to speak to their boss. He apparently didn't know they were there either. As the person supposedly coordinating the care in the services in the camp I found the whole thing frustrating.
Just another day of fun.
At least the modem is back and working.
Not thwarted I prepared for some job interviews (I am looking for nationals to fill the roles as assistant camp manager, a development worker and a community worker). The first two interviews went well, and I am confident that I have found a community worker. I have three more people to speak to out of the 11 that we initially narrowed down. Sadly, one of the applicants wasn't too excited about how much The Salvation Army was willing to pay... sounds like home, hey.
When I got to the camp, I was confronted by the usual sort of frustration that can make your feel like you are making no progress. One of our shower blocks is being used as a storage space by one of our security guards. I suspect he is leasing storage space. To make a point to him, the camp committee have padlocked the showers so he can't get at his stuff. So I have stuff in a shower block that I want out, and the guy can't get it out. On top of this, someone else has stuff in the other side of the block and won't move it until the first guy does. AND... because people can't use the showers, they are showering next to our office to make a point to us. AND... the water from their bathing is gathering in a pool and attracting insects (i.e. the disease carrying type). AND... to move this water we have to dig a drain behind the shower block to allow it to flow. AND... the committee have cunningly asked some of the campers to do this - which The Salvation Army will pay for (of course). AND... well you get the picture.
A walk around the camp this morning emphasised the tragedy of the situation again for me. The rains have arrived, so it is a mud pit. People have water running through their shelters and we can't move fast enough to remedy the plans. This afternoon I met with engineers to talk about the drainage, and we have quotes, but by the time we get funding we could be in a real mess.
To top the day off, I found some nurses wandering around the camp looking for infants to assess their health. This isn't bad in itself, except that we already have our own clinic, and a partnership with Concern Worldwide who are providing this service on our behalf - including full maternal health classes. I went around to their HQ (I.e. the nurses who are from another NGO) and asked to speak to their boss. He apparently didn't know they were there either. As the person supposedly coordinating the care in the services in the camp I found the whole thing frustrating.
Just another day of fun.
At least the modem is back and working.
Tuesday, 4 May 2010
Day 6
Well a stormy day, literally. Firstly it rained. And rained. And thundered. And was there lightening. Now the camp site is a mud pit. This is tragic as we have not fixed all the drainage and there is every chance of all sorts of diseases catching hold. Maleria is already well founded in the camp and we had a case of typhoid reported today among the population.
On the other side of the coin, we succeeded in getting a new drain dug over the weekend behind the toilet block, so much of the green water sitting on the ground near the camp office was cleared just in time.
To add to the fun we had another earthquake today. 4.4 on the Richter scale. I had just got back to DHQ when it struck. All of the foreigners stood there looking at each other wondering what was going on. All of the nationals left and went home. We didn't realise that's where they had gone for a short time afterwards, leaving just a few of us there wondering what had happened.
One of our team, Tony, didn't realise there was a quake - he was driving in a truck and couldn't tell the difference.
We got a lot of signage up around the camp today, too. That doesn't sound like a big deal, but it's like putting up street signs. I now can see where each of our 15 sectors are and even make a kind of address up for people. This is important, say like last night when a lady died of a heart attack and we had to get her out to the morgue. We could tell them to go to sector 15, house 8. And more importantly, they could find her.
Otherwise, today included a camp committee meeting, some cash for work payments being made and resolving some discrepancies in our registration system.
A big day.
On the other side of the coin, we succeeded in getting a new drain dug over the weekend behind the toilet block, so much of the green water sitting on the ground near the camp office was cleared just in time.
To add to the fun we had another earthquake today. 4.4 on the Richter scale. I had just got back to DHQ when it struck. All of the foreigners stood there looking at each other wondering what was going on. All of the nationals left and went home. We didn't realise that's where they had gone for a short time afterwards, leaving just a few of us there wondering what had happened.
One of our team, Tony, didn't realise there was a quake - he was driving in a truck and couldn't tell the difference.
We got a lot of signage up around the camp today, too. That doesn't sound like a big deal, but it's like putting up street signs. I now can see where each of our 15 sectors are and even make a kind of address up for people. This is important, say like last night when a lady died of a heart attack and we had to get her out to the morgue. We could tell them to go to sector 15, house 8. And more importantly, they could find her.
Otherwise, today included a camp committee meeting, some cash for work payments being made and resolving some discrepancies in our registration system.
A big day.
Monday, 3 May 2010
Church
Today I worshipped at Port-au-prince central Corps. A friend of mine from Sweden was preaching. (thankfully in English so that the Creole translator could assist)
I was overwhelmed, sitting in one of the poorest neighbourhoods in the world as people sang about CHrist who "all for love's sake (also) become poor".
Also as we sat there people sang "Humbly you came to the world you created" simultaneously in French, Creole, German, Swedish and English.
And despite their poverty people still sang "Here I am to worship, here I am to bow down, here I am to say that you're my God... you're altogether wonderful to me".
Things come into a clearer perspective when these experiences occur, don't they.
I was overwhelmed, sitting in one of the poorest neighbourhoods in the world as people sang about CHrist who "all for love's sake (also) become poor".
Also as we sat there people sang "Humbly you came to the world you created" simultaneously in French, Creole, German, Swedish and English.
And despite their poverty people still sang "Here I am to worship, here I am to bow down, here I am to say that you're my God... you're altogether wonderful to me".
Things come into a clearer perspective when these experiences occur, don't they.
Saturday, 1 May 2010
Day 3
Today started early. I couldn't sleep so I put on my camp light (so as not to wake my room mate) and started reading the hard copy reports I had to catch up on. By six am Sam was up too, so we started to get ready for the day.
After breakfast we met with our main partner agency at their offices to talk through their water and sanitation projects in teh camp, and how we can use their education expertise in cooperation with The Salvation Army school which is next to the camp.
By mid morning, Sara , a technical advisor from the US, and I went down to the camp to firstly check on some of the tasks I had set people yesterday (that weren't done!), to make sure we had enough diesel to operate the generator that lights the alleys in the camp (security measure) and to see how our volunteers were going at putting up alley signs to demarkate sections of the camp. I was also keen to see if our paid litter team were also able to clean up a septic mass of water that was gathering near our camp office... no such luck.
After a lunch at DHQ to meet our new IES team leader, Damaris Frick, I had a meeting with the Haitian DC. He is a great officer and is working well with our team here. You would have seen his story in the Warcry a week or two ago.
After a staff meeting back at base we've been sitting around doing admin: task lists, project writing, grant requests, budget construction etc.
Very hot and humid to work in and some funny experiences along the way. In the vehicle today my colleague screamed out that there were spiders... sure enough there were dozens of spiders crawling inside the van. Our driver wasn't fazed... I just got out of the way, until I knew that they were crawling up my vest.
There were also the campers in the Red Cross camp that set up home inside a disused Army helicopter. Best home in the camp.
Given I've been going now for 18 hours, I'm going to bed. More tomorrow.
After breakfast we met with our main partner agency at their offices to talk through their water and sanitation projects in teh camp, and how we can use their education expertise in cooperation with The Salvation Army school which is next to the camp.
By mid morning, Sara , a technical advisor from the US, and I went down to the camp to firstly check on some of the tasks I had set people yesterday (that weren't done!), to make sure we had enough diesel to operate the generator that lights the alleys in the camp (security measure) and to see how our volunteers were going at putting up alley signs to demarkate sections of the camp. I was also keen to see if our paid litter team were also able to clean up a septic mass of water that was gathering near our camp office... no such luck.
After a lunch at DHQ to meet our new IES team leader, Damaris Frick, I had a meeting with the Haitian DC. He is a great officer and is working well with our team here. You would have seen his story in the Warcry a week or two ago.
After a staff meeting back at base we've been sitting around doing admin: task lists, project writing, grant requests, budget construction etc.
Very hot and humid to work in and some funny experiences along the way. In the vehicle today my colleague screamed out that there were spiders... sure enough there were dozens of spiders crawling inside the van. Our driver wasn't fazed... I just got out of the way, until I knew that they were crawling up my vest.
There were also the campers in the Red Cross camp that set up home inside a disused Army helicopter. Best home in the camp.
Given I've been going now for 18 hours, I'm going to bed. More tomorrow.
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