HAITI - CORAM DEO

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Nephew John's Wish Fulfilled By Make A Wish Foundation :)

The Make A Wish Foundation sponsored a "wish" for my nephew John. Tanya, Peter and John went for a trip to British Columbia so that John could go whale watching! They had a great trip! John spent most of the month of June in July for surgeries due to his hydrocephalus. Today he was hospitalized again for problems with his shunt. Please keep John in prayer. John really enjoyed his trip and did well. I am glad that he had this opportunity for this trip. It sure is a break from being in the hospital. Here are a couple of reports that Tanya sent out to us during his trip to BC:

Hello. We have returned exhausted from a wonderful day today of whale watching.

We went to the airport yesterday in a huge stretch limo SUV, and were given first class service by WestJet the whole way through. We had someone meet us at the counter, and she walked us right through security so we didn't have to wait, and we were through in minutes. They were all so good to John, and all had known about John arriving to WestJet for his Make a Wish trip. John had fun in the limo, and was dancing away to the music at first, and then slept the rest of the way to the airport. we took him out to dinner at the airport, and he was so excited to eat out, and ate everything that went in front of him. I ordered him a drink of water, but he told the waiter that he didn't want water, he wanted pop, so he got Coke instead, which is a real treat for him. He was so happy.

As John was being loaded onto the plane, the pilots came out, and all the flight crew, and we had a picture taken for John, with him holding his Wish in Progress sign. It was really nice. When we were about to take off, the flight crew introduced John to the entire airplane, and explained his Make a Wish trip and that he was going whale watching, and that WestJet was sponsoring the flights to BC. Every single person began clapping and wished John a great trip. He was so excited and loved all the attention. Then, the flight crew let us all have anything we wanted from the snack lists, and we didn't have to buy anything, so John was once again treated to many things. When we arrived in Victoria, the WestJet BC crew was waiting for John and had a great big giant sized stuffed whale for John to see, and a bagful of presents for him. He was so tired, but was happy about getting the presents. they were so happy to spoil John.

We arrived to our beautiful hotel, and it is like staying in a palace, it is so beautiful. The hotel said that whatever John needed, to let them know, so tonight I did.

We were so tired from arriving back from whale watching that we didn't feel like going out to dinner. John said he really wanted mashed pototatoes, so I asked if there was a way he could get a meal with mashed potatoes, so they said they would look after it. After a short while, the lady had phoned the kitchen, they specially made this for John, and brought the food to our room for John to eat. Peter is moving the car right now out of the $30 per day parking lot to one we found down the street for $6.50 a day, and will pick up some take out for us. John was tired, and needed his supper earlier, so the hotel especially made John's favourite request for him.

Today we went whale watching, which was John's wish. It was an unbelievable day!!!!!!!!! There is so much to tell about that I can only write some points down.

We put on layers of clothing in case it was cold,....... a tshirt and a sweater over top, and I packed our spring coats in case we needed them. When we got there, they dressed us all in very thick parkas, pants, winter gloves, hats and sunglasses. Then we were put on a speed boat with the captain, about 20 other people, and a marine biologist to explain everything. We were gone for 4 hours. It was so beautiful, words cannot describe the scenery here, and the smell of the fresh air. John was so excited to be on the boat, and would not stop talking and telling everybody to look at him on the boat. When he found out how fast the boat went, he kept yelling to go faster and faster. The faster the boat went, the happier he was. It was hilarious. The wind was flying through our hair, and the spray from the boat was flying up beside us, and John was so excited, he just could not get enough of the speed boat. He will be able to show you all about the trip on the boat, as he says the boat went faster and faster and then he will show you how the boat rocked a bit side by side, as he moves sideways, and says the boat went like this. He absolutely loved it, and he certainly has the need for speed. That's the thing about him, he is always having people slow and careful with him, but what he really loves is to fly around and speed and have the wind whip through his hair. It was incredible to see him have so much fun.

We went all around different areas, and saw the nature, sea lions, seals, bald eagles and their nests, and then went to an area where they said they had reports that whales might be there. As soon as we arrived, the biologist told us to start looking in the water, and he explained what to look for........... and then right away I noticed a bunch of killer whales, right in front of us and to the side of the boat a bit. They know all the whales that are in the area, and right away examined the killer whales that we were looking at, and found out that they were transient whales passing through............. then all of a sudden a porpoise was whipped out the water, and the whales where jumping and diving through the air chasing and then eating the porpoise. the boat captain and the marine biologist were just as thrilled as all of us, as they said that this is something that they never ever see. It is very rare to find transient killer whales, and to arrive right at the time of them attacking a porpoise and feeding on it was amazing. They were diving all over the place, just like on a movie. We moved along and saw even more whales........................ all we did for hours was watch whales and the biologist talked all about it. John liked looking but was happier when the engines started up, and we started to race around to find other whales. He kept yelling to go faster and faster each time. lolol

The best part of all was a time when we went far off to another place to look for sea otters and sea lions, and went into these little inlets. It was beautiful. As we headed out of the inlet into the water, the marine biologist was standing in front of us, telling us that we were going to go back into the more open water to look for humpback whales as they heard that there was a humpback whale in the area, so we were going to drive a ways to find it......................... literally as he was saying that, with his back turned to the water, all of a sudden, right in front of us, the humpback whale shoots out of the water, and then dives down. It was unbelievable............. just like out of a movie. It could have been a comedy movie, as the way that the biologist was talking, and that we were going to go find the whale, he had his back completely turned, and we were all looking forward, and there comes the whale right out behind him. It was amazing!!!!

We are so tired from the late night trip and the fresh air that we had today.

Tomorrow we will do a bit more sightseeing,a dn then we have dinner reservations at a restaurant somewhere near here, on the water to eat and watch the float planes coming in and leaving. John can have anything he wants to eat that they serve there.

John fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow he is worn out, so he will have a nice long nights sleep. He is really enjoying himself so far, and is having no medical issues at all.

I have attached a few pictures so far. I have also shown the hotel we are in by the harbour, as well as the parliament building, the one with the dome on the top, which is across the street from our hotel.
It is absolutely beautiful here. It is like being up north with all the rocks and the water and all the wildlife, but then in a beautiful city as well.

Hello.
John has had an amazing trip without any really major issues. He has had an awful lot of fun, and we have walked so many miles, we would be much fatter than we really are with all the food we have eaten this week.

The first two pics are of John eating his dinner at the The Flying Otter restaurant. John was so excited to be there, and knew exactly which waitress was his. Everytime she passed by, he would call her and say "Hey!!!!!" She would come over to him, and he would say, "Make sure you have cheesecake!!!" , as he wanted to be sure that they wouldn't run out of cheesecake for dessert. That night, John ate and ate and ate. He had salmon wellington, and a cheesecake for dessert, as showed in the photos.

The next two photos were taken this evening in the dining room of the Empress Hotel that we are staying at. John had a nice fancy dinner, and loved every bit of it. He had baked haddock and mashed potatoes, and some vegetables, with again.............. cheesecake for dessert. he was very happy.
I have a photo of the gardens that we visited today. It was so beautiful, but very crowded, so hard to push a chair around. We ended up having a beautiful lunch in the dining room of the home that was there, and once again, John ate lots of food.

He has spent his entire week eating nad talking and singing the whole time. He loved going for very, very long walks that we did every day, and he really loved the fast boat ride for the whales.

We walked all along the coast yesterday, hoping to see some whales jumping out of the water, but we didn't see anything. Instead, it just ended up raining, so we put on our raingear that we took with us, and walked along in the rain, even stopping for ice cream along the way.

John has had a very nice time, and I can't think of anything more that he could possibly have done during this trip. He really enjoyed himself with everything that we did!!!!

Scenes Of Haiti

Monday, August 19, 2013

Yonel's Neighbourhood

The video below shows what it is like in Yonel's neigbourhood - Delmas 19 - Cite 4 during a heavy rainstorm. Yonel's house is higher than the canal and he doesn't have the same problems with flooding as his neighbours. Valentin's school books got destroyed during last year's storm. For a real eye opener on what it is like here in Haiti, especially in the poor neighbourhoods' take a look at the following video:

We were able to rebuild Yonel's home at the same time the British Red Cross was working on their canal projects. They decided to knock down part of Yonel's house but rebuilt it for him again a couple of months ago. We are greatful for that. Below is a report from the British Red Cross website on their work project in the Delmas 19 area:

The long road to recovery in Haiti

Repairing or replacing hundreds of homes damaged by the Haiti earthquake is a major part of the British Red Cross’ £23 million response to the disaster. But more than three years after the earthquake, this rebuilding work is far from finished. What does it take to get a community back on its feet – and why can the process take years?

The 2010 disaster killed thousands of people and threw Haiti into chaos. It left some homes badly damaged, some barely standing and some nothing more than piles of rubble. Many have been partly repaired by the community since the disaster, but some are still far from safe.

The Red Cross is working in the Delmas 19 area of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, a neighbourhood that suffered huge damage. The organisation has already completed big, life-changing projects including a new market and canal, but there’s lots more to do.

Taking time to get it right
Why is there a wait for new homes? A key reason is that they must be a long-term solution, not a quick fix. Poorly built homes, created with weak materials, made the impact of the earthquake even worse. If a similar disaster happens again, it’s vital the area is more able to withstand and recover from the crisis.

Of course, a community needs more than just houses – so the Red Cross has already provided new latrines keep people healthy, and street lights that keep them safe. Aid worker Amelia Rule has recently spent almost three years working in Delmas 19 for the Red Cross. She says: “A lot of houses fell down in the earthquake. But just replacing them isn’t going to solve problems in the long term.”

The Red Cross is involving the local community in the process as much as possible, giving them the power to decide how their own neighbourhood is rebuilt. This can make things more complicated, but it’s vital if the results are going to meet the needs of local people.

Planning and preparing
So how does the Red Cross make sure it’s rebuilding the right way? By painstakingly gathering information that reveals which homes should be fixed or replaced. Staff have built up a complex portrait of the Delmas 19 community – its buildings, streets and most importantly the people that live there.

This includes working out the state of the area’s homes. The condition of every one has now been recorded on maps tracing the devastation caused by the earthquake. The plots they sit on have been examined too – some are on boggy ground that is difficult to build safely on, while others are overshadowed by buildings at risk of collapse. This information will help decide which can be fixed or rebuilt.

Red Cross staff must also work out who owns and lives in each house – not always easy, particularly as about half of the area’s residents are tenants rather than homeowners. Some residents moved away after the disaster. They might have abandoned their home, or they might hope to return. Are the homes occupied by single adults, families or older people? Are the residents working, and do they have another home they might be able to go to?

All this information helps the Red Cross meet its goal of rebuilding in a way that benefits the community’s most vulnerable members. Deciding exactly who meets this criteria is a really tough call, that could create anger and division.

But, encouragingly, even people who won’t get as much help as some of their neighbours have given Amelia warm thanks for the work the Red Cross has done. She’s confident the community backs the idea of taking time to get things right.

The value of trust
In fact, Amelia says the most remarkable thing about her time in Haiti was the close relationships that grew between Red Cross staff and local people. The Red Cross is doing everything it can to encourage these bonds – from hiring local labourers as a way of boosting the area’s economy to letting a Red Cross office double up as a buzzing community centre, giving Delmas 19 a new heart.

Creating good relationships, trust and understanding takes time and hard work. But these ingredients are the foundations for the bricks and mortar building work that is helping local people look forward to a brighter future.

Haiti: Red Cross canal prevents flood of sewage during Sandy

A guest post by Adrian Thomas, our head of media and external relations, who recently visited Haiti. There, he discovered how a project helping people recover from the 2010 earthquake also made a huge difference during Hurricane Sandy.

Throughout Port-au-Prince there are ‘canals’ for drainage. These are often no more than open sewers that run through the narrow streets and close-crowded houses. Sanitation is a challenge – these canals flood on a regular basis and people get raw sewage flowing into their homes.

During previous storms and hurricanes – weaker ones than Hurricane Sandy – up to 1.5 metres of ‘water’ from these open canals would gush through the streets of Delmas 19. But thanks to our work to improve the local canal system, it hardly flooded at all during Sandy.

This video, taken on a mobile phone by our communications officer Jethro Sereme, shows the flooding in Delmas 19 during heavy rains in August 2012.

Safer, cleaner and more hygienic
During my trip, I visited the Delmas 19 area of Port-au-Prince. After the 2010 earthquake, the British Red Cross began working there to make the canal safer, cleaner and more hygienic.

We provided technical supervision, training and materials to the community, enabling them to drastically improve the canal. With our support, they built a floor and walls in the original channel, then partially covered it with a concrete cap.

The newly created space over this contained canal will be used to build areas for children to play and for people to socialise. In the last phase of the project, the top of the canal will be covered with coloured paving made of recycled rubble from the earthquake. This path will double as an evacuation route in case of emergency.

In another neighbourhood we drove through, I saw what one of these canals would have looked like previously. It was full of rubbish, with three pigs rooting around in it.

A community effort
Our urban reconstruction and regeneration manager, Gabriel Constantine, has been co-ordinating the canal-building project in Delmas 19. He works with a committee made up of local residents to lead the project. They made sure that Gabriel’s plans took into account the local situation and that the canal meets residents’ needs.

An important part of the project is negotiating with landlords. Because a large number of people living in Delmas 19 rent their homes, it is vital to try and ensure they can carry on living there after the building work is finished. Otherwise there is a risk that – once the improved canal has made the area more desirable – rents will go up, and they will have to move out.

Gabriel and his team have taught local men the masonry and construction skills needed to build the canal. As well as helping their community, the men gained highly prized skills that may help them get a job in the future. It was really a community effort though – and everyone mucked in to help.

Hurricane Sandy caused severe flooding across much of Haiti, damaging homes, schools, public infrastructure. This has also increased the likelihood of cholera outbreaks in coming weeks. However – in Delmas 19 at least – the new British Red Cross canal has helped to prevent sewage from running in the streets.

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Kenscoff Mountain Walk - Part 5

The sunrise with light in the shape of the cross :)

A neighbor who lives further down the slope.

Sunrise in the mountains!

In some sections of the mountains you can hire motorcycles to bring you places.

Jake and Pastor Pierre are riding on this motorcycle.

End of the road! The motorcycles have trouble climbing the mountainside.

A beautiful morning for a walk!

Climbing the mountain road/trail.

A woman in front carrying a load on her head.

Jake got sick during the walk on the second day. He thinks it may have been caused by the difference in altitude. His headache was getting worse. They were trying to reach the "far" church of Pastor Pierre and instead turned around and headed back.

Amos walking the trail.

A gully eroded by rain water.

Another beautiful mountain scene!

Lots of hills to climb!

This picture looks like there is no one in sight, but communities and homes are not far.

The mountain crest trail.

A beautiful day with clear blue skies. Not a cloud in sight!

Making blocks in the mountains.

God's creation is beautiful!

Heading up a mountain crest.

A small community is down this trail.

Bananas growing around this property.

Another beautiful view of the mountains!

A sheep.

Alone on the top of the mountain :) It looks like a proud sheep :)

A farmers' field lower down the slope.

Heading down a mountain trail.

Haiti used to be know as the Pearl Of The Antilles. Even 98% deforested the mountains are still beautiful!

Making steady progress towards Kenscoff.

Erosion on a hillside. You can see how the soil is being lost on this farmers field.

Friday, August 2, 2013

Kenscoff Mountain Walk - Part 4

On the next mountain top is a small pine forest.

A crop growing near the edge of a mountainside - carrots and beets.

Another view of the landslide area.

The 'near' school. This building is also the 'near' church.

One of President Martelly's efforts as president is to help children go to school. The PSUGO program is an education program where the government pays the school directors a sum of money per student for grades 1 and 2. In the future it is the government's goal that education is possible for all children in all grades.