Thursday, March 17, 2011
It’s Showtime!
While we were at the orphanage, Don and Doris invited us to watch a couple of videos with them. The first was about a man who had experienced the coming of Christ, and had been whisked up into a huge stadium-type structure, where all the Christians from all the centuries of Christianity were having their audience with God. It was really interesting, but had a place to stop it and continue later. We stopped it, but never got back to the second part. Now I REALLY have to go back there!
The second movie was "Flywheel", which was produced by Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia. On a shoestring budget, this church made a feature length film about a used car salesman who cheats his clients, including his pastor. After getting what he assumes is a good deal, the pastor says a prayer with the salesman and asks God to 'treat him the way I have been treated today'. The salesman's life starts to fall apart until he gets right with God. I really enjoyed this film and would recommend it to anyone. Some will think that it is too predictable, but so be it. They have also done a couple other films, including 'Fireproof' and 'Facing the Giants'.
David’s Birthday
David's birthday was on Tuesday, February 8th. I don't think any of us realized it until he said something to us the night before. You can certainly read the blog of the day, it was work, work, work with a break for the UN food distribution. For most of us, it was an interesting day. David said, however, that it was his most memorable birthday. I'm glad to have been a part in that. Oh, and by the way, Doris had a cake for him that evening.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
UN food distribution
This is a picture of the food distribution on Tuesday. This woman has just been given 2-55# bags of corn/soy flour. That is 110# of produce on her head, which she acted like it was nothing at all. In fact, she walked away swinging her arms, not even holding onto the load. There are a lot of men in the US who would have trouble handling that weight.
A vendor on the way to EGO
We stopped for a restroom break on the 3 hour trip to the orphanage. This young man was selling peanut brittle, so I bought some to share. In addition to paying him, I gave him some peanut brittle that I happened to bring along for a snack. His was good, but I think mine was better.
Picture prior to departing Iowa
Hunter, Ev, Jay, Dave, Bob and Norm in the CR airport, right after checking in.
Other jobs we did
I could not recall the dates on several things we did on our trip, so I am simply listing them as a final statement of accomplishments.
1. Removed Doris’s stove that was not working and replaced it with a new one they had received. The height was different and had to be adjusted. The fittings were different and had to be re-worked. While installing the stove, Bob noted that the two side cupboards had been charred by a seal that did not keep the heat in the old stove. He also noted that the countertop was starting to loosen. Thank goodness there was no fire.
2. Repaired connections in the electrical supply at the guest house. A solar array is used to charge 12 volt batteries that then deliver electricity to 12 volt lighting. In order to have 110 volts, an inverter is used. When we arrived, the connections had not allowed the batteries to charge properly, so we did not have much in the way of lighting. Bob took this apart and repaired the connections, so we were able to have lights while we were there. We never got the inverter to work, which was a function of low battery life in the system.
3. Installed a new printer/fax/copier for Doris. The old one was giving an error message saying there was paper caught in it. After completely taking it apart, Bob could find nothing, so he installed a new one they had purchased for the school.
4. Repaired the oven control in the guest house. When we went to use the oven, it would shut off when you tried to turn it higher. Bob fixed the control knob so we could have bread and rolls baked to perfection. This was actually pretty interesting. Bob was looking for some way to fix the knob and was headed to the shop. He saw a piece of tubing on the ground that he thought looked like it might work. It fit PERFECTLY! Quite the ‘coincidence’ wasn’t it?
5. Looked for and plugged a rat hole in the bathroom. Now we are not sure if the rat is stuck inside, or if it will keep others out. Dave did see the rat early one morning. We could not find rat traps, so we will have to live with it.
6. We cleaned up the grounds. In addition to buckets and wheelbarrow loads of stones, we picked up barbed wire and boards in an effort to clean up the area. As I stated earlier, it would be nice to have someone on a future team pick up stones, broken concrete block, sticks and trash. It would go quite a ways to beautify the grounds.
7. Norm baked bread twice and sticky buns 3 times while we were there. The first batch of buns was a bit crispy-see number 4 above.
8. Norm and Hunter made balloon animals and hats for the kids. Their smiles made the hassle worthwhile.
9. Cleaned the dirt out of the drill press motor and got it running.
10. Celebrated Dave’s birthday on Tuesday evening. He said he will never forget the circumstances of this day. Huh. Who’da thunk?
Sunday, February 13th
I can’t recall for sure, but I think our flight was scheduled to leave at about 1:00pm. We left the orphanage about 8:00am for the 3 hour trip, and expected pretty smooth traveling for a Sunday morning. Reuben was driving. Not far into the trip, right after Hunter commented on how quick the trip was going, we ran into road construction and a detour. Fortunately we were only delayed a few minutes as we drove around a couple of blocks.
We got to the airport in plenty of time, and of course we were inundated with people trying to help. At this point in our trip, things were pretty simple. While we all had big bags, the bags were mostly empty, or had a second empty suitcase inside them. We were able to reduce the number of bags from 14 to 7, so in theory we each had one big bag, plus a carry on and a personal item. People were really pushy and really tried to take over for us, even though the process was pretty straight forward. You enter the airport based on which airline you are using. We did stop outside briefly while a couple of the guys bought souvenirs. When I turned around, Norm was gone. I was a bit panicked, but finally decided he was a big boy and could take care of himself. The rest of us made it inside after clearing a primary screening. As we waited in line, I saw Norm up ahead of us.
We got our boarding passes, went through the secondary screening, and stopped at the shops on first floor. Hunter bought a few things, and some of us bought some rum for medicinal purposes. Boy, do I get sick a lot.
Waited upstairs for an hour or so and boarded the plane. We were pretty sparse on the flight, and arrived in Miami without a glitch. The only problem at customs was the guy who wondered why I did not have any big bags to check. Norm and I were going to Orlando to meet our wives and stay for a few days. Since we were staying there, we only took one of the big suitcases with us and Norm had already carried it through. I simply told the guy that I travel light. He did look at me for quite a while, but let me through.
We parted company with the rest of the team and Norm and I went on to meet our wives, spending a few relaxing days in central Florida.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Saturday, February 12th
We worked on everything and anything. I am sure I missed some things, but here is what the day consisted of:
1. We finished the east end and the west end gables for the house.
2. We cleaned up the house area and put away those tools.
3. We cleaned up the pad area.
4. We cleaned up the latrine area.
5. We put the rest of the windows in the house.
6. We boarded up two doorways into the house after putting windows in them. This will stop the cows from rubbing on them.
7. We cleaned and waxed the table saw so it would not rust.
8. We cleaned the shop area.
9. We packed our stuff for a morning return to PAP.
10. We gave thanks for a wonderful trip.
Friday, February 11th
It was a bit later when we left the house this morning. Everyone was a bit tired from the hard work of yesterday. Jay worked at getting the posts ready to support the house beam. He drilled a hole in the bottom and inserted a piece of ½ “ re-rod, then welded it in place. This will help keep the post from rotating in the hole and provide additional support for it when we let the beam down onto it. We set and poured concrete around the four posts at the house. Meanwhile, we had removed the concrete forms and cleaned the boards up. We used them to close the east gable end of the house. We got 2/3rds done with that and removed the old window bucks, cutting off the bolts that had held them in place. We installed three of the aluminum frame windows.
We ate with Don and Doris this evening. Don tried to persuade us to take Saturday off, but I was pretty insistent that we could get quite a bit of work done, plus it would be our last full day to work. We shall see what the morrow brings.
Before I went to bed, I made a list of the things remaining. Wow. I will be amazed if we pull off half of it.
Thursday, February 10th
We started a bit earlier than yesterday, and I am glad we did. We did not get done pouring concrete until 12:30. Speaking only for myself, I was beat, and I was not working as hard as some of our guys. They did a great job. Norm troweled again.
We put the beam up at the house and marked the location for the posts. We dug those and got them ready to pour.
We ate with Don and Doris again, and were in bed at 9:45.
After reading what I wrote for the day, it looked like we accomplished very little, based on the number of words. The reality is, we worked hard all day. The pouring of the main pad was a HUGE undertaking when you consider that ALL of the sand and gravel had to be shoveled, all of the cement had to be poured into the mixer, then the concrete mix dumped into wheelbarrows and wheeled into place. The troweling alone was a 2-3 hour job. Putting the beam up was also very detailed work that required a significant amount of effort. Fortunately we had a couple sections of scaffold to stand on. We were beat by the end of the day.
Wednesday, February 9th
I do not remember what we had for breakfast—sorry, Norm. We left the house earlier than usual and the boys were all out ready to pour concrete. They use a diesel powered cement mixer, shoveling the sand, cement and stones in by hand, while adding enough water to make a good mix. The cement is then dumped into a wheelbarrow and taken the few feet to where it is needed. We poured the 6 x 12 foot pad, then went across the street to the latrine and poured it. Norm and Milo did the finish troweling. We were done pouring by 11:00. Norm continued working as the two areas set up and did a really nice job.
Jay worked a good portion of the day cutting and drilling steel brackets for the house beam. He found a piece of angle iron to cut into pieces, he and Bob cleaned the drill press, and they went to work.
I think Ev made lunch for us-chicken salad sandwiches.
Wednesday is market day in Dessalines. We took the van to the market and walked around, seeing anything and everything you can imagine. This market is meant primarily for local people to get what they need in their daily lives. It is heavy on food items, with some clothes, shoes, and personal care items thrown in. The meat in the market was displayed in a covered area, but open to the heat of the day. The animals had been slaughtered in the early morning, so you can imagine the smells associated with this market.
Hunter bought a piece of sugarcane, and Dave bought a blouse for his wife.
We returned to the compound and spent the afternoon getting the big pad ready to pour. We also started work on the house beam. We cut the 4 x 4’s and supported the roof with various 2 x material.
We ate supper with Don and Doris and watched a movie with them.
Norm baked bread this evening.
Tuesday, February 8th
French toast for breakfast. We have plenty of eggs, and Shirley brought us 4 loaves of bread either yesterday or Saturday—I forget. Anyway, it was very good.
We continued work on the pad and got the 6 x 12 foot area ready to pour tomorrow. We also got the latrine floor ready to pour. We will do both of those tomorrow morning. We continued moving rock and stones to get the main pad ready for Thursday morning.
This morning I was surprised by the appearance of armed men in the EGO compound. I looked around and saw they were UN soldiers, who were there to make sure a food distribution for the poor in the community was conducted peacefully. Three big trucks of supplies were brought in and stacked on the ground. Items in a pile were as follows: 6-110# bags of bulgur, a wheat product; 6-55# bags of corn/soy blend flour; 2 bags of lentils; 10-gallon cans of cooking oil. Groups of 10 people who had pre-qualified for the food were allowed to systematically enter the area, have their identity verified, and take a stack of the supplies. Once outside the compound, they could divide the supplies as they chose. They could keep and use the supplies, or sell their portion off to buy other goods they would rather have. All of the supplies were from the USA. One person observed that we should give the Haitians what they want, rice and beans. That would compete directly with the Haitian farmers, however. And besides, we have more wheat and corn/soy than rice and beans. I’m just sayin.
The UN troops were from Pakistan, Argentina, Canada and the Ivory Coast. All were very friendly, and wanted to know about us and have their pictures taken with us. It was really good to see ‘boots on the ground’ relief in action.
We ate supper with Don and Doris, and went to bed about 10:30.
Monday, February 7th
Norm fixed oatmeal for breakfast. We brought food in with us, and several people brought various types of oatmeal. Norm mixed things together and created a pretty good mix. We started the work day by moving rocks to the pad area. Actually, we did not move the rocks, the Haitian boys moved them from the back of the school yard to the pad, using the John Deere loader and a two wheel trailer. We helped put the rocks in place, and also worked at forming the pad. We squared the pad as best we could, but for some reason we had trouble getting it square, it is more of a parallelogram. I joked that this close to the equator made measurements run untrue, since the pull of the poles is different—I don’t think anyone bought it. Several of us walked around the area picking up stones that were on top of the ground. While Don said it was unnecessary, we continued because it helped clean up the grounds. On a future trip, we would like to spend a concerted effort sprucing things up.
Milo welded some of the re-rod, and took it over to the school where it will be used in the latrine floor. Another hard day of work and we should be ready to pour concrete.
Rode made a chicken dinner for us at the guest house. It was really good, with mashed potatoes and wonderful gravy. The downside was, we were left with a TON of dishes. Thank you, Hunter.
Sunday, February 6th
When you are at EGO, you do not work at main jobs on Sunday. Quite simply, it is the Lord’s Day, and you need to observe it. We did. Norm made scrambled eggs with cheese, olives and probably some other things, that were really good. He is our dedicated cook and baker, as well as construction leader. Church in the Tabernacle started at 9:00, and went until 11:30 or so. The entire service was in Creole, so most of us could only participate in thoughts and praise. The church had a ‘monitor’ who made sure you were paying attention. She stood center front, watching and waiting for someone to poke, giggle, cross their legs, nod off, or put their arm on the back of the pew. She would then swoop in and correct the offense, sometimes moving the offender. She moved several children around who were having a difficult time sitting still. Dave even had his arm gently nudged off the pew back. Quite the rebel in our group. I don’t recall what we had for lunch, but I know none of us went hungry during the trip. Don took us around and showed us the orphanage grounds and the school across the street that they are in the process of building. He also showed us the jobs we would be working on.
1. We will be pouring a concrete pad 12 x 29 feet to provide the floor of a pre-fab house. The house is waiting in a shipping container. The pad will also have a 6 x 12 foot patio pad attached to it. We will need to bring in large rocks—6-12 inches in diameter to form a base, then put gravel to fill the voids, and sand on top. We will form it up with 1 x 12 lumber.
2. We will be pouring a concrete floor for a latrine (restroom) at the school. The pit is dug and has concrete block walls already built, and a wooden support is in place to pour the concrete on. Milo (preacher on Sunday, former orphan, and now EGO handyman) is welding steel re-rod to strengthen the floor. He knows what he is doing.
3. We will be installing a 4 x 4 support beam for a house roof overhang. Don has the 4 x 4’s and steel pipe for support posts. At the same house, we will be enclosing the gable ends with wooden boards from our concrete forms, and expanded metal to allow air movement. We will also install several aluminum frame, glass louver windows.
4. We will be forming and pouring a concrete balcony/covered walkway at the school if we have time.
5. We will be doing several odd jobs as time permits.
Whew, I’m tired already!
The day is still fairly young, and everyone except me and Ev decided to go to the first of five forts overlooking Dessalines. While there is some controversy about the construction of the forts, one version has General Dessalines, a leader in the slave revolt in the late 1700’s/early 1800’s had them constructed by slave labor to protect the country in the event of an invasion by the French, who the slaves had overpowered. The trip up to the first of these forts is easily made in 10-20 minutes, and is quite interesting. I have been there twice over the years, and my legs and Ev’s are probably better on even ground.
After the groups return, we ate with Don and Doris. Not really lunch, not really dinner, but filling in the mid to late afternoon.
Saturday, February 5th
Got up at 4:00am to catch a 6:30 flight. No problem driving to the airport. The groups bags were checked through to Port-au-Prince (PAP), so they did not have to clear that hurdle. I checked my bags, we all went through security and waited at the gate. We boarded at 6:00, and left on time. The plane was only 1/3 to ½ full. We all filled out immigration forms and declaration forms. Arrived in PAP a little early, about 8:20. We went through immigration with only minor problems. Since we had put bright duct tape on each of our bags, someone had made a pile of them next to the carousel. We grabbed 3 luggage carts and headed out the door. There were a TON of red caps waiting to help us. We said ‘no’ to several, but 3-6 guys ended up pushing the carts to the EGO van in a waiting parking lot. I gave them $20 US, which is the equivalent of 2+ days wages for a laborer in Haiti. The head guy wanted more, but I said no.
We loaded all of the bags-700 pounds worth, plus carry on bags, personal bags and ourselves into the 15 passenger van. Made a stop at a cement store and ordered 200 bags of cement to be delivered to EGO. We then stopped at a grocery store and loaded up on provisions for Doris, and some purchases for ourselves. Stopped halfway to Dessalines for a potty break, buying some home-made peanut brittle from a young kid. I gave him a piece of some that I had brought from home to share.
Arrived at EGO about 1:00pm. The roads were all hard surfaced, and in VERY good shape. Sights on the way were typical: streets and highways full of people and vehicles; tent cities everywhere around PAP; some presence of UN troops; beautiful views of the ocean; beautiful views of the lush rice fields in the Artibonite Valley; stark contrast of the brown mountains and rock piles around Dessalines.
We unloaded all of the checked luggage and carried it into the main house, where we were greeted by Don and Doris Peavey, founders of EGO. They were very pleased with the items we brought with us, especially as we sorted things by type. We took a LOT of stuff! Everything was important, from tools, to medications, to personal care items, to clothing, to toys and games, to diapers and baby items.
We pretty much chilled for the day after looking around the orphanage and getting used to the 95 degree heat. We had a pretty simple evening meal with Don and Doris.
Friday, February 4th
Norm Zimmerman, Bob Streeper, Ev Petersen, Dave Hagan, Jay Wiebold and Hunter Smith arrived at the CR Airport at 9:30. Security took a VERY detailed look in checked luggage, to make sure everything was safe to fly. By splitting like-items between bags, you reduce the risk of an entire category of products not arriving in the case of missing luggage. The group flew from CR to Fort Lauderdale. Since I was in Florida already, Rita and I drove to Fort Lauderdale and picked them up at the airport, stopped for supper and went to the motel. We talked until 10 or 10:30, sharing stories, questions and concerns about the trip. I tried to give everyone a heads-up about filling out forms, getting through customs, getting our luggage and getting to the van. We went to bed in anticipation of a very early morning.
Haiti Trip: Daily Activities
I have been woefully absent from adding to the blog since our return from Haiti. Today, I will upload everything I can think of to give you a flavor of the things we did.
First is the basic itinerary up to the time we left Cedar Rapids:
Made the decision to go to Ebenezer Glenn Orphanage
Contacted EGO to verify dates and possible jobs
Announced intentions and the proposed dates
Asked for prayers, money and volunteers
Made recommendations for immunizations
Purchased plane tickets
Contacted Brian Darrow for medication donations
Contacted Mercy Medical Center for medication donations
Contacted Tim Sagers for medication donations
Contacted pharmacies for medication donations
Contacted Yeoman and Company for tool donations
Received all donations plus items from churches
Contacted Birth, Baby & Beyond for diaper donations
Packed and weighed 12 suitcases January 30th (my 2 suitcases sent to Florida with Rita)
I left for Florida January 31st
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