Team Haiti Arrives at St. Joseph's

Thursday April 15^th

Early Morning Coffee:

Our team gathered at the church @ 4:45 a.m. Ruth and Jim Bryan along with Tim Price were there with fresh brewed coffee in the parking lot. After we closed up the 16 bins packed to the brim with tools, health kits, desperately needed bedding,

team snacks, and other necessities for the demolition work, Pastor Laura led us in a departing prayer. Our travel to Haiti went smoothly with an on time arrival. After a long wait for our baggage we moved through the chaos and finally out to the van. Anyone who has traveled to Haiti be

fore, understands the incredible disorder of getting through such a throng of men, each who eagerly want to take your bag and receive a tip.

A Cold Cup of Water:

The drive to St. Joseph’s Home for Boys was beyond description - ‘Tent cities’ clustered in various spots with

hundreds of tents and tarps …most of them are in the wide open sun, while a few have the luxury of some shade. Our eyes took in more than we

can begin to process at this time. Some places are total rubble having already been bulldozed – flat land now with the remains of cinder block and concrete. Other areas we passed have buildings in various states of destruction & collapse. The gas stations are rationing gas right now, so lines are very long and backed up into the streets, adding to the traffic on the road.

When we arrived at St. Joe’s we were greeted by Michael Guilenfeld with a glass of cold water and a the open arms of smiling boys. After the boys served us by unloading our luggage, we were served a delicious lunch of rice and beef stew. Lunch is the primary meal of the day. [Dinner later this evening was leftover stew or some of the many choices in the snack bin purchased by Mike and Doug. We are enjoying a wide diversity of snack food from Costco!]

We are staying in a building that was used as a home for the boys 20 years ago. We thought our lodging would be the tent on the roof, but we are fortunate to have the bunk beds in the home. Eight of the boys are back from Jacmel and helping to clean up the home. They will start school next Monday for their ‘end of grade’ exams.- the first school since the earthquake in January. School will continue through the summer to allow students to make up the school

time missed these past months.

Our First Task:

The women unpacked the bins and sorted through the food, tools & equipment, health kits, and games for the children. Some of the boys helped as well. Right after lunch the men headed to the roof of the St. Joseph’s home to strategize how to extract the overturned generator demolish the huge roof slab without damaging the immediately adjacent neighbor's home. It took all afternoon, and

while there was much progress and chipping away of mass, tonight it sleeps still anchored in a precariously dangerous position. The teamwork was especially wonderful to observe as they took time to discuss the vari

ous aspects of the daunting task. A gathering of neighbors assembled to watch attentively, especially those who questioned whether the slab would fall on their home! So far so good. To be continued……….