more Haiti jobsite pic's...

few more..I'll send more tommorrow

more Haiti pic's...

I can only load 5 at a time, so here are 5 more....

Haiti, the jobsite...

I went to the jobsite with the men as planned yesterday. It was everything they had told me it was. The day was long & grueling. On the ride there we wittnessed an accident beside us. The one thing that probably affected me the most was the dead dog lying in the road as everyone drove around it. We were told that evening that it would probably be on someones dinner table that night. The ride there was long, but not as long as the ride home. There is more traffic in the evening & there are traffic jams everywhere. Our driver really knows his way around though & takes us down side streets that take us back down before we go back up again.
I wasn't as shocked as the guys thought I'd be at the jobsite. It was definetley everything I thought it would be. It was hot & dirty & the smell from the raw sewerage & the decaying bodies is sickening. In the background of one of the images I'm attaching, there is a collasped building that 300 to 400 bodies had never been pulled out of. It's like this everywhere. I imagine the people were so overwhelmed with a body count of 300,000 that they eventually just stopped recovering them. Besides, where were they going to put them anyway?
The building the men are errecting is going to be a farmer's market for all the people to sell their wares in. They are building a replica of one that is sort of still standing. It's going to be beautiful! The ornamental wrought iron & cast is georgous! I think it'll be one of the prettiest places around. And if there is another earthquake, it'll probably be the only one left standing.
The guys are doing an awesome job! I'm so impressed & so proud of them! People everywhere stop and watch them. I see them on the rooftops of surrounding buildings singing! They gather & climb up high on the ruble to watch them. They wave, blow kisses, & are so happy to see this happening! Ronnie put together a great crew. The other men there compliment on how well the guys all work together & how hard they work! Some of them are watching to learn how our guys do it.
Ronnie put one haitian to work that I had been talking to all throughtout the day & this man was undescribably beaming with pride, he was so proud. He had told me earlier in the day that he had lost his wife in the earthquake & that he was raising his 4 children alone.
These guys are really making a difference here under devastating circumstances. We should all be so proud of them.

Haiti, the reality of it.....

The men had a grueling day yesterday. This is going to be another one of those days where I'm not gonna lie to you.
They came in somewhere around 8:00pm. They said it takes them about 1 1/2 to 2 hours for their return trip. The roads are bad & they are sometimes dodgeing ruble in the roads left from buildings that have fallen during the earthquake. Some are even partially down, leaning towards the road looking like they are ready to fall at any given moment.
There is a portajohn, (sorry, I can't do spell check as my laptop is only giving me french now & I'm really not that good, although, I pull it off as if I am!) but it is so bad that the men come running out vomiting. It's that bad. There is no other place to go to the toilet except in the streets & surrounding areas. This is where all the people seem to be going & it smells like it too.
They don't want to eat much as they are in fear of having to "go" on the job. They're trying to work something else out for these issues.
They said the smell of dead bodies fill the air & is sickening. Over 300,000 had died & many have never been recovered. How sad. I imagine many had died waiting.
There are some language barriers here at the hotel. Sometimes amusing, sometimes not.
All I can say is I'm soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo glad I brought my own food, tylenol & toilet paper. It'll get us by. Today the men will be stopping at a food store on the way home & will be looking to supply their rooms with some items to get them through the nights when they return after a long day down there. One of the men's wives is sending a care package to him. Hopefully it arrives. I know somewhere along the way thru the airport, my food bags had been gone thru & I'm not positive, but it looks like some things are missing, I just can't say what. I had been packing for a month & a half. All in all for the most part, I'm still good.
Tomorrow I will go to work with the men against Billy's better judgement. He doesn't want me down there, but you know I have to go. Today he told me he doen't want me to be joining with the UN either that I'll only be recovering dead bodies. I don't know about that, but, it is the first time he's ever told me what to do. That's never been something that's been an issue between us. Ok, he wouldn't let me work for National Geographic either, but that's another story.....
He told me not to leave the gates of this hotel. I never did see any of the Un or Red Cross workers yesterday anyway.
I feel guilty being here all day in such an area that could use so much help. I do understand how dangerous it is though too. When they asked me what I did yesterday while they were away, I hated to tell them. I read a magazine, took a nap, went for a swim, slept again poolside in the rain, oh & I did get alot of work done that I brought wioth me. Thank God I've brought so much as I'm going to need alot to keep me going. The tv is in french & only has a couple channels. There is a tv in a bar downstairs that plays sports in english, but, that's about it. Radio is in french too. I'm glad I downloaded so many of my cd's before I left too. It's nice to be able to listen to music during the day while I work.
There is another side to the Haitians here as well. Last night there was quite the function here with about 100 people attending, all very well dressed. It looks as if there is another one here today for a different group. Of course they are held right here where the only internet service is & I continue working right in the middle of them all. And I fell so under dressed! I didn't bring any really nice clothes!
Oh well, I'll never see any of these people again anyway!
I'll try to keep you as informed as I can. Of course there will be many stories that only the men will be able to share with you.
Till next time.....stay safe, appreciate EVERYTHING & EVERYONE, for life can change in a heartbeat forever more.

Haiti Arrival!

We have finally arrived in Haiti. The hotel, Ibo LeLe in Petionville, is beautiful & is probably the best hotel to stay at here. There is a pool, a restaurant, wireless service, & great view of Port Au Prince. The hotel staff is treating us very well & does a wonderful job with all the upkeep that this place requires.

Upon arrival at the Haiti Airport, we were escorted to a bus in which took us less than a mile to passport control. When finished with passport control you went directly into the baggage retreival area. It was EXTREMELY hot! Coming out of there, we were greeted by all sorts of luggage carriers begging to take care of our luggage for us to an outside area where pickups are permitted. A little frustrating, but, we managed. I did have to yell at them once because the 3 men began to fight. I told them I would have to separate them if they didn't stop. They laughed & did stop fighting. I don't want to tell you what we paid for this service. We always do seem to "live & learn" about the first day.

We were greeted by John, the owner of the company who put this incredible job together down here. He had a van waiting for us. When loaded, we drove straight to our hotel which was a ride not to be forgotten. We drove thru Port Au Prince where the earthquake in January shook their world here. The tent cities were everywhere along with other make shift housing. The people had their shops set up all along the streets where ever there was room alongside the ruins from buildings gone down & the heeps of trash that I don't imagine gets picked up too often, if ever, by the size of the mountains we witnessed.

The men woke up early around 4:30ish, met at the restaurant / bar that we hung out at last night for awhile at 5:30am to have breakfast, in which they were dissappointed because it didn't happen. It's the first day & there are inevidiblely always kinks to still work out. The trucks were on time though to take them to their jobsite, so that was good, and they left around 6am. It'll be a very long day for them.

The tempture hovers around 98f everyday here. There was a welcomed storm last night in the evening that cooled things down a little. We are located outside Port Au Prince on a mountain side & are up higher so it's a little cooler here than it is down there. I pray the men fare well today. I feel for them.

When we pulled up to our hotel, the parking lot was filled with UN & Red Cross vechicles. Last night I seen many workers come in after their day & today I will try to connect with them. I'd like to do some sort of service while here if even only for a couple days a week. I will also go to photograph the jobsite at least one day a week, if not 2, & then work on other projects that I brought along with me for the rest of the week.

The electric goes in & out here, not that that matters, & they still experience earthquakes / tremors, around 4 on the rictor scale. The last one was Friday evening.

I will keep in touch as often as I can.

Please leave comments, if the blog will allow it, I would love to hear from all of you as well! If you cannot leave a comment, please email me or facebook me as I will come up to this one certain place that I will be able to recieve them.

Airport...

We're finally at the airport....updates later today.

Still here.....

After a rough day on Wednesday, I made a good comeback yesterday. I'm not gonna lie to you.....this has been a roller coaster ride....
I went to the beach, bitched to my dear friend, walked, & definitely felt better afterwards. Then I went food shopping. After all, we had thought we would be gone by now & the cupboards & fridge had went bare by this time. I figured, might as well eat good food while we're still here. I don't think food will be as accessible when we do get to Haiti.
Yesterday, back to work.
Today, I think the beach is beckoning me again!

Haiti Adventure...

OK...time to begin posting as most of you think that we've already left for Haiti and we're still in the US.

Originally, when Billy was approached to do this job, I told him I thought it would be a great project to be part of. He said he would go if I went with him. As you all know, I'm all about an adventure. I was in.

As time went on & it became closer to leave time, there were production delays on the steel. After that, there were 2 hurricanes so the barges could not leave as they only leave on Wednesday & Fridays so we needed to wait another week.

Since then, the barges had left, arrived, & now there have been holdups in customs. They have confiscated all the water & a con ex box full of tools. Last week they even wanted all the paperwork rewritten in creole by a certified creole interpreter. Presently, it's all about the mighty dollar.

We have had flight plans several times only to find out the afternoon or evening before that they had been cancelled & rescheduled. This last cancellation has resulted in a Sunday morning flight out of Philadelphia to Miami, then onto Port Au Prince, Haiti.

We'll see when Sunday comes.

I'll be in touch as the Haiti adventure continues!

I guess it's better to be held up here instead of there.

Frustrating??? To say the least!