Haiti...A Brand New Day...

The time gets closer every day till we depart this place, but the horrors we've witnessed here may never abandon our minds. Even the stories the men come home with stick to my thoughts throughout the middle of my nights & days.
They told me of a young girl around 12, hair all matted & wearing nothing but a shirt walking the streets & it had appeared she had been out all night in the rain. I can't imagine her story. The one I have in my mind is not a pretty one.
The children finally began their schooling on this past Monday. They have not been to school since the earthquake. Some won't return because the parents haven't any money & they must pay, not only for the schooling, but they need clothes, shoes & school supplies. My grandson, Mason, had gathered many of our pencil collection, (God only knows how we ended up with so many in the first place) & sent them with me to give out to the children here. I gave them all out to the men on the job that have children. I wish I only had several thousand more.
And if you think our govenment is bad, you should visit a third world country. I've seen this too many times where the rich get richer & the poor, well, the goverment likes to beat them down every chance they get. They don't make it easy for a child to get an education. There is so much needed here. Education being the first thing that comes to my mind. The people's dream here is to one day come to America. If they made it a better place to live here, then why would one want to leave? The weather may be hot, but it's the Carribean....you think, sun, fun, beauty...they have hunted all the native wildlife here to extinction, the fish as well, the trees cut down, & water??? I've told you how they bath themselves.
This is what I would do....As much as it rains here, give them large barrels to retain the water in, (just think of your daily water use in one day) put them on stands high up so they could be gravity fed.....compost so that they could start a soil program to begin their own gardens, a food source to be better able to care for themselves, start a seed exchange & teach them when to gather seeds for future plantings....grow sustainable forests, trees or shrubery like euculyptus, bamboo, & what ever is indigenous to this area....a fish hatchery & replenish the sea...raise chickens, there sure is enough roosters CROWING from 2:00am on.....some cows, goats......and if they can't afford schooling for their children, some of the more educated parents could run a home schooling program where they could alternate their schedules so as they could continue working their jobs....teach them how to recycle, it would cut down on all this trash & let them earn a few dollars turning their trash into some other useful item. They could even make toys, shopping bags, birdhouses & such out of recycled materials to sell to tourist to make some sort of income....ok, what it all boils down to is EDUCATION. The Government has the money. We know they do. But instead, they live their corrupt little lives behind walls with barbed wire so no one can steal from them what they've stolen from the people. Alright, guess I'd better stop now...I am still in this country.
On another note....It seems Pat will not be keeping the part of his finger that was reattached while here after all. Pat, if you read this, please keep us updated with your progress. We're keeping you in our thoughts & prayers & of course wish you all the best.
The men think they are winding down with the Iron Market & the end seems to be in sight! They may be finished on Saturday, but don't hold me to that. Stuff happens. Sunday, we're going to go up in the helicopter in the morning & after that, Colin, the pilot, said he would take us up the mountain where the air is cool, there's an awesome lodge up there that has great food & the scenery is beautiful! We can't wait!
There is another facebook album with jobsite photos from the last time I was there. I am now offically caught up! Till tomorrow that is! I'll be going to the site the next couple of days so I can capture the finale! Of this phase anyway, which I think was the biggest part of it.
I'll be in touch when I can! Till then, stay well, take care of one another & Love, Love, Love!!!