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!!!

Haiti images update...

I've added more images at the end of the "Haiti" album on facebook. Originally, I had planned on creating a separate album for each new upload, but, facebook was giving me issues with that. Maybe next time.

These are the airials from the helicopter ride.

Enjoy!

Oh, & thanks for all your mail, emails, & comments! They are really looked forward to & greatly appreciated!

Haiti Happy Birthday to Billy Day!!

Today is Billy's birthday! It worked out perfectly being the guys only day off this week. So far, we've celebrated in our room, making Billy & all the guys a nice breakfast. Not something they've had since they've been here. (I did the best I could with what we have to work with!) Right now, we're trying to set up a helicopter ride for this evening. I hope it works out as I had one the other day & it was freaking AWESOME!!! I met Collin, the pilot, here several days ago. A nice guy from Canada & works as a bush pilot there. He's been here since March & will work here for a full year. He had to go to the airpot for fuel & asked if I wanted to go for a ride.....what else would I say??!! It was only 8 minutes there & 8 minutes back, but, so FREAKIN COOL!!!!

On another note....we have one man down. Pat. He cut off part of his finger on Friday afternoon. He was rushed to a clinic along with Ronnie by his side. Shortly there after, the part of his finger that was severed off followed. The doctor there took very good care of him, reattached the finger, shot him in the butt several times with antibiotics & pain killers, & sent him on his way back here to the hotel. Everyone thought it be best if he returned home immediatley for care in the US. The clinic was clean & everything went as smooth as possible, BUT....well, you all get it. Ronnie & I dropped him off as the airport yesterday morning to fly back home.

We miss him terribly. Pat, if you're reading this, please know how much we miss you! We wish you a speedy recovery!!

With one man down, the others are taking up the slack quite well, but, not that it's easy. Thank God for the team that we have here. If all continues to go as well as it has, we should be outta here by maybe next weekend sometime, but, we'll see.

I went to the jobsite again yesterday, Saturday, & I can't believe how the job has progressed! Even though it has only been a few days since I've been there last, it amazes me how much these guys can accomplish in such a short amount of time. They literally work their butts off.

There are still language barriers between crane operators, guards, & guys they have put to work up in the air on the steel, but everyone works these issues out. If they don't, Ronnie comes along & will jump on a crane in a moments notice(!).

I have photographed the site from every angle, up in the air, on top on the steel, on top of the tractor trailors, on top of the conex boxes, & on top of the RX building next door. The surrounding area is so busy with people, it's amazing that many people can fit in the size of that area & still have large trucks pass by them. Blowing their horns nonstop, of course, but they do manage to dissappear somewhere past them.

There was a UN tank out there yesterday. There was something going on, but, by the time I got up onto the tractor trailer, the only thing I witnessed was when they let off the water gun once on someone & then moved on past us. They had all four corners covered from the top though, fully armed. When I zoomed in on them, they were once focused in on me, talking on their radio.

I don't stay in one place to long as to not be anyones target. I move around alot. I think I drive the guard crazy! He follows me around like a puppy sometimes!! But, hey....that's cool!

I know a whole lot more people on the job now, which is nice. I think for the most part, everyone is really nice. I noticed that a smile goes a long way. It's universal, everyone understands it, & it opens alot of doors.

There were about 300 bodies located near the jobsite yesterday too. So sad. There are said to still be approximatley 30,000 to 50,000 people still unrecovered

Before I came, I was in touch with a friend who said learn the language if you can, they even appreciate you trying. (thank you Michelle for hooking me up with Christine!) I learned a little french before I came & can tell you, the little I learned has gotten me far. Of course then people think you speak the langauge & go off on some conversation that I don't understand! Sometimes I can get by, other times I have to finally break down & say "english?"! I plan to continue my french lessons after I leave just in case I return. (or end up in France sometime, I hear the food is amazing!!!)

Well, we're not flying today, but we may on Saturday if the guys finish the job by the end of the week.

I'll be staying here tomorrow at the hotel & promise to post images somewhere. I may have to post them to facebook & I will create an album there & let you all know if I do & where to go.

I can only post 5 at a time on here & to go through my website, I still only have so much space. Facebook seems to be the best way to go at this point for all of you to see alot of them.

The guys returned from their adventure downtown with a cake for Billy! We all sang Happy Birthday & attempted to have cake. I say attempted because after 1 bite, we couldn't eat anymore! It tasted like sawdust! Not that I ever ate sawdust, but I imagine if I had, that's what it would taste like! It was terrible! We had a good laugh though! I'll try to make another cake this week in my electric frying pan. It says it can...?!

Well, that's all for now. I'll let you all know tomorrow about where to find the pic's.

Keep in touch, stay safe, & Love, Love, Love.....