| Trip
Log -- June 6-19, 2007 |
| June_6 |
Arrived
in Port-Au-Prince around noon and greeted by Chilet, Martin,
Yolande, Fr. Fritz at the airport. Spend over an hour selecting
a rent-a-car (4x4 SUV). Drive to Fr. Fritz's house in Port
Au Prince briefly and then drive to Montrouis in 2 cars (Nissan
rental and Chilet's Trooper). Check into hotel, 4 rooms for
9 people. |
| June
7 |
Set
out early for journey to Goyavier in both cars and arrived
at the school around 10:30am. Visited every classroom and gave
all 510 students a toy of some sort (miniature cars, stuffed
animals, paper/crayons, soccer balls, mirrors). They were very
excited! |
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Next
we went to our medical clinic up the road another mile. Nurse
Pat worked with our doctor Thelus and saw about 20 patients
in 2 hours. There were many cases of malaria and a "fever
epidemic" which we would soon learn were current illnesses
throughout Haiti. |
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Meanwhile,
the teachers finished school and joined us at the clinic
for a meeting. We distributed Grade Books and Lesson
Plan Books, donated by the teachers in St. Francis
Xavier School in Ft. Myers. Yolande explained in Creole
how to use the books and also brought curriculum guides
for grades 1-5 teachers.
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| June
8 |
Conducted
a free medical clinic at Pastor Samuel's facility outside of
Montrouis. |
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| June
9 |
Continued
clinic with Pastor Samuel until noon. Went to market in Montrouis
to buy 100 kg. of rice, 30 kg. red beans, and 36 bottles of
oil. Divided food into 60 portions and drove to 87th Place
to distribute to families. People at 87th place were delighted
to see us and said that they hadn't eaten for 2 days. |
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Nurse
Pat, Morgan, and Kristin return to Fr. Fritz's house in Port
Au Prince and flew back to America the next morning after early
morning Mass. |
| June__10 |
Christening
of Ruth Sharma followed with visiting friends and "family" in
Montrouis. |
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| June_11- June
14 |
Worked
on finishing the water tank at 87th Place. John was an invaluable
foreman and taught his crew (Ba, Martin, Kednaud, and Papoush)
exactly how and what to do. Despite problems with supplies,
the project was completed successfully. We paid for a water
truck to travel out to 87th Place and fill the tank. |
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Next
we celebrated -- everyone filled their buckets with water,
I passed out more donations of toothpaste, soap, toys, and
shoes, and finally we went to their most beautiful beach and
enjoyed playing in the water for several hours. |
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| June__15 |
Walked
up the mountain to Goyavier to hand out more toys and clothes.
This was the first time in about 10 trips to Goyavier that
we have walked the entire way up and back down. It is MUCH
more difficult, dehydrating, and exhausting than I expected
.. but we made it! |
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| June__16 |
| Went
to St. Marc -- bought Kednaud a bed. Kednaud's need for
a bed has come up in conversation for over a year, but
the situation becomes more critical when you see it.
Kednaud lives with his mom and 6 siblings in a 1 bedroom
house. The family was recently forced out of his house
and HHN sent some money. We hope to send more money so
they can move into atleast a 2 bedroom house ($600/6
months). |
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| June__17 |
| Enjoyed
Church and celebration with Martin, Magalie, and Ruth
Sharma. Said goodbye to friends and left for Port Au
Prince. |
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| June__18 |
Spent
the day in Port Au Prince. This was the first time that I had
a reason to be there and the city was safe enough. We went
to the U.S. Embassy to check on Yolande's visa, and drove through
an impoverished area to see Robertson and his school. Like
always, God's angels were around us -- but I quickly realized
that I had to put my camera away for everyone's safety. There's
too many people in too little space! Chilet was an incredible
driver taking us from the top to the bottom -- and many overcrowded
places in between. |
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| June__19 |
Met
with a government official about national recognition of Help
Haiti Now in Haiti. Flew back to the U.S. |
