I’m feeling about 80% better after a rough 48 hours of, well… things that you don’t really blog about. And so now I’m back in the saddle, although a bit tired and without an appetite. Hopefully I’ll be back to 100% after another night of rest.
We’ve made some serious progress on a number fronts over the past few days, the most significant of which has been a partnership with Shelterbox to provide at least 30 units (large, durable tents with a hygiene kit, blankets and other household items) to our people. Earlier this evening we set up the Shelterbox for a mother who had a baby yesterday and is now living in the tent village beside our house. The fact that she has some kind of shelter makes all the hours of frustration, waiting and running around worthwhile.
On the food front we’ve got a shipment coming in from Dominican in the next few days- although there might be some customs issues that we’re coming against as Haiti begins to tighten its borders. The goal over the next week or two is going to be to procure all other shipments from Haitian providers as it should be cheaper and would obviously be better for the Haitian economy.
The truck issue has been decided once and for all as two members of our team are going to DR to purchase something like a Toyota LandCruiser. We checked at the Haiti dealer to get an idea of pricing and availability and they were sold out for the next four months. So DR it is.
I’m beginning to try and plan for coming back to Canada sometime late next week but it seems like there is still so much to do and so many systems to put in place and so many people to talk to and so much to do. And for someone who thrives on accomplishing those kind of things with the hope of looking back and saying ‘yes, i accomplished this’, I kind of feel like it’s getting to crunch time for more and better results. Of course, a good friend reminded me just today “every time you look people in the eye, and acknowledge dignity in others, and pray for favor you are accomplishing things”.
It’s true. I just need to do what I can when I can and trust that Jesus is still here and knows what’s going on. I can do that.
Today was by far the most frustrating and most rewarding day thus far. Due to a couple of factors we pretty much accomplished nothing by 4pm and we were just about ready to consider the day a write off. Then things started to happen…
A friend from brazil went to the UN brazilian camp armed with only a letter explaining the needs in our communities and received a truck full of water, food and medicine. A lady on the medical team with our friend aptly said that they are happy but not surprised about this because they were all praying for him.
Then about an hour later a nurse here got an email saying there is a shipment full of meds coming into the airport tomorrow for pickup. Hello.
Then I got an email from a friend in the states who has put us in touch with an organization who specializes in water filtration. To top it all off we spoke to an NGO who specializes in tent distribution and they seemed pretty eager to partner with us.
So basically we tried really hard to do something to no avail and then things just started falling into our laps. In the words of Jon Foreman and possibly Jesus,”He knows what I need”.
It’s hard to say what constitutes a good day around here. I’m trying to balance the western arrogance inside me that just wants to organize everyone with the fact that that just isn’t how things work here or rather things that anyone will care about here after I’m gone. So we wait for direction from our friends and do what we can with what we have.
I think we did accomplish somethings today; we secured a stable Internet provider which is crucial for communication with the head office and you know for blogs and stuff. And we made a couple good contacts which led to the formulation of the plan for tomorrow.
The plan, as it were, is to be a bit more aggressive in our pursuit to get aid to the communities we work with. This involves hiring a driver to take us to the various locations that we would have been at last week, had it not been for the previous distributions. It feels like we’re really, really close to getting things lined up and that once the first domino falls the whole plan will come together. Pray for that. We’ve turned away too many folks without food or shelter to come back tomorrow empty handed.
Hey folks,
I’m writing this from my phone while in bed, outside our house in port au prince. Crazy. I actually like sleeping outside minus the animals that sound like they are being eaten by a larger animal which sounds like it’s giving birth. Needless to say ear plugs are my new best friend.
The week ahead will be spent trying to make some inroads with the ego and getting the truck situation sorted oug once and for all. Beyond that we’ll continue to distribute food aid whenever we can. Pray for the work here and for haitians in general- I have found that even though I watched the news wasn’t able to comprehend the breadth of the destruction until you drive down streets where building after building has collapsed, and now picture ghat in almost every neighborhood.
Well let’s see if his posts successfully…pardon the spelling.
The internet is up and running at least for now, so I figured I’d let the world know that I’m alive. The first few days have been spent trying to get a feel for the distribution process and I’m happy to report that we’ve learned a lot, made a bunch of adjustments and cut the distribution time in half from the first one to our third time. Time is of the essence because they each distribution starts out with just a handful of people around but when other folks catch wind of what’s happening it gets, umm… rather CNNish. If that’s a word. It hasn’t been out of control yet but it hasn’t been a calm experience, to say the least.
Next week is going to be spent figuring out our truck situation, hopefully purchasing a good, used truck and forging a relationship with the UN/ WFP in order to get those trucks filled with aid.
A medical team of 16 doctors and nurses showed up last night at 4:30am which means there are about…24 people living in this house, not to mention the Haitians who live on the property at a guest house.
It’s possible that one day I’ll be able to write a book with the amount of border stories I’m accumulating.
Par example, this evening:
Border Man: You’re going to Haiti?
Nathan and I: Yes.
Border Man: You better be careful because you’re going to get your limbs torn off.b
Nathan and I: Okay.
My whole life, I have been complaining that my work was constantly interrupted until I discovered that my interruptions are my work”. (Henri Nouwen)
I stole this quote from theStory but it fits my life right now. I’m trying to put together three events, find a publisher for a book and build a new company but in an instant it’s put on the back burner- the interruption is the work.
Late last week I got a call from Emmanuel International to go to Haiti asap and coordinate the distribution of their aid. Interruption. When I got that call I couldn’t say no. I couldn’t say… “I’m too busy” or “it’s not a good time” or “you should ask someone else”.
I’m going.
I leave on Wednesday at 6:30am. Prayers appreciated.
If you’re still looking for a place to give, donations to EI will be matched by the government.
A couple of months ago Steve and I caught up with a porsche exec turned Mennonite pastor named Shane Hipps in hotlanta. There was a ridiculous lack of space for filming and so we ended up outside, beside a bus (hence the hum) and two guys who felt the need to have a conversation during the small interview. If the camera moves it’s because I was motioning to Steve to punch those guys in the chops or whatever the kingdom equivalent is of punching someone in the chops.
Unfortunately for many of us, myself included, it takes a bombardment images from CBC of children with blood streaming down their face to communicate that things are urgent. An earthquake happened and now the world responds. It’s fascinating to watch countries who could not commit to providing 0.7% (that’s a fraction of 1%) of GDP to a crisis in Africa find themselves mobilized in hours. Of course, if they won’t respond to Africa, why would they to Haiti? Canada pledged $5m immediately and a day later agreed to match up to $50m if Canadians gave to charities for relief efforts. Awesome. Seriously, I can’t even believe that the government moved that fast. It might be because Haiti is a priority country for Canada, according to CIDA’s priority sectors anyway. I’m getting off topic.
Why is it that Haitians have been among the poorest countries in the world for centuries but it took a total collapse of their infrastructure for Canadians to care? Port au Prince, is the worst capital city, in terms of infrastructure at least, that I’ve ever been in. I mean, that’s not saying a lot but it is saying something. The capital of Sudan is much further ahead. The capital of Malawi probably better. Port au Prince is 30 minutes from Miami. That’s 30 minutes from Dwayne Wade and Will Smith, and Port au Prince is worse off than one of the most destitute regions on earth? Why is that? And how was that not a crisis before this week?
I do hope you give to the relief effort. There are a lot of people right now who (at least, in part) are giving for the wrong reasons; governments, the UN, NGO’s – let’s not be fooled and think that this earthquake isn’t going to make a lot of people rich- because it is, and it will. I suppose that makes me a bit of a pessimist but it doesn’t stop me from giving, although perhaps it helps me choose charities more carefully.
Of course, giving to the right organizations today will help to provide food, water, shelter and maybe even some hope to people who’s lives changed in an instant. Do that, give. But here’s my challenge: Port au Prince needs to be rebuilt, it needs schools, clean water, job creation, and a whole lot of other things that NGO’s can’t focus on right now. They will though and soon, and so if you’re going to give today to keep someone alive then you should probably give again in time to ensure that their lives are filled with freedoms they don’t have right now and in many cases didn’t have before January 12th. In this way, you’ll ensure that you’re not giving out of guilt but (hopefully) out of love, because CBC is soon going to stop showing you bloody faces of children and when they do, can we really go back to pretending Haiti doesn’t exist?
I just committed to leasing a printer for five years. This could be a disaster or it could be a stroke of genius, only time will tell. In the meantime, the talented Mr. Colquhoun put together our website, which on the surface looks like we know exactly what we’re doing. Who knew? We figure between our combined ongoing projects we should be able to make the lease payments with the money that previously went to Staples, and if we get some extra contracts on the side – well hotdog.
Posted by cjlewis 
