Growing Hope for Haiti

7-16-10

I apologize for the lack of communication from us over the last couple months. A lot has changed and developed since our last update. After spending some time in the U.S., Gerson has been back in Haiti for a month now, and I have been back for 2 weeks. Our issues with the land we purchased here have continued, and we had to stop construction on that property. We are continuing to deal with those issues, and have hired a lawyer to work with us on that, but we have also moved on to a new location for our housing project. A few weeks ago, the local government gave us a different piece of land for the project, but we encountered some problems in that location as well…so the mayor’s office picked another piece of government land to give us. Within the past 2 weeks, we have completed paperwork for this new land, begun construction on it, and started to build positive relationships with the community there. It has been a very long road, but we are hopeful that this part of the process is over and we have finally found a good home for our project.

Last week, we had a group from The Bridge Community Church here with us, and they worked very hard all week. With their help, we were able to clear the first portion of the land (our new piece of property is about 8 acres), build a fence around it, and begin construction on composting toilets. This group did a great job working in the extreme heat without complaining. They got a lot accomplished, and they also helped us build a foundation for good relationships with the people living in the tent camp next to our land. Of the 3 areas we have attempted to work in with this project, this community is the first one who has welcomed us with open arms from the very beginning. In the other two locations, the local community came to us and basically asked us to buy their support– they would be behind us once we paid them off. But this community is different– they have offered to hep us in any way they can, they are protective of us and our supplies, and they are very excited about us being there, as it brings the prospect of jobs to the many men living in the tent camp who want to work.

The girls in the group and I did VBS for the kids in the camp, and they absolutely loved it. We had planned to do a session in the morning for the kids who aren’t in school and a session in the afternoon for the kids who were in school in the morning, but on the first day, almost all of the kids stayed home from school to come to the morning session because they were so excited about it! They didn’t know what “VBS” was, but they knew they didn’t want to miss it! We had a lot of fun with them, and the parents loved that we were doing something for the kids. On the last day, we had a big party for the kids, and they all came in their best clothes. Even the kids who had shown up every day with no shorts or shoes on, came to the party wearing pants and shoes (probably their only pair). One of the guys from the tent camp brought us his stereo and speakers, and we danced and played and laughed with the kids for hours. We taught them “hot potato” and played several times, with the winner getting to take home a plastic ball– and I can not even describe to you how hysterical it was. They got so into it, with the older kids taking it very seriously, and there was a lot of yelling and dancing and jumping around. It was a joy being able to bring some fun and laughter to these kids who have dealt with so much difficulty and suffering in their short lives.

After this group left on Monday, we headed to a different town a few hours from here and spent the rest of the week there working with a group on another Fuller Center project. In addition to partnering with them on our own housing project, Gerson & I are now working as consultants for Fuller Center on all of the projects they are doing in Haiti. We are very excited about this opportunity to be a part of the reconstruction process for so many families who have been living in tents (or worse) since the earthquake. We spent this week working on the very first Fuller Center house being built here in Haiti, and we learned a lot of new construction skills. The Fuller Center has another group coming in tomorrow, so we will be working with them for the next week, rebuilding a house for a family here in Leogane.

Another exciting change for us is that we will soon be moving into a house ourselves! There is an organization who has rented a house here in Leogane for the next 3 years, but they will not be bringing any more teams in for the next few months, so they are looking for a couple of people to rent the rooms in the house during that time. After living in a tent for almost 6 months, Gerson & I are so excited to move into a place with walls and a ceiling! No more wet mattresses when it rains, no more loud snoring from the tent next to us, and hopefully no more tarantulas! We will only be sharing a bathroom with 1 or 2 other people, rather than 20 or 30, and we will get to cook our own food, which means we won’t have to eat rice and beans for every single meal! We have dealt with a lot of issues at this camp over the past few months, and most recently we have had some issues with the security guards here, and we have not felt very safe for the past few weeks…so that is the main reason we are ready to get out of this place. We are SO thankful that God has put this opportunity in front of us, and the timing seems perfect. It will make the stresses of our work here much more manageable to have a safe, drama-free place to come home to at night. Praise God for providing us with this wonderful blessing!

As always, we want to thank you all for your prayers, and ask that you continue to pray for the progress of our housing project and for the people of Haiti. We look forward to seeing what God is going to do here over the next year!

With love,

Heather

5-20-10

Well, I’m not sure where to start with this update….the past month has been so full of ups and downs and twists and turns. There’s no way I can write about everything that has happened, as it is much too long and complicated of a story….so I will just give you a brief summary of the last couple weeks and fill you in on where we are now.

Two weeks ago today, we were ready to give up on the project. It seemed like all forces were against us and there was no way to move forward. We were worn down and exhausted– physically, emotionally, and spiritually. We resigned ourselves to the fact that we were going home and this project was not going to happen. But over the course of the next few days, we continually heard the message “don’t give up”….from the group of people who live around our land who came to our camp to plead with us not to abandon the project, to the kind words of those from other organizations who we’ve been living with at the camp for the past few months, to the outpouring of encouraging emails from all of you. We also got positive information about the legal issue we were facing…and so our hope was renewed. Every Haitian told us the same thing– “You know if you’re going to do something good in this country, you are going to face many obstacles and problems…nothing is easy here.” We resolved to continue the fight to “do something good.”

That resolve was tested again just a couple days later, when we visited the mayor’s office to get a building permit and were told that the papers we have for the land are fake, and that our property is actually government land. If you’re keeping track, that makes 3 different entities who are claiming the land as their own (4 if you count the farmers in the area who claim it is public land). And this is after we did extensive research on the history of the land and were extra careful as we pursued the purchase, even employing two different reputable notaries to make sure everything was clear and legit. And so, we spent our last two days in Haiti meeting with local government officials and trying to uncover the truth, a seemingly impossible task in that country. In the end, the mayor agreed to “give” us the land and give us all the legal papers we will need to continue the project (for a small fee of course). We still don’t know which version of the story is true and who really owned the land– there are a thousand details that I’m leaving out, and it is much more complicated than you would think. But the bottom line is that we now have papers from both sides saying that we own the land, and with the government behind us, hopefully we will not have any more issues with the land dispute.

We have been home in St. Louis for a week now, thoroughly enjoying the comforts and luxuries of life here. I can’t tell you how beautiful and spacious our apartment seems, after living in a tent for 4 months. Everything here seems so clean and nice and wonderful. We are reminded once again of what a miracle it is to have clean water available right from our own faucet. Seemingly small things– like refrigeration, air conditioning, paved roads, hot water, a bed– are amazing blessings to us. But…I am trying not to get too attached, as we will soon be heading back to Haiti. After more than a month of wrestling with decisions about our future, we have decided to commit to spending the next year in Haiti, continuing with this relief work. Or maybe “accepted” is a more accurate word than “decided.” Above all else, we want to be doing what God wants us to do, and we feel like this is it. I have actually had a pretty difficult time coming to this conclusion, as this is not what I want to do. I wanted to come back to my “normal” life and continue with our plans…Gerson finishing his last year of school, and me continuing to work at my job here that I enjoy. But it seems that God has other plans for us. Please pray for my heart and my attitude, that my sadness at “letting go” of our life as we knew it will be replaced by joy in doing what God has called us to do.

We will be here in the States for the next 4-5 weeks, working on our long list of things to do here before heading back to Haiti, and also trying to get some rest. We have been so blessed by family, friends, and our church family this first week at home, providing meals for us and going out of their way to encourage and support us. Thank you all for everything….we are grateful that God has put so many loving, giving people in our lives.

With love,
Heather

5-8-10

We wanted to send out a quick email to let you all know that we had a much better day yesterday.  Although we spent most of the day at the police station and the court again, there was not nearly as much drama as the day before. I will explain more when I have time, but basically, we have some obstacles to consider, some legal issues to work out, and some big decisions to make about the project. Although everyone here has assured us that we have the right to continue working on our land, we are choosing to wait until the legal process is complete . This will involve a waiting period…and we are in desperate need of a break anyway, so we will be coming home next week. We have been in Haiti since the week after the earthquake, and it has been a very stressful and difficult 4 months. We know a lot of relief workers here, and not one of them has stayed here this whole time without going home at least once. (I say this not to say that we are stronger than them, but that they are wiser than us in recognizing the importance of taking breaks when doing this kind of work.) We have felt the need for some time away for quite a while now, and we keep getting the same advice from people…so we feel like it is the wisest thing we can do right now. As I said, we have some big decisions to make, so we are hoping that going home will allow us to de-stress a bit and clear our minds in order to make good decisions. Whether this is home for a short break or home indefinitely is yet to be determined. We will be flying to Miami next Wednesday, and then to St. Louis on Thursday.

Thank you all so much for your prayers these last couple days. We are blessed to have so many standing with us in support, both in Haiti and in the U.S. We are discouraged, but hopeful…trusting in God’s provision, guidance, and faithfulness. We will keep you updated on everything.

With love,

Heather

5-6-10

Hi,

I apologize for not sending an update in a while– we have been very busy. I don’t have time to write a lot tonight, as the computer battery is about to die, but I wanted to email you all because we are in desperate need of prayer. It has been an extremely difficult week for us, and to say that today was a bad day would be a huge understatement. There have been some disputes concerning the land we bought for our project, and today was the second time this week we ended up at the police station.

This morning, a group of guys approached the land, where Gerson and the volunteer team that is here with us this week were working. They were trying to get money from Gerson (basically wanting us to pay them off to be on “our side”), and one (drunk) guy got physical, pushing Gerson around. A Haitian guy who had been working with us on the land stepped up to defend Gerson, telling the guy to back off…and the drunk guy pulled a stake out of the ground and hit him, hard. He aimed for his head, but the guy put up his arm to protect himself, so that’s where he took the blow. Gerson and the Americans took off for the car, as the guy threatened to bash our windshield. They took the injured guy straight to the hospital, where we found out that his arm is dislocated and badly broken. He is in the hospital now, waiting for it to be set and casted tomorrow. Gerson and I went to visit him tonight, and he is in good spirits. He said that he has never had anyone lay a hand on him, but if it had to happen, he is happy that it happened for a good cause. He said that he knows we are here to help the people and he doesn’t regret standing up for something he believes in. Earlier today when I was sitting with him waiting, I started crying, and he was the one comforting me, telling me not to cry and not to be discouraged because of what happened. We thank God that he put his arm up to protect his head, because that kind of blow could have been fatal. We also thank God for this man who stepped up and took the brunt of the attack that would have otherwise been aimed at Gerson.

We spent most of the rest of the day at the police station and meeting with the community. Then, as if that was not enough stress for the day, we had another major confrontation late this afternoon. It is a long and complicated story, but basically, the guy who sold us the land was here in our camp with us, and then the guy who is claiming it is his land showed up to serve us a court order. They had an angry encounter and pulled guns on each other. Gerson and I were in the middle of all of it, and it was a very stressful half hour, to say the least.

So now we end the day, with a man in the hospital, a freaked out volunteer group, a court order against us, and uncertainty about the future of our project. We need your prayers. We are exhausted in every sense. I will write more when I get a chance…thank you for praying.

Trusting Him,

Heather

4-19-10

Hi,

I’m not going to write much, but I wanted to send out a quick note to let you all know that we are doing well, since it has been a couple weeks since my last update. We have been having some internet problems this past week, and we finally got it fixed. Gerson and I are heading to the Northwest tomorrow morning, which we are very excited about! We will spend the next few days visiting with friends there, doing some paperwork, and traveling to Magranbwa (where we purchased land last year). We will meet with the community and explain to them that we have been in Port-au-Prince since the earthquake, and that has changed our timeline for our project in Magranbwa. We want to reassure them that we haven’t forgotten them and we still plan to build the school there– just not this summer as we had previously planned. We will head back to Leogane on Saturday. The drive is long (8-12 hours, on pretty bad roads), but I am actually looking forward to it, as I will get to see parts of Haiti I haven’t seen before. (I have always flown from Port-au-Prince to the Northwest.) We would greatly appreciate your prayers this week for safe travels, no car problems, and a productive and refreshing trip.

A brief update on everything….Things with the land purchase in Leogane are still on track– the paperwork is in its final stage. Our first construction team rescheduled their trip and is now coming in April 30. We will be clearing and leveling the land this Sunday, and then digging the well next week. An organization we connected with here last month unexpectedly offered to pay for the well for us, so that is awesome! Our friends Melissa & James were here for the past 2 weeks, and their presence was a huge blessing to us. Two staff members from Fuller Center were also here last week, and we spent quite a bit of time with them, working on plans for our project. Their first container of materials is scheduled to ship out on May 1, so they won’t be ready to start building the actual houses until late May/early June…but we have a lot of groundwork to get done between now and then. I will write more about the project sometime when we get back from the Northwest…but right now, I need to go pack!

Thanks for praying!

With love,
Heather

4-3-10

I wanted to write tonight, to bring you all up to date on what’s been going on with us, since I know we will be very busy in the coming days and weeks. A lot has happened in the last 2 weeks! As we went through the process to purchase the land I wrote about in my last update, we encountered a major problem with the paperwork and were unable to proceed with the transaction. (The title and deed were not legit, and there’s a good chance that the guy selling it to us was not the real owner.) We were pretty frustrated, since we had thought we were finally ready to move past the “looking for land” stage and into the actual construction of houses. Luckily, Gerson was smart enough to know that we should continue to look for land even as this deal was in process, just in case anything went wrong…so we already had other properties in mind when the deal fell through. We immediately started the purchase process for 3 other pieces of land, hoping and praying that one of them would work out. And I am thankful to report that one of them did, and it is pretty much a done deal now! We completed all the paperwork with the notary and had the land surveyed this past week. Now we just have to wait for the surveyor’s report to go through the tax office and then back to the notary for the official title transfer. There is not much that could go wrong at this point in the process…but we would still appreciate your prayers until it is a completely done deal and we have the title in our hands.

Now here is the best part….we are buying 1 caro of land (3.2 acres), but the guy who is selling it to us says that he will give us another caro of land to build on! His only condition is that we use it to build houses for the people who are already on that land, living in a tent camp. The tent camp was set up by a Venezuelan group after the earthquake, with permission from the land owner. He says he will give it to us for free if it means that these people will be provided with permanent housing. He also said that if he likes the project and sees that the houses are high quality, he will be willing to give us another 2 caros of land to build more houses on! So in the end, we may be getting 4 caros of land for the price of 1! We have been very skeptical, as we have learned some hard lessons over the past 2 months and have grown pretty untrusting of people here…but this guy seems to be the kind of person we were looking for from the beginning– someone who genuinely wants to help his country. Only time will tell…but for now, we are (cautiously) celebrating this deal! Thank you for your prayers in all of this.

We are looking forward to celebrating Easter with Gerson’s family tomorrow, and then on Monday, our friends Melissa & James are coming in! We are so excited to have them here with us for a little while. There are 2 staff members from Fuller Center also coming in on Monday, so we will be meeting with them next week to work out more of the details for the project. Our first construction team is scheduled to come in April 17, from Parkview Christian Church in Orland Park, IL. So lots of exciting things coming up in the next few weeks!

Some specific things you can pray for…

*That the legal process for the paperwork will be completed quickly and with no problems

*For productive meetings with Fuller…that the details of our partnership and this project will be worked out clearly

*That we will have wisdom and compassion as we begin the process of selecting recipient families for the houses

*We are meeting with the UN on Monday to see about possibly using their rig to drill a well on our land…please pray that this would work out, as it would be a huge help to us.

We also have a financial need to share with you. For the past 10 weeks, Gerson and I have been living on personal money that we brought in for our own expenses. That money has run out now, and it would be awesome if we could raise a little extra support for our personal expenses, so that all of the money that has been donated for earthquake relief can go directly to the housing project. The camp we are staying at is now charging $10/day per person, which comes out to $140/week for both of us. This covers the cost of 3 meals a day, water, and gas for the generator. If you would be willing to help us out with these expenses, you can donate online (www.growinghopeforhaiti.org) or send a check to {927 Wooden Drive, Florissant, MO 63033} with a note that the money is for Gerson & Heather in Haiti. Any amount is appreciated. Thank you so much!

Thanks again for your prayers and support. We will keep you updated on everything. I will also try to send out an email with some pictures, if our internet connection cooperates.

I hope that you all have a blessed Easter!

With love,
Heather

3-19-10

Hi,

We are very happy to report that after much searching and negotiating, we have found land here and have begun the process of purchasing it! Thank you all for your prayers for this endeavor. The property is right off the main road in Leogane, and is currently a sugar cane field. We are getting 1 caro of land (the Haitian unit of measurement), which is about 3.2 acres, for $20,000US. All other pieces of property of the same size that we have looked at here are at least double that price. The owner of the land likes our project, so he is giving us a good deal. We will have the land surveyed early next week and begin the paperwork with the notary. Please pray that this process will go smoothly (as few things do in Haiti), so that we can move on to the next phase of the project.

We are estimating that we will be ready to start construction on the land 2 weeks from now. Our first task will be to dig a well, install a water pump, and get it ready to accomodate groups. Once that is finished, we will be ready to begin construction on the housing community. If materials are ready by then, we will be able to start construction of the actual houses. If not, we will start working on the infrastructure and community aspects– for example, the showers, bathrooms, cooking area, and garden.

We are partnering with The Fuller Center for Housing for the construction of the houses. Fuller Center was founded by Millard Fuller, who was also the founder of Habitat for Humanity. You can check out their website to learn more about them and to see the design for the Haiti houses (www.fullercenter.org/haiti). The homes we will be building have been specifically designed for this relief work in Haiti, and are hurricane-resistant and earthquake-resistant. We are excited to combine our Haiti knowledge with Fuller Center’s house-building knowledge for this project.

Many of you have been asking about coming to Haiti to volunteer with us. Our immediate need is for plumbers and people with experience in water projects. As I said, our first task is to get water and prepare the land to host construction groups. We need a group of people who can come in to work with us on digging a well, installing a water pump and tank, and setting up plumbing for toilets and showers. Ideally, we would like to bring this group in about 2 weeks from now. If you, or anyone you know, has these skills and would be available to come to Haiti that soon, please let me know. We will start putting together other construction teams very soon, so keep that in mind if you are interested, and I will let you know as soon as we have some details worked out.

Now that we have found land and are ready to begin construction, we will also need to raise some additional funds for this project. I want you all to know how grateful we are for your generosity over the past 2 months. We did not spend as much money as we had anticipated on medical supplies, so we will be using the money we raised after the quake for this housing project. Thanks to the donations of so many, we have money to buy the land and begin construction. We are starting with a project of 25 houses, plus a community center, bathrooms, cooking area, garden, laundry area, and public water source. We will be combining resources with Fuller Center for the construction of the houses, but the community aspects of the project are our responsibility. We want to take a holistic approach to the project, not merely reconstructing houses, but helping these families however we can to put their lives back together. Since many of the recipient families will include people who were handicapped in the quake, we will make the community handicap accessible and would like to provide physical therapy and wheelchairs. We also want to include an aspect of micro-commerce in our project, to help start businesses for those who are able, so that these families can have a sustainable source of income. We want to create a little haven of hope and peace in the midst of so much destruction and loss.

Thank you all for joining us in this journey. If you donated money to us after the earthquake, YOU are the reason we are able to buy this land– we thank you, on behalf of all the families who will be blessed through this project. If you would like to give now, you can do so on our website or send a check to:
Growing Hope for Haiti
927 Wooden Drive
Florissant, MO 63033

We will let you know of specific costs as the project develops. Thank you for your generosity, and thank you for your continued prayers. It has been a very difficult and intense 2 months for Gerson and I, and we can’t thank you enough for your support and encouragement through this. We thank God for you!

With love,
Heather

P.S. We had a group from St. Louis Christian College (Gerson’s school) here for the past week, and they did a great job! We have connected with several orphanages here in Leogane that were destroyed in the quake, and we decided to use the SLCC group to work on a project at one of the orphanages. This particular orphanage was completely destroyed and has relocated to a small area that a church is letting them use on top of a mountain here. They lost everything in the quake, and are barely getting by. They have 3 big make-shift tents, and we were able to get some tarps and put them up over the tents to provide some protection from the rain. (All of their stuff, and the children, were getting wet every time it rained.) The college group built 2 bathrooms and 2 showers for the orphanage, and they are so grateful! (They had been using a bucket as a toilet.) The group worked very hard every day, in the hot sun, and we appreciate them giving of their time and energy to help these children. We also had fun singing songs and playing games with the kids, and I pray that our presence there was a blessing to them.

3-10-10

Hi,

I wanted to update you all on our meetings and the status of our project here in Haiti. We have had 6 big meetings in the past 3 days, and we have done a lot of talking about our construction project. The meetings all went well, even as we felt intimidated by some of those we have met. We had a brief meeting with the mayor of Port-au-Prince, which was a pretty big deal. Yesterday, in a meeting with a very influential woman here, we also met a musician who is really famous here in Haiti. (Side note: He has been traveling to different tent camps and doing little acoustic concerts for the kids there. He has a desire to bring some entertainment and outlets for creativity to the kids here, as they are not in school and are dealing with a complete interruption of their normal lives, on top of dealing with the trauma of what they have experienced. I think it’s really cool what he’s doing, and how he’s using his talent and celebrity to provide something positive for the children here.) The woman we met with yesterday is meeting with the Prime Minister of Haiti today and presenting our project to him! That is crazy to me…these political figures (the mayor of PAP, the Prime Minister of Haiti) are people we would have never had access to in normal circumstances. It’s just one more thing that makes this whole disaster relief experience seem surreal to me…

Anyway, so the purpose of all these meetings was to explore different options in attaining land for our housing project. Land has proved to be a very difficult aspect of this project, and we are hearing the same thing from other groups who are focusing on reconstruction here. We basically have 3 options…1) buy privately owned land to build on, or 2) get land donated by an individual or organization, or 3) work with the government to get free government land to build on. We have been following through on every possibility that we have come across, exploring options in all 3 directions. The best possible option would be to get land donated to us by an individual or organization…however, that is also the least likely option. Land is very valuable here and has become even more valauble since the earthquake. Very few people here would be willing to just give it away. So we are left with a choice between working with the government to get free land, or buying land ourselves.

After all of the conversations and meetings we have had, we have decided (just today) that it would be best for us to buy the land. Even though the woman we met with yesterday is confident that she can get government land for us (she is personal friends with the President and his wife, and knows many other political leaders…she is the one meeting with the Prime Minister today), this involves a lot of red tape and seems to have a lot of strings attached. We are hesitant to give the government a say in anything we do here, for obvious reasons. We are flexible with some aspects of this project, but there are other things that we are not willing to compromise on, and we don’t want to put ourselves in a situation where we are forced to compromise those things. We want this project to be done well and to benefit those who need it the most. We want to consider not only the short-term, but also the long-term in all that we do. And we want this to be a ministry– a gift from God to these families in need. We don’t want the government, or anyone else, to come in and make it something other than that.

We now feel confident in our decision to pursue buying land rather than working with the government. We wanted to have an open mind and consider all options, and now that we have, we feel that this is the wisest way to go. We will not lose time dealing with official proposals, more meetings, and paperwork…and we won’t be waiting on government officials for everything. We will be able to start building as soon as we can buy the land. We will be able to retain control over the project and make sure things are done with fairness and in a high quality manner. We will be able to incorporate our faith and our values into what we do, and we will be able to stand behind this housing project with full confidence. Thank you for your prayers for wisdom and direction. Now that we have made a decision on which way to go, we can give our full focus and attention to buying land. We already feel a sense of relief in having a singular focus now, instead of trying to pursue many things at the same time.

So our current prayer request is that we would be able to find land at a reasonable price, and fairly quickly. We have been looking at land in Leogane, but the prices they are asking are way too high. On Monday we met with a woman who is from Leogane (but has lived in Switzerland most of her life) and has her own non-profit here. She gave us a lot of helpful information on what to look for here, and on what kind of prices are fair. Now that we know the “normal” price range of land in this area, we will be better able to negotiate. I just realized that we had asked you to pray for relationships that we can trust, and that I think this woman is an answer to that prayer. We have been getting so many different answers to our questions here, and it seems impossible to trust anyone because everyone has their own agenda and motivation…but she seems to be someone who has a lot of knowledge about the area and the people, and will be straight-forward with us, because she is here for the same reason we are– to help the people. So thank you for your prayers in that too.

I’m sorry this is so long. There have been so many twists and turns in this process, I would have had to write an update every day to really keep you informed about what’s going on with us. We want you to know that we are making progress though, and that we are excited to see this project come to fruition. Thank you for your prayers thus far, and please continue to pray that God will open doors and give us discernment. We will keep you updated!

With love from Haiti,

Heather and Gerson

3-2-10

I have been wanting to send an update to you all on the project we are working on…but I wanted to wait until we had some of the important details ironed out. The thing is, working out those details has turned out to be a longer and much more difficult process than we had anticipated. To be honest, we are very discouraged right now. That is why I’m writing to you tonight. We really need your prayers.

When we came into Haiti after the earthquake, we brought in a medical team because the most immediate need here was for medical care. After our team left, we continued to work at the hospital, but only while we considered the many options for where to go from there. We want to use the resources we have been entrusted with in a wise and purposeful way, to make the most difference for the most people possible. As we evaluated the many needs in Haiti, and the many possible uses for our time and money, we decided to focus on a permanent housing project. Right now, everyone seems to be focused on tents as the solution to the problem for the thousands of homeless here. Tents are good and can help to meet the need for immediate shelter and protection from the rainy season…but they are a very temporary solution. Not only will they last only a few months in the conditions in Haiti, but rainy season is immediately followed by hurricane season…and a tent will not provide much protection from a hurricane. We want to invest our resources in a more long-term solution, so that is why we decided to take on a permanent housing project.

Our idea is to build a small community with safe, durable houses. Looking at the resources we currently have, and additional funds we anticipate we can raise for this project, we decided to start small—20 to 25 houses. Then if more resources become available, we can expand the project and build as many homes as we have capabilities for. Our target population is not just those who have lost everything and have no means to rebuild, but within that broad population, it is more specifically those that we feel are most vulnerable during this time—the newly handicapped, pregnant women, and women with newborns. We know that in the big-picture scope of things, 25 houses is not much…but to those 25 families, it would be everything. We feel that it is our responsibility to do what we can with what we have, even if it doesn’t seem like much.

It would be very difficult to acquire land within Port-au-Prince, so the area we have chosen for this project is Leogane, a town of 200,000 people. Leogane is about 15 miles west of Port-au-Prince and was at the epicenter of the earthquake. The UN estimates that the town is 90% destroyed. We moved out to Leogane last week and set up our tent on a small compound where a couple other organizations are staying. The past 2 weeks have been filled with meetings, exploring possibilities, and more meetings. In trying to attain land for the project, and form a partnership with an organization that has expertise in house-building, we have gone down many paths and had many conversations. There have been times where we thought things were falling into place and we were making progress…only to be disappointed later. We have been dealing with dishonesty, corruption, greed, and a lot of frustration. We know Haiti well enough to know that it is very difficult to get anything accomplished here, and especially if you want to do something well and do it in the right way…but even coming into it knowing that, we are feeling overwhelmed by the many obstacles we have faced and still face if we want to go ahead with this project.

That is where your prayers come in. We need wisdom to know if this is what we should be investing our time in, or if there is something else that would be a better use of our resources. A group of professional contractors from the U.S. told us today that we are too young and our project is too ambitious. We need discernment to know if that is God’s way of telling us to go a different direction…or if that is simply discouragement that needs to be overcome. If the housing project is what God wants us to do, then we need open doors and some relationships that we can trust. We need renewed strength, clear minds, and focused energy. We are asking you to please pray for us and with us. We want to be good stewards of the funds that have been entrusted to us, and we want to help meet some of the many, many needs we are surrounded by here every day.

I know that many of you have been praying for us consistently over the past 6 weeks, and just knowing that is a huge encouragement to us. Please keep it up! Thank you so much for your continued support. We couldn’t do this without all of you.

Thank you,
Heather

2-23-10

I am finally sitting down to write an update, since our last one was over 2 weeks ago. There is so much I could tell you about, I’m not sure where to start. We have been living and working at the University of Miami field hospital for the past 2 weeks. I have continued to do triage/registration in the ER, up until the past few days, when we have been working more intensely on our plans for a permanent housing project here. (More about that in a minute.) The days in the ER are long, hot, and stressful…but I have experienced some true “God moments” there. I have also seen a lot of pain and a lot of heartbreak. One woman brought in her unresponsive husband and sat by tearfully as the doctors worked on him for several hours. I had to translate for the doctor when he came to tell her that despite their best efforts, her husband had died. She crumpled to the ground, and his sister started wailing…it was one of those moments where I couldn’t hold it together anymore. Another woman brought in her 14-year-old daughter, and I sat with her as she cried and prayed, pleading with God to spare her daughter’s life. The girl died an hour later. A 24-year-old guy was brought in for the cleaning of his wounds, and I had to explain to him that his paralysis was permanent and he would not walk again. He broke down in tears and told me he wanted to kill himself because he couldn’t live like that. He said he had his whole life ahead of him and he was too young…what kind of life would it be for him here in Haiti without the ability to walk? These are the moments I don’t want to remember. These are the faces and the conversations that have broken my heart day after day.

There have been good moments too though, and that’s what you have to focus on here. My favorite part of the day is in the evening, when I am done working. After I shower and eat dinner, I spend the rest of the evening in the pediatric and adult tents. There are 6 particular patients that I have really grown to love, so every night I make my rounds and spend time with each of them. Magalita is a 6-year-old girl who had a broken leg and a wound that required a skin graft. She has been here the whole time we have worked here, and she makes me laugh every single day. She has a huge personality and cracks up laughing at everything. She always wants to be on my lap or in my arms, and she gives me lots of kisses and hugs. I think God knew I would need her in my life here.

Sonson is a 2-year-old boy who has a back injury, and he is so precious. He was afraid of me at first– his mom said it was because all the white people are always poking him with needles– but once he realized I am not going to give him any shots or hurt him, he warmed up to me. His mom said the other nurses can’t understand why he won’t talk or smile or play with them, but he will with me. He has the cutest little voice, and the things he says are a constant source of entertainment to me and his mom. I have grown really attached to his mom too. She is 7 months pregnant and is such a loving, sweet mother to Sonson. She is very affectionate with him, which is not all that common here, and he adores her.

Patterson is a 12-year-old boy who was brought in to the ER last week with a head injury. He was in the house when a part of it collapsed (5 weeks after the quake) and hit him in the head. He was unconscious and bleeding from the nose and mouth. His dad brought him in, and I went to talk to him to get the information to register him. I found out that his mom is not around and his dad is the one who takes care of him, and Patterson is his only child. The dad’s eyes were bloodshot from crying so much. Patterson is still in the pediatric ICU here, hooked up to all kinds of machines. I go to check on him and his dad every morning and evening. Last night I dreamed that he was up walking around, talking to me…I hope with all my heart that that becomes a reality.

James is a 21-year-old guy who has been here in this hospital for a month now. He has a spinal injury and can’t move his legs from the knees down. One night he spent about 2 hours telling me in full detail about his experience with the earthquake…the moments leading up to it, what he saw and felt during those crazy 30 seconds, and the hours and days afterwards. His story was shocking and moving, and I wished I had tape recorded that conversation so I could write it all down. He has laid on the same cot, staring at the same tent ceiling, for 32 consecutive days…and yet his attitude is still so positive. He is determined that he will walk again, and he has an unshaken faith that God has a plan for his life. He tries to encourage the other patients around him, as he knows how easy it is to become depressed in what feels like a hopeless place. His maturity blows me away. He told me that he has been amazed by the kindness and generosity of the Americans who set up this hospital and who have come to work here, and all the others who have donated their money and time to help his people. He said he wishes he could thank every American individually…so I am thanking each of you for him. If you have given your money, your time and energy, or your prayers for the people of Haiti– James sincerely thanks you.

The last 2 that I have grown to love are a young woman with two broken legs and her sister-in-law who stays with her here at the hospital and takes care of her. They are both so sweet and so much fun to talk to. The one with both legs broken told me last night that despite her injuries, she is just so thankful to be alive and that her 2 daughters were not left as orphans. Her sister-in-law is 8 months pregnant with her first child. She came to the ER one day a couple weeks ago with the complaint of swollen feet and an aching back, which I thought was so funny. I said “Let me guess– it’s your first baby? I’m not a nurse, but I’m pretty sure those things are normal for a woman who’s 8 months pregnant…” We had an OBGYN there so he went ahead and did a prenatal exam for her, which I had the privilege of translating for. He let her listen to the baby’s heartbeat, and her face just lit up. She was so excited and so giggly…it was adorable. Both of these women are like rays of sunshine in the adult ward– I have never seen them without a smile on their face.

Hi,
 
I have been trying to make myself sit down and write this update, and I have managed to find any reason possible to avoid it. I’m not sure if it’s because I don’t want to think about all the things I saw last week, or because the task of trying to put those things into words is so overwhelming to me. I do want to keep you all updated though, so I will do my best.
 
After running a medical clinic for the first week here, our team decided to work at a field hospital for the second week. The University of Miami has set up a hospital on the airport grounds in Port-au-Prince. It basically consists of two very large tents, one for adults and one for children, an outdoor ER/triage area, a small wound care tent, and an “isolation ward” of a few small tents. There is also a large tent full of supplies that have been flown in (food & water, medical supplies, clothes, etc). Most of the doctors and nurses working at the hospital stay in tents there on the airport grounds, along with the U.S. military. Almost all of the doctors, nurses, and administrators stay for one week or less, so as you can imagine, it is a little bit chaotic there. With so many people coming in and out, and the staff changing every day, it is difficult to maintain any kind of structure or organization. After working there for one day, our doctors were put in charge of the ER!
 
It seemed that each of our skill sets were needed at the hospital, and we all stayed very busy during our time there. Dr. Jon, Dr. Karl, Jim, and I worked in the ER. Dr. Matt did wound care, Becca worked in the pediatric tent, and Erika ran the pediatric pharmacy. Lisa and Amanda shifted between wound care and bedside care. Gerson translated for them the first couple days, and then for the ER the next couple days. Myles and Jane worked in the supply tent– they did an awesome job bringing some organization to the chaos of supplies in there.
 
We each had a different experience working there, and I can only speak for myself. I’m sure between all of us, we could write a whole book on the things we saw and did during our time at the hospital. For me, the days were long and hot and often felt frantic. Within moments of arriving on Monday morning, I had been assigned to work the “front desk” doing admitting and registration in the ER. It seemed to be the perfect place for my Creole speaking, organizational skills, and weak stomach. I did accidentally see some things that I would have preferred not to see, but overall, I was shielded from most of the blood and gore. Patients lined up to get in to see the doctors, and ambulances brought in emergencies from other clinics and mission groups throughout the day. Day after day, we were surprised by the patients with serious wounds and injuries who came in to see a doctor for the first time since the quake. It had been 3 weeks at this point, but there were still many who had not received any medical care.
 
Patients who need surgery or critical care are admitted to the hospital. The adult and pediatric tents are filled with people with broken bones and amputated limbs. There is a minor procedure area (blocked off with sheets) in the front of the pediatric tent, and an operating room in the back, where surgeries are taking place around the clock. The magnitude of human suffering inside those tents is overwhelming. Each patient has a name, a story, a life…a life that will never be the same. At first, I didn’t like working at the front desk because it was so busy and fast-paced that I didn’t have time to really talk to individuals as they came in. But after taking a break and visiting with some of the patients in the tents, I discovered that hearing their stories and really seeing their pain was so much harder on my heart. Perhaps being in a position where I can’t fully take in the sadness will help me to have the emotional strength to keep going.
 
Some of the things that stand out in my mind from last week… 
 
*I got pulled to translate for the doctors throughout the day whenever there weren’t enough translators around, and I had to tell 3 different patients that there was nothing we could do for them and they were going to die. Two had cancer, and one had a heart problem. One of the cancer patients was a very sweet woman with six daughters. I talked to her and her husband for a while, and her husband begged me to find some kind of solution for her. He asked me what he would do without her, trying to raise six girls on his own. They broke my heart.
 
*I saw a 14-year-old girl die in the children’s tent. Many doctors came in and tried to save her. Lisa and I went and picked up the little girl in the bed next to her, to move her away from the commotion, and she started bawling and clung to me out of fear. We played with her and tried to distract her from what was going on. The next time I looked over at the 14-year-old girl, it was over. I can still see her face in my mind, before they covered her with a sheet and carried the body out.
 
*A 22-year-old girl came to me and asked if I knew of any orphanages who could take her niece. Her niece was inside the pediatric tent, with several broken bones and some burns on her body. She had brought her here to the hospital and had been staying with her, but she didn’t know what she was going to do after we released her. Both the 22-year-old’s parents and the young girl’s parents had been killed in the quake, and their homes were destroyed. She didn’t know where she was going to go or how she was going to take care of herself, let alone her niece. She asked Gerson and I to please take her and find a place for her.
 
We saw many children who were brought in for treatment by a relative because their mom was killed in the quake. We heard many stories of children who had been pulled from the rubble after being buried. I talked to several teenagers who had been in school when it happened– they told of their school collapsing around them, and most of their friends being killed. Almost everyone I talked to had lost a parent, sibling, or child. How do you process so much pain and suffering? How do you remain tender and compassionate without becoming emotionally depleted and depressed? These are the questions we wrestled with all week…
 
There is so much more I could write about, but I will stop now. The group left on Saturday and is back home in the States now. Gerson and I have stayed in the DR for a couple extra days after dropping them off, to get some things done and to take some time away from all of it. We needed the rest, both physically and emotionally. We will head back into Haiti tomorrow morning, and we plan to continue working at the hospital for at least the next couple weeks. Gerson will be doing maintenance work around the hospital (and possibly setting up our water purifier there), and I will continue working in registration. We will set up our tent and stay there.
 
Thank you so much for your prayers over the last couple weeks. The group was awesome– we loved every one of them. Your prayers for our safety, health, and unity were definitely answered. We were very sad to see them go, but we are thankful that each of them gave of their time and their skills here. They served the Haitian people well, and they were a huge encouragement to Gerson and I. Please continue to pray for us, for physical and emotional strength, and that we would be used by God each day to our fullest capacity. Pray that our hearts and minds would be in His hands as we deal with the difficult realities here. Thank you all so much. I will keep you updated whenever I can. I have been working on uploading all of our pictures too, so I will send you that link as soon as I finish. God bless!
 
Love,
Heather