Haiti

This was Rebecca's adopted son "Boney"

Kelley kept a little journal and took a lot of pictures while he was in Haiti . Thanks for sharing your experience with us! A couple of weeks ago, I got a call from a friend and he asked me if I would like to go to Haiti to help re-build an orphanage. The recent earthquake destroyed most of it. I told him I'd love to.

We had about 2 weeks to get ready. Shots, buying supplies, plus we didn't know anything about where we would stay, transportation, or what food would be available.

All I knew is that there were 4 masons and 7 other people going. Out of all 11, I knew 2 of them.

We had a couple of meetings, but still not a lot of information. It didn't really matter. I was going to go help anyway.

In the Dominican Republic on the way to HaitiSo On February 19th we loaded up a couple of trucks, all our gear, and 11 of us drove to Las Vegas to catch a flight. The foundation saved $5000 by having us drive from Salt Lake and leave from there.

We got to the airport at 4 a.m. to find out that 3 of us didn't have seats...myself, Gail and Dick. It all worked out though. We flew to Miami, had a 5 hour layover, then on to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

We got there about 9 p.m. and we were told that we would be driving all night to get to Port-au-Prince Haiti.

Keep in mind by all accounts...Government, Internet, and anyone who knows anything about this place, they will tell you it is way too dangerous to drive after dark! And of course I'm never one to rebel, or to take a chance, or to live on the edge, and I always listen to those in the know! So I said what the hell! What are we waiting for? The sooner we get there the sooner we get started on the task at hand. Probably should have re-thought that idea!


5 a.m. first morning



We put 10 men, and all their gear into a small Toyota van. Being the last guy in, I sat by the sliding door. I only had half a seat and no back rest...my leg was in the hole by the door.

7 1/2 hours of insane driving (that's a whole other story) we arrive in Haiti at the orphanage. We all piled out and walked around. The leaders of the orphanage got out of bed. It was 5 a.m.

I only had about 2 hours sleep since Friday morning and this was Sunday. No shower, not much food, but when we all looked around, it was such a humbling experience...words cannot express.

53 kids sleeping in make shift tarp huts...existing in a living hell.





What's left of the front entry gate to the orphanage

Buildings we tore down

There was no restroom...it had been destroyed. The roof is unstable on the orphanage, so they all have to sleep outside. The only safe room they had was saved for us to sleep in.
A couple men fit there, and the rest slept outside in tents they saved for us.





Where the kids played

After about an hour and a half of listening to the rooster crow, Gail and I got up and did what we could. We set all our grade stakes, pulled lines and cleaned out the trench. None of our material was there, so we had 11 men chomping at the bit, ready to go and nothing to do.







We sat around while the kids and leaders had church services.

Wow, what an experience. Everyone of these kids sang as loud as they could. Lots of different songs. It was so neat!

Then one of the leaders read from the bible for a while. It didn't take long before he lost the kids attention, sort of like when the High Council speaks!

After that they sang more songs. One of the older girls was in charge of the music. There was a little boy about 10 years old playing the drum. He was really good.

After church, we just played with the kids until about 4. Then we went to a hotel they had found for us. Spent the first 5 days thinking this baby was a little girl. So pretty!
Hasn't been a baby boy that pretty since I was a kid

Monday was a hectic day. We spent all day preparing for block. When we got to the orphanage, the U.S. Army had about 25 people there with a big truck and 3 Hum V's, so we tore down all the buildings except one because they weren't safe.

Sledge hammers and chains, lots of hard work. They were great people. They left about 4 p.m. and we just kept working. We were waiting for a concrete truck. It showed up about 7:30-8:00...that's the only time we could get it that day. So we finished up about 10:30.

Got to the hotel and no water to shower with. We didn't know what to do. I wasn't stinky, but the other guys were! Ha!

Sunday the shower barely worked just a trickle. Monday...nothing. They have a pool but they hadn't filled it since the earth quake. But they filled it Monday morning so I grabbed my bar of soap and jumped in. After a minute all of us were in and trying to scrub off all the crap. It was hilarious!

Somebody brought these little cars for the kids. They loved them!Tuesday we finally got to lay block. I've been to several 3rd world countries and always wondered why their block work looked so bad. Well I have a new found respect for them. They are doing the best they can with what they have, and that is literally nothing.

The block are bad, the sand is really like pea gravel with a little bit of large grain sand and a lot of boulders. The block are sun dried and so soft you can almost crush them with your hand. It's to say the least very challenging! They don't use lime with their mortar which makes it all but impossible to use.

I think the masons including me thought we were going to build this beautiful wall and what we have so far is a wall that looks just like theirs if not worse! But we will catch on.
So on Tuesday afternoon after laying block all day, the pump truck and concrete truck showed up so we poured more footings and set more block on the set mud. This is really exhausting, especially to do at the end of a day, but we couldn't be picky.

We had another pool tubby and went to bed. No earth quakes, but the freaking roosters start to crow about 2:30 a.m. and are non stop, so not a lot of sleep.

Rebecca, the woman in charge of the foundation, took us around Port-au-Prince.

Unbelievable

Government Palace

No place to go

Group of Army guys that helped us tear the rest of the buildings down

We got up early Wednesday because the concrete truck was going to be there at 7...what they really meant was 10 or 11, but that's Haiti time. If you order something here, no matter what it is, the norm is a 1 to 2 week wait and that's not set in concrete. It's more llike "well if we feel like it, but we will make no promises!"

So the fact that all our material has been delivered in the first 3 days of our stay is nothing short of a miracle.

Today the truck showed up at 10. It had 10 yards . Myself, and Gail and a couple of other guys wet set for 2 hours. I was sure Gail was going to stroke out on me so when the truck was done, we took a good break for lunch. We were only able to pump one truck. The rest we had to fill up the back hoe bucket and haul around and dump it because we had too much debris piled up and the ground all around is like a bog. Really soft and the driver refused to go there. So it took longer and thats ok because it's really hot and humid!

Then we layed block till the late afternoon. The last truck of concrete showed up and we finished pouring the last of the footings so now all we have to do is lay 4500 more block by Saturday afternoon. No Problem!

There's a little boy named Kirby who just would not leave me alone. We only had 2 2x6's to stand on with a bunch of block underneath. Not stable at all and he was right by me the whole time on the plank. I gave him a little margin trowel to work with and he wouldn't stop. Cute kid! it would be fun to bring a bunch home.

These kids loved to have their picture taken...amazed that you could take it, then show it to them right afterWhat an experience it's been to be with these kids. It's been great to see these men- a lot of them seeming to be tough guys, all in construction, melt and tear up at the sight of these kids. They want so much attention. A lot of these kids have parents, but they have no way to support them so they dump them off. The first two days we were there, there was a little baby boy whose mother was buried in the quake, went into labor and she delivered while still under the rubble and then died. The father had nothing and so he gave the baby to the orphanage. They had him for a month, then on Monday afternoon, the father came and wanted to sell the baby to the orphanage. The director sent him away and he got mad and took his baby. I'm sure he's sold this gorgeous little boy now. Surely he will rot in hell! If I see him in hell when I get there, I'll get him myself!

These people believe in Christ for the most part, but they also are very big believers in voodoo. Talking through a interpreter today, boy I got an earful! It's bazzar to me how such God fearing people still believe in voodoo. Evil spirit and all that comes with it.

Today was pretty frustrating...Hatian time and Americanos trying to accomplish things don't mix. It's so stinking hot and humid, most of the guys tire quickly, and that just adds to the frustration. All of these are great guys and love to tease a lot. Gail told them I was in the Bishopric a couple of days ago, so I get it about that too. That's ok...if they are teasing me, they leave other people alone!

This kid named Travis is a great guy. He's 28, married with 2 kids and has stuck to me like glue and I'm glad. He reminds me of K.C. He's really funny, teases me a lot, and he can take a teasing too. His brother-in-law is here too. He's also a great guy. Travis has a friend that's 29 and just finishing up school so we will set Katie up with him.

Don't know why, but I threw this nylon rope into my bag before I left. Ended up making a swing for the kids with it.

No water again this morning. It finally came on in time to go potty. I think they turn thier pumps off for some unknown reason.

Today we got alot done. We had all the materials there for the first time this week. We may not finish the whole wall this week but we'll be close. The locals will be paid 20 dollars a day to finish. We are going to leave all our tools for them. They don't have anything and if you have a trowel, a hammer and a level, you are a contractor.
Everything they have as far as buildings go, are made of block. The block is sun dried, no strength at all and they don't reinforce anything with rebar except for some 6 inch concrete columns every 15 to 20 feet. It's no wonder the buildings fall.

Everyone washes up before you eat They use every scrap of everything they own. They are very ingenious about using all their stuff. There are a couple broken down smaller saws outside the compound wall and these kids probably in their 20's come every day and work on them. Yesterday, one guy took a sheet of metal from an old flat gate and took his rusted out door panel, traced it on this sheet, then with a hammer (with a handle whittled from a tree branch) and a 1 inch chisel and cut out the pattern, bent the edges and punched the holes, filed everything down, smoothed the edge, bent the corners just right, bolted it on. Then puttied where he had to, sanded it all up and it looked really good! I could not believe it, and wouldn't have if I hadn't seen it.

These people can do just about anything with nothing. Incredible!

Some sort of oatmeal, barley gruel with chocolate pudding on top

These little boys at the orphanage want to work so bad they are in our way all day long. Every time I put a tool down, it disappears. They are so damn cute...they smile wide...open those big eyes and give you back your tool. Then just stand and wait until you put it down again...too funny!

Saturday was the last day and we had a lot to do. We left at 5:30, and started at 6. Had a break about 10, then worked until 3. They made us quit to go home and get cleaned up but first they fed us lunch.

The cook there spoke spanish and creole and she would get mad if we didn't come in to eat. We had 2 guys who served spanish speaking missions and she would come out and talk to them and when we didn't come in right away, she would find one of them and get really mad at them! It was funny. Saturday she was really upset that we didn't come in but she fixed lunch at two and we had to leave at three so we kept working. Didn't go over well, but we ate, then left and went to shower. Our's still didn't work, so I went shower hopping. I didn't think I should take a bar of soap down to the pool in broad daylight.

We got to the party and had a good time. Here the kids at the orphanage eat at 7 a.m., 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. everyday. For the party they had a big meal; quite a spread. Chicken, fresh fruit, some other fresh vegies and some stuff I couldn't identify, but it was all good.

They made all the kids wait to eat until we had all dished up, then they set their table up behind ours and they got to eat. Man those poor little guys can eat!

I was uncomfortable eating first, but that's just the way they do it here.

They had some of the older kids sing for us but none of the little ones. We really wanted to hear the little guys sing but we were not in charge.

We took a lot of pictures and hung out with the kids until it started to rain. It hadn't rained all week and this is their rainy season. We all piled into the back of the truck and went back to the hotel all soaking wet. It was a great night.

I am so thankful for the opportunity to go help these people. It was heart breaking to leave these little ones. They were hugging us and crying...telling us thank you and singing to us as we drove off. I only wish that we could have spent more time re-building their living quarters.

Even though they have been through so much they were still so happy and full of joy.

I've learned a lot from them. You can't help but love them. I don't think you can make a trip like this and not have it change you for life. I know that it has changed me and my outlook on life.

Count your blessings! Thank God for everything you have and try to be happy with what we have! I love my wife and family more than ever.

Man it's good to be home!