12981: Short term mission trip to Dariol, Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Bruce Wharram <bruce.wharram@sev.org>

Members of my family and I took our annual short term mission trip to
Haiti this year from July 23 through August 2, and went to Dariol on the
south coast between Jacmel and Cotes de Fer to help on the construction
of a new church. I typed this "diary", from my notes, after getting home.

2002 Haiti Trip

Tuesday July 23, 2002
Uneventful flights from Toledo to Chicago to Port au Prince. Five of our
bags didn't make it with us to Port au Prince. After filing a lost
baggage claim we proceeded thru customs - only two bags were checked
while the others hurried thru. The usual scramble by "Red caps" to carry
our bags to the truck. An improvement since our last trip in that a
large canopy had been installed to shelter those people waiting outside.
Ed Bornemann, Eneck, our Haitian translator/leader, Boss Ellie and Boss
Onel met us with the large MIA "cattle" truck. In Haiti, any artisan or
skilled person is called "Boss".
Found that Airport Road (Avenue Haile Selassie) had been greatly
improved since my last trip - a paved three-lane boulevard with curbs
and traffic lights, which amazingly were operating for the most part.
This was a great ride until our driver, Omega, decided to take a "short
cut". Why does the Haitian's idea of a "short cut" take us thru some of
the narrowest, roughest roads in Port?
Upon arriving at the Oasis (Ministries in Action's guest house in Carre
Four), we found that Ed and Barb Bornemann had made huge improvements in
the guest house - a new kitchen with pass thru window to the dinning
room and a new generator with an inverter system that Ed installed. This
provided water for showers plus electricity all night. (The local Haiti
Electric transformer had blown out several months ago with no hope of it
being replaced - thus no "commercial power".)

Wednesday July 24, 2002
We were up early and left for the approximate 80 mile ride to Dariol at
8:00 AM, arriving in Miragoane, about half way, at about 10:15 AM. Lunch
break a few miles west of Miragoane near Duparc, where Pastor Cassey has
a farm for his orphan boys. In Aquin about noon to turn off the main
road and down the rough, rocky, dusty road to Dariol, some 25 miles
away. The first 11 miles or so is the best part of this road and we made
it to Flamands, another MIA (Ministries in Action) Project Ebenezer, in
40 minutes. From there it was all tough going, reaching Dariol in
another 2 hours - over 7 hours to go 80 miles. A couple of new things
were noticed on this trip - the "locals" had install speed humps in
numerous locations on this dirt road; there were 3 new John Deere
tractors between Carrefour and Dariol, one was plowing a field near
Cotes de Fer. Also, there was a lot of corn in the fields and new crops
were being planted - this has been a good growing season with adequate
rain. One might say things are looking up in this area of Haiti.
When we arrived in Dariol, Pastor Philaine was a bit unhappy, as he had
expected us the previous day, thus no food (manje) was ready for us. He
was very happy, however, that we had finally arrived. After eating,
Eneck and Boss Ellie met with Pastor to determine what work was to be
done and what materials were to be ordered - 36 bags of cement and two
truck loads of "sand"/stone. Howard (my oldest son) and I were invited
to this meeting. Boss Ellie then went to Cotes de Fer and ordered these
items.
A heavy thunder and lightning storm later in the evening, with several
team members showering and washing hair in the rain.

Thursday July 25, 2002
After breakfast we walked to the church site and began work - sifting
sand and mixing mortar. Concrete and mortar is mixed on the ground in
Haiti with no power mixing equipment available. Haitians had established
the mix for this mortar to be 5 wheelbarrows full of sand and 2 bags of
cement. Sand and cement that Boss Ellie ordered had not arrived yet, but
we were able to scrounge enough that was left from the church and clinic
construction. Plastering a wall with this mortar mix requires a quick
snap of the wrist in order for the mortar to stick to the wall. The
Bosses are quite good at this but I've never seen a "blanc" (American)
that can make it stick - it always hits the wall and falls to the
ground. It's a wonder that these guys don't get carpal tunnel in the wrist.
After lunch we sifted more sand and mixed more mortar so that one wall
could be plastered except for the top 2 feet, which would require
building a scaffold to reach. Boss Ellie then went to Cotes de Fer and
ordered some "fig" trees (banana) for Ed Bornemann to plant at the Oasis
guesthouse.

Friday July 26, 2002
Still no sand! We were still able to scrape up enough to mix mortar
enough for plastering the second wall except for the top two feet.
PTL! When we returned to the compound, Inel, Sam's driver (Sam is the
nurse who runs the clinic in Dariol out of his house about 500 ft. up
the mountain), had brought in the 5 missing bags. He had taken a Tap-Tap
to the Oasis to pick up Sam's mail, which he does weekly - Ed had
retrieved the bags from Customs. Ed took Inel and the bags to the "bus
station" in Port au Prince and put him on a big "camion" to Dariol. We
had originally put plastic wire ties on all of our bags - they were all
cut on the 5 bags and customs people had rummaged thru them all. About
the only things missing were the 24 AA batteries and 8 D batteries I had
put in the large bag carrying the portable stretcher we had purchased
for Sam and the clinic. We thought the Otoscope we brought for the
nurses to use and to leave for Sam was missing also, however it was
later found. PTL!!
A shallow stream flowed across the road between the compound and the
church. Some of the local Haitians took several team members up stream
to a nice "bathtub" depression in the stream. This was a wonderful,
refreshing place to bath, wash your hair and just relax in the cool
water, instead of making the long trek to the ocean beach.

Saturday July 27, 2002
PTL! When we arrived at the church "anpil sab" - much sand - the large
truck was there being unloaded by 3 young Haitians. The driver told us
that he had 6 flat tires while getting the load for us.
With the arrival of the sand, we were able to mix mortar for the end
walls and top 2 feet of the sidewalls. This required the construction of
scaffolding - quite an undertaking with the few 2x4's and planks that
were available. At one point Boss Onel knocked a hole in the end wall to
stick a 2x4 thru and Howard took a piece of re-bar outside; bent it into
a "U" shape; stuck it thru an opening in a "window"; and Boss Onel bent
it around the other end of the 2x4 to hold it in place against the wall.
Also, there were only a dozen or so nails available so we had to
straighten and re-use them. This scaffold had to be erected, torn down
and re-erected 3 times to cover the length of one wall, so more time was
spent putting up scaffolds than actually plastering.

Sunday July 28, 2002
Pastor Philaine always likes to have a team member "preach" at the
Sunday service, so this time Howard was "elected" by acclamation. After
much joyful singing (chante) by the congregation, Howard spoke on Eph
6:1-4 and Col 3:21 - "Children, obey your parents in the Lord . . .
Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the
training and instruction of the Lord." "Fathers, do not embitter your
children. Or they will become discouraged." He did a great job! Eneck
translated into Creole.
After more singing, Pastor Philaine announced that there would be VBS
Monday afternoon and the nurses (grand daughter Sarah, from Santa Fe, NM
and her friend Kimberly) would have clinic Tuesday all day. At the
conclusion of the service, a man stepped forward with a very bad cut
between his thumb and first finger - looked like he had possibly done it
with a machete. The nurses cleaned the wound, amply applied betadine and
wrapped. He was given an anti-biotic before he left. Also a mother with
a baby in her arms. It was determined that she had an upper respiratory
infection - Sarah gave her medication and told the mother to come back
Tuesday. By the way, her name was Nerlande, our daughter-in-law's name.
The afternoon was time to rest and go to the "bathtub" up the stream.

Monday July 29, 2002
More mortar mixed and rough plastering complete on all walls.
After lunch, VBS began with much loud, joyful singing led by Eneck and
Pastor Philaine. Next, grand daughters Sarah, Jenny and Kate used
"Veggie Tales" puppets to tell the story of "feeding the 5000". Again,
Eneck translated to Creole for the kids. The craft project consisted of
coloring some cardboard that our daughter-in-law Karen and the girls had
cut out, at home, in the shape of a moon. This was then glued to a piece
of foam rubber of the same shape. A piece of elastic was inserted and
tied at each end so the kids had a sun visor to wear. There were
probably between 125 and 130 kids and young adults at VBS and doing this
project. All had an inspiring, fun day!
Sarah and the girls wrote personal 3x5 information cards to include -
"Nom, age, place of birth (de Naissance),allergie, poids and B/P.

Tuesday July 30, 2002
We were up at dawn again with the dogs barking and the goats bleating.
After breakfast, clinic was started at 8:00 AM. Some people had already
arrived by the time we awoke. Four "stations" plus the "pharmacy" were
set up: Pastor Philaine and/or Frankol completed the personal
information cards; Mary and Bruce weighed everyone and recorded babies
in kg (some medicines were dispensed by kg weight of child); Jenny took
blood pressure; and Sarah & Kimberly were at the nurses station. Eneck
translated for both nurses and did a superb job. Justin, our grand son
from Kentucky, was the "medical assistant", helping to clean and wrap
wounds. Howard and Karen ran the pharmacy and Kate filed the information
cards to be left for Sam.
An "ER" patient was carried in by two men. She had a large open wound on
the inside of her right thigh where she had been hit by a car. She
indicated that she had been seen by a doctor at the "hospital" in Cotes
de Fer, but the appearance of the wound and the stitches wouldn't
indicate that any professional had taken care her. The wound, as large
as your hand, was still wide open with only a couple of stitches having
been taken using heavy black string. Justin and Sarah cleaned the wound,
put antibiotic ointment on it and wrapped it. She was given some
antibiotic pills to take and instructed to get back to the "doctor"
right away.
By noon 55 patients had been seen.
After lunch another lady was carried in on a makeshift stretcher. She
had been treated for some ailment since December and was getting no
better. After discussion with the men who had carried her, the nurses
concluded that she was probably in the final stages of aids and they
could do nothing for her.
By closing time for the clinic, a total of 131 patients had been seen -
a very interesting and fruitful day. Oh yes, this old man was treated by
the nurses also - felt like I was getting bronchitis again and Kimberly
happened to find a "Z pack" for me, although it was dated June 2000.
Before Sam left Haiti in June he gave Inel a package to be mailed to us
- containing letters and photos of school children that CPC members are
sponsoring in Dariol. As only could happen in Haiti; Inel gave it to
Eriel, a school teacher who was responsible for mailing; Eriel gave it
to Pastor Philaine to mail in Les Cayes; Pastor took it to Cayes but
forgot to mail it.

Wednesday July 31, 2002
Up at dawn; had breakfast and loaded the camion for return trip to the
Oasis. Left at 8:00 AM and didn't get back to Aquin until noon - a 4
hour trip that took 2 hr 40 min coming to Dariol. Trouble getting around
a new concrete bridge that Water for Life had constructed. They had
dammed the river to keep water away until the concrete had set up. Some
of the locals got anxious and tore out the dam so the concrete didn't
set up. A large truckload of "chabon" (charcoal) got stuck in the river
and had to unload before he could get out. Our driver told every one to
get off the camion, we waded across up stream and he gunned it, spun a
bit, backed up and across he went. Pastor Philaine rode with us until
that point, and then he got off and hopped a Tap-Tap. When we got to the
main road at Aquin he was standing across the road waiting for a Tap-Tap
to Cayes - the opposite direction from where we going. He waved as we
passed - problem is, we still have not received the package that he was
to mail. That's been a little over two weeks and things don't move too
fast in and out of Haiti - maybe next week.

Thursday August 1, 2002
Touring/sightseeing day around Port au Prince - the Palace, Peace Statue
and some street markets for paintings etc. Stopped at the Olofosson
Hotel and met Richard Morse, owner and member of "RAM" Haitian RaRa
band. The Olofsson is the hang out for visiting journalists and was the
Trianon in "the Commedians, Graham Greens's take on the nightmare regime
of Francois "papa Doc" Duvalier.
Went up the "hill" to Petionville and had lunch at Hotel Montanna -
where "the elite meet to eat". We have now seen the entire spectrum in
Haiti - from the slums of Port au Prince to the peasant village of
Dariol to the elite Petionville.

Friday August 2, 2002
Left the Oasis at 6:00 AM to catch our uneventful 8:53 AM flight from
Port au Prince to Miami. Our 3:53 PM flight out of Miami to Chicago was
another story. After we were all seated in the plane, the Captain came
on and said that this plane, when it landed, was having electronic
problems. Great!! After sitting through a thunder and lightening storm
the Captain came back on said, "It looks like the technicians are going
to have to replace one of the computers, we're not sure how long that
will take." Boy, lots of "TB" now! After sitting for 2 ½ hours we were
finally ready to take off - at least that's what we thought. We taxied
down to the end of the runway, stopped and turned around. After getting
back to the other end of the taxiway again, the Captain came back on and
said, "I imagine by now you folks are wondering what's going on. Well
the wind just changed direction and we have to take off in the opposite
direction."
After all of that we got to Chicago and had missed our connecting
American Eagle flight to Toledo by about 20 minutes. Finally made
arrangements to fly to Detroit but we would be responsible for getting
to Toledo. Jenny called a friend and asked him to meet us at Detroit.
Now more "TB" because we had to sit some more since the flight to
Detroit originated in Boston and there were similar delays getting from
there to Chicago.
We finally arrived at Howard and Karen's house in LaSalle, MI at about
2:30 AM Saturday August 3rd; stayed over night and back to Toledo about
noon, after which we had a call from Toledo Express Airport that our
bags had arrived and we could pick them up.
End of story and end of another uneventful trip to Haiti!