5:30 a.m. – thank you roosters. You do make a compelling reason to “rise and shine”!
Sunrise and sunset come early here as we are closer to the equator. Cool breezes have helped but it is still hot. Breakfast was at 7:30 this morning and we learned a new sung “grace” for some of us: back of the bread is the flour, back of the flour is the mill, back of the mill is the wind and rain and the Father’s will. Breakfast consisted of oatmeal, bananas, mango juice, bread with peanut butter and coffee.
Afterwards we had a discussion with Gerson on the current political situation in Haiti which is very corrupt with many pay-offs to the “bureaucracy” in order to get anything done. This leads to continuing frustrations, e.g. “selling your soul to the Devil”. He said “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer” – a seeming endless cycle.
My first impression was that this was like the staged buildings you see at Disney World. The houses look like they are ready to fall down and there is junk everywhere. The main difference is that Disney World is spotlessly clean and there was trash everywhere.
My second impression is that this is like the steelmaking shop that I worked in for the last 14 years of my steelmaking career. A steelmaking shop is hot dirty, dusty and has plenty of rubble. I soon came to appreciate that the steelmaking shop is probably cleaner.
After this, my impressions only got worse. PAP (Port-au-Prince) has no trash service and no city water either before or after the earthquake. There were piles of trash all around and rubble from the earthquake was all around including in the streets. Somehow this trash must get removed but it is not clear how or by whom. There are areas in the city that people go to get their daily water. There are open sewers that trash accumulates in and is periodically washed to the sea.
The sights and sounds and smells as we left the airport and drove to the hospital were amazing to say the least. Sewage, rotting fish, jerk chicken, dust. The blaring horns, people’s voices, motorcycles, cars, trucks. Stands selling everything and anything line all the roads. Who has money to buy? People washing and bathing in big round tubs on the side of the road. Brokenness everywhere.
We arrived at the complex where we are staying for the week. We are on the top floor of the building that houses doctors without borders. This is a "gated community." We have security guards at every entry. On the grounds that surround the hospital a tent village has sprung up. What used to be gardens and parks is now tents upon tents, gravel and rubble.
For a few hours before a meeting today I helped Tristan start to clean and straighten up the tent hospital Notre Dame ran out of the compound where I stay in the months immediately following the earthquake. Now, the various medical groups in the area can’t afford to mix cholera patients with their regular services, thus the old hospital out front has been targeted as a possible cholera treatment center. We wanted to jump ahead and see what could be done to convert it from six chambers of random shelves, supplies, and gear scattered all around, to five chambers ready to bleach down and set up with rows of cots.
It is so energizing seeing the work teams that are here now interact with the Haitians all around us. There is something about the smiles and laughter ringing around the yard that just shoots energy through me. I hear distant chatter from one end of the Notre Dame compound to the other. The conversation is clearer than any noise around. All I hear is joy, interaction, effort, and excitement mixed with laughing.
This team is evidence that people coming together to build a home helps erase the division of the foreigner and resident. I'm proud of my volunteers and masons. I consider their safety and plan for their needs. I've been teaching the unfamiliar constuction skills to the folks from the States so they can build!
helped but it is still hot. Breakfast was at 7:30 this morning and we learned a new sung “grace” for some of us: back of the bread is the flour, back of the flour is the mill, back of the mill is the wind and rain and the Father’s will. Breakfast consisted of oatmeal, bananas, mango juice, bread with peanut butter and coffee. 
Oct. 19