Building Goodness in Haiti on NBC29

One of the team members on our trip is a reporter for the local NBC29 news. He has been travelling with us, working with us on the building project, and reporting the whole thing along the way. They are doing a sort of feature story about the whole trip which you can check out on the NBC29 webpage. This is probably, the best way to follow along with the trip, since Henry is here to report on the trip not me. Although, since I haven't really been able to see what's been reported, I can neither confirm nor deny the validity of the reports which may or may not accurately reflect my personal awesomeness. But Henry seems like an alright guy so I think I can trust him.

Building Goodness in Haiti on NBC29.com

Where we are

I meant to post some of these details before we left, but preparations were a bit frantic, so I'll just fill in some details as I go. We flew into Port-au-Prince, Haiti which is the capital of the country and one of the areas hardest hit by the quake. From the PAP airport, we had a two or three hour bus ride to the CODEP Compound, where we will stay all week. (CODEP Compound on Google Maps)

Relative to the surrounding area the compound is practically a mansion, although compared to American standards the living conditions on the compound are quite rustic. Its really not that bad, but you do have to be much more conscientious about conservation, since most of the normal utilities like electricity, water, trash disposal have to be dealt with on the compound due the lack of reliable infratructures in Haiti. Currently, the most obvious by-product of this self-sustainable environment is the strong sulferous odor of the water since the water-purification system was damaged in the earth quake and they haven't yet been able to get the parts needed to repair it.

Most of the work we will do this week will be on the compound itself. The buildings on the compound survived the earthquake with very minor damage and are still in very good shape. The majority of the damage was to the walls surrounding that surround the compound. For the last two days, we have been rebuilding the walls. We won't be here long enough to finish the walls, but we are hoping to complete certain key aspects of the process completed so that the Haitians can finish the work after we leave.

Bon Joo!

We arrived safely on Saturday afternoon. We flew into Port-au-Prince and drove to the CODEP compound where we have been staying for the last few days. The bus ride from Port-au-Prince to L'Acul was quite an experience to see the extent of both the poverty and the post-quake destruction. We were encouraged to be be discrete about photography so as not to offend the Haitians. So I don't have too many pics driving through Port-au-Prince but I did get some choppy video of what we saw on the drive through.

Sunday, we visited church, which was held in the courtyard since all the church building were collapsed. Later that day we drove into the mountains to survey some of the work we will be doing.

Monday and Tuesday we started the work, more on that later, we are getting started for today. Gotta go.

Predeparture Meeting Update

Today we had our predeparture meeting for the trip. I am really going. Up until now, this whole trip seemed very abstract. Everything has been phone conversations and emails and reading things on the internet. Today, the trip really started to take shape. I met the rest of the people on the crew. I have plane ticket and an itinerary. I know where I will be going, where I will be staying, and what I will be doing. Surprisingly, there is not much for me to do to prepare. I basically just need to pack and wait, but not necessarily in that order. I will wait to pack. I did however get a few books at the library to help me wait.

Thanks so much, for all your responses already. It has been a long day, so I am going to leave you in some suspense regarding the trip details. But to tide you over, below I have included the latest BGF update from Haiti which mentions a bit about our trip.

Two BGF reconnaissance teams return safely from Haiti

In L'Acul, BGF founder Jack Stoner and Board Vice President Mike Stoneking along with several members of our partner group, CODEP, assessed the earthquake damage to compound buildings, several of the kays and the Siloe school. Thankfully, there are no known fatalities within the project area. Hiking hours into the mountains, Jack and Mike found that BGF kays survived the quake, some sustaining a bit of damage from landslides. The Siloe Secondary School sustained much damage. Trip photos can be found here.


Our next team heads to L'Acul on Friday, February 26th for a week. Based on CODEP requests, the team will work to repair the exterior wall of the compound, repair minor damage to three kays and work on the foundation of Clement's house. Mike Boggs will lead the team comprised of Louise Finger, Henry Graff, Curtis Hoffman, April Leese, Taylor Quarles and Vinny Valentino. March and April trips are in the works. Contact Ethan for more information.

On Sunday, February 14th, our team returned from a trip to Thomassin. The participants included Executive Director Kelly Eplee, Board President Jack Horn, Jr., electrician Lewis Joachim, engineer Brian Koerner, team leader and architect Antonio Martinez and founder Howard Pape along with Sue Robinson and Dr. Leon Pamphile of the Functional Literacy Ministry (FLM).

The team delivered over 120 pounds of medicine, mostly antibiotics. They inspected the House of David Community Health Center and found it to be sound. The team fixed the center’s generator and learned the meaning of degaje, a Creole word that means "make do with whatever you have." While the generator makes electricity, an exhaust pipe takes diesel fumes to the roof top. It is made of a pipe, hard won in a bargaining session, bought on the street in front of a collapsed hardware shop, stocked with products recycled from earthquake debris. The cap that keeps rain out is made of a tomato can.

The team inspected a school run by the FLM and found it to be sound. The Haitian government is not allowing children to attend classes because of concerns about unstable structures. When the decision is made to allow a return to school, the teachers at FLM will have peace of mind knowing that their building is safe. The group was moved by the National Day of Mourning, observed on Friday, February 12th. Find trip members' personal accounts of the experience of extremes on our Stories of Haiti page on the website. Our team was honored to travel with Dr. Leon Pamphile and Sue Robinson and to see the clinic up and running. We continue to plan with the Functional Literacy Ministry for the next phase of rebuilding.

Thomassin team

The Quick and Dirty Skinny

I am going to Haiti with BGF to help rebuild some damaged buildings that are a part of CODEP, a project run by Haiti Fund, Inc. I will be leaving Charlottesville next Friday, Feb 26 and returning on March 6. This trip was organized under obviously less than ideal circumstances and with a certain degree of urgency, so I still don't know many of the trip details. I only just found out that I would be going two days ago. I have a predeparture meeting tomorrow afternoon where we will be filled in with as much information as is available at this time.

So, there is not much time left for preparations. Fortunately, I have been in steady contact with BGF for the last few weeks and I have been preparing for this possibility. I have my passport. I have all my vaccinations. I've filled out the forms and read the handbook. Im very excited about this opportunity and amazed that what was just a crazy idea a month ago has so quickly become a reality. I am very grateful to have the skills and ability to help in this way. I am also very fortunate that my life affords such flexibility to be able to respond and act so quickly (thanks in large part to my awesome job and generous boss at MKR).

I am in a very unique position to be able help in such a concrete way (much of the work will actually involve repairing and laying concrete foundations) and I would like to share this experience. If you would like to help, I would most appreciate your prayers and encouragement. I may need a ride to the store to get some new work boots and I could probably use some help with a few other preparations when I know more details. If you are particularly interested and able to help with some of the trip expenses, I will have more specific information about that after tomorrow's predeparture meeting or you can contact me directly.

Thanks, and I will post more information when I have it. For now, you can check out the links to BGF and CODEP for the latest news and project status.