Aftershock...

I've never been in an earthquake but I got to feel what one is like. This morning at 6am, we were all awakened by the rumble of the largest aftershock since the original earthquake. After 3 days of sleeping outside, we were blessed to be able to stay with Tara and Troy Livesay, a couple from Minnesota who have a home in Haiti.

I was so physically exhausted yesterday that I planned to sleep in a little this morning but that was my plan. At 6am we were awakened by the rumble and shaking of a large aftershock. Troy said it was the biggest one since the original earthquake. It surprised me at how loud it was and how scared the entire household was and how everyone just grabbed kids and ran out of the house. Everyone is safe and the house had no damage but I could see on the eyes of the children the fear that has become a reality for them.

This is the hardest part of an earthquake... the emotional damage that it has done to both adults and children. Troy said the people living on the streets will now be out there for another week because of the fear. Rebuilding the broken buildings is insignificant compared to the rebuilding of trust and security that these children have lost.

I have not been able to get to Titnayen yet because of the lack of diesel but I hope to go there in the next few days. Here are some pictures Jean (our director) took of Grace Village.

This is one of our construction workers who was injured when a wall fell on him. Jean says he'll be alright.

Fan Fan in Alive!!!

Those of us who know and love Fan Fan have been worried sick about him. The lack of phone, internet and any other communication has made us realize how precious life is and how quick it can change. As Fan Fan said, " By the Grace of God, I have been saved". We along with many of his Healing Haiti friends are grateful for Fan Fan's safety.

Fan Fan told me he was on his way to a bible study at his church. He said he was late because he was studying for his english test. He was riding in a tap tap when the earthquake hit. The tap tap was on airport road and rocked from side to side and when he got off the tap tap "the earth was still moving". The sky was gray with dust and the electric poles were shaking. People were running everywhere... "all the people were so afraid". He said when he got off the tap tap he did not know what to do. He said he just lift up his hands and say to God "I give you my soul".

It took him hours to get back home. There was "desolation everywhere". He said "my sister thought I was dead and she went to look for me". He said "to me that's God. God made me leave my house, I didn't stay home and I didn't arrive at the church... that's God save me". He doesn't know exactly how many but says 3 people in his bible study were killed and many injured as his church collapsed.

When he got home he found his house in ruins. The front and one side wall had collapsed. He said a few minutes earlier he was studying in his house. You can see the large piece of concrete that landed on his pillow where he was laying while he studied.

Here are some pictures of what is left of Fan Fan's 1 room house.

This is the refugee camp that Fan Fan now lives in... these camps do not have aid, they are just neighbors banding together, living on the streets. Fan Fan says the building in the background is "ready to tumble". All they can do is wait for someone to come and help them. It is very desperate.

Jean's House

This is the house of Healing Haiti's Director Jean Fils-Aime. He lives in this house with six of his relatives including his son Djovany. Djovany had stepped outside to the back of the house to take a shower when the earthquake hit. Only one person was injured in the collapse. We thank God that Jean and his family are OK and ask that God blesses Jean's efforts to help others in need. Jean is one of the more fortunate ones as he is able to sleep in the back of his truck. Jean sent Djovany to his sisters house in Les Plaine. Here is Jean with his son Djovany.

Our Friend Kevin, Helping to dig out some personal belonging for Jean.

Haiti Earthquake: In Search of Fuel

Enel and I headed out on the motorcycle searching for fuel. Gas station after gas station were closed because no fuel. We finally saw a gas station with hundreds of people standing in line with one gallon jugs. We were desperate and almost out of fuel. We approached one of the motorcycle taxi drivers that had just received his gas in his container and asked him how long he was in line. He said 3 hours. We asked if we could buy one of his containers and after some negotiations and $20 US, walked away with a gallon of gas.

We then headed up Delma, continuing to stop at each gas station in search of diesel for our water trucks. We pulled into one that seemed to have diesel and immediately called Jean and Pouchan to bring the water truck. Within minutes the owner came out and said that all the diesel had been "presold" to a company and none was available for us. We begged and told her of our situation and that we were running water for free in Cite Soleil. After a few minutes she came back over to us and said she talked to the company and they would let her sell 25 gallons of diesel to us... but, we had to deliver a load of water to a cistern near her house. We agreed... what choice did we have.

Jean arrived and had our good friend Fanfan with him. I was so happy to see that he was OK. He told me his house was "broken" and he has been sleeping on the street. He looked good but had a worn out look on his face. He said that he was suppose to go to church on Tuesday but decided to study for his english test. He said the people he was suppose to be with at church were killed. I thank God that he is alive.

While we waited for the water truck to arrive with a load of water, I was able to watch one of the recoveries taking place. This building and the one across the street were commercial buildings with many people inside at the time of the earthquake. It is so heart wrenching to watch a large back hoe cut through the rubble while family members standby and watch. My heart is heavy... I can't imagine how their hearts must feel.

Here a a couple videos that I took of the recovery.

Here are a few photos of the blue building mentioned in the videos.

Haiti Earthquake: Day Six

Waking up was hard. I was tired, sore and a little in a fog... but there were people everywhere. Kevin was coming down with a cold and needed to go to the embassy to see about getting his daughter out of Haiti. We decided that while he did that, I would tap tap down to Bobby Duvall's soccer field and get the other motorcycle out of the container. I had to walk 6-8 blocks and wasn't more than two when I walked past the first dead body... neatly wrapped in black plastic with twine with the head and feet showing. I wondered why everyone else was cutting to the other side of the street and soon found out. I guess this is what the relatives are doing with their loved ones and someone will eventually pick them up. It left me with an empty feeling in my gut.

The tap taps were all so full, I decided to hop on a motorcycle taxi. It was an interesting ride watching the destruction along Route Freré as I went.

We passed a market that had completely collapsed killing many people inside. I learned later in the day that when you see a large back hoe, they are searching for the bodies of loved ones trapped inside.

As we got down to the bottom of Route Freré, we passed the US embassy. There was a line almost all the way around waiting to get in.

Armed personnel is the norm with each food shipment being transferred.

As we arrived at Bobby Duval's soccer field in Cite Soleil where we keep our water trucks at night, the damage was obvious, the wall around the soccer fields had fallen in many areas. Praise God that none of them were on our trucks.

After getting the motorcycle out of the container, my first task was to ride into Cite Soleil to assess the damage to Elder's school Tera Promise. We had not heard anything from him or about his school before I left and we were very concerned. Here is a picture of the school directly across the street from Tera Promise. We were just at Elders school last week and heard the voices of children coming from this school.

The entire school had collapsed. Here is a picture of the school next door that we had helped when I was down here for two months in 2007. This was a 3 story school.

Before:

After:

When I called Alyn this afternoon on a satellite phone the first thing that she said to me was "I heard about Elder and the kids at Terra Promise". I asked here what she meant. She said I hear the building collapsed and killed 200 children. I was just there. I asked here where she heard that and she told me that another mission had told her that. I told her I saw Terra Promise and it is still standing. She said she had been crying all morning. It is said the relief we have when we find the truth but it was probably one of the schools across the street where the children were killed.

Terra Promise Primary School, Cite Soleil, Haiti

We rode all over Cite Soleil and the damage is quite moderate by Port au Prince standards... I think the one level tin shacks did not have the same collapsing effect that the multi level concrete buildings had. We then heading into downtown Port au Prince towards the capital... the photos will speak for themselves.

The deeper we got to downtown Port au Prince, the worse it got. If felt like we were in the middle of Beruit or Iraq. The building looked like they had been bombed. The sheer magnitude of the destruction surrounding us is hard to comprehend.











Everywhere you look there is destruction. Whenever you see a crane or back hoe, they are recovering bodies.