TS Tomas Hits

This post is unfortunately going up later than I would have liked. This is due to a combination of things. Either way, it is a story that is too good to not post.



The morning after Tomas, Mami Pompe showed up with her two grandchildren soaked to the bone. Bobby and Shekele both attend our preschool, and Mami's unfinished house is located right off our property. During the night, the force of the wind was so strong that it blew the roof right off of Mami's house. We took Bobby and Shekele, gave them warm "baths", fed them, and put them in warm clothes. Mami insisted on returning to her house in the pouring rain because she did not want her belongings stolen.

After the boys were happy and dry, and the rain had decided to give a slight reprieve, Mami came back for her boys. We drove them back to the house with the intention of talking her into letting us keep the boys for the next few days until the rain and wind was completely gone. This is what I saw when I walked into her house-



Of course the rain started up at this point. In the top picture, you can see Bobby looking up towards the sky as the rain starts to drench the inside of their house again. Her mattresses, chickens, clothing, pots, pans, and table were wet. Their dirt floor had turned to mud. I could not let them stay like this.

Tigre drove us back to the Quad where Sam from Shelter2Home was waiting with an umbrella. "Sam- can your guys PLEASE help Mami. They have no roof whatsoever."

Sam and I ran out to collect his team of "home builders". After listening to me explain the situation, Fritznel jumped up, obviously ready to take on the mission and shouted, "We work for Shelter. We work for all!"

The boys, with tarp and rebar, raced across the muddy field to Mami's rescue.



After about a half hour, the boys had rigged a roof that will last for now. Mami took my face in her hands and said, "God will repay you for this."

Really, I was just the voice that brought the problem to light. The Shelter2Home boys were the ones that did all of the work. I have talked about Haitian Hospitality in my past posts. There is also another thing called Haitian Camaraderie.

Sam, nice job sharpening the Camaraderie that exists in them. You should be proud of them. I definitely was.

Slumber Party

I went to the primary school to check on our kiddos.


To our younger ones, tonight is going to be a slumber party, and they are already getting started.


To our teens, they are NOT looking forward to being stuck in the primary school with the little guys.

I told our house mothers that we should have bought them all earplugs... either that or some grown up beverages...

On the Bright Side...

Sam gets to use the rain as his personal shower.


And Zanmi gets to wear a jacket hood to stay warm and dry.

Rain

The clouds are getting darker, and the rain is coming down sideways.

Around 11 this morning, we had a lull in the rain, so I took the opportunity to go to the prison to bring them emergency hurricane relief food. We have 25% of our food set aside for emergency relief purposes. Today we brought two weeks worth of vitamin enriched rice as well as cooking oil.

When I got there it was already flooded in the central courtyard. I walked around to each cell and told everyone about the high chance of strong winds and rains starting this evening. I reminded them to stay towards the back of the cell, and that we will all be praying for them. We will be stopping by next week to see how they faired in the storm. I feel like I am in prison being cooped up in the quad right now- I cannot even begin to imagine how they feel.

On the way back from town it started raining harder. We saw people begin to pack up their storefronts. The streets started to clear. The water at the main bridge has started to swell, and I worry about the homes along the shore. I have seen them flood before.

We are getting wetter and wetter out here at Espwa. Again, all emergency precautions have been taken, and we will be sure to keep everyone as safe (and dry) as possible.

Keep praying for those less fortunate than us. Those that are living in tents. Those that have no shelter whatsoever.

Update on Tropical Storm Tomas

We are safe. The children have been moved to the second story of the secondary school with a standby nurse, our house mothers, and some kitchen staff, and emergency food and medical supplies.

The quad is a circus...

We have 3 of our boys who work in the quad: Sam, Delince, and Gedna. 2 of our guys that live in the quad: Sonson and Enock. Wilson, Sam, and Fery. Nathalie. Her toddler, November. His babysitter, Gina. Me. Our director, Berthony. Dogs: Natalio and Snoopy. Cats: Patches, Batman, and Robin....

and a partridge in a pear tree.

I am not so much worried about the storm anymore... now it is whether or not we kill each other from living in such close, wet living quarters for the next 48 hours.

Wish us luck.

Keep the families in tents in your prayers.

Update on Jean Camy

Yesterday I went with Jean Camy to verify his story. He had said he was living on the streets, and sleeping in a bus by the ocean. He also had said a family would give him food when he was hungry.

His story checked out.

Below is a picture of the inside of the bus Jean Camy was sleeping in, along with the family that took care of him by giving him bits of food.






When we told them that Espwa was going to start helping him, they were overjoyed. "He has been like a family member. We are happy you will be helping him out now."

I asked Jean Camy if he was going to miss his bus-house and he said, "No. Now I have a real home."

After we returned, Jean Camy attended our literacy class we hold in the afternoons for staff that never had the opportunity to go to school to learn to read and write. He was thrilled- it was his first day of formal education.

After class, he stopped by to show me his very own book, notebook and pencil. His homework was to practice writing the numbers 0-9. He was so excited. I am going to be tutoring him so that we can see if we can catch him up and place him in a typical classroom setting in the near future.

Jean Camy

This is Jean Camy. I found him waiting to talk to me (with the ultimate goal of talking to Father Marc) outside of the quad this afternoon. I brought him in, sat him down, and listened to his story.

Mind you- my first instinct was to heave a sigh of exhaustion and tell him I was too busy. Every day I hear a story of a hungry child, a family in need of a home, a student that needs to go to school. Sometime I field them from Father Marc, sometimes he sends them to me, and sometimes we hear the stories together. In any case, no matter how tired I am (and today I was tired and grouchy) I have to remember- this is why I live in Haiti: to lend and ear and be a voice for those that have lost theirs.
On this particular day, I am glad I heaved that sigh and decided to sit down and listen.

Jean Camy is an orphan. He became an orphan after multiple tragedies. He is 17 years old, and has nothing: no home, no family, no birth certificate, no education. Nothing. A couple years ago, when Gonaive was hit by a hurricane his father and older brother drown. His mother, older sister, and another older brother moved to Port au Prince. Jean Camy’s family is from the poorest of the poor. His mother had to give him and his siblings up to become restaveks in hopes that they would find food and better living conditions. She stayed a beggar in the streets.

On January 12, after already losing his father to a natural disaster, Jean Camy lost his mother, older sister, and older brother. His other older brother lost both of his legs after a block fell on him while he was helping someone out of a building. They were lucky enough to find someone who gave his older brother a wheelchair, and Jean Camy became his brother’s chauffer. They remained children of the streets in Port au Prince until a month ago when a bus gave them a ride to Les Cayes gratis.
Upon arriving in Les Cayes, Jean Camy and his brother found that the streets of the south didn’t greatly differ from Port au Prince. The other street children beat them if they didn’t hand over their money they earned while begging. The shop owners beat them if they got too close to the store fronts for fear they would steal. And the civilians looked down on them, and if they were lucky gave them a bit of food or money.

Two days ago, a bus passed by the boys and stopped. A man told Jean Camy that there was a doctor in an unknown location that could help his brother with no legs. The scooped him up, put him in the bus, and “as the bus drove away we waved goodbye and cried.” Jean Camy has no idea where his brother is or if he will ever hear from him again.

Jean Camy sleeps in a broken down car by the ocean. A neighbor gave him a sheet to sleep with, but when Jean Camy’s clothes get dirty he washes them in the ocean and then wears them wet- they are his only possessions. He begged a taxi driver to help him, and the taxi driver took him to the entrance of Espwa. “If you want to find help- this is where you need to go.”

At this point, I am touched and a little skeptical. My heart is telling me that Jean Camy’s story is true, but my head is remembering all the times Espwa has been lied to in order to receive assistance.

“What do you want in life?” I ask Jean Camy.

“To go to school. All the children get to learn and go to school, and I am in the streets. I can write the letter “A” and the number “3” only. I can’t write my name. I don’t know my birthday. I know nothing. I sit outside of schools in the sun hoping to listen to the teacher and not be seen. When they see me they close the door and shoo me away like a dog. I want to go to school to learn.”

“What about a house? What about food? School is all you need in life?”

“If I can go to school I can learn something for tomorrow. I don’t mind sleeping in the streets if I can go to school.”

It sounds really cliché, but my eyes were watering. Jean Camy moved me. His entire demeanor is one that makes me think he is honest in what he is saying. I take him to our director to see if we can help him.

Now, we are in a pickle. Our rules now state at Espwa that at the age of 18 the children need to go back to their families… but what if they have no family?

We have a good relationship with Social Services, so we call them up and they come out to talk to Jean Camy. Like all of our children, we received authorization through Social Services to care for Jean Camy. Weather approving, he will start the first grade tomorrow.

Like I said earlier, I was tired when Jean Camy came up to speak to me. I had already talked to a mother with a starving infant and given her food, I had spoken to a young man who needed assistance with school, and I had dealt with the countless demands from our own kiddos for soccer balls. At that point, the only thing I wanted to do was catch up on computer work and make preparations for Hurricane Tomas.

But I am glad I sat down to listen. I am glad I was not a cynic, and I am glad I remembered that even though the stories sound the same, they are most likely true. The starvation, the homelessness, the lack of education, all of these things that get so exhausting to hear are why Haiti is broken itself. Even though each of these stories sound the same- the faces are different. The faces are what I have to remember and are why I am here.