StephenByxbe.com

Hello Everyone,

I am coming to you live from Blanchard, Terre Noir, La Plain, Haiti!! Lots of names huh? Well today was great… My bed is pretty comfortable and has a nice bit of airflow so I had a difficult time waking up this morning.. Nathan, on the other hand.. has delayed moving into the better bed so he suffered a little last night in a pool of sweat. He was also up early moving around. Breakfast arrived early  (6:30am) so that helped our Medical crew.. they were able to get some coffee and then eat. We shipped the team out at 7:30am accompanied by Nathan, so they could get him some meds for a cough, and so he could make sure they had everything they needed.

Mean while back at the compound- I decided it was time to take some action and see what was up with the crazy solar system. I asked to look at it, and Bruno (local helper) was more than happy to take me up. They are doing construction work around the building where the panels are and in the process, stucco slush had landed on the panels. Yeah – thats why they arent working. So I began to scrub the panels down to get the concrete off. It wasnt too difficult and Nathan returned shortly and joined. We were supposed to go to the store on sunday but that got moved to today so we were waiting to go to the store (kinda like Africa – hurry up and wait)so we were cleaning up and organizing in the time being.

We were able to meet with Pastor Luc and talk about a lot of useful things today including power, transportation, phones and lots of other good things. During that time we sent someone to pick up some fuel for the generators so we could have power all night long!!!! finally!!! We are about to test this so tomorrow you will know how it worked.

After lunch we made it on the truck to go to the store. This was very exciting as we had to go to Leon’s house in Delmas to pick up Nadege (Leon’s daughter). Delmas is a “nicer” area of town. At least until after the earthquake. We saw store completely collapsed, Malls fallen apart, schools crumbled and people in tents EVERYWHERE. There are parks in town that are completely crammed with  tents. Not even any walking space. It doesnt make any sense.

Anyways we made it to Leon’s house and and picked up Nadege. The supermarket- if that is what you want to call it – is very small and only has the basic essentials. We were able to get milk and cereal, peanut butter and crackers. There were a few other things they had but it was no walmart or kroger. Think about shopping for everything you need in a gas station and thats it.

After shopping we made it back to the compound and unloaded. We also learned how to use the generator, how to refill the water tanks, and how to speak a little more creole. Today seems like it was a little bit slower but it ran non stop all day long. They are getting closer on our bathrooms so that day will be SUPER NICE.

Here are some creole phrases/ words we learned:

Manje = food/eat
ou se zanmi’m = you are my friend
pa antre la = no entrance/ do not enter
dlo = water

We have a few more but I cant give it all to you at once or you wont read anymore

Our next mission is t hook the batteries up to the generator so they charge while its running and to build 20 more bunk beds!!!

Keep us in your prayers.

Always with love,

Stephen

Earthquake pictures