Nothing like six hours sleep

Haiti, Day II - Saturday, 06 March 10

Nothing like six hours sleep on an Army cot in a tent with 12 guys and copious mosquitoes to refresh for a 12-hour work day. However, any complaints I might have had were immediately purged as I left the Embassy compound this morning for my area familiarization tour of Port au Prince and surrounding areas. Any image of devastation you may have of Haiti, compound it by a factor of 10, with one exception - the resilience and resolve of the Haitian people; compound those attributes by 20. I was absolutely amazed by the amount of energy put into, what would be considered by US standards, a pathetic and hopeless existence. Throughout the day, I watched as people worked together scavenging barefoot among earthquake rubble for scrap to sell while animated sidewalk commerce thrived with the selling of everything from live chickens, fruits, and vegetables, to used tires, oil, and clothing. There was no sense of entitlement, only an apparent drive to help themselves as best they knew. It was a heart-warming sight given Haiti's historical hardships and current tragedy. Today's trip took me to the destroyed Port au Prince neighborhoods of Petionville, Turgeau, and the infamous slum of Cite Soleil with its estimated 1-million residents. Also viewed was the collapsed mountainside resort Hotel Montana (where former President Bill Clinton and current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton got married as well as honeymooned), the demolished National Palace and its neighboring tent city of 100,000 people, and the Mass Grave Site containing more than 150,000 victims in the Sources Puantes area. In all, today was an exceptionally humbling experience, one where I bowed my head in thanks for the life I; we, have been allowed to live.