Today was an engineering ...
Haiti, Day XXV - 29 March 10
Today was an engineering, or should I say reverse-engineering day as we knocked down 10-foot high retaining walls that were threatening about 100 people at the Terrian Golf / Delmas 48 shanty town, the camp Sean Penn advocates for. (http://jphrodonate.org/) It was quite a scene, us Americans directing Haitian workers with my broken french and hand signals in front of a large and amused crowd of homeless people displaced by the 12 January 10 earthquake. However, smashing thru dirt, dust, and the humid 95-degree air, we got it done, brick by brick, reverse-engineering a warped and weakened 100-foot crumbling wall.
However, as the final brink hit the hard dirt ground of the former gold course, Part II of our project kicked in. Many of our on-lookers began scavenging thru the debris looking for anything usable, which was about everything, for their tarp or tent home. It was controlled chaos to claim even the smallest bit of rubble, a broken brick, twisted rebar, barbed wire, for use in their shanties. I never saw so many people so happy to receive a gift so often discarded by Americans, broken concrete blocks.
This encampment began spontaneously almost immediately after the earth shook as more than 60,000 people sought the safety of this former nine-hole golf course and tennis club. About a week after the quake, Sean Penn arrived and almost immediately began advocating for the camp with both his celebrity and money; $1-million worth.
Made up on homes built with two tarps and four poles, as well as camping tents, nearly all are situated on slopes and will be subject to flooding once the rain season begins in April. Thus the flurry of activity with USACE, Navy Sea-Bees, and 82nd Airborne as well as sense of urgency by the Jenkins Penn Relief Organization to meditate potential hazards.
Now, as if the day were not eventful enough, on our way out of the camp, a boy about 10 years old collapsed right in front of our vehicle. Nearly 50 people stood about saying he had suffered a seizure (in Haitian of course!). Of slight build, the child was peddling .25 liter bags of water, carrying about 20 pounds worth on his head on this 95-degree humid day. With no family or friends nearby, he was found with barely a pulse, shallow breathing and unconscious; a seizure was unlikely.
It was heat stroke (not exhaustion) that felled him. Alex, as we later learned his name to be, was carried to a near-by clinic where he was being treated. I believe he will be OK as when he awoke, the first thing he wanted was his water and money.
This is a very powerful, overwhelming place! Thanks for letting me share this ongoing story.
Today's Pictures:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?albumId=585142869308&ownerId=36658952208
Pictures:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?albumId=971505279308&ownerId=36658952208
Today was an engineering, or should I say reverse-engineering day as we knocked down 10-foot high retaining walls that were threatening about 100 people at the Terrian Golf / Delmas 48 shanty town, the camp Sean Penn advocates for. (http://jphrodonate.org/) It was quite a scene, us Americans directing Haitian workers with my broken french and hand signals in front of a large and amused crowd of homeless people displaced by the 12 January 10 earthquake. However, smashing thru dirt, dust, and the humid 95-degree air, we got it done, brick by brick, reverse-engineering a warped and weakened 100-foot crumbling wall.
However, as the final brink hit the hard dirt ground of the former gold course, Part II of our project kicked in. Many of our on-lookers began scavenging thru the debris looking for anything usable, which was about everything, for their tarp or tent home. It was controlled chaos to claim even the smallest bit of rubble, a broken brick, twisted rebar, barbed wire, for use in their shanties. I never saw so many people so happy to receive a gift so often discarded by Americans, broken concrete blocks.
This encampment began spontaneously almost immediately after the earth shook as more than 60,000 people sought the safety of this former nine-hole golf course and tennis club. About a week after the quake, Sean Penn arrived and almost immediately began advocating for the camp with both his celebrity and money; $1-million worth.
Made up on homes built with two tarps and four poles, as well as camping tents, nearly all are situated on slopes and will be subject to flooding once the rain season begins in April. Thus the flurry of activity with USACE, Navy Sea-Bees, and 82nd Airborne as well as sense of urgency by the Jenkins Penn Relief Organization to meditate potential hazards.
Now, as if the day were not eventful enough, on our way out of the camp, a boy about 10 years old collapsed right in front of our vehicle. Nearly 50 people stood about saying he had suffered a seizure (in Haitian of course!). Of slight build, the child was peddling .25 liter bags of water, carrying about 20 pounds worth on his head on this 95-degree humid day. With no family or friends nearby, he was found with barely a pulse, shallow breathing and unconscious; a seizure was unlikely.
It was heat stroke (not exhaustion) that felled him. Alex, as we later learned his name to be, was carried to a near-by clinic where he was being treated. I believe he will be OK as when he awoke, the first thing he wanted was his water and money.
This is a very powerful, overwhelming place! Thanks for letting me share this ongoing story.
Today's Pictures:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?albumId=585142869308&ownerId=36658952208
Pictures:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?albumId=971505279308&ownerId=36658952208
Labels: Day XXV - 29 March 10, Haiti
posted by Diveshack at 5:20 PM
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