PLEASE DONATE WHAT YOU CAN AFFORD.  100% OF YOUR DONATION GOES DIRECTLY TO GOOD SAM FOR IMMEDIATE USE.

PLEASE ASK YOU FAMILY AND FRIENDS TO HELP ALSO.

DONATIONS SENT TO GOOD SAM AS OF

June  2010

$100,150

THANK YOU!!

2010 Planned Tours

LINKS:

LA Romana Dreamin

Wallingford DR Team

Circle of 12

HAITIAN EARTHQUAKE RECOVERY

Bob’s letter is a MUST READ!

Bob Beaumont is a retired pastor living in Maine.  For many years he was the Senior Pastor of the Penny Memorial Baptist Church in Augusta, ME.  He has led groups from Maine to La Romana since the early 1990’s.

Food distribution in Port au Prince Jan 29-30, 2010

Just days after we learned of the earthquake on Jan 12 in Port au Prince, Haiti, an appeal went out to nearly 200  on our Maine LaRomana Group email list.  Within minutes responses began to pour in stating that contributions would be sent for Haiti relief.  When the Maine Group arrived in LaRomana on Jan 23 members of our team began to  hand in envelopes with cash and checks made out to Good Sam. Hospital.  Our initial estimate was around $8000.  That night nearly $13,000 had already come into the coffers.  Within a week another $3000 arrived from our little appeal

It was decided that the money would be used for food distribution in Port au Prince.  Our Maine Team was to put the boxes of food together which included enough food to feed a family of 5 for a week.  It consisted of 13 pounds of rice, three cups of beans, 8 pounds of corn meal, 6 cans of sardines, 2 cans of sausages, three bottles of soy oil and 6 pounds of spaghetti.  Each box weighed around 40 pounds.  We packaged 440 boxes of food utilizing from 8-10 people in about 10 hours.  The total weight of the food came to around 9 tons.  The boxes were loaded onto a rented box truck.  The normal trip from LaRomana to Port au Prince takes around 9 hours covering 400 miles over various types of roads including the back dirt roads of Haiti.  We departed LaRomana at midnight.

The truck was not equipped to handle the load so within a half hour we had a flat tire.  The truck engine and suspension groaned under the weight of our humanitarian pay load.  By the protection of our Lord we were spared any more break downs.  We arrived at the border at 9AM, had the tire repaired and was ready to make the final leg of the trip.  Chaos reigned at this normal tiny crossing on beautiful Lake Malpasse.  Normally the border would have a trickle of Haitians coming and going but on this date there were hundreds of cars, trucks, busses, taxis, and motorcycles accompanied by thousands of people  Three times we were stopped to be inspected each time with a by a wave of the arm to go.  But we had no where to go.  Inch by inch we followed the mass migration of semi tralers from Santo Domingo with their container payload destined for Port au Prince.  The truck we followed for at least an hour was from Australia.  Empty trailers came from the opposite direction.  We weaved our way through the tiny roads and finally reached the outskirts of Port au Prince around 12:00.  We pulled over to make contact with the place we were appointed to report to.   

In Port au Prince the presence of the United Nations was everywhere.  Armed personnel roamed the streets in Humvees ready for any action.  Haitian police directed traffic.  We saw evidence of many relief agencies including World Vision, Muslim Hands France, World Health Organization, Unicef,    World Food Programme, etc,   It is estimated that one in 20 vehicles were relief related vehicles. As we drove into the city  the earthquake damage became evident.  First toppled walls, then cracked buildings, then toppled concrete structures  here and there became visible to us.  When I saw the first building that completely collapsed my heart sank wondering if anybody made it out alive.  Later that day when I saw entire blocks of buildings collapsed again my mind went to wondering who didn’t make it out of that horrible disaster.  I was spared seeing the center of the city where those who saw it said there was no stone standing on another.  They say building after building pancaked, a description whereas the top floor fell on the space below on down until there was nothing but layers of concrete floors/ceilings.  Looking at these collapsed buildings one quickly surmised the quick and sudden death many people experienced in this disaster or the agonizing horror of surviving only to die a slow death. 

When the quake hit relocation became one of the prime focus for the survivors.  Tent cities were set up in any available lot.  Makeshift shelters were everywhere.  Once in awhile temporary shelter from relief agencies were evident with strong secure tents.  One such relief shelter came from the Rotary Foundation known as the “Shelter Box” which included a 10’X10’ tent and the necessary cooking, living essentials for temporary survival.

Food distribution was scheduled for around 4:00PM.  Three Americanos joined a force of about 20 Dominican/Haitians in the task.  We had three teams of 6 persons each.  Methodically we took food to each family who had staked our their territory with poles topped with a sheet, or sometimes a tarp.   The distribution went fairly well.  Some women and a few men tugged on my shirt and called for me to give them the box.  I gained a new name on this day.  I kept hearing in the distance the same word over and over.  Then suddenly I realized someone was trying to summon me for food.  The word was, “Blanc” meaning whitey, whiteman, white person.  The next time I heard “Yo, blanc” I knew I was being summoned.  Slowly we reached each tent handing the 40 pound box  to smiles and greetings.  With about 80% of the homes visited we suddenly noticed people gathering around the truck.  What was once organized and going without any incidents started to swarm with people wanting food.  Jean Claude the driver called out to me to get into the truck.  He quickly started the truck and began leaving the area saying that it was starting to get dangerous.  My heart sank with the thoughts of all those people who didn’t get anything.  I cried.

We tried again that night but sensing the inability for the truck to exit in a quick way distribution was aborted.  Early on Saturday morning we were again summoned for distribution.  We loaded in the back of the truck and went to another site of makeshift homes.  A local police man with imposing stature and a booming voice called his his order for the people to go to their tents and wait for their food.  I decided not the handle the boxes on this day since I was the only “blanc” present.  I met a young man from the UK who had been in Haiti for a week working on relief then had decided to extend his stay with this makeshift village.  Swarms of children, 6-12, were around him, as he hugged them, played games with them and tried to give a loving presence to these refugees.  I met another man, Stanley, who spoke English and was a Haitian who had come to give some assistance.  He had counted the tents the day before.  I asked him to get his accounting so we could show it to the food distributors.  A Haitian woman came up to me speaking Creole and I said, “No Creole.”  She said “I speak a little English.”  I thought I heard her say she had lost a child in the quake but Stanley standing close by said she had lost three children in the earth quake.  I put my arm around her with an attempt to comfort her.  At first she cried and spoke in Creole.  I could feel her pain so I put both arms around her and held her close to me.  She began crying louder and louder as the wails of grief flowed from her. I attempted to speak  words of comfort to her as she rocked back and forth in agony.  After what seemed like a long time she stopped and took from around her waist a printed cloth which she held up.  It was one of her daughter’s dresses. She held it up to show me a hand embroidered name of her child,  “Ernesthe”.  Once more she cried as she saw her name.  That child’s death in a pancaked building came searing across my brain.  From her grief she quickly switched to be sure she received food.  I told her I could not give her a box of food right there because it would not be safe, I assured I would work on seeing she got a box before we left.  She hung around to be sure I kept to my promise.  Things seemed to go smoothly with a box for each family but slowly ten then twenty, then fifty people began to crowd the back of the truck in a matter of seconds.  Suddenly someone said something and within seconds they began to queue up behind the truck.  One of our team slowly motioned to me to get into the truck.  I got into the truck, started to close the window and saw that grief stricken mother yelling to me, “You promised me… you promised me.”  The Haitian driver stepped on the gas and began to plow through the dozens of people already standing in front of the truck as if to prevent us from leaving.   As we drove away I could hear that mother’s words ringing in my ears.  Again I cried.  

Update….. Feb 2…..Food distribution is planned in these three locations for the next few weeks.  Your continued contributions will be helpful to reach Ernesthe’s mother and many others who need our assistance.  Thanks for your contributions.

Bob Beaumont

LaRomana Maine Team