This week sees a number of new initiatives moving forward - perhaps I can tell you about one of them today. I've long said when conducting emergency training courses, 'if you give someone a tent - unless something better comes along that tent is their permanent home'. We've given out many tents so far in Haiti. Our first order of 3,000 is just about completed and we have another 3,000 en route. That's great news. Living in a tent is better than living without one. But having a tent is not really having a 'home'.
We are not yet in a position to think about constructing new and permanent homes but we have been putting a lot of thought to the concept of 'transitional housing'. Lyle, a team member from the USA comes to us with a great deal of experience of forestry and is blessed with the sort of mind that thinks strategically. He's been working this week with others who are focussed on shelter to come up with a design for a very basic timber frame home. It needs to be more durable than a tent and to provide a better quality of life. But it also needs to be quick and easy to erect, something that could be relocated if necessary and designed to combat the weather challenges of this region - hurricanes.
We hope to secure funding for anything between 1,000 and 10,000 such units. Timber will be treated and cut to size in the USA, packed with all necessary components and shipped as a 'shelter pack'. Teams of workers will be trained and deployed to assist families to build their new homes.
It's a really exciting project and something we hope can be developed and implemented very quickly. There's a sense of urgency as the seasonal heavy rains are expected in just a few weeks.
It may not be 'home' as some are blessed around the world to enjoy - but we are confident these transitional shelters will move us towards the goal of helping families build back a better life for themselves. It's not the final step but another one on the road to recovery.
Tomorrow marks a sign that my deployment will soon be coming to an end - my successor arrives to be briefed and prepared for handover. There's much to do over the next few days.
p.s. it's getting warmer here! Phew!!
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