First day in the field always feels like a baptism of fire – this morning was no different. It started at 6am when we were rudely interrupted by a severe aftershock. Rated 6.1 on the Richter scale it brought down a number of buildings in Port au Prince. Fortunately, the hotel we are straying in seems quite secure and we were safe.
My work day started with the daily team briefing. Our team is in a state of flux at the moment. Those who managed to get in very quickly after the earthquake are already heading out. The new team members arrive during the next couple of days. But passing over of essential information and ensuring institutional memory is not lost is challenging.
During the briefing we were reminded that life and death are inseparable. During the evening the medical team in our clinic safely delivered two babies – born to mothers living in tents on our compound.
To help understand the situation I was taken around The Salvation Army’s large compound. I was joined by a structural engineer who made a brief assessment of the buildings. The Haitian people refuse to go inside – still afraid of collapse. Looking at the poor condition of many of the buildings still standing, I fully appreciate their feelings. However, some buildings survived with minimal superficial damage so we wanted to assess whether they could be used.
This assessment gave me opportunity to walk through the camp that has been informal set up by the local community. The resilience of the people is amazing. The local economy is getting going again with people setting up small stalls outside their tents. Actually, it would be wrong to talk of tents – most families have cobbled together a shelter using scavenged materials. There are few tents and no toilets.
The water supply is poor – children swarm around asking for water or food. But they do it with a smile on their face and are happy to hold hands with the relief workers as they walk around.
The Salvation Army’s work largely revolves around the medical clinic being staffed by a team of international doctors. During the last couple of days they have treated over 200 patients each day.
Getting relief supplies is still a huge challenge. Flights offer very limited cargo facilities – we haven’t yet secured a safe warehouse and the distributions we have managed to do have been very difficult. Yesterday there was a riot. We had a supply of Croc shoes – the community broke into the storage area and ransacked it. On the plus side – as I walked around the community yesterday there were some very colourful shoes being worn!!
Last night we sent a few of the early team members home and new ones arrived. Today the same thing happens. So by tomorrow the team will have virtually changed. There’s a challenge to ensure all the institutional memory is passed over and things don’t fall between the cracks.
Tomorrow is a new day and we’ll start focussing on finding a warehouse and assessing community needs. The team are all well and grateful for the many messages of support and prayer.
Wednesday, 20 January 2010
Tuesday, 19 January 2010
Haiti Deployment Diary: Day 2, Tuesday 19th January
The old saying, familiar in military circles, 'hurry up and wait' is so often true in emergency relief work, too. This morning we gathered for our team briefing at 8.30am in our Fort Laudedale hotel to be told to be ready with bags packed at 1.30pm. The plan was that we would drive to Miami and then join a charter flight to take us to Haiti. By late morning word reached us that the flight was cancelled and our rooms at the hotel were rebooked for another night.
When you have a team of relief workers who have quickly gathered possessions and their emergency kit and left home and families at a days’ notice to head for a disaster zone, news that you are spending another day in a hotel is not what you want to hear.
But things are very fluid just now both in the field and as far as logistic are concerned. At 2pm a frantic call came round - a flight had been fixed and we could get 5 of the team out today. Word was ‘you have to be at the airport in 10 minutes’. So a very quick dash saw the 5 selected team members at the small civilian airfield having cases weighed to see if the 8 seater plane could carry us and all our kit. We had 200 pounds free weight to spare so enough room to add some tents and medical supplies ready for a 4.30pm departure.
The 5 chosen included 2 doctors, a Haitian Salvation Army officer now stationed in the USA, a retired but experienced disaster responder - and me!
The small plane has already made 5 round trips to Haiti in the last few days. The pilot, a local Salvationist, knows the score well now. His plan was to get us to the Turks and Caicos islands for refuelling and then onto Haiti to make the agreed landing slot at 10.45pm.
The team headed out with an air of nervous anticipation at what lay ahead, mixed with relief to be actually on the way. Our colleagues left behind will join us over the next couple of days but we carry their prayers and best wishes.
After 3 and a half hours we made the refuelling stop (both for the plane and us) and then a further hour and a half found us landing in Port au Prince to be met on the tarmac by colleagues in 2 cars to take us to our accommodation. Well – we’re here! It was pitch black on arrival and we collapsed straight into bed – so I’ll post more tomorrow when I am up to speed with our relief programme and the news about the community.
When you have a team of relief workers who have quickly gathered possessions and their emergency kit and left home and families at a days’ notice to head for a disaster zone, news that you are spending another day in a hotel is not what you want to hear.
But things are very fluid just now both in the field and as far as logistic are concerned. At 2pm a frantic call came round - a flight had been fixed and we could get 5 of the team out today. Word was ‘you have to be at the airport in 10 minutes’. So a very quick dash saw the 5 selected team members at the small civilian airfield having cases weighed to see if the 8 seater plane could carry us and all our kit. We had 200 pounds free weight to spare so enough room to add some tents and medical supplies ready for a 4.30pm departure.
The 5 chosen included 2 doctors, a Haitian Salvation Army officer now stationed in the USA, a retired but experienced disaster responder - and me!
The small plane has already made 5 round trips to Haiti in the last few days. The pilot, a local Salvationist, knows the score well now. His plan was to get us to the Turks and Caicos islands for refuelling and then onto Haiti to make the agreed landing slot at 10.45pm.
The team headed out with an air of nervous anticipation at what lay ahead, mixed with relief to be actually on the way. Our colleagues left behind will join us over the next couple of days but we carry their prayers and best wishes.
After 3 and a half hours we made the refuelling stop (both for the plane and us) and then a further hour and a half found us landing in Port au Prince to be met on the tarmac by colleagues in 2 cars to take us to our accommodation. Well – we’re here! It was pitch black on arrival and we collapsed straight into bed – so I’ll post more tomorrow when I am up to speed with our relief programme and the news about the community.
Monday, 18 January 2010
Haiti Deployment Diary: Day 1, Monday 18th January
Welcome to my deployment diary on day 1 - the calm before the storm! After 4 days of preparation it was good today to set off to the airport this morning and get onto the flight headed for Fort Laudedale via Atlanta.
Having not worn the Emergency Services kit for 18 months it felt really good to put the vest on again - it felt really comfortable to be back in the 'fellowship of the T shirt' again.
The Salvation Army is a wonderful, world-wide fellowship. It's large and big enough to do amazing things - yet so small that we know each other as friends. I finally arrived at my hotel at 11pm (which was 4.00am Tuesday in the UK). As I walked through the entrance I was greeted by a bear hug of a welcome from my dear friend Jerry Larsen. He's just arrived today from Chicago and will be heading out tomorrow as part of the next group of 16 relief staff. Jerry is now retired but he and first worked together in Albania in 1999 and have worked together many times since in places such as Iraq and Pakistan. As I shook hands with others waiting in the lobby to check in there were warm greetings from Bob Poff's son and then from Dave Dalberg's son. Made me feel old when they started talking about my working relationship with their fathers! But how great to be on the other side of the world with friends from years gone by.
The good news is that the IES team that arrived here on Saturday have made it to Haiti today. The plan for us is to depart here at 2pm tomorrow and drive to Miami where we are being flown down to Haiti.
News from Haiti today is that the first SA distribution of MRE's (meals ready to eat) took place safely and peacefully today. Not sure quantities yet but will find out tomorrow.
Tonight my king size hotel bed (!) beckons now - I'll make the most of a comfy nights' sleep before heading out tomorrow. Internet connection permitting, I'll try and keep this blog diary up to date daily - so if you are at all interested in this informal view from the field feel free to look in from time to time.
Before I go - just a thought to close. We often question the value of SA uniform and some are quick to say it has had its day. On many occasions today I've received lovely greetings from fellow passengers who have seen the large Red Shield on the back of my vest and who have taken the time to ask what I was doing and where I was going. The cabin crew on the Delta flight from London came over and said they would pray for us in the coming days. Thank God for visibility and for the wonderful goodwill of so many people towards The Salvation Army.
Having not worn the Emergency Services kit for 18 months it felt really good to put the vest on again - it felt really comfortable to be back in the 'fellowship of the T shirt' again.
The Salvation Army is a wonderful, world-wide fellowship. It's large and big enough to do amazing things - yet so small that we know each other as friends. I finally arrived at my hotel at 11pm (which was 4.00am Tuesday in the UK). As I walked through the entrance I was greeted by a bear hug of a welcome from my dear friend Jerry Larsen. He's just arrived today from Chicago and will be heading out tomorrow as part of the next group of 16 relief staff. Jerry is now retired but he and first worked together in Albania in 1999 and have worked together many times since in places such as Iraq and Pakistan. As I shook hands with others waiting in the lobby to check in there were warm greetings from Bob Poff's son and then from Dave Dalberg's son. Made me feel old when they started talking about my working relationship with their fathers! But how great to be on the other side of the world with friends from years gone by.
The good news is that the IES team that arrived here on Saturday have made it to Haiti today. The plan for us is to depart here at 2pm tomorrow and drive to Miami where we are being flown down to Haiti.
News from Haiti today is that the first SA distribution of MRE's (meals ready to eat) took place safely and peacefully today. Not sure quantities yet but will find out tomorrow.
Tonight my king size hotel bed (!) beckons now - I'll make the most of a comfy nights' sleep before heading out tomorrow. Internet connection permitting, I'll try and keep this blog diary up to date daily - so if you are at all interested in this informal view from the field feel free to look in from time to time.
Before I go - just a thought to close. We often question the value of SA uniform and some are quick to say it has had its day. On many occasions today I've received lovely greetings from fellow passengers who have seen the large Red Shield on the back of my vest and who have taken the time to ask what I was doing and where I was going. The cabin crew on the Delta flight from London came over and said they would pray for us in the coming days. Thank God for visibility and for the wonderful goodwill of so many people towards The Salvation Army.
Thursday, 1 January 2009
Standing before our Maker
Happy New Year! After the relative (and I use that word with all its meanings) busyness of the Christmas period, today's New Year holiday has been a wonderfully relaxed and lazy day. A slow start, with brunch at a Port Solent restaurant led into a day of 'West Wing' videos (only punctuated by a brisk 60 mile motorbike ride in the cold during the late afternoon).
I confess I love West Wing and the fast-moving dramatisation of American politics. I know it's only fiction but I'm sure there's lots to be learned from it of the role that America plays in the world order. The story lines are so intriguingly gripping and the writing really draws you into the lives of the characters. I'm working my way through series 5 and have watched about 10 episodes today - just 5 more and I can move on to series 6 and 7! Free time will be severely limited again when we go back to work tomorrow so I imagine it will be next Christmas before I finish them all.
One episode stood out this afternoon. It chronicled the death and funeral of a past President, all played out over the back drop of nuclear testing and Middle East tension. The final scenes saw current President (Jed Bartlett) reading a letter from his dead predecessor, encouraging him to visit the Lincoln Memorial and 'listen'. The programme ended with a shot of Bartlett standing in front of the huge statue of Abraham Lincoln. It was great to see the shots of Bartlett standing exactly where Lyn and I had stood when we visited the Memorial a few years ago (check out Lyn's picture, below, with Lincoln shrouded for cleaning).
More than the memory of a previous visit, I was touched by the image of the fictional 'most powerful man in the world' looking minuscule in front of the imposing statue of his forbear and founding father.
As the credits rolled I couldn't help but translate that image into one of man standing before the Lord - the contrast between His power and majesty and humankind's insignificance. yet, despite the contrast, an awareness that God values us not as inferior and worthless but as valuable and significant. I recalled those well-known verses from Psalm 8 -
3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, 
which you have set in place,4 what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.
As we enter this New Year I give thanks that God values me. That I stand before Him, not as insignificant and worthless, but as one who He wants to have a relationship with and as one who is 'crowned with glory and honour'. I have no idea what the coming 12 months have in store for me, but I pray that I will do all I can to try and learn about Him and listen to what He has to say to me.
Saturday, 27 December 2008
Hidden gems
Blessings often exist right under our noses, don't they? Actually, having been gifted with a rather large nose (courtesy of the Hills family gene pool) my opening comment might be interpreted as an understatement!
This morning we headed out of Portsmouth to a little village called Wickham. It wasn't far - about 10 miles - but a place we'd never visited before. As we witnessed the lines of vehicles streaming into the city today we were pleased to be heading out in the opposite direction.
After parking up in the village square we took a brief walk around before settling into 'Lilly's Coffee shop' for that most charming of British customs - 'elevenses'. It was a real gem of a place - old fashioned building, comfy decor and a real fire burning in the corner. The drinks, toasted tea-cakes and cakes were wonderful, too. I'd recommend it. Just around the corner but we'd never been there before.
It's often the case that we look for blessings miles away but so often fail to see those that we have right at hand. Tomorrow I return to work (well, briefly, anyway) and I write this blog reflecting on the lovely days I've enjoyed over the Christmas break. It's been great to see Mum, my daughters and their boyfriends. During the next couple of days we'll catch up with more family and I know we'll have a great time. It's easy to take for granted those closest to us.
I've just watched this evening's news on BBC and seen the footage of the carnage in Gaza and the results of air strikes today. I see families mourning for lost loved ones and others living in fear. When I see the suffering it reminds me in bleak tones that I really shouldn't take my peaceful and blessed life for granted.
At a time of year when thoughts all around the world have turned to the Middle East and particularly the town of Bethlehem, the contrast between the evolved folklore of which we have been singing and the reality of life there now seems stark.
With the people of Irael and Gaza in mind, I leave with a prayer for peace composed by a Jewish Rabbi:
This we know:
Fear can yield to faith, hope can reignite
Rage can cease, hatred can be melted. . . .
Merciful One, illumine the sight of your children
To see You in each other's eyes.
Merciful One, spread the canopy of your peace over us,
Over Israel, over Ishmael, over all who dwell on earth. Amen
Rabbi Sheila Weinberg
This morning we headed out of Portsmouth to a little village called Wickham. It wasn't far - about 10 miles - but a place we'd never visited before. As we witnessed the lines of vehicles streaming into the city today we were pleased to be heading out in the opposite direction.
After parking up in the village square we took a brief walk around before settling into 'Lilly's Coffee shop' for that most charming of British customs - 'elevenses'. It was a real gem of a place - old fashioned building, comfy decor and a real fire burning in the corner. The drinks, toasted tea-cakes and cakes were wonderful, too. I'd recommend it. Just around the corner but we'd never been there before.
It's often the case that we look for blessings miles away but so often fail to see those that we have right at hand. Tomorrow I return to work (well, briefly, anyway) and I write this blog reflecting on the lovely days I've enjoyed over the Christmas break. It's been great to see Mum, my daughters and their boyfriends. During the next couple of days we'll catch up with more family and I know we'll have a great time. It's easy to take for granted those closest to us.
I've just watched this evening's news on BBC and seen the footage of the carnage in Gaza and the results of air strikes today. I see families mourning for lost loved ones and others living in fear. When I see the suffering it reminds me in bleak tones that I really shouldn't take my peaceful and blessed life for granted.
At a time of year when thoughts all around the world have turned to the Middle East and particularly the town of Bethlehem, the contrast between the evolved folklore of which we have been singing and the reality of life there now seems stark.
With the people of Irael and Gaza in mind, I leave with a prayer for peace composed by a Jewish Rabbi:
This we know:
Fear can yield to faith, hope can reignite
Rage can cease, hatred can be melted. . . .
Merciful One, illumine the sight of your children
To see You in each other's eyes.
Merciful One, spread the canopy of your peace over us,
Over Israel, over Ishmael, over all who dwell on earth. Amen
Rabbi Sheila Weinberg
Friday, 26 December 2008
The sun on your back
Boxing Days are great, aren't they? In my 'former life' as a retail manager Boxing Day was the first day of the sales - so Christmas holidays were pretty short affairs. In recent years Boxing Days carried some pretty special memories. It was on Boxing Day 2001 that the city of Bam, Iran, was hit by a terrible earthquake. This prompted some chaotic days over Christmas as we planned a trip out there and tried (unsuccessfully as it turned out) to get a visa to enter the country. I was actually heading out to the airport that year when I received a phone call from the British Embassy in Tehran informing m that the waiving of visas for humanitarian relief personnel had been withdrawn and that I wouldn't get in without one. I turned round, went home, and never did travel to Iran.
Then in 2002 the south Asian tsunami hit - throwing humanitarian agencies all around the world into a mad panic. I don't suppose I'll ever forget those feelings of helplessness as our office found ourselves trying to tie The Salvation Army's international support together and the horrendous days that followed. Ironically, today's newspaper (6 years on) carried a report that the people of Aceh in Indonesia are begging aid agencies to stop building new houses there as there aren't enough people to fill them! This mirrors what we (TSA) discovered - I learned just this year that there were not enough impacted families to take up the new homes and that they were being given to anyone who had been a family connection with a tsunami impacted family! Despite that, it's still reckoned that only half of the money donated to the tsunami appeals has even been spent.
Today life is rather more mundane. I haven't watched the news with bated breath wondering whether my bag should be packed and readied. However, it's not without new adventures. This morning I did something I've been meaning to do ever since arriving here in Portsmouth in the summer. I parked up near the Anglican cathedral and then jogged along the seafront as far as the Royal Marines museum in Eastney and back again. It was a lovely run - about 50 minutes in total. The place was inundated with families enjoying a walk along the sea wall - and dozens of fellow joggers jostling for space between and around the walkers. Jogging etiquette is interesting - there are those who nod and greet as you pass, others who ignore you (their loss, eh?). The run out of town was nice, but running into the sun and with a head wind I found my eyes and nose streaming and walkers just a dark shadow as I tried to jog around them.
Reaching the statue of the marine which marks the entrance to the museum I turned round and headed back again. What a difference - no longer squinting into the sun and with a gentle breeze blowing me along the homeward run was so much more enjoyable. I looked out over the sea and noticed the boats and ferries making their way around the harbour. I could make out the faces of the people walking and enjoying each other's company. It's such a shame when we are so busy sceewing our eyes up to see and with our head down into the breeze that we miss the good things around us.
Reminded me of the words of an old Irish prayer, which I leave for you to ponder and of which I ask for my family and friends today:
An Old Irish Blessing
Then in 2002 the south Asian tsunami hit - throwing humanitarian agencies all around the world into a mad panic. I don't suppose I'll ever forget those feelings of helplessness as our office found ourselves trying to tie The Salvation Army's international support together and the horrendous days that followed. Ironically, today's newspaper (6 years on) carried a report that the people of Aceh in Indonesia are begging aid agencies to stop building new houses there as there aren't enough people to fill them! This mirrors what we (TSA) discovered - I learned just this year that there were not enough impacted families to take up the new homes and that they were being given to anyone who had been a family connection with a tsunami impacted family! Despite that, it's still reckoned that only half of the money donated to the tsunami appeals has even been spent.
Today life is rather more mundane. I haven't watched the news with bated breath wondering whether my bag should be packed and readied. However, it's not without new adventures. This morning I did something I've been meaning to do ever since arriving here in Portsmouth in the summer. I parked up near the Anglican cathedral and then jogged along the seafront as far as the Royal Marines museum in Eastney and back again. It was a lovely run - about 50 minutes in total. The place was inundated with families enjoying a walk along the sea wall - and dozens of fellow joggers jostling for space between and around the walkers. Jogging etiquette is interesting - there are those who nod and greet as you pass, others who ignore you (their loss, eh?). The run out of town was nice, but running into the sun and with a head wind I found my eyes and nose streaming and walkers just a dark shadow as I tried to jog around them.
Reaching the statue of the marine which marks the entrance to the museum I turned round and headed back again. What a difference - no longer squinting into the sun and with a gentle breeze blowing me along the homeward run was so much more enjoyable. I looked out over the sea and noticed the boats and ferries making their way around the harbour. I could make out the faces of the people walking and enjoying each other's company. It's such a shame when we are so busy sceewing our eyes up to see and with our head down into the breeze that we miss the good things around us.
Reminded me of the words of an old Irish prayer, which I leave for you to ponder and of which I ask for my family and friends today:
An Old Irish Blessing
May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.
Thursday, 25 December 2008
New beginnings
Well, today is Christmas Day - which means it's 7 months since my last posting. Hardly keeping things very regular and up to date here, eh?
Life has taken a few turns in that time (what with moving home and changing roles) and I've got out of the habit of posting. That's kind of a shame as the habit of trying to see what each day is showing you is a pretty good one to have.
Today's been a good day - a good Christmas Day. Rachel, Rebecca, her fiance - Chris, and my Mum have been with us and the joy of giving and receiving presents has been experienced again. Once again, I've been reminded how much thought and care Lyn puts into making this time of year special for us all. So much hard work has been invested into the dinner and the presents. Nothing happens on its' own, does it?
I suppose that is today's thought - you only get out of something what you invest into it. As I've spent time with my family I'm grateful for the love they have invested into making the family work - not just today, of course, but for years.
We are now in a new era. The girls are making their own lives (since we left them behind and moved south) and today has been a demonstration that they are growing up and becoming independent of us. That's a good thing - it's how families are supposed to evolve. Even just a couple of years ago I couldn't have predicted where we would all be and what we would be doing today. But God has been watching over us and has His hand upon us and I'm very proud of what the kids have become.
In posting today's blog it's a prompter for a new blogging start for a new blogging year! I'll try to get back into blogging mode and put down onto cyber notepaper some of the things I see around me and record (for my own sake more than anyone else's) what's going on in my world.
Happy Christmas!
Life has taken a few turns in that time (what with moving home and changing roles) and I've got out of the habit of posting. That's kind of a shame as the habit of trying to see what each day is showing you is a pretty good one to have.
Today's been a good day - a good Christmas Day. Rachel, Rebecca, her fiance - Chris, and my Mum have been with us and the joy of giving and receiving presents has been experienced again. Once again, I've been reminded how much thought and care Lyn puts into making this time of year special for us all. So much hard work has been invested into the dinner and the presents. Nothing happens on its' own, does it?
I suppose that is today's thought - you only get out of something what you invest into it. As I've spent time with my family I'm grateful for the love they have invested into making the family work - not just today, of course, but for years.
We are now in a new era. The girls are making their own lives (since we left them behind and moved south) and today has been a demonstration that they are growing up and becoming independent of us. That's a good thing - it's how families are supposed to evolve. Even just a couple of years ago I couldn't have predicted where we would all be and what we would be doing today. But God has been watching over us and has His hand upon us and I'm very proud of what the kids have become.
In posting today's blog it's a prompter for a new blogging start for a new blogging year! I'll try to get back into blogging mode and put down onto cyber notepaper some of the things I see around me and record (for my own sake more than anyone else's) what's going on in my world.
Happy Christmas!
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