Today the work of Joy in Hope changes gears a bit. Things at the airport have changed so much since Saturday when my kids flew out. More and more everyday the Canadian military has taken over control—which we love. They brought in official air traffic controllers and radar and all sorts of things. I overheard a briefing yesterday with them saying there were 160 aircraft into Jacmel yesterday. Most of them were military, bringing in supplies or people. As you probably know, we’ve granted permission for the Canadian military to set up a base on our land out in Raymond. They are bringing in several hundred troops for a few months until things here in Jacmel settle down. So a lot of the traffic through was about that. The US NAVY continues to send food in to be distributed by the World Food Program. And then of course there are the small planes, which we’ve been assisting on the ground. Small planes bringing supplies and people—doctors mostly—to help down here. That’s what we’ve been working with.
One of the biggest concerns we’ve had is the pace we’ve been running. We’re all run ragged. We’re all spending long hours at the airport. We’re all not getting time to spend with our kids. And at the same time, we see the situation in Jacmel escalating. People are getting hungrier and need help. The World Food Program is doing the best they can meeting needs, but have strict criteria as to who they can help—they virtually can do nothing for “the little guys.” That’s where we come in. Over the past 6 days, we’ve accruued a good supply of food and water and feel like the time has come to leave the airport (passing that on to others we know and trust) and move into sorting/distribution on a larger scale.
Yesterday we rented a house in an out of town location with a large wall around it and hired security guards. We began moving all of our supplies over to this house yesterday and will today begin the process of getting this out, distributed largely through local churches + organizations.
This is kind of a bittersweet thing for us. Bitter because it was so cool to be involved in something so much bigger than ourselves—I know we’ll all miss aspects of the airport. But sweet because we feel like we can now get back to what we’re here to do—build families. Sorting, inventorying and seperating food is something we can all do together with our families. I will be able to spend time serving alongside my Haitian kids, rather than leaving them early in the morning and returning late at night—too tired to really connect with them. This has been the hardest part for us—feeling the disconnect from our kids when they really need to be connected to us. They will be able to see and understand the ways we’re trying to help Jacmel. I am looking forward to posting stories and pictures about our new assignment…
