Report from Haiti from Jeff
While it was hot in Haiti, on the day I returned to St. Louis, how much worse the weather was here! We were spared the 100-degree temperatures and brutal humidity, but the sun shines very intensely in Haiti. It’s best not to leave your head uncovered, a lesson I learned the hard way. Our teams’ time was spent between the city of Leogane and a mountain village called Petit Harpon. Leogane, on the coast, is two hours west of Port au Prince (by car) and Petit Harpon is another roughly two hours south into the mountains between Leogane and Jacmel. Travel by car in Haiti is slow even on the paved road (the National Highway). Nearly all other roads and streets are unpaved. Travel by car on the mountain roads is hard to describe. May God help you, particularly if you don’t have 4-wheel drive. While I was there we constructed temporary shelters made from 18-gauge steel studs and wrapped with plastic fiber tarps. These shelters are built to provide primarily a dry, safe place to sleep. In most cases, the shelters were set on dirt and staked into the ground with rebar. There are a number of ways in which these dwellings could be made more permanent, but within the families there is no money for that. I was there with one other American, Clayton, a college student from Chattanooga. We were blessed and challenged with the chance to work each day very closely with Haitians. Clayton’s Creole (Kreyul) was pretty good I thought. Mine, on the other hand, really stinks. We did have a Haitian translator, Mario, who really made the trip possible. What a gift he was, so skilled in language and knowledgeable about the area. For example, where do you find a new clutch kit for a Toyota truck while stuck in the mountains? Mario knew (or he knew someone who knew).
Life there is very difficult. It is also very complicated, at least for relief groups trying to accomplish tasks. The situation for Haitians continues to be very dire. Many of the buildings collapsed by the earthquake remain uncleared. People anticipate that they may not be dismantled for the foreseeable future. Food and clean water are in short supply. Subsistence farming, from what I saw, is how families feed themselves. Haiti has a dangerously weak economy. Jobs are desperately needed. In some cases there are potential jobs, only no money to pay workers. The demolition and clearing of buildings, would be an example. There are so many pressing needs among the people there and the government is, at its best, dysfunctional. It was hard for me to be very hopeful for the country. Our hope is not in functioning governments, competent and trustworthy politicians, or robusteconomies. These are good things, there is no mistake about it. Our hope here in the US is the same as for in Haiti, the hope we have in Christ crucified and raised. May the Gospel go forth in Haiti. Thank you all for your support. Jeff Lutjens
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