TRIAL LINK TO INITIAL BUILD SITE PHOTOS FROM HABITAT

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Preparing to build in Haiti

 

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Roughly 100 houses will be built by hundreds of Habitat volunteers during the 28th Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project in Haiti's new Santo community. © Habitat for Humanity International/Ezra Millstein

 

 

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THE FLIGHT OVER

THIS IS FROM THE CARTER NEWS SITE:

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Volunteers get personal thanks from Carter on the way to Haiti

By Phil Kloer

	President Jimmy Carter greets volunteers Sunday on their Delta Air Lines charter flight to Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The former president shook the hand of each volunteer on the flight and thanked them for helping the Santo community. © Allen Sullivan/Habitat for Humanity

Nearly 500 volunteers for the 2011 Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project took two chartered Delta Air Lines planes to
Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Sunday.

Volunteers assigned to the first flight early Sunday morning got an unexpected treat when former U.S. President Jimmy Carter walked through the passenger cabin and shook the hands of all 200-plus people on the flight.

Carter smiled softly and thanked each volunteer for coming.

“It was total excitement, just pandemonium,” said Karen Steinberg, a U.S. Air flight attendant from Decatur, Georgia, who is joining her first Carter Work Project. “Everybody just jumped up and started taking photos, so I think I have a photo of someone’s earlobe. I was so nervous when I finally shook hands with him; I forget what I said to him.”

“I didn’t really think I would get to shake his hand,” said Deb McNally of Hudson, Wisconsin, another Carter Work Project novice. “He was so gracious, and I felt so honored.”

The volunteers were bused from the Port-au-Prince airport to a campsite in Christianville, about an hour outside the Haitian capital run by Haven Partnership, an Irish nongovernmental organization. There they settled into tents with simple cots and mosquito netting, with four to 10 volunteers sharing a tent. They will live in the campsite for the next week and commute about a half-hour to Santo, the construction site. There, 100 concrete foundations have been set in the ground and await the volunteers Monday morning, along with 100 Haitian families who will be getting new homes in one week.

Phil Kloer is a senior writer/editor for Habitat for Humanity International, based in Atlanta.

President Jimmy Carter greets volunteers Sunday on their Delta Air Lines charter flight to Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The former president shook the hand of each volunteer on the flight and thanked them for helping the Santo community. © Allen Sullivan/Habitat for Humanity

CHECKING IN : I AM BACK

Returned Saturday with plans to download a million photos, blog away, and simultaneously organize my whole life. Actuality was , after getting up at 1:45 local  New Orleans time , catching the bus at the equivalent of 2:00 AM, opening the airport in Port au Prince , flights to Atlanta and then New Orleans, with arrival at 5PM here, I was a bit tired. After dinner with Dan Tolley and Kathy McKinney, I got home to my deprived two cats and simply watched some pre recorded horsemanship shows before I collapsed.
Sunday I was up before daybreak ( I am normally NOT an "A.M." person) and started laundry and sorting through my journal notes. Best intentions were replaced by the mundane needs of a nearly empty gas tank, groceries, job preparation , emails, calls, checking in with friends, and then the day was gone. I am now working .
Looks like the Blog will have to wait a few more days.
I promise loads of photos, and great information.

THE ADVENTURE BEGINS

   I became an Anderson Cooper fan during the aftermath of KATRINA, ( so what!  you may ask)  and recall his mother, Gloria Vanderbilt,  told him to follow his passion- leading him into his journalistic reporting career. I followed one passion and became a physician . Now that I want to "retire" from the drudge of the American medical system of practice,  I still seek that one thing that will let me die knowing I did all I could to make a difference. I am so emotionally charged with being here, learning even more of the undertaking I am a part of....and meeting so many amazing people already....that I know I am hooked. So-
  After 2 hours of sleep, my day began at 4 AM with a lift to the airport from Dawn Tolley (who will be living in Costa Rica by the time I return).  The 6:15 AM flight ( did not know the airport was even open that early)- took me to ATLANTA, where I am staying at the Sheraton Gateway near the airport. I had 10 minutes to get to my room before 10 AM registration began.
  Tables were piled with Habitat Tee shirts, Tool bags, goggles, and Hard Hats. Everyone is in a meet and greet mood, arriving from Oregon, California, Virginia,  even Canada, and , New Orleans! Johathan Wallach from New Orleans Real Estate Investors Assoc. is here too. And ,I now have even more loot to figure out how to pack for the leg to Haiti.
  My room mate for the hotel stay is a delightful San Jose Californian named Vickie who has done quite a few "global Build" projects with Habitat already, cooks for and  feeds the homeless, and is  so interesting that we spent the entire afternoon in the bar chatting.  (yes, I ordered a Pink Squirrel and the bartender even tried to make something like it. It was good enough that Vickie and two others in the bar ordered one!)
  The evening "Ceremony" was just great. We had "Freedom Singers"  that originated with the Civil Rights movement, and of  course, THE CARTERS. They just strolled into the dining room, roamed about shaking hands, greeting us, getting their photo taken and giving heart burn I am sure to the secret service personnel with them.
  The program was a mixture of updates on  the build site progress, conditions in Haiti currently, and construction safety issues. We have been provided with information on the history of Haiti with insights to the economic problems that plague the country since it's separation from France in 1804.  May not sound interesting but the slides, speakers, and information was exciting. I fear I am already addicted to Habitat and will make every effort to be on every build project I can afford in the future.
  I am unable to upload photos from the hotel computer, and will likely have no Internet access for the next week, but will return with a journal of sights and stories that I hope will have you fall in love with  a country and people I already feel dedicated to.
  To quote someone: Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. This is proving to be one such experience.

HABITAT INTERNATIONAL HAITI PROGRESS LETTER

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Building Homes and Hope in Haiti

On Jan. 12, 2010, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 struck the Caribbean nation of Haiti just 10 miles west of the capital, Port-au-Prince.

The earthquake damaged nearly 190,000 houses, of which 105,000 were completely destroyed. Of the more than two million affected survivors, 600,000 are still displaced today.

	Donate Please donate online today Get involved Individuals, Affiliates, Corporate Partners and Faith Partners can all make a difference View Photos and videos about the Haiti earthquake

Soon after the earthquake, Habitat set a goal of serving 50,000 families over five years, helping them move toward safe, secure and permanent places to call home.

Nearly two years later, Habitat has reached these key milestones:

• More than 24,500 emergency shelter kits are in the hands of people who needed them most. The kits included tools — hammers, pliers, chisels, work gloves, rope and tarps. These tools have allowed Haitians to clean up debris, complete basic repairs and create emergency shelter. In addition, more than 3,300 emergency shelter kits have been stockpiled, ready to distribute quickly whenever a disaster occurs.
• More than 4,000 families have received transitional or upgradable shelters. Habitat’s upgradable shelter features a timber frame with pressure-treated plywood walls, a tin roof and permanent concrete perimeter foundation. The structure is built so that concrete blocks can be added later, as the family’s finances improve.
• More than 12,000 housing damage assessments have been conducted. Assessments help determine which structures can be made safe and which need to be torn down.
• Habitat has launched its repair and rehab program with more than 200 repairs or rehabs completed to date.
• More than 3,000 Haitians have been trained in construction or construction business practices, along with an additional 1,400 trained in financial literacy.
• More than 700 Haitians have found job opportunities through Habitat Haiti’s main office and Habitat Resource Centers. In a nation with an unemployment rate of 60 percent, job opportunities are a crucial part of rebuilding.

Habitat’s permanent housing community under way
This summer, Habitat for Humanity broke ground on its permanent housing community in Léogâne. Léogâne is close to the epicenter of the Jan. 12, 2010, earthquake where nearly 80 to 90 percent of buildings were damaged or destroyed. The development will provide housing for up to 500 homeless families, or approximately 2,500 individuals. By the end of 2011, 150 core homes will have been constructed on the Santo site. Construction will culminate with Habitat’s 28th annual Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project. For one week, beginning Nov. 5, more than 500 Carter Work Project volunteers will build 100 core homes. The initial 50 homes will be built the prior week by volunteers from Haven Community Foundation, an Irish nongovernmental organization with whom Habitat has also partnered to provide logistical support for the Carter Work Project.

Transforming communities:
While we measure our progress by the number of families and individuals served, the impact of our work can be seen in the transformation of not only lives but also entire communities. We call it our urban development approach, which is based on empowering and strengthening communities in defined geographic areas. By working closely with communities, we help them to build self-confidence to take action and to identify and prioritize their needs. We also help them develop community action plans and leverage their collective capacity to advocate for change.

One such community is the Simon-Pelé neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, where Habitat has been actively engaged since last October. With support from donors, local community organizations and government, the community maps (or enumerates) each house and building in Simon-Pelé and surveys each family. Information collected helps the community understand their own needs and gives them the tools to become change agents and champions for critical services. To date, more than 6,000 houses and buildings have been mapped and numbered and approximately 6,000 households have been surveyed.

Learn more about Habitat’s response in Haiti:

• Quarterly report: October 17, 2011
• Quarterly report: May 23, 2011 (1MB .pdf)
• One year report: Building Hope in Haiti (1MB .pdf)
  Also available in Spanish(.pdf) and in French(.pdf)
• Press release: Haitian Diaspora bringing expertise to help rebuild Haiti
• Press release: One year after Haiti earthquake
• Haiti Policy Report
• Photos and videos about the Haiti earthquake
• Q&A with the national director of Habitat Haiti, Claude Jeudy
• Habitat’s CEO testimony at the House foreign affairs hearing on Haiti

How you can help:

• Donate
• More ways you can help Haiti

Habitat’s partners in Haiti:

• Ricky Martin's Haiti Recovery Fund
• Hope Help & Relief Haiti

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LAST MINUTE SHOPPING

After months of waiting for this, it seems to have rushed up and jumped out at me anyway. I have piles of "stuff " to consider taking collected on the kitchen floor, clothes drip drying after being dipped in mosquito repellant hanging on racks, work shoes I have not broken in, and last minute scavenger items to find as suggested by the Habitat people.    As if I have any time left to shop ( get back in town late Friday and my flight is 6AM Saturday) ,they would now like us to also provide some screwdrivers, a large hammer, and leave room  for the  hard hat, tool kit, and other items they will give us in Atlanta. (I have my own levels, plumb lines, and DIY cinder block construction book.)     If I had any spare time to think about it, I would be excited, but I am sleep deprived, working a 36 hour shift at present, and currently traveling with 2 cats in the car when I go back to New Orleans.