About 40 square feet per person. Each. Total. That's the amount of space the residents of the “city” outside the Grace Center have. For everything. About 18,000 people (down from 25,000 soon after the quake), on 16 acres of what formerly was open grassy area as part of the Grace Center, in front of the hospital. 1,000+ people per acre, 40,000 square feet in an acre, so....40 square feet per person. Including “streets”, a public bathroom area, and perhaps some other public spaces I don't know about.
I have 1300 square feet for me alone on the inside of my house. And Anne has another 1300. And I'm not even counting the dog or cat. It's different.
Grace Center is near the bay/seafront. I am sitting, looking out on the “city”, seeing the bay in the distance. Beach, no doubt, but not sure I'd want to go there. Palm trees here and there, but mostly, just tents. Some with “USAID” on them. Others with blue tarps over them, like I saw in New Orleans after Katrina. And people.
Warm breeze blowing, fairly hot in the sun (in the high 80's). And being Easter, maybe people are taking the day off (though with 80% unemployment, not many people have work to take off from.)
I am in an enclave. With 24/7 security. In fact, I can't leave the enclave unless security lets me. No taking a walk (that may come sometime this week, with a security guy leading us around, but today, the “city” is too hot—not in temperature, but apparently, in some other respect that makes it not a good day for us to walk around.)
Not much sense of PAP (Port Au Prince). Driven from the airport to the Grace Center, going through the “downtown” area. Very, very quiet, it being Easter Sunday. Very brown, very dry, very low to the ground—no high buildings of any type, nothing over 2-3 stories.
After arriving, great lunch prepared by local women, hired each time a team comes. They are most grateful for the opportunity to work, I am most grateful for their fantastic cooking.
Our day will begin with breakfast at 6:30, off to the work site by 7:30 (to get in more work before the hottest part of the day), end work at 3:00, back to the Center, dinner at 6:00. One bare light bulb in our room (5 cots), but a flush toilet, shower, and sink. Amenities I've not always had!
“We need a roofing team.” “I'm on it.” Always have loved roofing (for reasons I don't know) but almost never have been able to do it other than in Raleigh and New Orleans. Spent the morning up on the trusses, putting in the final pieces of wood. Galvanized corrugated roofing arrived in the afternoon, unloaded it into the storage container (everything has to be put away for the night). Will unload it tomorrow morning, trek it down to the house site, take it up top, and roof. I am happy.
Toured Grace Village this morning before going to the job site. Grace Center was started in the early 70's by Bishop Joel Jeune and his wife. Bishop is the son of the “king of voodoo” in Haiti who became converted to Christianity, then converted his sons to it as well. Joel is the Bishop of the charismatic church, another son is the bishop of the Methodist church, another of the Baptist....etc. Together, they cover the non-Catholic churches of Haiti.
The Grace Center focuses on the holistic development of people—education, economic opportunity, health, and housing. Operates 67 schools (there is no public school system in Haiti), 3 orphanages, several hospitals, and many churches. And after the earthquake, they took on the mission of rescuing and helping victims recover. By partnering with other organizations (including the Fuller Center), they multiply their efforts many fold.
Grace Village comes alive after sunset. The sun is down, the temperature begins to moderate (slightly), the sea breeze seems cool rather than hot. Kids come out to play, adults gather and talk and argue, and a nightclub gets underway about 11 with incredibly loud music. Even a heavy rainstorm didn't dissuade them. Lasted for a couple of hours. Then quiet, broken beginning about 1:30 by the crowing of roosters, which continues randomly until dawn (which is around 5 here—they aren't on daylight time). And another day begins.
Resilient. That's the term Michael (son of the Bishop) used to describe Haitians. Within a week after the earthquake, 7,000 people had arrived at the Grace Center property. Quickly, they organized themselves into blocks, selected leaders of the blocks, and began their new (temporary) lives. New businesses started. A barber. A woman cooking meals for others. A little grocery store. A place to charge up your cell phone overnight (there's no electricity in the village, so you can't do it in your own tent.) etc. I'm thinking that when you aren't used to having anything, or anyone doing anything for you, resilience is the only answer. Can't imagine how long it would take for me and my neighbors to organize a new life after a natural disaster ruined our neighborhood. But don't think it would be weeks. I'd probably still be waiting.
And the adventure continues.
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