First Job Complete

We worked on clearing the mud from the six rooms of M. Noel's house. Access to the rooms was via a narrow corridor and each room was filled with scattered belongings embedded in up to 8 inches of partly dried mud.



We shovel the mud into wheelbarrows which we then trundle out to the street to dump. The problem is that the street is already piled high with other people's mud. This is quite a challenge.

Anyway-- after a day and a half of work, and aided mightily by M. Noel and some of his relatives, we got all six rooms cleared out. Someobe's gonna have a lot of scrubbing to do, though.


It was satisfying to see that the extended family occupying the various rooms have already started moving back in. So Hands On has helped get some people back in their home already.

In the photo, John helps M. Noel remove a waterlogged and mud-soaked mattress.

Hands On in Haiti

1. Haiti was mauled by four hurricanes an d tropical storms this season. An already poor country-- poorest in the hemisphere -- was savaged by severe flooding and wind. The city of Gonaives, on the west coast north of the capital Port au Prince (PaP), occupies the wide, flat Artibonite river valley and most of the city was flooded by the overflowing river to a depth of 6 or 7 feet. This left a half foot or a foot of mud in the streets and in people's homes.
   
   Hands On Disaster Response surveyed the area and chose Gonaives as the site of their latest project. Stef, Marc, and John spent several weeks readying our new base for occupancy. The project opened for business on Oct. 1oth and I was one of the first two volunteers to arrive.