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| Buried for the last four weeks..... |
| They just brought him in...he was still alive. |
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| 2-7-10 |
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SA camp (where we used to stay), was over run by 3-400 looters. It was absolutely insane. They stole the SA water supply and were removing furniture and parts of the building. I called in the 82nd and they got here in just a few minutes and shut it down. We are still trying to find a clothing solution for distribution. We delivered specialty items such as formula, diapers and other supplies to 82nd. Watched the Super Bowl with the 82nd on their big screen in the middle of their base. We heard earlier in the day the World Food Program was interested in our list, but now we hear they are not. Need to find a long term solution as the 82nd will eventually pull out. Monday we are going to St Marc to find a clothing distributor. We will then follow up with MAF about getting smaller flights in. M |
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| 2-6-10 |
| Let me first say thank you to everyone who has supported Mathieu and I
in whatever way you have. Be it thoughts, prayers, donations or words of encouragement. As Shannon mentioned yesterday, Mathieu and I were about to run some errands, and then head for the airport. We are both tired, dirty and aching to come home. Shortly before we started our day we got an email from the 82nd Airborne expressing interest in what we have been doing with GPSing the orphanages and assessing their needs. Long story short, this is now the game plan. We have turned all of our information over to the 82nd and they are consolidating our lists into one. They have agreed to help us distribute food and supplies to all of the orphanages we have or will find. I was interested to know that they also have their own scout teams out looking for them. My primary role has changed, and that is to coordinate supplies to the 82nd for distribution to the orphanages. They gave me a list of things they wanted; Food, Water Purification Solutions, Tents, Tarps and Clothing. The SA has already agreed to supply the food request, and upon my return I ran into filterpurefilters who has agreed to supply the filter systems. Samaritans Purse will supply the tarps, Shelter Box, and the tents on an as needed basis. I wasn't able to personally line up the tents and tarps, but made the recommendation to the 82nd to ask them. They did and it all worked out. It's funny because I have very little pull with the NGOs. They don't even return my emails, but when the 82nd asks....they get it! I really like the guys I am working with, they are top notch, and very nice. Mathieu and I are working on a clothing solution, but we found out SA had four random crates of it which just got here and was sitting on the Tarmac. We told the 82nd about this and I think they already have it. Mathieu and I spent the morning looking for a clothing distributor here in PAP, but without luck. We hear St Marc has some wholesaler which sell very cheap, and this may be the way to go. We are also considering working with MAF to get smaller loads of supplies flown in. To make this happen, we would need a church group in either Orlando or Miami to sponsor the program. The 82nd would make a request, and it would be up to the church to gather it and get it on the plane. It's been an amazing experience. Mathieu told me today he has to be back by Wednesday night, so I'll have to make a decision to stay or go. If I am still making a big impact, I will do my best to stay. If the 82nd orphanage program is moving full steam ahead, and doesn't need me then I'll come back this next week. Looks like I'll be missing the super bowl. I'm having very strong cravings for chick-fil-a, pepperonis pizzas and root beet floats. |
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| Help Michael & Mathieu Help Haiti |
| What a difference a day makes! Today Michael's plan was to try and get on a plane headed for home, when this morning he received an email from the 82nd Airborne requesting a meeting with Mathieu and him.
Long story short they have agreed to distribute aid to ALL of the orphanages on their list, as well as the ones they are still looking for. They have asked Michael and Mathieu to help co-ordinate supplies and goods to them for distribution. Food will mostly be supplied by the Salvation Army directly to them. The other important thing discussed in the meeting was a call for Water Purifications Systems. When Michael arrived back to the Salvation Army Camp he happened to run into a group who had these very small portable water purification buckets. Michael says these filters are a better solution than providing water itself because they are light, efficient, inexpensive, and easy to use. One filter costs $30 and will supply a family of 6 with clean drinking water for 5 years!! A factory that makes these purifiers was recently opened near the airport in Port Au Prince. Michael says he is working with amazing people from this organization directly and the filters will be distributed by the 82nd Airborne. This is where we all come in. So many people have been asking, "How can we help you Michael?" And this is how.... Michael is asking for each of us to purchase at least one filter for a family in Haiti. Our goal is to raise $6000.00 in filters. Simply click on the link below and donate!! Also, please make a note with your donation "for Michael's Orphanages", to ensure that the purifier you just purchased goes directly to Michael's Orphanages. Help Michael & Mathieu Help Haiti Feel free to get the word out. Post to your blog, facebook, twitter, or myspace...and lets make a difference! |
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| 2-4-10 |
| I spoke with Michael a few hours ago, and he said that Matthew and him were able to visit 8 orphanages today. Many of which had either received some aid or had been evacuated entirely. They also are seeing more and more aid vehicles moving throughout the city.
Their plan is to unload their remaining supplies, and tie up all loose ends before hopefully heading home this weekend. (I apologize for this short update! When Michael is able to call out on his satellite phone we are only able to speak for less than five minutes before we are disconnected) |
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| 2-3-10 |
| Today was the first day since I've been here that there was a visible
improvement in Port Au Prince. It was the third day of the "food surge" by the World Food Program, and we have seen many, many people carrying big bags if beans and rice. It also seems that every 5th or 6th car on the road is some type of relief vehicle. It feels like there is less tension in the air, and people are starting to smile again. Matthew and I both noticed this and we had our first discussion about the "end game", trying to determine how much longer we would be here and what we would like to accomplish before we leave. We realize that there are a lot of people that we will not be able to help who need it, but we have to focus on what we do best, and that is locating the hard to find places and marking them. It's really hard to beat GPS co-ordinates for directions. Mathew confided that he would like to wrap things up no later than a week from today. So I guess what I am saying is, it looks like we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, and we will be coming home soon. We have some unfinished business still to attend to, like finding many more orphanages as well as helping the ones who need food. Right now the plan is to turn our attention back to orphanages we haven't heard anything from. We need to tag these with coordinates and turn this information over to a long term solution (NGO). We have already given our lists to many organizations, and only a handful have taken notice. It seems only the SA, Canadian Navy, volunteers we work with here and in the states, and our new ally have actually done anything with the information we have provided. We believe this information has absolutely saved lives (literally) and it is starting to feel that we have accomplished a lot of what we came to do. This morning we checked in on the food delivery for the slum city, and this man and his family loves us. They will distribute the food on Friday, and that will feed 300 people for the next month. Next we delivered 33 cases of tuna to our Canadian Navy friends in Leogane, they have already distributed half the food we gave them. After that we tracked down and GPS tagged two missing orphanages in Leogane. They were both very difficult to find because all we had were names. Both seemed to be doing ok, but they needed food and water. Within an hour of tagging the last one, I sent the GPS data to Josh (Canadian Navy) and he was on his way to deliver food and water. That's how it should work! Between the 5 we found and the 3 he found, 8 orphanages in Leogane will be eating for the next month. Josh also told me that after some time, he will turn the data over to a German NGO he knows in town who will be able to support them for the long run. We returned in the evening and had to track down a very important package that a friend of a friend had brought, it was money and a spare iPhone. We have been trying to find these guys for 3 days now. How did we finally find it? That's right, GPS coordinates, the guys with the package were deeply embedded in a hidden base, which was extremely difficult to find. The next few days we will be making several deliveries and turning our attention back to tagging in PAP. I'm officially on anti-malaria medication. Not to say I have it, just that the Salvation Army doctor recommended it. Especially since I was having a few of the symptoms, like complete exhaustion, sweat/fever bouts etc. I'm feeling better already, but it also could have just been exhaustion catching up to me. |
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| 2-2-10 Update... |
| I read a disturbing email this morning from someone who heard about
Matthew and I, and what we are doing. It was written by someone who is under the impression that the NGOs know everything there is to know about the orphanage situation in Haiti. When we initially met with the Salvation Army we had the same conversation with them. The argument being that many aid groups have been here for decades, know all the towns and cities and those who need aid. They have systems that are proven and they are efficient at what they do. What could two guys with no experience possibly do to help that the NGOs couldn't? Matthew and I are focused on "finding and feeding" the orphanages that have fallen through the cracks. We go out on the streets and personally meet with these orphanages and children face to face. Please do not misunderstand, I am sure the NGOs are working their butts off. I know SA distributed over a half million meals yesterday to a refugee camp. They seriously are doing awesome. However, the truth of the matter is - 85% of the orphanages we have visited have had zero contact from any NGO and is in some kind of need. Most of the orphanages we find range from 15-75 kids, and because they are smaller groups, typically they are "missed". It was this data, combined with taking one of their Captains to a site that convinced them that we were seeing things they weren't. Since then, the Salvation Army has been the biggest supporter of what Matthew and I are doing. What I am trying to bluntly say is: Anyone (including NGOs) who thinks they know it all already, don't, and cannot learn new ways of looking at problem solving. It's an arrogant attitude that has slowed things down here greatly. I know some people may disagree with me on this, and that is fine. Matthew and I will continue to focus, believe, and do what we think will help the most. We absolutely are seeing positive results from what we are doing. This morning I found myself stumbling over my words and not being able to really think straight. It's happened before when I'm working myself into exhaustion. I think yesterdays trip along with everything else of the last two weeks has finally caught up with me. Initially the plan was to return to Leogane to find another 4-5 missing orphanages. Now that we have somewhat of a pipeline system, the more orphanages we plug in there, the more the Canadians can distribute too. I got an email from my Navy contact this morning, they had already moved 140 cases to the orphanages and an asylum. We need to figure a way to get them more resources and more distribution points. I'm thinking of ways to channel resources to the Canadians as long as they are willing to do this. Craig, the logistics officer for SA, somewhat tricked me today. He asked me if I wanted to go to his hotel room to shower and get cleaned up. I told him I was fine and that Matthew and I needed to go to Leogane to work. Then he asked if I would help him with GPS positioning to co-ordinate with the 82nd and I agreed. I told Matthew to spend some time with his family and to meet up with me later in the afternoon. Well turns out that Craig takes me to the hotel anyway. At the hotel there was a small care package for me from my friend Joanne, a firefighter I met here at the camp who recently left. I was able to shave and take a real shower. It was the first time I have looked in a big mirror in two weeks. I was truly filthy, and now I feel like a new man. It took all four razors to get that beard off. I've made some friends with the SA and they all have encouraged me to take the day off and try to rest a little, so I did. It was much needed; and then an idea came to me. SA has been amazing about getting us food, but it's been coming in spurts and we give it away faster than we get it. We need to do more....so why not just go to the market and buy a few big bags of rice and beans? There is food here locally, it's just too expensive for the locals. I'm thinking about opening up a donation system through PayPal, so if you would like to help out with what we are doing, we will use your donations to buy food directly. Standby for more details. In other exciting news, Matthew and I have made an extremely powerful ally who is absolutely taking action. I cannot say much about this person for several reasons, but I do know they financed a major operation and care for a young girl with hydrocephalus from one of the locations we visited and referred him/her to. I also know this individual donated 2000 lbs of food worth several thousands of dollars to the slum city we visited on Sunday. These are the same folks who called to tell us they "were starving to death". This person asked us to go and oversee the distribution of it tomorrow because we introduced them. It's truly amazing to me how things have been coming together. I can honestly say this is one of the most exciting and rewarding times of my life. |
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| 2-2-10 |
| The Canadians are distributing the food we gave them :)!
M Also... This was sent to me earlier today from one of the orphanage directors M "Hi My friend, I just want to thank you in the name of all our children for the help you have been providing to us and specially for your willingness to get us someone that can help us long term. I am excited about that. We are willing to take in more children this week. This long range help will enable us to rescue and save the lives of many children. I am hoping to hear from you very soon. Bless you, Pierre" |
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| 2-1-10 Michaels Account..... |
| Shannon got most of the story right. The only details I would add was that
when we picked up the truck, there wasn't enough room in the cabin, so I had to put Matthew in my lap like a little kid. I couldn't help but to bounce him up and down and ask him "who is your daddy?" :) Once we got outside the city Matthew and I jumped into our tap tap and followed behind the truck. We had our main driver ride as a passenger because he knew the location to the Canadian Army Base. Breaking off from the convoy was a little risky but we figured if no security was with us, nothing would be suspected. The SA logistics officer agreed that it would probably work. So everyone, including the 82nd, knew this was the plan. Just outside the city we got two flat tires. Fixing them was a nightmare. We had to put both flat tires into the tap tap truck back to PAP to find a flat repair man. We also needed two new valves, but only had US dollars. So Baby (my body guard) and I had to find a place to exchange the money (Matthew and our driver stayed with the big truck). Eventually we got the tires fixed, but when our driver tried to put them on, he realized the jack wasn't tall enough to lift the wheel base from the ground. It was around this time we realized our driver didn't have a clue what he was doing. I'm understanding more and more what my main role here is, and that is to be the "problem solver" in these types of situations. No one in my group knew what to do, and they respect my opinion enough to listen. They wanted to set the wheel on some rocks, and put the jack on another rock, and I'm like "This is getting dangerous. Matthew and I will find another Jack." We headed back to PAP and found someone to help, and brought him back to the truck. He had a bigger Jack, yet it was still just a little too small. So we dug the ground out by hand to finally replace both tires. A mile from the Canadian Base, the truck broke down completely. Again, no one was sure what to do. It was getting dark and we had all this food with us and no security. I had our tap tap take me and Matthew to the base to see if we could get a tow. Every base has security guards on their perimeter, so we had to approach this guy and tell him what the deal was. The problem was our Navy contact had gone to his ship for the night, and I had to work with the Army now. The security guard said I could enter the base because I was an "American" but Matthew could not because he was Haitian (even though he is a US Citizen). Oh how I wish I could have filmed the base as we walked through it! They took me to their central head quarters, hooked me up with a stud of an engineer named Dave, who drove a massive Mack Truck and off we went. Dave spoke broken English and I could tell he was a nice guy and enjoyed practicing his English. We had to wait about an hour to find a spot to unload, and when we did, we realized our driver had left his key with his partner who was outside the camp with Matthew. I had made a few friends with the Canadian Logistics guys and asked for some bolt cutters, and we just cut it off and started unloading by myself and the one other guy who was with me. After about 3 minutes a group of about 30 solider showed up to help unload. Which only took about 10 minutes. At this point, I had to try to figure out what to do with the driver. The Canadians were reluctant to let him park his truck there for the night and he didn't want to leave it. I was able to persuade them to make an exception for him to stay and gave him $100 to help out with repair costs, scrounged up some food and water from the Canadian Army, and we left him and his partner there. If we didn't hurry we would have been locked out of our base like Matthew was a few nights ago. When we got to PAP we were pulled over by the Haitian Police who were really angry and threatening to shoot us. Matthew later told me they were not regular police, they were Swat (I think he called them "SEMO" and apparently shooting and killing criminals on a regular basis is part of their job description. I learned just now that the driver was able to fix his truck this morning and he made it back ok. I think we all can agree it is much better when Michael tells the story :)!! -Shannon |
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| 2-1-10 Update..... |
| I just got off the phone with Michael. His iPhone battery was almost dead so he quickly tried to relay the events of the day through his satellite phone. My hope is that he can tell you all more about their exciting day in his own words soon.
The morning began at the airport loading up an unmarked truck with 6 tons of food that was allocated from the Salvation Army. Once they were loaded they were then escorted through the city by the 82nd Airborne Division in a convoy of five trucks. The plan was that after a certain point in the city that the truck Michael was in would turn off from the rest of the convoy, because it was a local Haitian truck no one suspected a thing, and they drove the rest of the way without any security. Unfortunately it didn't go completely without incident. Two of the tires went flat enroute to Leogane. They were able to talk a commander into towing the truck all the way to the Canadian base where the 6 tons of food was safely unloaded for the Canadians to distribute. In an effort to get back to camp before the gates were locked at 9 pm, the Haitian Police pulled them over. as Michael stated, "They ordered us out of the truck, all four of them had their machine guns drawn and pointed at us and they were yelling. My team and I all put their hands on our heads and tried to explain- all I heard was "American", "Leogane", and "Orphanage" and they motioned towards me. I raised my hand and said "hi" in the nicest way I could, and they lowered their weapons and let us go. Matthew says "they are just doing their jobs.....but that was exciting"." I hope Michael can fill in the blanks more tomorrow, and I will update as soon as I hear anything. |
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© 2010 Michael Andrew Photography, All rights reserved. Blog by infinet design |
