Last night at around 10:30pm we experience a small aftershock. It only lasted a couple of seconds, so it wasn't a huge one. It was quite weird, because everyone was like...was that an earthquake? And then this morning at around 10:30am, there was another bigger aftershock of about 5.0 magnitude that hit Haiti. We were on the road at the time, so it was hard to feel it, since the car was probably bouncing harder than the actual quake. We came back to the compound and everyone was like yeah there was an earthquake bigger than last night. The roads here are so bumpy and unstable, so each car ride feels like a giant earthquake. I cannot even being to feel how Haitians are feeling when an aftershock happens. It must feel like they are reliving the nightmare of The Earthquake all over again.
There were no active distribution this morning, so we all got to sleep in a little bit longer than usual. I actually woke up at 7am this morning, which will probably be the last time for a while. (which is a good thing, not to waste time). We were all suppose to leave the compound at 8am to go to different orphanages, but the trip was delayed due to transportation issues. We ended up leaving at around 9am this morning. The UN Jordanian army came to escort us to the different orphanages this morning. I haven't worked directly with the UN military yet, so this was very exciting. They all wear the same baby blue UN soldier hats, which I desperately want to sport myself, as well. (I even asked the soldier if he wanted to trade hats with me??? haha, had to try). The road to the orphanages was a new area of Haiti that I have not been to yet, so new sights were presented. The same massive destruction all over again and at some parts the odor was so strong, the windows had to be closed. There is a very distinctive smell to all the hard hit areas, rotting bodies mixed with garbage, dust, smoke, and human/animal feces.
When we arrived at the gates of Simon's Help Center for Destitute Children with the UN Jordanian Army, my heart was racing with excitement. This will be the first official Haitian orphanage I have been apart of. The gates opened and all 40 children, ranging from 2 to 15 years old, came racing to the front open area. Children were looking up with curious eyes at the Tzu Chi uniform and listening carefully to our Mandarin speech. Pieces of candy were passed out among all the children and an instant connection was made. All the little girls' hair dos were immaculate, ranging from colorful barrettes to tightly twisted braids. When we asked who was in charge of doing everyone's hair, a little girl wearing a white sun dress stood up among the crowd of giggling girls. "C'est moi" (It's me), she says. We found out that there are a group of four girls, the older girls, who are in charge of doing everyone's hair each morning. A demonstration was given for us, and the hair dos were done at lighting speed. I greeted each one of the girls at the orphanage, all 18 of them, and asked for their names. It has been standard to give one's first name, last name, the name of their mother, and the name of their father all at once. The eldest girl was named Elmeau and she was as sweet as can be. I told her all about the Tzu Chi Foundation and that we were here to help them. I asked what they liked to do in their spare time and she told me that they really liked to sing. Lunch time for the children followed shortly after our discussion and corn couscous custard with hot pepper sauce was served. Elmeau offered for me to sit with her and eat with her. I was very touched because they had so little but still had the heart to share and give to others. Such a little girl, but with such a big heart. This is something that the world desperately needs more of. The orphanage visit ended with a local folk song by the children and staff. It was very heart warming. They lyrics talked about thanking God for giving us life and that no matter how small we are, we are still one. The staff, heavy heartedly said goodbye to all the children. The only thing that kept us smiling was the thought of returning in the coming weeks. Be strong children, help is on the way.
Lunch was served at noon as normal and this time I was actually there to have it. Shortly after lunch we got word that we finally found a generator for one of the orphanages that we visited yesterday, so with short notice we headed to that orphanage at around 2pm. There was another stop first at a local church to discuss the details of a possible distribution site this Saturday, which was super rushed because we were running out of time. We were there discussing the 40 families distribution, and other people from the community stopped by asking for help as well. It was a very chaotic situation, because the pastor spoke a little bit of English, while everyone else did not understand English and only French and a lot of other people spoke Mandarin. So there was a three way translation happening between all the people. The pastor would speak English with Tzu Chi and I would translate what he said to the rest of the church/community staff, and then translate what the Haitian staff said into Mandarin back to Tzu Chi staff. It was quite an ordeal. People were talking all at the same time and not waiting to hear what people had to say. We left there in lighting speed, so I thought the impression wasn't exactly ideal. I hope tomorrow or the next day things can be smoothed over with the church for this Saturday's distribution.
The last orphanage that we visited was located at a very remote place about 35 minutes outside of Port-au-Prince. This orphanage was damaged in the earthquake and 12 of the orphans passed away in the earthquake. The remainder of the children are all doing very well. The orphanage has a strong connection with the country of Jordan, so the Si Bro and Si Guo of Jordan put in a word to the country of Jordan and they actually decided to donate a generator to the orphanage because they have no electricity right now. All the children sang in joy and we passed out bags of candy for them, as well. It was a very fun filled and bitter-sweet afternoon. The children are so innocent and amazing, but at the same time so fragile from the trauma of the earthquake. After leaving the orphanage, there were many children outside and we started to pass out candy to all of them. I ran all the way down the street to give a grandmother and her young grandchildren some candy. I saw them all the way down the street and wanted the children to have some candy, as well. Turns out the parents both passed away in the earthquake and left the elderly grandmother with her two grandchildren to fend for their lives. The grandmother cannot walk very well, so she sits in her chair pretty much all day, while the kids roam free around the neighborhood. It was very heartbreaking to hear the story and I was choking up when the grandmother said "Merci. Tu es jolie" (Thank you, you are beautiful) and bowed her head to me. I had to run back to the trucks because I was late. It was very hard to go away, I turned my head back and saw the grandmother smiled at me. All the children ran after the two trucks and we all waved goodbye. I stood on the bed of the truck the whole way home. Even with the wind blowing in my hair and the busy streets of Haiti, I somehow lost myself amidst the chaos.
When we got back to the OECC compound, the medical team was coming to a close. I went to finish writing reports and helped with the last bit of translation on the compound. The night was coming to a close fast and we were getting ready for our daily meeting with Taiwan on Skype. The forecast says that Tuesday will be the only day this week without rain, so the distribution has been pushed up to tomorrow. We will head to Leogane (The hardest hit city by the earthquake) tomorrow morning with the Canadian army troops. The chances for a riot is high due to the open areas of the tent cities, but we are going with a positive outlook and enough protection if things do go sour. We just can't stand the thought of all the children and families sleeping on rocks and palm leaves with no waterproof gear or tents when the raining season starts this week...
I am going to bed with a heavy heart...I hope tomorrow works out with every family receiving a waterproof tarp. Wish us luck.
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