Today was our last big scale distribution of this week, 1,500 people again. It poured and poured last night. My heart was breaking with each rain drop. I was hurting for the people outside who were getting drenched and had no coverings to hid under. I prayed and prayed for the rain to stop. It turned into a light drizzle in the morning, but it was still very wet. I heard that there was massive flooding and many people died. This was just like about 3 week ago, where 13 people died in what was marked the start of the pre-raining season. We are heading full force into official rain season this week...I can only pray for people to get as much shelter as they can. When we arrived at the distribution site, people were already waiting outside. It looked calmer and more organized today, which was a big positive. The leaders were actually thinking about canceling the distribution today due to heavy rain, but the Haitian people are in desperate needs of food and shelter, so rain or shine, they will still come. Once, again, I was the MC today, but it was actually changed to Peter (Pierre) who accompanied me. We started out late again due to the container truck having a flat tire. Once again, curve balls. We are pretty use to that by now, so everyone wasn't panicking, they were just doing extra things to keep the crowd entertained.
One huge thing that went on during the distribution was the fact that people thought there was another earthquake. It was in the middle of "We Are The World" when all of a sudden a rush of people came running down. People were crawling over people and people were falling off the railings. We were all trying to calm the people down, but no one was listening. We didn't know what was going on. Then I heard people yell, "Tumbler Terre. Tumbler Terre. (Earthquake. Earthquake.)" So apparently, the base of that song was on too high and the volume was high as well, making the seats tremble like a potential earthquake. It scared the people so much that they ran for their lives. They were in the stadium seating where a big slab of cement ceiling covering, so people wanted to get out from that in case it fell down on them. It was a scary and panicking moment for the people. I was super sad because Haitians are always living in fear due to the Jan. 12th earthquake. It is a very normal reaction to have. The anxiety was high. We immediately played some gospel songs to calm them down. That incident really showed just how affected people are, no matter how damaged their houses are or if someone they knew has passed away, people are still affected
After the distribution, Da Ai TV reporter, videographer, and I went to visit Pierrot and Jacques' house here in Port-au-Prince. We wanted to document and interview Pierrot on his journey in finding Tzu Chi and what life was like before and after the earthquake. Here is a little bit of background information on the two brothers:
Pierrot >>> He is 37 years old, married with two adorable girls. Yannine (5 years old) and Sasha (1 year old). He is a two time Haiti National Tae Kwon Do Champion and he use to work at the U.S. embassy as the special tasks bodyguard/security personnel. Before the earthquake, he lived in a little house in Petroville, overlooking the city. He had built the house with his own hands. Due to the earthquake, his family and him are in a tent outside of his brother, Jacques', house.
Jacques >>> He is 42 years old, married with one adorable 4 year old girl. He use to work as a bodyguard/security personnel for many private companies. The earthquake did not destroy his home completely, so he is still living inside, while younger brother Pierrot and his family has a tent in his front lawn. One week before the earthquake happened, Jacques' wife and daughter went to Miami for vacation. Due to the earthquake, they were not permitted to return to Haiti as planned, so a three week vacation turned into 3 months of agony abroad. Jacques has not seen his family for three months now, but they are expected to return the 10th of April for reunification.
The family has a total of 9 siblings, 6 boys and 3 girls.
We went and visited the house Pierrot and his family had built themselves before the earthquake and it was such a sad sight to see. It was damaged badly and completely unsafe to be in. There were still toys, clothing, and art works displayed on the ground, along with crumbled rubble. When Pierrot stepped into the house, you can sense that tension he had and a feeling of sadness that just came over him. I was very sad for him and admired him for his strong will to keep going in life. He started to pick up some baby underwear from the the partially collapsed bathroom, dusted it off, and held it up for the camera, "This is Sasha's. She would like to have this back." I was trying very hard to fight off the tears. Then we headed to the bedroom, where Pierrot talked about all the good memories in that room. He said he remembers waking up every morning and taking Sasha and Yanine in his arms and walking to the bedroom window. He would tell them, "look there is a car passing by. There is a lady with her laundry done. There is a bird flying in the sky." As he said this, he gave me a nervous smiled and swallowed a huge lump in his throat and walked out of the bedroom. We looked around the whole house and it looked like if there was even a slight after-shock the house would fall over and tumble down the cliff it is built on. We left the house very heavyhearted. Next place we headed to was Jacques' house. His house did not collapse in the earthquake and he actually gave Pierrot and his family a place to stay in his front lawn. We checked out Pierrot's tent and it was a pretty sturdy tent. He said that he reads Master Cheng Yen's Jing Si Aphorisms every night before he heads to sleep. He is very grateful for his exposure with Tzu Chi and would love to be a real Pusa (someone who sacrifices himself to help others).
His family is safe and he says life has to go on. Time will heal the pain that is in his heart and he is stronger because of it.
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