Helping at Home

On Saturday, we collected shoes to send to Haiti. A few wonderful friends of mine organized a neighborhood shoe drive in conjunction with the Sole 4 Souls Project HAITI organization. Earlier in the week we had passed out flyers telling people to leave shoes they wished to donate on their porch and then we would come around and pick them up and take them to the drop-off location. It was a great way to get our children involved and to help them feel they were doing a little to help the people of Haiti. Of course, there was plenty of complaining and whining to go along with the collection, but we were able to collect a whole car full!

Forever Changed

A building next to the LDS Church

Helping put up a shelter tent

Tent city

Hair salon

82nd Airborne dancing at concert

82nd Airborne straight from Fort Bragg, NC

The past 2 days Garrett mostly assisted with translating for medical professionals. The teams were divided and went to different area make-shift clinics. They treated mostly minor injuries or follow-ups from previous treatments. His creole is coming along and he has been blessed to remember all of his medical terminology that he "crammed" for before he left.

They traveled through the city today in the back of a open bed truck, 9 of them standing. In Garrett's words, I (Brigette) would have "pooped my pants" if I saw how he was riding in the truck. I guess it wasn't the safest way of travel by my standards! They stopped a few times to treat minor injuries. When they would stop, they would immediately be surrounded by people. The small children would come and want to feel their hair or skin, especially the women with long hair in the group. Some of the very young children have probably never seen a Caucasian person before.

Garrett says that he can understand why there is a distribution problem. It is very hard to maintain control and eliminate chaos when you pass anything out. They were given strict instructions that they were not able to give any thing to anyone in a group setting. While walking through the city they came across a small merchant selling sodas. They purchased some and one of the guys on his team gave it to a boy alone. The walked ahead and turned back and within seconds the small boy was surrounded by others trying to take his soda. Later, Garrett saw a UN food truck and there must have been at least 1000 people waiting for food.

They are sharing their camp with the 82nd Airborne. They have been wonderful to take care of them, assist them, and get them to where they need to be. Garrett was able to ride around in their Humvee's today, too. He also was able to take a small shower, which he wasn't expecting the entire time. I sent 2 packages of baby wipes with him and that was going to be his shower for 3 weeks. Last night a Haitian band came and played for them. Everyone pitched in money for them after it was over. Garrett loved the music and it was good to feel a bit of "joy."

Devastation is still every where. It is heartbreaking for Garrett to see. Garrett said they stopped and found a little boy that had a severe head injury from the quake. His family said he drooled and peed at random, obviously because he had brain damage. The only treatment he had received was a bandage around the wound on his head. Their team was not sure how to handle the boy because they were not in medical facility. He obviously needed advanced medical attention. They were going to inquire about it back at camp and see if there was anything more they could do for him.

The living conditions mostly consist of make-shift shelters or "Tent" cities as we have heard on the news. Garrett saw one family that had draped a small blanket over 2 bushes and dug a hole for shelter. Trash and waste disposal is a serious problem, too.

One of the Bishops has been helping them, as well. Bishop Mardy is a remarkable man and has been through more than anyone should ever have endure. Weeks before the quake his young son (not more than 2 years old) was kidnapped and held for ransom. They believe his kidnappers were aware of the Bishop's association with the LDS church, therefore, assumed he had access to money. The earthquake happened while his son was still missing. For all he knows, his son and kidnappers were buried in the rubble during the quake. He has no way of knowing. His mother, brother-in-law, and dear friend were all killed in the quake. He personally pulled his wife out of the rubble. She suffered 2 broken legs. He owns 2 orphanages, 1 of which was completely damaged in the quake. His focus is finding shelter for all of the children that were in orphanages.

Garrett was able to travel to one of the LDS church buildings, which remarkably was not heavily damaged during the quake. Many of the ward members are staying on the property in tents and using the facility. They have had to have 24/7 security.

I am forever changed by this experience Garrett is having. It will be life changing for both of us.

Correction: Garrett did say that the roads were actually not as badly damaged as I reported below. They are just filled with people which can sometimes create "bottle-necks."

This bus is the shizzle!

Phone Call

Garrett was able to call tonight and send some photos. He was very tired and was trying to get to bed so we did not talk long. They had only had a about 3 hours of sleep the night before. I will do my best to try and retell most of what he said...

They are camping approximately 3-4 miles from airport with the 82nd airborne and another international relief group. He is sharing a tent with a former LDS missionary who served in Haiti years ago; he is now a neurosurgeon and has been wonderful to help Garrett with his creole. Their tent is tiny and in Garrett's words..."i am practically spooning my tentmate"

Transportation is difficult. The local Bishop of one of the LDS wards is assisting with transporting them. In order to get to the airport to assist with the orphans leaving on the plane they had to stuff as many people/children in cars as they could. He rode in the back of a truck with an open tailgate. Because the city is so torn apart there are no roads. The few roads that still exist are covered with people because there is no where for them to go. It takes a very long time to get anywhere.

The 125 orphans were supposed to depart last night as soon as the plane landed. However, there were hold-ups with the Haitian Government. The pilots and flight crew agreed to stay until they had a full plane. Senator Hatch was instrumental in getting them out. But, they only ended up taking 66.

When Garrett arrived at the airport, all of the orphans that were supposed to go were sitting on the runway in the hot sun and still waiting for the government to release them. They divided them up between the teams and basically babysat them for 3 hours. Finally, those that got to go, went. There was an 11-year old boy whose 2 siblings were on the plane that was left behind and was sobbing. Garrett and others did their best to comfort him. But, he knew what was going on.

They then loaded the most of the remaining orphans (including Fara and the boy) up on what vehicles they had and drove through the city to return them to the orphanage, or what is left of it. Garrett said the city was beyond words. When they arrived, they dropped them and left. The children were all crying and horribly upset. The orphanage consisted of a small fence and a make-shift shelter. There were 2 adults for about 35 very sad kids.

Tomorrow they are going to divide up and focus on medical help inside the city and attempt to construct a better shelter at one of the orphanages. Garrett will be translating for the doctors on his team.

Fara

Garrett's communication is brief. He was able to IM (instant message) a few experiences today...here is one...

G: holding a sweet little orphan girl right now...she loves me...she won't leave my side

B: crying

G: no, she is happy

B: no, I am crying...read they secured release of 125 orphans back on plane

G: i'm at airport...girl i am holding did not make the list...too young to understand

B: oh my gosh

G: older kids are upset they could not go...they understand

B: no words...how old is little girl?

G: 3...adorable

B: can u communicate

G: little kids only speak creole, some older kids know french...easy to understand though, they say simple things like "hold me" or "i am hungry"

B: did u give them the candy we sent

G: no...got to go

Later...

G: drove through city...no words to describe

B: where ru going

G: taking kids form airport back to orphanage

B: the ones that didn't make the plane

G: yes...little girl broke down crying when i had to leave her...we just had to dump them and leave

B: heartbreaking...does little girl have family waiting to adopt

G: yes...her name is Fara

Feeling Compelled

If you haven't heard already...Garrett joined a relief organization and is in Haiti as a translator for the next 3+ weeks. Here is a brief synopsis of how it happened....

As many of you were, both Garrett and I were sickened by the earthquake in Haiti and heartbroken over the devastating stories and images we saw on TV. He first received an email within CISCO asking if anyone spoke french or creole. He replied and indicated that he spoke french and some creole (he had a Haitian companion on his LDS mission in Paris, France). I guess that got the ball rolling. From there, he made contact after contact of possible ways he could help in Haiti. Eventually, through the contacts of a few different people and one close friend (Jake Abhau, who sadly did not get picked to go), he was chosen to accompany the Utah Hospital Task Force in conjunction with Healing Hands for Haiti relief team. He got the call Saturday night and was on a plane Wednesday to SLC and in the air to Haiti Thursday. He scrambled getting supplies, immunizations, medicines, and work responsibilities taken care of (which, by the way, has been supportive and willing to let him take the time off for the good of the cause).

When he arrived in SLC and attended the mandatory meeting, they were cutting the team by 25 people and required that each of their packs were to be only 25 pounds to make room for as many supplies as possible. They will be camping in the worst conditions, "roughing it" doesn't even cover it, eating 1500 calories a day between MRE's and energy bars, no running water, and no electricity.

He called me when they landed in Haiti (Verizon gave him a phone free of charge to use down there because he was going on a relief team). Our conversation was brief, but I was super glad to hear his voice.

Another one of our family goals this year was to do more service and find ways that we could reach out to others. I am not sure if this is what we had in mind...I think this may cover us for the whole year! But, there is amazing joy in serving others.

For more information on the task force and updates...

Utah Hospital Task Force

Healing Hands for Haiti

New year...new look...fresh start!

Wow! I know it has been a long time since our last post, but this is it! A new year, a new look, and a fresh start! We have many new family goals this year, one of them being cataloging and sharing our memories better! I probably won't be the best blogger, as I have proven in the past, but I am going to try and do at least one post per month! There, I said it out loud...I guess I have no excuse now! Some of our other goals are spending more "joyful" time together as a family and I hope I will be able to share a few of those "joyful" moments!

Learning to water ski

Spent the weekend at Lake Gaston. Braden got up for the first time. First with mom sitting with him on the towable. Second time with mom sitting with him in the water. Third time he did it completely by himself.

A Googol!

Braden's 2nd grade talent show was today. He explained how to multiply large numbers.

1 x 1000 = 1,000
1,000 x 1,000 = 1,000,000 (1 million)
1,000,000 x 1,000 = 1,000,000,000 (1 billion) Warren Buffet has 64 of these in dollars
1,000,000,000 x 1,000 = 1,000,000,000,000 (1 trillion)
1,000,000,000,000 x 1,000 = 1,000,000,000,000,000 (1 quadrillion)
1,000,000,000,000,000 x 1,000 = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 (1 quintillion)

(turn your volume up on this video...it's kind of hard to hear).

Boomerang Adventures

Took the kids to the park today. Braden rode his new bike. We also tried out the boomerangs that I brought home for Avery, Carson, and Braden. Carson lost his in the first 5 minutes. No surprise there. Braden's flew the best. We found a fire ant hill and saw the queen ant. I sent a few of the ants on a boomerang ride. Check out the video.