Sunday = Fun Day (part 2)

As for the rest of the week, I worked on the same two projects I have been on the whole time I have been here: both the Villa Rosa and Santo communities redevelopment projects. Santo had it's ground breaking last week and Villa Rosa is still in the research stage and will be going into schematic design really soon. Everyday I kind of jump back and forth between the two projects depending on what needs to be done whenever that is. The office is always busy, everyone is constantly working together, meeting, organizing site visits, it is quite impressive. It seems to go so fluidly I don't think of too much to discuss, like 'work as usual' now. But there were two exciting things to happen this week with getting out of the office:

Wednesday we went back to the Villa Rosa site, met with current residents to find out what kind of current living situations they are in and how to improve that; Thursday I went to another ground breaking, this one being a school site north of here by about 45 minutes, but only a few miles away. Long, 4 wheel drive road to get there.Going back to Villa Rosa is always cool for me.
The neighborhood is extremely dense and offers us endless amounts of design potential. Half the structures are completely gone or in such bad shape they need to be demo'd. What is so interesting about the area is that everyone still lives such normal lives, it seems. I mean, not compared to our 'white picket fence' prototype, but neighbors still hanging out gossiping on front steps, children running and playing with new, invented toys (lid of a 5 gallon bucket and a wire hanger pushing the lid around, etc.), running around and laughing. Darren and I mainly went to organize some major routes to incorporate into the design we come up with. Main walking paths tend to die off into structures that make it difficult to get through the area, and we are trying to make it so there are more direct ways to get around. After we gathered a lot of information, we met back up with Natalie (a local Haitian that is volunteering at AFH) and Nancy (design associate from DC), who had organized the group meeting and took good notes from the residents in the first zone set for construction. We met as a group later in the day and gathered info, then sent it out to Mari, a woman that currently works for AFH at the San Francisco office and is planning on coming out here in a couple weeks. We have been meeting villa Skype with her and she has been a big help.

Thursday morning, I got to go to a site currently set to start construction very soon by Haiti Partners, BAR Architecture (from SF) with funding by a church group from Michigan. Craziest part was, a lot of the church members are from Holland, Michigan...where Nicole went to see Lindsay and Alex tie the knot last week. Small world! The site was AMAZING. Overlooking the entire valley nestled in this green mountainous area where you can still see the ocean. Beautiful. It differed quite a bit from last weeks ground breaking in Santo. There were at least 100 people there, kids, adults, a cute choir, really fun. A festive, great group of people excited for this new school to be developed. There were dozens of photo friendly kids, priceless. The school design was done by BAR Architects in San Francisco, who used our offices to create the design. It is a really cool design, love the renderings, check it out.Friday, I got back to the grind with compiling graphics and construction pages for Santo, which we have a deadline of next week to turn in all the stuff we have to get the entire project going. We need to send out the info for the school and market plans to see who would like to fund that part of the project, since the homes are already being built by Habitat for Humanity. I have been working in CAD, Illustrator and Photoshop, having a bunch of fun with it.

After working all day on that, we finished off with our weekly meeting. It was a really constructive one this time, because normally we just run through all the projects and see where they are all atcurrently, but this time it was an open forum to have people suggest how we can improve our efforts and create a more productive working environment for the local economy.

We aren't here to take design work away from Haiti, we are here to provide advice and to show how to make buildings the right way, to change the terrible methods that have been used as common practice here for so long.

It was a gooddiscussion, I was suggesting the concept of design/build, where we work with local enthusiastic builders and contractors through the design process so they have a better understanding of how the buildings get put together. It is crazy to know that AFH has only been here for only 18 months and has done SO much to help this country get back on track. Amazing, so glad I can be a part of this.

Well, hope to watch the Chargers game later today. I subscribed to justin.tv for the month and I am able to see the Pats/Bills game pretty well to start the day, lets hope the same happens for my game and they can get over that bad loss last week to NE. Enjoy the rest of your weekend everyone!! Here is a video from the ground breaking...

Sunday = Fun Day (part 1)

Hey y'all,

Well, another week has come and gone. Thursday actually marked the half way point of my trip, so everyday that ends from now on is one day closer in the direction of home. Nuts. Right now, I am sitting on a foldout chair in the kitchen of all places, jamming to some music helping out with today's 'Man's Breakfast'. For those that don't know or remember, this has become a Sunday tradition for everyone to provide an ingredient to have made into a big meal for brunch. I provided breakfast sausage and cheese.

So in about 30 minutes we'll all sit down to enjoy a nice meal together. Since I haven't posted this week, I need to back track a bit...last Sunday a group of us went to the beach. It is not as easy as we have grown to know in southern Cali, all the beaches are owned by resorts and we have to pay to get into them, and it is a two + hour drive to get there. And these trips are not planned frequently, and when talk began about getting a group together, I had to jump on it.

I knew this would most likely be the only time I go this trip and after we got a full car committed to the idea, we piled in the car and headed north.

The group was me, Michael (a new volunteer from North Carolina), Sven, Lisa, Dot, Burtland and his friend Sandra. Along the way we passed through nice country side and through several parts I hadn't seen yet. I made a point to try to read as much as I could, completing a whole chapter on the drive. We got to Kaliko Beach Resort about 11am, paid $30 to get it (incl. buffet and two drinks) and began our nice day. The resort was pretty nice and the view was beautiful. We got set up right on the water, joining another group of volunteers from other NGO's, friends of Gerry (works at my office) and his girlfriend Mor. It was a nice change of pace as we relaxed, drank some beer and eventually I a large portion of the group decided to take a boat out to the reef and go snorkeling. I stayed back and read my book on the beach, really good choice. When the group returned, we all went up to the buffet and had lunch.

I had a secret objective though when eating my meal. I intentionally didn't each much, knowing I had seen guys on the beach selling whole live lobster. They cook it on the grill right there, and I knew that was going to be my special treat. My mom told me before leaving that she wanted me to use some of her money she gave me to get something special, and that was it! Cooked with onions and peppers, I was as happy as a guy can be...We stayed until 4pm or so, then headed home, getting back just before sunset. I listened to my music and hung my head out the rear window as we drove back, a fun experience. I have actually created a game here called 'guess that jersey'. Since there are a lot of people here that wear old basketball and football jerseys, it has been fun to see them and see if I know the player. And most of them are all old players or teams they no longer are on, and I have not missed one yet. For instance, and old 76ers jersey with number 3 is Allen Iverson. Bengals #85 - Chad Johnson. And so on. It's been pretty fun so far, a game I kind of play on my own as we drive around the area.

When we got home, I logged onto to NFL Game Center, knowing the game Chargers game had just gone final. I was able to watch the archived game, and by avoiding the final score, I pretended it was live. Well, as most of you all know, the game did not end well and the Bolts lost another game to Tom Brady's Patriots. Damn!! I stayed up to watch the Eagles/Falcons game as well, since the free preview was ending the next day. Then I went off to bed.

The only bad part about the weekend is I could not talk to Nicole the whole time because she was at Lindsay and Alex's wedding in Michigan and was not able to log on to chat. Plus it really would have been a fun event to have attended. Looking at the photos is seemed to have been a pretty fun party. Congrats you two!

Time flies

Hey ya'll. First and foremost, congratulations to Lindsay and Alex Davidson for their marriage to one another today. I would have loved to have been there to celebrate with you both, but I think you understand why I couldn't make it...

This week went by rather quickly. Starting on Monday, my team and I went back to the Villa Rosa community to try again to have a charrette to find out the wants and needs of the area. Enough people showed, somewhere in the 50-60 number, so we split them up in five groups and gave them maps (which I drew myself), some stickers with icons on them to represent vital additions to the area (electrical posts, water locations, etc.), and surveys for them to fill out to help us configure some data on their living situation. It lasted about three hours in this stuffy church and when we left it was getting dark. I take every opportunity I can now to ride in the back of the TaTa pick up truck, one of the three vehicles we have here. It is just really nice to be able to see and hear everything around me and take it all in, like this soccer game being played off the road.
The next couple days I spent compiling the data, digitising the maps, and uploading photos and videos from the charrette. Meanwhile, a good group of everyone else worked diligently through the week to get graphics together for the Santo ground breaking set for Thursday in Leogane, an area about two hours from here. My roommate, Sven, was working two weeks solid on getting the site plan rendering together, adding texture, color, trees, and graphics to make it really pop. Since it looked as if he still was not going to be able to get it done in time, I was asked to step up and help him finish it. So, starting Tuesday night, I grabbed some of the files and started making all the roof lines nice and pretty, for both the schools and all 500 houses and latrines. It took awhile and but I had fun working in Photoshop learning some new tricks. The site plan includes community homes, two schools (primary and secondary), a market and sports complex. Habitat for Humanity is building and funding the homes, while the other portions are TBD in terms of funding and construction.

Everyone worked like madmen into the night Wednesday to plot and get everything together for Thursday morning. I threw my name in the hat, requesting to tag along to the ground breaking. Since there was space, I was able to squeeze in the back area of the 4Runner and go to Leogane. The President of Haiti, Michelle Martelly was supposed to attend, and both Clinton and Carter were invited, but all three didn't come. The drive to Leogane was a bit bumpy and long. It ran parallel to the water, so there were some nice views here and there, but for the most part the amount of trash, pollution and road work going on took away from that. Plus being in the back of the car, with no seat sitting next to Ben, it got a bit uncomfy at times. In the photo is Burtland from NY, Lisa from Ireland, Sven and Ben. There were a total of eleven of us that went to the event. When we got there, there were armed guards checking cars in, so it had the feel of an important event. The downside was there were a ton of community people lining the outskirts of the fences, not allowed to come in, which was a bit odd considering this was FOR the community. I found out later that these people were protesting, claiming the houses were too small for their needs (each home is only the size of most of our living rooms-for 5-6 people). Was a bit sad.

The speeches were in Creole and translated to English and were very 'pad on the back' style for Habitat for Humanity, a bit self absorbed, but they all deserved credit. It lasted about an hour and a half, then all the important people did the symbolic shovel dig and flipped the dirt to the side. Included in the group was Darren, the team leader (guy in blue with glasses). I also helped move some dirt, as you can see. We waited around after the event concluded so Darren and Nancy could number crunch and get a calendar together with some of the Habitat folks, so by the time we left, Ben and I were starving, as well as the others in the car. We stopped by a gas station on the way back and got a cold beverage and some chips (all they had) and finally got back to the office around 3:30pm. Tired and still hungry, I finished the report from the surveys a few days prior and the day was done. Most of us had mixed feelings about the event. It was kind just a show, and the crowd was only a few locals with just a bunch of organizations. It was not as 'community involved' as it should have been, but that is how these things go it seems.

Yesterday and today I did some preliminary sketches for the Villa Rosa site, so it has been pretty relaxing at the office. Last night the whole house went out for the first time, even some of us home bodies went out, which was rare. We went to a cool bar that had an outdoor patio and live music, so it was fun to see some of the people I live and work with in a different environment other than the house and the office. There really isn't anyone I don't get along with, which is key. Everyone is pretty cool, it really has worked out nicely. Had a couple beers and a couple rum sours (specialty here) and conversed over the music till about midnight. Was nice to finally go somewhere out and about, important to have these moments so I don't look like I do not want to socialize and hang out.

After half day today, went to the market, got some food for lunch, ate and napped. Ahhhhh. So nice to have mid day naps after a long week. I have also been reading a lot in the evenings, which is a habit I hope to bring back with me when I come home. We are trying to get a group to go to the beach tomorrow which is quite a trip, averaging two hours each way to most nice ones. And they all cost money since the resorts own the beaches, which is shitty, but I have to go once while here...I'm on and island on the damn Caribbean! Have to see it. So that should be fun. I also found out the NFL Game Pass is giving a free preview this weekend, so I am going to be able to watch the Chargers game archived from earlier when we get back. Nice.

Hope everyone is well. Can't believe it has now been 3 1/2 weeks! Almost half over, nuts.

Love - Brandon

Big Sunday

Greetings all,
Today, Sunday September 11, 2011, is a very significant date. As I woke and went upstairs this morning, I couldn't help but think of what happened ten years ago and just realize, "Wow. That was 10 YEARS ago!" Within the house, some of us shared stories of 'where where you when...' to put things a bit in perspective. I would like to share mine really quickly:
I woke to the radio, thinking it might be a skit, since that is what I woke to many mornings on 91X, some kind of phone skit or prank on someone. It was interesting because I had an 8am class that day and only twice a week did I get up this early. I remember hearing, "Oh my God, the second tower just got hit..." For some reason it just felt like I had to wake up and turn on the tv and that is when I saw the horrific scene. First thing I did was call my mom because she worked a naval base and I just wanted to see what was going on with her. Then I watched as both towers, one after another fell. I still managed to get ready and go to my literature class at SDSU, unknowing what would be the case. The buzz around the campus was all about the event and what was going to happen next. That's all people were talking about as I walked past them, it felt very strange. Sure enough, the professor showed up and talked to us for a couple minutes and excused the class. I drove back home and heard on the radio schools had been cancelled EVERYWHERE and all sporting events were to be put on hold until this was sorted out. All airports where to be closed, obviously, and the list continued, like a nation wide storm.
I got back to the house and all I could manage to do was turn on the television and stare. My mom got home about an hour later and remember giving her a big hug and we sat and watched together as we heard more about the Pentagon and the plane in Pennsylvania. I called my work to see if they wanted me to come in, then working at Sunglass and Optical Warehouse, and as expected, they declined and told me to stay home. For the rest of the day all I remember from that point on was watching the news, seeing as more and more angles of the planes hitting were revealed, as more leads and updates were shared, and just staying close to my mom. Crying at times, just feeling like this could not be happening...I will never forget that day.
So, 10 years later. We all have our stories. People say it is like our parents when they can recall when JFK was assassinated or when the moon landing happened. It was quite remarkable waking to the thought today that that much time has passed, it is unreal. I hope everyone that lost someone that day was able to get through today without too much pain, we will never forget...
On the next note, today was Sunday, and that meant no work and the first day of NFL football (excluding Thurs). I had planned to watch the Chargers game via skype on my home tv (clever, huh?-no slingbox needed), but that was not until 3pm locally. So I spent all morning just relaxing with a cup of coffee (many cups) and a new book I have not been able to put down called Shantaram, which is awesome and about 1,000 pages (thanks Jenny for letting us borrow it).
I joined a pick'em league this week, so I had my eyes glued to all the scores from the morning games until the Bolts game. With the spreads included, I was wrong on almost every single pick today...great! So many damn blow outs, what the hell?! After those concluded, I got online with Nicole and got to watch the Chargers game relatively well, a bit blotchy (?) at times, but pretty good. Game started a bit like OH SHIT, but the 2nd half they got their stuff together and pulled off the win. Sweet, (1-0). Bring on the Pats!
The last couple days working, I just read the entire Haitian Building Guidelines book, commissioned by Habitat for Humanity, to see what kind of info I could get to relate to our current project. That is pretty much what I did Friday and Saturday, then once we got home yesterday around 2pm, I tackled hand cleaning my laundry for the first time this trip. It was very necessary; completely out of socks, undershirts and my towels/underwear/everything needed some good smelling stuff. So, spent about an hour hand scrubbing all my stuff and hanging them out to dry. It was nice and quiet. Therapeutic in a way. Can't think of a time ever I have done an entire load of laundry by hand, has to be the first time. Good practice for the peace corps, I guess. After that, I began my book and after a day and a half I am about 200 pages into it. Nice weekend indeed. Football and reading.
Right now I am watching some of the Boys/Jets game before heading off to bed.
Final Note: Be thankful for all that you have, days like today should remind us that. Try to tell your loved ones as much as you can how much you appreciate them and always keep in mind we are all here until we are not any longer, and we will never know when that is...
Love you all, thanks so much to everyone who supported this trip, I am having a great time.
GO BOLTS!

Storm!

My first storm of the trip has touched down right before NFL kickoff! Wow, thunder, lightning, hard rain. Some of the house is leaking and letting in some water that is building up from outside. Luckily we got home about 15 minutes before it started. Nancy, Ben and I were standing on the front balcony and I point to the left where there was a nasty looking cloud coming our way. Five minutes later, we were the cloud. Super fun and exciting. Thank goodness we are not on the road right now as it is completely stopped. Some of the staff stayed at the office and I do not know when they will be home.

As for the rest of the day, I wrapped up a couple of projects I was given for the week. One was completing flash cards with images and words in Creole on them to help with a charrette tomorrow at the Santo Community Project. Attached is one example you all might get a kick out of. This is an example of what goes in a toilet, pretty straight forward, eh? We are explaining the difference between toilet options via the imagery, so that was fun. Plus more learning on Illustrator.

Then I had to trace multiple maps for the Villa Rosa charrette, which we were doing in the afternoon. Darren, Rickie, Clio and I went to this community church to do the meeting, being told there was going to be around 40-50 people. We got there and only a few people were there for it. We gave it about an hour and only a few more trickled in, so we had to reschedule it for next week. Bummer. So I just helped with little projects around the office until it was time to come home for the storm.


Yesterday was a bunch of the same. Just working on my laptop doing the projects I finished today. I went to print some of the cards at the end of the day and the damn printer was not liking the new cyan ink cartridge I put in it. So I spent twenty minutes trying to get it to work, hot, tired and sweaty. One of the Haitian girls that works in the office basically touched the printer and it decided to start working (of course), but not before me trying to back into my chair, missing it, and shooting the chair across the room and falling on my ass. Nice way to end the day, six people asking if you are all right...printer worked, day is done, and Darren comes over and hands me a beer. Maybe one of the best moments of my life. Ah! Came home and we all test piloted the charrette we are going to have tomorrow.
So, I have surpassed the two week mark now, which is pretty cool. Time is flying here, still no troubles regarding health or happiness, just miss all you guys back home. Oh, and I joined a last minute pick'em football league Phil Hansing invited me to, so I get to have some fun on Sundays with all the games that don't regard the Chargers.
More next time, enjoy the Packers/Saints game. Hope NBC streams it online. Can't wait.

Cheers!

Back to the grind

As I sit here covered head to toe to protect myself from the damn mosquitoes out tonight in 80 degree humid weather, I am reminded of all the places in the world that DON'T have a mosquito problem...such as sunny San Diego. Oh well, knew it before I got here.

Yesterday and today were good days, once again. Working on the Villa Rosa community urban planning project and starting to get involved in Santo's urban planning, I do not have a lack of things to be working on, which is great. The time goes by much quicker when there are a steady amount of things to keep one occupied.

Going back a bit, though...Saturday and Sunday were nice days here too. Nice to have had half a work day with the rest of the day off Saturday to go to the grocery store and get a few necessities, then I stayed in for the rest of the day for the house's "Bill Murry-thon" which included Ghostbusters, Stripes, and Lost in Translation. Caddyshack and Groundhog Day were on the back burner, but it got too late for those. Sunday I went with a few housemates to a local pool that is located on this outstanding vista that overlooks all of Port-au-Prince. Quite a site to see, but not before I buzzed off all my hair, just makes life so much easier here. My roommate, Sven, had clippers with him. We got to the pool around 11am, thinking we would got for a couple hours. Nope, more like six and a half. By 2:30 I was reading my book in the shaded area they had near the bar because I could not take the heat any longer. I was smart to bring a book, my ipod, a packed lunch, water bottle and sunscreen...I used them all! Saved a small fortune by providing my own drink and meal, so I got to hang out at a gorgeous pool overlooking half of Haiti for $4 (the pool 'admission' cost).

After we got home, thunderstorms hit and I just sat in and watch Netflix on my laptop for the rest of the night. Surprised it actually has been working, since it says it should not out of the U.S. every now in then, but my persistence has paid off. Plus a little added bonus: After hanging at the pool all day, I got to meet some friends of my housemates who work for the Clinton Foundation here, and a couple of them just got a satellite at their place and will be getting the NFL package starting this week! My quest for NFL football service has been conquered. Got an invite over there, so I might not have to jury-rig a skype/Charger game as I thought, although I do want the q-time with my wife...but I've got that going for me, which is nice.

Went on a site visit today, a tiny school on the second floor of a dilapidated urban structure. The contractor is about to pour the slab onto the rebar this week and we were doing a check up with Rick, a structural engineer who has been in Haiti for over a year, plus David and Clara, who work for JP, which is Sean Penn's organization. We found a couple of boo boos in the construction process where some of the walls were not properly tied together with the rebar, so they are going to have to come down and go back up, unfortunately. Thus delaying this project once again, which evidently is not the first time this problem has occurred. By the time we left there, really getting used to the heat and humidity surprisingly, we headed back to the office to wrap up the day.

So, keeping busy. Football starts this week. Everything is good. Want to give a little shout out to all the little tykes I know going back to school or starting it for real now this week. Micah and Nathan, my two nephews; Josh, Mason and Abby, my cousins out in Memphis; Connor, my best friend Jacob's son is starting kindergarten and his daughter, Kaley-preschool; Yasira and Atreju, Kaya and Leah's kids who are doing the same thing; and all the HTHI kids my wife, Nicole, and the whole awesome staff there get to handle this next year. Good luck!!

Last thing too, my friend Janine just gave birth to twin girls Thursday, so that makes three little daughters for her and her husband, James...proud of you as well!

The Weekend is Here!

After my first "official" week of work, I can say I am very satisfied with the amount I was able to get done while simultaneously calibrating myself to the change of scenery, surrounding people, and all the current projects in general. Now, I can relax, do some reading, and maybe venture out somewhere in town or along the coast if others plan to do so as well. I still have not seen too much outside of the office and the house, so that is my goal this weekend, even if it be for a few hours.
Yesterday I finalized a charrette compilation (document breaking down the initial feedback we got from the people living at the site and the work we've done to express those needs). It ending up being 11 pages filled with facts and maps of the site. I was happy because the staff here was pleased with my work, which made me feel good to get off on the right foot, so to speak. The only problem was I finished around 10am, and with nothing else to do (at least nothing I had been told to do), so I was stuck. But right when I came to the realization that I had completed the first bulk of work, Kate was walking outside to go somewhere. I was standing at the front door and asked, "Kate! Where are you going?" She replied, "To a school in downtown Port-au-Prince...want to come?" As soon as she finished the question I ran inside, grabbed my camera and sketchbook and met her at the car. She seemed happy to have someone come along for the ride as well.

We drove to the school, along the way seeing a whole part of the area I was not familiar with yet. She gave me a bit of background info explaining what I was seeing. There still is so much damage in the area, but not as many dilapidated buildings as I expected, just piles of rubble in it's place. We even drove by the Palace (Haitian white house) and there was still SO much damage left. You know a country is hurting if the most prestigious house here looks how it looks 20 months after the quake.

We got to the school, small all girls schools run by the Sisters of Mary. One of the buildings was to be taken down today, actually right now as I write. Workers were removing doors and furniture from the building in prep for the demo. Once again, so cool to go on site and see an area before construction begins, just to gain an understanding of it. Ecole Elie Debois is it's name, and there has been many problems throughout the design process, so during our weekly meeting, the whole staff was pleased to hear there was finally going to be something going on at the site.

After we returned back to the office, we grabbed some lunch and I asked what they needed me to do to finish out the day. Darren gave me the task to fool around with the site plan and come up with some potential ideas for the Villa Rosa project layout I had been working all week on. This was awesome! I got to put on my headphones and bust out some tracing paper and go at it. It brought me back to my studio days. I was able to make some cool decisions based on public walkways and open spaces for the site, and today I began formatting it in Illustrator. Fun stuff, even if it does not work out as I have it. We had our meeting, bringing all the current projects to light. It was great to see the current state of each one, taking notes in my sketchbook. After we touched base with them all, Clio, another volunteer I mentioned before earlier this week, presented where she is at with her thesis project and we all gave her some pointers and suggestions, which helped her out. Then we headed back to the house. Couldn't get online all night, so I just read, then went to bed pretty early to get up this morning.

Since Saturdays are half days, I just worked on where I left off last night until I was called in to create some images for a community charrette set for next Friday at the Santo community. We are currently doing a school and community living quarters (both with support from Ben Stiller's Foundation: Stillerstrong) and a sports complex supported by Nike. The charrette is regarding latrine (toilet) decisions for the people living there. I am going to be designing "playing cards" with imagery to help them decide what system to use. Each card has objects on them which describe a specific aspect of the system, which there are four to choose from: traditional septic or "pit" latrine (just going into the ground) or Happy Hearts (the one I described last week) and Compostera (both being composting systems which require more work but offer up SO many benefits for an environment of this type). We are so used to standard plumbing systems back home it would never work in major U.S. cities, but definitely in rural environments. So that is what I will be doing over the next few working days.

Hope everyone enjoys their Labor day weekend. Unfortunately I can't be BBQ'ing down at the beach or on my deck, rather I will be sweating it up here in the office, working. Which is why I am here, so I can't feel too bad.

Everything is great here! Have a fun time back home...

Villa Rosa

The past two days I have been working non stop on getting maps and imagery going for the Villa Rosa project. As I explained before, Villa Rosa is a neighborhood that is set in the hill side of Haiti a few miles from here and was hit hard by the earthquake last year. The infrastructure of the neighborhood is a disaster, the structures are in terrible shape, and there is no constant running water, electricity and plumbing...which are the basic needs we all have in our homes that these people have as a luxury if things work properly. Shared toilets, no employment, and barely a few square feet to house them. With the work my team and I did Monday, I was able to construct several maps that space out the general problem areas with regards to structural integrity, sanitation, flood zones, drainage, walkable paths, roads, garbage collection areas, public toilets, etc. We had a meeting today with representatives from Build Change (the workers who are doing the calcs and building) and Cordaid (funds) to show them what we did. It looks like this project might be the one I will be on the whole time I am here unless something else happens between now and my departure. There was a schedule/timeline set forward for 6-8 weeks from now, which is about the time I will be here. I will be able to implement the content I have helped collect and put it toward a useful design that can improve up to 10,000 people's lives...super cool! We have another site visit set for Monday to really look into the problem areas which will be the first to be worked on. Should be cool.
Other than that, nothing much new. Same old meals, routine. I must say, though...the little market next door to our office (and I mean little...only two refrigerators and a table) has the best Coca Cola bottles in the world. They come cold enough to have a bit of slushiness to them, but not too cold where they are icy. And no artificial sweeteners, just sugar. From the bottle of an original Coke bottle is just the best. So for everyone assuming there is a lack of resources here, think again...
Since I left the U.S., I have had a problem with the tip of my computer cord not wanting to power my laptop continuously. A couple weeks ago my computer slid off the couch and jammed the cord, thus creating the problem. After that it has been off and on working/not working, so I had to tape it in place to assure constant connection. After that didn't work all that great, I set out to ask anyone if they knew of a cord that was "lying around" that could work. No luck, but Kate, a licensed architect that is a design fellow here, suggested I go to the computer store across the street and ask, which I didn't even know existed. I brought the adapter and damned if they didn't have the proper cord connection I needed to replace for about $10. In Africa, that ain't gonna work...Europe probably not...but in Haiti, I had to walk about 100 feet. Pretty cool and lucky at that.
Glad to hear from many of you that are enjoying my updates and supporting my efforts. I really appreciate all the enthusiasm, it really helps me get through each day. Just having fun making a difference...that's all I am here to do.
Cheers.