Wednesday, 1.20.10

(update, Wednesday, 1.20.10 - 8.20 p.m.)

Our Team of 7 are at JFK for a 9 p.m. direct JetBlue flight to Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic. They arrive in the DR at 2 a.m. Arrangements have been made for a bus to meet them at the airport and transport them to Haiti. They are traveling with 31 bags of medical supplies, equipment, and other relief supplies.

And check this out. The crew arrived at the JFK terminal and parked in front (as we all do). The police never bothered our Team for most of an hour. Is the spirit of Christ with them and us, or what?!

Please keep in your hearts and deepest prayers Dr. David Reed, nurse Ann Giuli, builder/handyman Dave Desmarais, Père Jean-Elie Millien, his daughter, Danelie Millien, Luc Lousigene and his daughter, Gaelle. May the angels of the Universe be with them.

JetBlue has provided the tickets and unlimited baggage (31 Bags!!!!) at no cost. Their compassion and cooperation has been extraordinary and we thank them.

We have pre-arranged the pickup of water and gasoline in Santa Domingo in large containers. Bringing these critical supplies to École le Bon Samaritain in Carrefour is a first step in securing the School. Our Supplies & Logistics folks, Gus Schlegel and Valerie (whose last name I don’t know) have moved mountains to make this journey possible.

Our immediate objective is to get this Team of 7 to Carrefour, give Mona Millien & her cousins a bottle of water, bivouac the Team, establish a basic-needs clinic, and recover as much of the School’s infrastructure as possible—move the generator, inverter, and batteries off the second floor and into the courtyard, repair our two water purification units, figure out a way to refill our 450 gallon cistern, and assess, with the Haitian engineer who designed and built the School, what its condition is and what to do next. Les bénédictions et vitesse de Dieu (Blessings & Godspeed).

Coulette Lioce is now on-board as our Volunteers & Scheduling Coordinator (pockets1020@gmail.com). If you would like to volunteer, please contact me or her. Her first task is to set up a database of volunteers and their individual contact info and skills.

Joanne Kimball (joannekimball@mac.com) has agreed to serve as Public Relations Coordinator. If you have a PR angle that can help our cause, please contact her.

Other Coordinators are:

Gus Schlegel, Supplies & Logistics (goesta@pourlesenfants.net)

Gia Card, Travel (willowdesign2002@yahoo.com)

Dave Desmarais, Builder/Handyman (daviddesmarais@comcast.net)

Pam Koprowski, Medical & Medical Supplies (pam.koprowski@gmail.com)

Caryn Stedman, Frequent Flier Exchange (caryn.stedman@comcast.net)

Danelie Millien, Ambassador at Large (didimillien@yahoo.com)

Here's a heart-felt letter from Diane Desmarais to her friends about Dave's participation in the first team's trip to Carrefour. It is definitely worth the read.

(update, Wednesday, 1.20.10 - 8.30 a.m.)

Another 6.1 earthquake this morning at 6.03. UGH! When will all of this shaking stop? Please keep our team in your hearts & prayers.