Day 8: Closure

I attempted to sit down and write this last night, but couldn't. I can't believe how tired I was... it's been probably 25 years since I can remember anything comparable and that had to something to do with fraternity hazing rituals... I'm sure you can get the idea. Yesterday morning started at 3 am with a Robin Williams "Good Morning Vietnam" announcement over the PA, followed by every blasted "time to leave" theme song you can think of. It actually would have been pretty funny had I been the one who thought of it... in fact, maybe I'll use it during summer camp... now there's a thought. Anyway, I gotta hand it to our Irish hosts. They were full of life and loads of fun. It occurs to me now that this is the first I've mentioned the Irish. Their organization is called Haven, and it was their camp at Christianville where we stayed. They fed us all week, particularly well at dinner time. Anyway, our bus finally pulled out around 5 am, and it was about 6 am before it was light enough to take any pictures. I just posted the last of my pictures to facebook, and they are of Port-au-Prince as we traveled through the city enroute to the airport. We were then herded through the airport, customs, and onto the same plane we flew in on... they were charter flights, and I'm guessing that they stayed in Port-au-Prince all week, which would explain why there were apparently no Delta blankets or pillows on the plane... most of us had taken them with us to donate to Haiti. The flight back to the States was uneventful. We landed in Atlanta, cleared customs, and they let me back into the country. At the hotel I was really appreciative of a strong shower and comfortable bed... two things most of us take for granted every day. As I think back over the experience of the last week, I am grateful for the ways my life has been enriched from the many people I've interacted with... particularly my crew mates Kelly, Tom, Don, Roger, Salim, and Russ... the home owners we built for, and Alix Blaise who came to the build site twice in honor of Robert... it really was an amazing week. And these things are supposed to be amazing weeks. They're designed to be, and you can't help but not have an incredible experience when you work together to serve others. There's a message or a sermon in there somewhere, but I'll save it for another time. I wouldn't want Robert rolling over in his grave! As I was sitting in my tent back in Christianville not long before boarding the bus, I was thinking about all this stuff... how Robert should have had the experience I got to have, and even so, how grateful I am having gone through with it on his behalf. The only thing I could think of to do was take off my Florida Gators t-shirt and throw it on the donation pile. In the next couple weeks or so, someone in Haiti will be wearing a Florida Gators t-shirt, and I hope that they'll wear it proud. I'm pretty sure Robert would've appreciated that. Enough said... Amen.

Day 7 - Final Day of the Build

Today started an hour earlier. The typical last day of a Carter sponsered Habitat build has Jimmy going around and taking pictures with groups of people. So I can now say that I've had my picture taken with the President... former though he may be! So we put in about 5 hours before lunch. We finished about 95% of what was hoped for by the construction coordinators... on one house... #309. I'd estimate that about 80% of what got done on the other house we were assigned was done by other folks who pitched in to help. House #310 was under a roof by the end of our day today, but it still has quite bit left to be done. A couple cool tings happened today. First off, at the 11 o'clock hour the entire work site paused for reflection in honor of Veteran's Day. I learned that historically, it was George Washington that originally called for a moment of silence to be observed at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventhy month. I feel bit ashamed to say that I didn't know the origins of veteran's Day before today, and even more so that I don't recall having paused for that moment of silence ever before today. At the end of the silence, the Canadians sang their national anthem, and then we sang ours. It is the first time I have ever gotten choked up at the singing of our national anthem... it was that powerful... here on foreign soil. Another cool thing, obviously, was the photo opp with Jimmy and Rosalynn. As predicted, it was a bit of a circus and everyone performed accordingly. After the photo shoot our team got together with the owners of the two houses we were on and had a little imprompto dedication. The REALLY cool thing about that was that Alix Blaise, who had come to see me on the first day of the build was there... for all of it! We stuck him right in there for the Carter photo. AND he was helpful! He and I installed a door, ran off for materials together, and took apart a bunch of scaffolding. And since he was there, he interpreted for our crew and homeowners. Suddenly we were having real conversations instead of making hand gestures. We all wished he had been around the whole week. Salim, who had to leave Wednesday morning spoke fluid French and we sort of communicated through him... but I think the fact that Alix was one of their own made it much easier... either that, or she (Carleen) and her husband (Stephan) were just really excited about how their house had come together on the last day. Regardless, Alix showing up capped off a very special week here in Haiti. Tomorrow afternoon I'll be back in Atlanta. I'm looking forward to a real shower, a long nap on a real bed, and a phone conversation with my wife and kids as soon as I can make each of them happen. I'll post once more tomorrow evening. Peace and God bless... good night.

Day 6 - Fourth day of the Build

The build week is starting to wind down and the idea that we only have one day left to get stuff done is quite a bit daunting. The reality, though, is that there will be many that come in behind us to finish off what was not ale to be completed. Over the next 6 weeks Habitat will drill 26 wells in the community and construct a latrine for each home. Future plans for the community (in addition to adding another 350 homes) include a school and market place. The homes we are building are called "core homes" and are designed to be added onto as the families that own them are able to come up with the money to do so. Habitat is also going to require that each homeowner participate in building construction education which they will provide. This is a very good program. Today went slow and there were a couple construction stumbling blocks of our own creation... but we adjusted and came out okay... just wanted to be clear about that. It has been incredibly hot, and team members (myself included) are feeling the toll of the week. Not having Salim (this, I promise, is the CORRECT spelling of his name... I've gotten it wrong twice before) also hurt our productivity today. I've posted pictures on facebook showing the progress on our houses... might be that tomorrow we will attempt to get the second house dried in (that is, under a roof). Our day tomorrow starts an hour earlier (at 5 am for breakfast) so that we can get in a full day and have time for each house crew to have a photo opp with President Carter. Should be quite the circus. he sat down with the entire camp tonight for a little fireside chat type Q & A... talked a lot about what the Carter Center does, mixed in some political overtones, etc, etc. Even so... it's kind of cool to be within a 100 feet of a U.S. President when he speaks. It's pretty amazing to consider all the good he has done and is still doing for the world. I finally got a couple pictures of a home that was crumbled by the earthquake. Check them out on facebook. There plenty of views outside the bus windows on the way to and from the work site that let you know how terrible the quake must have been. Don't know what more I can say about today. Thanks to all of you for taking an interest in this blog. There's only a couple more to go. Peace, and Good Night.

Day 5 - Third Day of the Build

Today went sooooooo much more smoothly. I had a good night sleep, and when we got to the site, a couple of us took the bprovrbial bull by the horns and got going. Having lost essentially a full day of productivity yesterday, we knew we weren't going to come anywhere close to getting the second house it needs to be by the end of the day Friday, so we resolved to get the one house as far done as possible. As predicted (not necessarily in this blog), many other groups were facing the same problems today as we faced yesterday... and we took delight in that... a little bit that is. What can I say. It made us feel better! So we got the roof on and hung out in the shade it provided whenever we needed a break. Remarkably, these little structures do a fantastic job of radiating away the heat. They'll make good homes for families who have gone without for about a year now, and they'll be a considerable step up from what they had before. We also got started on the siding and fascia board installations. We'll have all that done before lunch tomorrow... that is, we should if nothing goes wrong! Having only six people, the home owner, and the team leader in our crew, we are small compared to other build sites.... but we are all working really good together. The team has pretty much accepted me as someone who knows "what the crap" i'm doing, and they've begun to check with me about as much as our team leader about a particular task before they get going on it. Another guy Sahim (I got his name wrong in an earlier blog) has been really good from a leadership standpoint. Sadly, Sahim got some bad news from home and will be flying home tomorrow. We'll miss him. One of the guys in my tent is from Belgium and we got to talking about all kinds of stuff. It all started when I teased him about tossing back "few to many" last night, and I said that after having tried the beer a couple times, I decided to get on the wagon for the week.... and I had to explain what that meant. His name is Roel (pronounced "Rule" and you have to "roll" the R). I told him I was never going to be able say his name properly, and I gave him a bunch of crap about his last name being Timmerman.... sounds pretty american to me! We cracked each other up for a good half an hour. Then I joined the dinner line and Garth and Trisha got in line behind me. I got to shake both their hands and thank them for their performance the night before... which was pretty cool. After dinner I spent about an hour talking with one of the security managers who is american but has been in Haiti for the past eleven years... very intersting guy with a very interesting perception about Haiti, where it's been, what needs to happen before it can improve, and what the real problems are that hinder any real progress. I really need to process that conversation and think it over before I can write anything about it... may have to be when I get back state side. Right now there is a line of people behind me waiting for computer time, so I better sign off. That'll do it for now... Good night.

Day 4 - Second day of the Build

Today was a tough one. The work didn't flow on our work site today due to problems that led the major part of the day being stuck in troble shooting and problem solving mode. One of the differences between doing a general Habitat build (like I've done in New Orleans) and a blitz build in a third world country is that if you mess something up, you can't just go and get a fresh piece of material. The material supplies for this project are rationed out for each lot. If something goes wrong during your particular building process, it raises the issue of whether or not other build teams are (or will be) facing the same problems... which means that there is a lot of "hurry up and wait going on while things get sorted out. Couple that with a simple mistake in directions that leads to a bunch of wrong cuts and holes drilled into tin roof that were supposed to be done differently, and you wind up working to get back to where you started. That's how today went and it was very frustrating. Members of other teams stepped in and started our second house for us. Hopefully by the end of the day tomorrow we'll be at a point where we are being productive on both homes, but we'll see. The Haitian President (Martelli) visited the build site today. His enterouge was about four times the size of President Carter's. It's intersting how people in third world countries react in the presence of their leadership. As the extensive motorcade drove out the road behing the house we're working on, there were several Hatians running along side and yelling stuff. I've watched in movies this very scene a hundred times... it was a bit sureal for me to witness it first hand. Anyhow, we're told that Martelli is loved by the Haitian people and that he has a good and solid vision for his country. It was a big deal that he visited the build site today, and I think he's supposed to address us here at our base camp at some point. Speaking of noteable folks addressing us in the evenings after dinner, Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood performed for us tonight and it was really very cool... just Garth and a guitar singing and telling stories, and then accompanying Trisha as she sang a couple of her songs. It was a special treat for everyone, and me in particular after the kind of day I'd just had. So as I head for bed tonight, I'm in a good place. I'll be ready to get back at it again toomorrow. Good night.

Day 3 - First Day of the Build

First off, my apologies for not posting on day 2. My phone browser, for some reason is no longer supported by blogspot... which is just as well since Christianville now has a cyber cafe! I did post an accunt of yesterday on facebook if anyone wants to check it out. But this is about today. It was an extraordinary day. I met my build team at the work site at about 7 am and we began building the first of two housesthat we will be responsible to complete this week. The walls were premade with doors and windows in place. All we had to do was slap them together... which was pretty easy, even though nothing was particularly square. The more challenging part was setting the gable ends and trusses. What you will see in my pictures on facebook is a progression throughout the day. Be sure and check them out. Everyone on my team is from the states. I was hoping to catch up with the South Bend folks who I thought were going to be part of my team, but that was not to be. Instead we have two guys from Hatford, CT; a guy from northern VA and a girl from NYC; and then Roger who I can't remember where he's from. I'll find out tomorrow. The team leader is a big guy named Russ. I'll get a picture of him tomorrow. Anyway, our crew is small but we're working well together. President and Mrs. Carter put in about half a day... they left after it got real hot. Pretty amazing that they're still out here working at age 87. I've not seen them yet, but apparently Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood are on the site building with us too. I'll keep an eye skinned. Not long after we started this morning a media guy came to our spot and asked whether any of us had a story to tell. I almost didn't say anything, but then I pulled the guy aside and told him about Robert and how I ended up as part of the work project. He is apparently going to publish our talk as a special interest story on habitat's web site.... maybe you all can check it out. The thing that made today incredibly special, however, was when one of the Habitat staff sought me out near the end of the day and said "there's a young Haitian man asking for you up at the dining tent". Alix Blaise drove in from Port-au-Prince to meet me and talk to me about his relationship with Robert. He had been in Indiana staying with one of robert's colleagues named Wayne, and had begun a relationship with Robert. He had been looking forward to seeing him, and in response to his death, had a t-shirt made up with Robert's picture on it... and he wanted me to bring it back for Danielle. I took a short video of him addressing all of us (Dani in particular) and have posted it to facebook. It was a very moving experience for me, and though each day here in Haiti is a special blessing, I doubt that any of the rest of my days here will measure up to the experience I had here today. As for now, it's time to let the next person in line get on this computer. I'll be back tomorrow... good night.

Day 1: The Opening Ceremony

Welcome to my blog! I am Mark Miller, brother-in-law to Robert Riley. The time has come. Atlanta, GA is the gathering point for about 400 volunteers from all over the country and Canada, and perhaps even a few other countries too. I arrived today around 3 pm after about a 6 hour drive from Bristol, TN where I spent last night. The feeling of being here is sort of like the first day of camp. Nobody knows anyone unless they came with a group, and even though we're all adults, conversations start a bit awkwardly. Guess I should have put on the counselor hat and busted out a bunch of ice breakers... but... I didn't, which is probably just as well. We'll be getting to know each other pretty well in rather short order anyway... nothing like a work project to bring folks together. The opening ceremony was also an orientation to get us thinking about what we are going to experience. They tell us that we will feel disheartened, angry, frusted, confused, and overwhelmed during our time in Haiti. They also tell us that we will be energized by the resiliance and determination of the Haitian people. They impressed upon us that this particular build will be historic for the nation. We are expected to hear from newly elected Haitian government officials about how they intend to adopt this Habitat model in their own efforts to restore their country. There was no sugar coating in the descriptions of circumstances and situations we will find in Haiti. But there was plenty of emphasis on the hope that our presence will give to the nation. So this is a big deal, and I'm honored to be playing a part in it. Robert sought out this experience because he was moved by the plight of the Haitians. He cared enough to get involved and do something. That to me speaks volumes about the man. Tomorrow I'll continue to follow through on his behalf... at about 4:30 in the morning if I hope to get any breakfast... my shuttle leaves at 5:30 am! Those of you who know me know that I don't often see those hours of the day. Anyway, this will probably be my longest blog post because the rest of them will be done from a phone. Time to unplug the computer and take it out to the car, and then to sleep on the last real bed I'll see for a week. Good night, and God bless.