Rob Machado and Jon Rose Helping Haiti

Rob & Jon with recipient (wearing coolest hat we've ever seen) of filtration system.

The Haitian people are the strongest people I’ve ever met.

Their strife goes back so many years that it’s impossible for someone like myself to ever truly relate. We arrived back here in PAP two days ago and happened to come in the morning after the worst storm of the season. Apparently it was only intense for about 15 minutes… it was a flurry of 100mph gusts of wind that came in quick and left even quicker. The damage was isolated to very specific areas, almost as if the universe had intention… pointing its finger down, shooting volts of fury. The base camp of operations for JPHRO (Org that I have been affiliated with since day one) was almost completely wiped out. The steel frame of the big white tent that served as shelter over all the volunteer tents collapsed and buckled like it was made from tin foil. Their “MASH” Hospital was taken out too… patients had to be rushed into the old gymnasium of the nearby Petionville Club. This hospital serves as the premiere medical facility for the IDP tent camp below (that JP manages), which is still around 50,000 people large. Miraculously NO ONE from JP was hurt… there were acts of heroism left and right, as volunteers helped each other evacuate the collapsing steel frame. But as thankful as I am for the safety of my comrades, my heart is gutted thinking about all the displaced families in rickety tents all over the city. How do they do it? Day in and day out… they are beaten down by elements beyond their control. They need everything and as soon as they overcome one thing, they get cut off at the knees by another – storm, robbery, sickness, etc… Their resilience and strength is humbling beyond description.

As of yesterday there have been 5 recorded deaths related to the storm… all of which were in IDP tent camps.

I’m traveling this time with friends, Rob Machado and Tom Aiello… and we sure picked a day to arrive. We went straight from the airport to JP to lend a hand. We helped them disassemble the warped frame of their wind torn hospital, and clear away debris so that they could start to rebuild. All plans change here in Haiti and this is a perfect example of such. As my good friend, Fritz, always says when something goes awry… “Hey, it’s Haiti!”.

Yesterday we visited one of my networks in the mountain village of Mirebalais to see how the filters have been working out for them. The man running point up the is a guy named Manahem and he is a perfect example of what I am looking for in a local network – well known in his community and completely understanding of the value in liberating his people with our program. He has distributed over 200 filters throughout the area and was eager to show us all of his hard work. He took us into schools and individual homes that he’s given filters to. All of them were thriving with their new systems and their only complaint was that they wanted more so they could give them to their relatives in neighboring villages. But the most significant thing that I saw was how much this new system has been adapted into the fabric of their everyday life… it seemed as if they had been using these systems for years… it was second nature. And the trickle effect is astounding – if one family has a system they end up becoming clean water hubs for their neighbors and then the education process organically follows. Now, even families that don’t have systems, are learning that the water they have been drinking is not clean… most of them aren’t aware of this simple knowledge and can’t understand why their kids keep getting sick.
That said, I’m even more clear that our job is to work tirelessly until we can get every last one of them filters… and we will.

Attached are a couple pics from Mirebalais… The first of Rob and I with a group of kids (and Manahem, directly to the left of me) that followed us as we toured through some rural villages, and the second is of us with a Voodoo mama rocking the best hat we’ve ever seen!

Signing off…

JR

Rob & Jon (w/ Manahem directly left of Jon) and kids.