Background Notes

• We began thinking about a trip to Haiti in 2009. My church supports a missionary there who is managing an orphanage in a part of Haiti called Cap Haitien. (See Google Earth, http://earth.google.com/ )
• A group from my church (Lynnehaven United Methodist in Virginia Beach, Virginia) and a group from Sudley UMC in Haymarket, VA (30 all total) planned to go to this area and work on various projects. The trip tempo began increasing on January 1st, when our leader, Mike Hertz from Sudley) announced the details of our itinerary and our project details:

Upgrades to a Church
Building a toilet at the Church
Installing Solar panels at the orphanage
Building two play grounds
Basic plumbing installation and repair
Building a small two room structure
Building a school/ repairing a school
Other smaller projects or projects that spring up while we are there.

• Planning and coordination picked up and we began thinking about the specifics of what we were to bring and the details of our daily routine. Some prior planning was necessary because each of us had to get some inoculations and medications to protect us from Malaria and other "poor country" diseases. We also had to be concerned about keeping hydrated with fluids that were safe to drink.
• January 11th Mike gave us details about our respective flights to Fort Lauderdale, where we were to meet before flying to Haiti on Saturday the 16th.
• The January 12th earthquake shook Haiti and Port au Prince was the epicenter.

Mike's take then was:

"The destruction in Port Au Prince will be utter, and the suffering there will be staggering. The construction "standards" they use are so sub-par that you feel as if you could push a building over. I can not imagine what a major earthquake will do to the area. Port Au Prince is a slum in the best conditions, with poor sanitation, infrastructure and emergency care. The people there are in for a very rough next few weeks.While the standard of living is no better in Cap Haitian, it is 80 miles away and from what we can tell was mostly spared. We have not yet accounted for all of our Haitian workers and friends, but with the Cell phone coverage being spotty, this is not unexpected. We have received word from aide workers who support efforts in our neighborhood (literally across the street from the church) that things are "ok."So here's the forward plan:

1) Check that the medical team is still going. If they are not going, we will no go.

2) Check that the hotel is OK, food and water supplies are intact and that the infrastructure is still in place so we can have reasonable assurance that we can still get food and other necessities. If we can't confirm this, we will not go

3)Check that the airport is still open. The one in Port Au Prince is closed, but I expect Cap Haitian to be open. If the airport is closed, we obviously will not go

4) If items 1-3 are good, then we WILL go. The projects might change to reflect new priorities, but if the damage is as light in Cap as it has been described, we will continue on as planned.

5) The truck with the wood for the playgrounds was supposed to leave Port Au Prince this morning at 6:00AM. I have not heard one way or the other is this has happened."