Duane's Report

Duane Moulton, a good friend of ours and cement contractor, arrived home last night to a grateful family. The man who told me his stories at my kitchen table was a jumble of emotions...everything from intense anger and frustration, to joy, to thankfulness for what he was able to do to help. He said, "This is not the third-world, this is fourth-world. It is the worst thing you could ever imagine...times 100. I saw the best of people, and I saw the worst. I've dealt with death and terrible situations, but this trip jerked my emotions from one extreme to the next..."

He said the situation on the ground in Haiti was maddening. The corruption of the Haitian police and government, the bullying of the strong, the arrogance of those in a position to help...Duane thought it was a good thing he didn't have a gun because he was so close to getting himself in real trouble in order to defend those who are helpless.

He said the women who stand in line for hours to collect food from USAID get their bag of rice, put in on their heads, and start running. He wondered why they were running until he saw that as soon as they are out of sight of the U.S. marines, gangs of men surround these little women, knock them down, and take their rice. The men laugh and cheer when they catch one of these women and steal her food. The peaceful lines of women may be peaceful for the USAID workers (so it's nice for those "distributing" the food), but it's not so peaceful for the Haitian women, 100 yards away. Duane said some women would get away, if the men were distracted with someone else, but not many.

He said that one night, he and Bryan picked up a load of baby food and medical supplies from MAF, a private airline company delivering supplies. At 7:00 p.m. they found themselves in a downtown Port-au-Prince traffic-jam, where they were quickly surrounded by Haitians looking into their truck to see what could be taken. Fortunately for them, at that very moment, the 82nd Airborne were moving some trucks through town so Duane hollered at them and told them that they needed some help. The 82nd guided our truck into their own convoy and escorted them safely through the crowds.

The group in Carrefour tries to distribute food at midnight, when it's not so likely they will be mobbed. Still, in 30 seconds, Duane said there were perhaps 60 people clamoring around the truck, even at that late hour. Much of the distribution must be done on foot. The Haitian police showed up and tried to stop the truck to take the food that Bryan and Rodney were distributing, so Rodney, who was driving, was forced to outrun them, knowing the police officer's only goal was to steal the food. He did actually manage to lose them and get most of the food distributed.

When they arrived back at the camp, however, the police were there...waiting to take the few remaining boxes of food for themselves. Rodney gave them a good tongue-lashing, shaming them in Kreyol for their behavior, but was forced to give them something anyway. Thankfully, it wasn't much.

The boxes of food had come from the German government, who has sovereign control of their own aid. Previously, a German kid had found the camp in Carrefour and decided to stay to help. He quickly saw the needs, and promptly went to his government to ask for supplies. At this simple kid's request, the Germans sent us a truckload of food (500 boxes with each box containing rice, flour, oil, sugar and beans), and a huge water purification system, which they hooked up to the well there. Generators pump the water from the well into stainless steel tanks where the water is filtered before flowing through two hoses that go out to the community. All day, people come with buckets to get pure water. Amy said parasites are becoming a big problem because of the lack of clean water, but this will certainly help.

Duane said that looking at the big picture makes you so angry you don't even want to try to help, but seeing the little people (one by one) and helping them makes it all worth it. When Bryan let Duane go "cool off" by doing some hard labor, Duane went to help Patrick clear the rubble from his home site. With sledgehammers and wheelbarrows, he and the Haitian men cleared Patrick's site of debris. Duane said they moved about 4 dump-truck loads of debris to the edge of the street but Duane couldn't understand why the city dump trucks weren't picking the stuff up until Patrick explained that he didn't have any money to hire the trucks. It costs about 30 US dollars per load (including labor), to have it hauled away. Duane peeled off $120 and gave it to Patrick. They both wept. Duane said, "It's that stuff. It's being able to impact somebody's life in a huge way that's awesome. For me, $120.00 is nothing. For him, it was everything."

Duane told us that a mega-church group from Texas arrived from the U.S., video equipment in tow. They had heard about our little camp and wanted a "heartwarming story." Do you remember the little boy who lay under the rubble for three days with his dead mother? Well, Kate brought that same little boy and his aunt to this group, who interviewed the two while Bryan translated. The aunt has no way to care for this boy, who lost the rest of his family, and wants him to find a home where people will love him and take care of him. The group from Texas was so moved, that one of them is going to adopt the boy. Papers are in process.

Bryan said Amy had the opportunity to leave Haiti this morning but refused to take it. She said she needed to go back to the mobile clinics that they've set up. Duane said she's the "man in charge" right now. She is the one giving direction to the many nurses who are there right now and has done an absolutely amazing job of treating the people. As a PA, she is the top-ranking physician in these tent communities. Her first stunned words upon arriving in Port-au-Prince were, "What in the h--- (censored for the good Christian readers) did I get myself into?" That's so ironic now, since she doesn't want to leave!

Bryan said Dieudonne has arrived in Carrefour from Jeremie. They were in the process of loading up a truck with food and supplies while he was talking to me. Pray that this one load makes it safely to the hungry and injured in Jeremie. There was also a lot of hammering going on. The people are constructing a building to house the precious supplies in order to keep them safe from thieves.

Duane is exhausted and overwhelmed and got little sleep during the time he was in Haiti. I asked him if he regretted his decision to go. His answer?

"No way...no way."