Smile :)

I slept last night! The day looks brighter on a good night's sleep. Makes it a little easier to look to the light and forget the night. The previous night will be hard to forget, and it is important to remember that there are about 3 million people here who have had to repeat that night for six weeks now.

On a much lighter note, Ray from A Better World read my blog and sent Eric an email suggesting that we take adult diapers on the next trip. It seems he thought that Eric offered me a towel as I streaked passed him because the aftershock had literally scared the crap out of me! Eric explained that his offer was not because of any incontinence but because I had streaked past him. At this explanation, Ray laughed so hard that Eric was afraid Ray would need diapers. I want to set the record straight, however. I was not naked; I did have my underwear and glasses on! I am glad my experience could bring a smile to someone's face, at any rate. It didn't bring one to mine at the time, but, in the light of day, I have to smile, too.

Yesterday, Pat inspected a number of buildings for structural integrity and had to deliver some bad news to some families, but was able to offer suggestions to others on how to repair their houses. Some houses received a clean bill of health, and that is the kind of news that will put a smile on your face. There are some very clear trends emerging about why some structures failed and others didn't, but I won't bore you with the technical details here. Unfortunately one of the buildings that had to come down was the trade school here at the Haiti Arise campus.

We walked out to look at a potential site for a clinic and school, and what struck me was the irony of Haiti's gang culture. Pre-earthquake, Haiti worked long and hard to clean up the gang problem, to get rid of the colors. Now there is a new type of gang culture with the the makeshift tents acting as symbols of the organizations at work aound them: blue tarps mean Samaritan's Purse; white tarps mean Canadian armed forces; white helicopters mean the UN...You know helicopters always put a smile on my face.

We went to a local hospital because the team doctor had some questions. Pat and I were drawn to the building's damage and concluded that this hospital had probably had the roof removed by a hurricane sometime in the last few years, only to be damaged again by this! Our suspicions were later confirmed. We stopped at the local government school to find it in good shape but not functioning yet. Schools have children, and children always have smiles, even after an event like this! There is a lot to be learned from children.

There was a comment made about my pictures, that there are none of me smiling. I guess that is because I have had little to smile about. Not that because I am depressed or feel hopeless, but just because there are more questions than answers (and maybe because there is not enough sleep!) I started drawing up plans for temporary housing in the camps today--an answer! Pat agrees we are on the right track with the design and approach--an answer! I am involved with supporting an artisan co-op to export their work--an answer! The piles of questions in my mind are being cleaned up. Even my body got a break today; it was so hot we had to retire to the sea, and that put a BIG SMILE ON MY FACE!