Today was spent with a number of the women of Fondespwa, on an informal basis. First thing this morning, we went to the school where some women are living in their makeshift tents. We set up a couple of benches in the church, which is the only safe building of the 8 structures and one by one had them share what happened on “that” day. Some were in their homes when the earth shock and immediately grabbed their children and ran outside, others were out in the community and ran to their homes to see if their families were safe. Some lost children, others lost parents while many had bruises, scrapes and even children that lost a limb. One can hardly imagine the fear they had on that day and the days following. When asked how their hearts are now, they said a little more settled but still full of anxiety when the after shocks come. What stood out is their belief that God would provide the food and reconstruction of their houses and most importantly heal their hearts of fear, anxiety and the depression they frequently feel.

This afternoon with Jeff, Fondespwa’s Director and Rosenie one of our Loan Officers, we went to the homes of 20 women to see how the earthquake affected them. Some of the houses were totally demolished, while others had severe structural damage. Consequently, 18 were living in tents made of bed sheets. Due to the rain, a good number had taken the concrete blocks from the rubble of their houses, laid them out and that was now the floor of their tents, as the ground was so wet. How long will they have to live in those tents, no one knows, or as they say only God. The Haitian government will most likely not be providing temporary long term housing so will it be foreign agencies, individual donors or the meager money they will save over the years?  Right now, this is an unknown and obviously so disconcerting to them. We hope to understand over the next week how we can possibly be of assistance. 

As we are dialoguing, in the back of my mind I am thinking about these women and all they have to contend with. Seems pretty overwhelming to me. As always, a testament to their resiliency and durability. 

In the evening, we went to a session on coordinating the distribution of emergency supplies to this area. What stood out is this. We were in the best hotel in Petit Goave, and in a large concrete walled conference room when at 8:35 a substantial tremor occurred. All of us ran out the room. It was the second tremor I experienced only this was substantially stronger than the first. It was truly unsettling. Imagine a 7.3!