Pictures .. Round Two

The much awaited pictures .. Round One

There are over 200 pictures, so stick with me .. Might take awhile to get everything added. That's round one .. More coming!

-Dani

We made it!!!

Wow, what an adventure! I would like to thank Dani, Bryn and Gena for making this blog. I have been told by several people how nice it was to get the daily updates. You guys did a great job!!!

The trip was wonderful and horrible all at the same time. The Haitian people are awesome. They are friendly and kind. They have big smiles and are happy even through these hard times. As I heard just a few of the stories I could see the sadness in there eyes and faces.

Haiti needs our help!!! Please donate to a good reputable charity. Do your homework so your money is not waisted. Healing Hands for Haiti is a great charity that is doing great work there. Your money will go to give medical and rehab care for many who need the help there. You can find Healing Hands on the Internet.

Thanks for all the support for my family and the prayers for me!! There is no doubt that we had angels watching over us.

He's home!

Yes, It's true - Dad got home this morning. KSL got their return on video - Look really quick, and you'll see mom and dad on the clip. He's doing great, brought home some awesome pictures .. Can't wait to get them up-loaded to the site.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=9661274

A Change of Plan ..

We found out today there won't be any planes leaving Haiti, so dad didn't make it home. He said he's not sure when they will be able to catch a flight out .. So it's the waiting game now. - But in the mean time, he'll still be working and helping! We did get a picture, he looks good!

He's coming home today!

.. And we'll be sure to post many, many pictures over the next few days - So check back for them.

Dad made the news ..

'Destruction is indescribable': Utah volunteers join Haiti relief effort

By Brooke Adams

The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 01/29/2010 09:01:01 PM MST

A Utah volunteer team has wasted no time getting to work in Haiti.

One group has already made its way to the Healing Hands For Haiti medical clinic. They have set up a tent as a makeshift clinic and are beginning to spread word to those who need care that doctors are standing by, said Kirk Bertelsen, an Orem City police officer providing security for the team.

"We are at the clinic now trying to clean up some debris," said Bertelsen, who spoke to The Salt Lake Tribune by cell phone Friday morning. "I'm just roaming around the place and trying to make sure everybody stays safe."

Other members of the Utah Hospital Task Force pulled strings to evacuate 66 Haitian orphans. The children were flown to Miami, cleared through customs and taken to an area foster shelter to be united with their adoptive parents.

Damage in and around Port-au-Prince shocked Bertelsen.

"Honestly, the destruction is indescribable and unbelievable," Bertelsen said. "There is rubble everywhere."

Despite that, he said, Haitians seem to be getting by.

"People seem to be working through it and trying to figure out what to do," he said.

Bertelsen said some shops in the city have electricity, but there is none at the clinic. He said a lot of vending is taking place on the streets, with sellers offering fruit, sugar cane and cooked items.

Tom Christensen, a contractor with Double P Construction in Kamas, also spoke Friday
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to The Tribune .

His group was transported to a field being used by aid groups Thursday night by the 82nd Airborne Division. An Ohio team has a tent set up and is offering medical care.

Christensen said that in addition to the team sent to the medical clinic, other groups have already gone out to assess condition of a local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chapel and the Foyer de Sion orphanage, operated by Guesno and Marjorie Mardy.

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_14295418?IADID=Search-www.sltrib.com-www.sltrib.com

A Funny ..

So Steve (Dani's husband) is always teasing that he wants to adopt a little 'black kid'. He'd make him really good at sports .. And then he could support Steve and I in our old age ;). I talked to Dad last night for a few .. He told me he'd found someone for Steve.

I guess at one of the orphanages they visited they were able to meet a 14 year old boy, who was excellent at basketball. Dad said everything in Haiti is built on a hillside, including this kids basketball court. The hoop was placed at the top .. And this kid didn't miss a shot! One of the guys with dad is pretty good at sports .. And asked the boy to play a game with him. This kid totally kicked the guys butt .. But was kind enough to clap anytime dad's friend scored a point.

Cool story, and super funny if you know my husband .. and my dad :). We're so excited to see him Wednesday!

-Dani

Sorry everyone, a few days behind .. But here are a few updates :).

February 5
It's Friday. The plan for tomorrow is to visit a few orphanages. Unfortunately they found that 2 of the 3 that they were going to visit have been abandoned. Dad says they are averaging about 2 abductions a week, and the orphanage owners are concerned, so they have moved the kids to keep them safe.One little boy was kidnapped by and LDS ward member who had a $10,000 ransom for him. He was then taken from the ward member by a bad guy who is now holding him for $1 million dollar ransom. The plan is also to go up onto the mountain to get some cool air, and get some dinner at a restaurant in town.

February 7
Yesterday and today were more laid back days. Yesterday, they were able to visit an orphanage. It was one that was for disabled people that had been abandoned because they were disabled. Dad said it was amazing. They were like their own little family, and the older ones helped take care of the others. They also had a dog there, the first friendly dog dad said he had seen in Haiti. They went up on the mountain and it was much cooler, but hard to see things because of all the smoke. The people there have been burning all the rubble to clean it up and kill diseases. Dad compared the view as to when you are flying in an airplane, when it looks like patchwork. Everything there is mountainous, its not really flat. But they grow their crops on the hillsides, so it looks like patchwork on the sides of the mountains.Dad still hasn't gotten sick yet, thank heavens. There are only 5 of the 14 in dads group that haven't been sick and I'm sure they are counting their blessings. The plan is to come home on Wednesday, which means they would arrive here early Thursday morning. Although this has been such an amazing experience, dad is excited to come home. He will be happy to see the family, and the dogs. We are also very excited to see him, even though we are so proud of what he is doing down there!

-BRYN

February 4 - From Bryn

It was an interesting day in Haiti today. There was a small earth quake, which dad said was strange to feel. He said it felt like when you’re sitting in your car and someone bumps into you. He said it was cool and the house creaked a little, but other than that, there was no damage.They treated about 100 patients today at the clinic. It is starting to slow way down, and the actually closed the clinic at one because no one had come for treatment in an hour. Today dad said was the first day that he saw some trauma cases at the clinic. He thought it was crazy because the earthquake was weeks ago. They treated one girl who looked like she had been trapped under rubble and he leg was all infected.Today they built shelves in a building that was used as a rental building before the earthquake. They call it the mushroom house because its round. The building that they were using to store all the medical supplies will probably have to be destroyed because it is no longer safe.They had a construction crew building a barrier at the back of the property because the fence that was there had fallen down. They took them out to the main town and dad got to go with them. It was his first time out of the compound since he got there. He got to see a couple of the other security guys, so it was a nice break. He says they drive so crazy there, but they don’t really get into accidents. You can be anywhere on the read, there are no lanes, and people are walking down the streets as well. He said you can reach your arm out and probably hit the people on the side of the road because they are walking so close to your car. He did say that most cars are beat up and dented because people are always trying to squeeze through tight spots and stuff.So….as I posted in an earlier update, people on the crew are getting sick. There is a bug going around that is causing nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. One guy, that shares a room with dad, was the first to get it. Now when dad was telling me about this sickness he started explaining the way they build homes there. They are built with decorative openings -like windows with no glass- throughout the house. That way when its hot outside, the cool breeze can blow all the way through. I was wondering, as you may be, why this was relevant to the guy who was sick. Well….there are also openings to the bathrooms. The poor kid was up all night being sick, and so was dad…listening to the guy being sick. That wasn’t the only thing that was keeping dad up, he said that if they leave anything out, pigs come and push the things around with their snouts and chase water bottles and stuff. He said its very annoying. When the pigs come during the day, dad says the kids come and put leashes on them and take them back home, or the just throw rocks and them till they start running. Dad thinks that the kids probably know which ones they can catch, and which ones they can’t. He tries to sleep lightly at night so he can hear anything that is going on. He hears dogs, booms, bangs, gunshots, pigs, pretty much everything. But he said during the day, it gets so quiet. Thanks for the prayers and support everyone!

Update February 3 - From Bryn

So today they treated about 120 people at the clinic. Dad says it is starting to slow down a little, so they are planning on taking they day off on Saturday.....now when they say they are taking the day off, he means they are taking the van they have there and driving a little ways to 3 orphanages. They will treat the children there, as well as hand out some toys that they brought. They will also be going to see a Baptist church and they will find a place to go out to dinner. Dad said it is very interesting to see that one building will be completely destroyed, and another about 100 feet away will be fine. For example, the house they are staying in is perfectly safe, but there are buildings all around that are merely rubble.They had a construction crew today from Utah Hospital Task Force that cleared the road into the compound. They can now open the gates to get cars through so they can move things out of the damaged buildings.Dad told me tonight that people need to understand that PLANS ARE CHANGING EVERY DAY. Just like the plan for coming home, and things like that. They are working with two different governments trying to coordinate things, so it makes it very difficult at times.One plan they have discussed is to build a new prosthetics shop by the airport, so they could build new prosthetics for people more locally. They are also talking about flying a surgical team down to Haiti (spine specialists) to do surgery on the little boy with the broken vertebrae. Apparently it is easier to get people in there, then it is to get people out. He told me a little about the people today. There was a guy who was very depressed and needed someone to talk to. There aren't really any psychiatrists or counselors there to help people, so my dad offered to talk to the man. He told dad that he was confused and depressed. He had never lived through something as traumatic as this. His family was doing well, but his house had fallen in the quake. Dad thinks he came from the shanty town, so he said the term house is relative. He listened to the guy, and I'm sure gave him a new hope.

An update from Bryn .. February 2

An update on the two little boys I told you about yesterday. The boy who’s eye socket was crushed is doing well. He had surgery today and feels great. They boy who had vertebrae broken in his back had surgery was stabilized last night and they did surgery. He is doing well, and will be put on a flight to Ft. Lauderdale, FL tomorrow.

A day in Haiti for Dad…

They wake up at about 5 each morning.
It is so hard to sleep there because of all the noises around. Every night there are about “600 sets of dogs”. They bark all night long. No one cares; no one shushes their dogs around here. They also hear gunshots coming from the city during the night. Everyone around has chickens and roosters and they are also making noises. One noise that was new to dad was the sound of leaves hitting the ground. He said the leaves on most of the trees there are just huge, “bigger than basketballs”. They have huge stalks that hold them about a foot off each branch. They fall down during the night and make a big “POP” sound. Everyone just mills around for about an hour, they then start to prepare the medical supplies. They have to carry all the supplies about 500 yards from their locked facility to the medical tent, which is the clinic. They put the supplies in bins and put them up on their shoulders to carry them over. The clinic opens at nine. Dad sticks around the clinic until about 11. He then goes back up towards their stuff and has breakfast. His breakfast consists of MRE crackers and cookies. He said it’s a pretty good combo. :) He hangs around the tent for a while. He likes to stay central so that if anyone needs him he can see them, and get to them quickly. The other day, he was up by the tent and her heard a guy yelling angrily. He was above him on the mountain, but on their property. Dad run up to see what was going on and he saw this guy yelling at the two Haitian guards, posturing and slapping his chest. He was very upset, and so were the guards, as one started to load his shotgun. Dad said he though, “this isn’t going to be good!” He knew that at this point, the yelling guy wasn’t a threat to him. His hands were in the air, slapping his chest. He also knew the guard wasn’t going to hurt him, so he walked out in between to argument. When he did this, the guy stopped yelling for a bit, and dad asked him if he was ok. The guy looked at dad, and began speaking English to him. He explained that his mother lived in the apartment building that is on the compound. She was killed in the earthquake. He was frustrated because the guards wouldn’t let him get her things out of the rubble. Dad talked to the man for a minute and got him calmed down. They decided to let him get the things that were right on the surface. Yesterday, the man came back. He was yelling again, and was clearly still upset. Dad ran up again to calm the guy down and he just looked at dad and said, “You need to be here everyday!” Turns out, this guy lived in the apartment next to his mom. Some of the things he wanted to get out were his. He was upset because he had gotten up and gone to work that day. His mom stayed home, and she died in the earthquake. Dad says there is so much sadness in the eyes of the people there. Everyone around has lost someone that they loved.

He continues to do security for the remainder of the day and has dinner. Dad says dinner is the highlight of his day. Today they had rice and beans with some meat. The rice and beans weren’t like yesterdays and the beans were cooked in a sauce that looked like melted chocolate. The meat had chicken and fish with onions in it. He said it all was wonderful! Two people from their crew got sick today. They are in the clinic getting IV therapy tonight. They weren’t able to eat dinner with them, they are just trying to get some rest and get them re-hydrated and well. He said it is very hard to keep hydrated there. It is between 85 and 90 degrees every day, or at least that’s what it feels like, and its super humid. They are trying to drink as much water as possible, and dad guess he is drinking about 60 oz. Each day. This is usually the part of the day that we call dad. Its shortly after mom and I get off work, and they are settling down for bed in Haiti. We generally talk for about an hour or so. Tonight our conversation went a little longer. Cool for us, T-mobile has a plan that makes it so we can call mobile to mobile with dad for FREE, even with him in Haiti, but we think there is about an hour limit on the call because right when we get to 60 minutes, the call drops. We can call back, and everything is good, so we don’t mind too much. When I called dad back tonight, their power had just shut off. They have generators that supply the power, and also charge batteries. They can turn the generators off and the batteries will keep power up for about 24 hours, and the batteries had died. Turns out, the guy that runs the generator is one of the people who are sick. Luckily another guy had been helping him out, so he was able to turn the generators back on. Dad’s crew is good. They are very cohesive and they are hard workers. He enjoys the company of all of them and is glad he got put with them. Still no word on when they are coming home. No airlines will fly down to Haiti to pick them up. They have started negotiating with the 82nd Airborne(a division in the Army) to get them from Haiti and take them to Florida, where Delta Airlines has made a deal for $100 per person from Florida, home. Dad says he will stay as long as he is needed and as long as everyone else is staying. He is a great man!! :)

Phone Convo with Dani .. February 2

I finally got to talk to him! It's been almost a week since he's been gone. My work schedule and his in Haiti are opposite, so it's been hard to get ahold of him. He sounded great - Told me alot about what we've already been posting. He said it's amazing how much you can read in the peoples faces. He said they all smile - most of the time. You can read their sadness and despair in there eyes. While I was on the phone with him someone started yelling in the back ground. It was a Haitian man that was sick, and yelling for water. Dad found him a water bottle, talked to him for a few minutes .. And then we got to finish chatting. I thought this was interesting .. He's actually only left their 'compound' once. I guess two nights ago they went out walking .. he said the art there is amazing. I'm so happy I was able to talk to him .. I miss him! He said he'd call again tonight .. He also wants to talk to Grandpa and Grandma tonight - So if you guys are reading, Be home! I will call them before hand, and have them call him - He can't make any outgoing calls from where he's located. Also, I believe my mom and Bryn both have updates .. I can't get on my email at work to post them, so check back tonight. Thanks again to everyone for reading .. I love hearing from you all, as I am sure he will when he's able to read this.

Phone Convo with Bryn .. February 1

Just got off the phone with dad. He said today has been a great day. They helped about 175 people today at the clinic. He was specific about two of them. One was an 8 year old little boy that was injured during the earthquake by a brick that fell on his face. It broke all the bones around his eye, and dad said it was pretty messed up and was surprised it didn't kill the little boy. No local doctors would see him because him and his family live on the poor side of town. He was seen today by some of the medics in my dads group and they drove him to the United Nations Hospital. He is scheduled for surgery in the morning. Another little boy, who was 4 years old had also been hurt by the earthquake. A rock had crushed the vertebrae in his back. He was in a lot of pain, and his mother had been carrying him around since the earth quake. The medics in dads group drove him to the Miami College Hospital that is located in Haiti to be seen by doctors there. He is scheduled to fly out tonight to Tampa, FL for surgery.

Dad also said the food today was great. They had rice and beans and some sort of hot cabbage. He can't remember what it was called, and even if he did, he doesn't think he could pronounce it. He said it was to die for! He said there were some kids trying to get some fruit out of a tree, he went over and tried to help them. A local saw him trying to get fruit out of a tree and came over and got it out for them. Dad said it was purple, and they told him what it was, but once again, he couldn't pronounce it. He said it was really good, like a creamy, mushy (but not like a bad apple). He took a taste, not even a bite - and gave the rest to the kids.

We talked a little about Watson, since here, we all decided we wanted my dad to bring him home. I told dad about our decision. He told me that Watson has parents there. They are very, very poor, and in the lowest of the low class. He said their classes are divided and you know who belongs to what class.