Dear friends,
This has been a long day with lots of further developments. The following is an update:
- Losses include the roofs on the senior boys and younger girls dormitories….the glass windows and water tanks and A/C compressors at the Guest House….about half the roof on the dining pavilion…parts of the roofs on the auto mechanics, carpentry and cosmetology buildings in the Vocational Center…both of the latrine structures…one of the Aquaponics sheds and both of the fish tanks…the large Mango tree in the farm area along with about 80% of the trees in the orchard in front of the Guest House and many of the other trees on the property…and the roof on the bakery and the solar panel that serves the filtration system on the well in front of the church. The area where the Aquaponics system is located was a lake up to the edge of the soccer field this morning.▪Pastor Louis and his team completed the clearing of the road to Cambry this afternoon and we now have access for cars and trucks.
- About 60′ of the exterior wall was blown down beginning just below the fence that encircles the Aquaponics system. This means that we are now open to the community in that area.
- The kids from Casamajor and LeHatte did not make it to Cambry on Monday so we actually have about 450 kids at Cambry, which includes those from Darivarger, Bigarouse and Cavaillon in addition to the usual Cambry kids.
- We have learned that those children (from Casamajor and LeHatte) are okay but their orphanage was pretty much destroyed based on the photos we received today. They may yet be moved to Cambry. Global Orphan Project (GOP) has hired a Sikorsky helicopter to fly over from Port au Prince (PaP) tomorrow and see whether they can move them from where they are to Cambry or some other safe haven.
- An inventory of the available food at Cambry today indicated about a 5 day supply for the 450 kids who are there now. GOP has hired an airplane to ferry food and other key supplies from PaP on Friday, which should be in time to resupply these children before our food runs out.
- Pastor Louis had the foresight to rent a large generator before the storm, which will power the well pump (for drinking water) and other key necessities until power can be restored…or at least as long as diesel fuel holds out.
- In addition to resupplying the food….hygiene, sewage and water quality will be key issues in the coming days at Cambry.
- We have not been able to take full stock of the damage at Darivarger, Bigarouse and Cavaillon but early reports are that the roofs on their churches and other buildings are destroyed or severely damaged, which means that we cannot return those children to their homes quickly and the Cambry site will be stressed by overpopulation for quite some time to come. You can also safely assume that their possessions and clothes have been blown away or water damaged during the storm.
Friends, the coming days will be difficult and dangerous. We need your prayers and your financial support as we move to respond with food and other supplies to those who are counting on us in SW Haiti. Thank you to all of those who responded generously today. We will continue to update you as often as there is further news to report.
May our great God bless you and may He provide all the needs of the dear people of Haiti.
All the best,
Roger Braswell and Angela Quinn