Land of Dr Seuss Trees

Ever read a Dr Seuss book and think he had quite the imagination to come up with some of those drawings?  He must have lived somewhere after a hurricane at one point, because that is what it looks like around here.  (I cannot take credit for thinking this one up...Bob B told us that this is what he thought the trees around here look like :) ).  The almond tree in our yard is flourishing, providing about as much shade as it used to.  But lots of other trees are mere shadows of what they used to be, with limbs reaching out at odd angles and a few tufts of scruffy leaves at the ends of the branches.

So from the Land of Dr Seuss Trees, here is a two-month post-hurricane update.

There is for sure a ton of charcoal being made.  Which shows that - contrary to the first world's perception of Haiti - the people of this country do use good tree-harvesting sense.  This country is not deforested, like has been proclaimed over and over again.  But as someone recently said, now they can afford charcoal, but nothing to cook on it.  The price of lots of things have gone up.  Even the motorcycle drivers have taken advantage of the situation and inflated their prices.  There is hardly any fruit to make juices at market.  And everyone who comes selling things tries to tell you that there are none left of this food (which is somewhat true), and sell it for crazy expensive.

The charcoal "pit" that smolders for about a week to make the charcoal.

One day, Madam Ino went on the hill and gathered grapefruit that had fallen from the hurricane so that she could make juice.

As far as cholera in the area, we have only seen one case at the hospital.  It was from a village about 40 minutes away, and the person was treated and released to a local clinic in their town for continued treatment.

Homes are being recovered.  Madam Ino's roof is fixed.  Emanier's roof still has a tarp over it and he said it blew away in a recent storm and his things and mattress got wet again.  So it really depends on the person if they are able to repair it or not.  We have had some new people come to ask for help, but surprisingly not as many as I had thought.  It's pretty much the same people that we see all the time.

This was taken while driving, so not very good, but it is of a "tent city" that is by Cavillion.

Our road has been repaired now for some time after that second huge rain.  The hydro is running full time, providing power to the campus (what the solar system doesn't cover) 24/7.

David repairing the road to our house here on campus after the "big rain."

There have been several people ask if the electricity problem is out of everyone's minds because of the storm.  Well, yes and no.  It does not seem to be as big of an issue as it was this summer.  But it is still lurking out there on the horizon.  There is a small core group of people who continue to bring up the subject.  So, we still ask for prayers for wisdom and God's provision in this area.

Manifesting over food is still an issue in the area.  As food is distributed in one area, the next zone gets "hot" and wants it too.  So a lot of times, relief supplies are being chauffeured by the UN for protection.

Please continue to be prayerful for Haiti as they recover from Hurricane Matthew!