Salt in a Wound

Just 17 days after Hurricane Matthew destroyed much of the southern peninsula of Haiti, the area received a drenching rain.  It felt like salt in the wound that was left in aftermath of the hurricane.   

The week after the hurricane had several sunny days with short rain showers that are typical for any tropical island.  Then, just people were starting to dry out and make plans to repair homes, a heavy rain started.  

In Bonne Fin, the rain started about 9 PM on Thursday, 20 October 2016 and heavy rains continued through the night and most of the next day.  The rain finally stopped at about 5 PM on Friday.  Our rain gauge was still knocked down from the hurricane, so we didn't get an accurate measure, but rough estimates are between 15-20 inches of rain during those 20 hours.  With the ground already saturated, the creeks and roads became rushing rivers and more damage was inflicted on the area.  

It was a cool rain and for those with homes that are still missing a roof or damaged, it was a very difficult time.  Once again, they were cold and wet.  Some sustained flooding in their homes even though they had a roof and some watched belongings wash away in the rushing water.  

During the rain on Friday, Bob Beebe took this photo of the road in front of the hospital. It was a small river in some parts.

On Saturday morning, the sun came out and we ventured out assess any new damage.  

There was still lots of water running, but minor road repairs on campus and unclogging a few canals and waterways made a significant difference in the immediate area.  

The same area as the above picture, but about 24 hours later.  The water was still running over the road.  The tube under the roadway was clogged with debris from the hurricane.

This canal beside our ball court was clogged and running slowly.  Rick and the kids worked to clean debris from the canal and make the water way more efficient.   

This picture shows how water was spilling onto the ball court before they unclogged the canal.

This shows how water was coming off the corner of the ball court.

Water cut a deep gully in the small road leading to the Zimmerman home.  This is typical of most of our roads after the heavy rain.

These men are working to clear a large tree that is blocking the flow of water and causing some flooding behind the hospital.

Water rushing in a normally docile creek.

A few of us loaded up in a truck and attempted to drive down to see the Gros Marin River.  This is the normally dry river bed that is home to a local market.  We heard reports that it was a raging river on Friday.  Because of deep gullies in the road, we were not able to make it down.  

This woman was walking in water on the road.

This deep gully stopped our progress down the road.  It was only about a mile down the road and near the road to the reservoir  that feeds our hydro electric generator.   It is now Monday and our road is still not passable.  We sent one of our employees to Cayes today and he had quite a voyage.  

Geleme related that he was able to drive a truck to the river bed in Gros Marin.  At this point, he was concerned about getting stuck in deep mud and running water.  He took a moto (motorcycle taxi) across at a narrow spot that could not be used by a truck.  He continued on the moto until Pradin.  For those that know our mountain road, this is the spot where a large tree lays across a creek bed.  Also, there is a large tree next to the road and a lady is always sitting there.  We have a joke that she lives in the tree.  The bridge at this point is still intact; however, there is an 8 foot gully on one side of the bridge.  Some men put some large tree trunks across the gully and are charging 50 gourdes (about 75 cents US) to walk across the trunks.  So Geleme crossed the tree trunk bridge on foot and then had to hire another moto to take him the rest of the way down.  For an American, this seems like quite a story, yet it is a perfect example of life in Haiti and not so unusual.  

Along the roadside, a family was drying their clothes.  The clothes line is the Fiber Optic line that was broken during the Hurricane.  

This truck became stuck in deep mud near the soccer field.  The men are using rocks and wooden boards as levers to try and lift the truck.  Looks like dangerous work to me!!

Below are two waterfalls that were created by the heavy rains.  We don't normally see waterfalls in these places so we are enjoying their beauty.

This is another shot of Bonne Fin and the Hospital Campus from the road that curves around on the way to the hospital.  This shot is a bit clearer than the one in my earlier post.  Because this picture was taken shortly after a heavy rain, it's too wet for any fires and the smoke that makes photos hazy.  

The photo below was taken last week.  After crews spent all day cleaning leaves and debris, they started several fires along the road.  I took this photo from our roof and it has a neat effect.  It almost looks like a wildfire, even though it was contained and controlled.  

New Life...

This photo doesn't look too special at first glance, but I want to point out a few things that make it special to me.  This was taken from our roof.  Before the Hurricane, we could not see a sunset because of the trees and heavy foliage.  While there are lots of stripped trees poking up, we can still the beautiful colors of a tropical sunset.  The other point is the tuft of green at the top of the palm tree.  Just two weeks after this tree withstood a CAT 4 Hurricane, new leaves are spring forth.  We are starting see new growth on many of the trees, especially the banana trees that grow very quickly.  It is exciting to see New Life and it makes me wonder how God will use this natural disaster to breathe NEW LIFE into Haiti and it's people.  

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.   II Corinthians 5:17