Pictures from Paul

Paul left yesterday morning for Haiti. He flew from here to Chicago, then Miami, and finally Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. The group spent last night in a hotel in Santo Domingo and were planning to take a bus across the border to Haiti today. Paul managed to find wireless internet and send a few pictures this morning.

Here's the bus they'll be taking. He heard it's a 7-8 hour trip.

Sign on the bus windshield.

Paul's caption on Facebook says, "Hotel in the DR was a dump but it was on the beach at least." I'm guessing he won't think it's such a dump after he's been sleeping in a tent for over a week.

The guy in the middle is Blair Hankin, who was a missionary in Haiti the same time we were and is the only other Creole speaker in the group. The other two are "Will and Melanie," and I have no idea who they are.

Hotel beach.

I doubt I'll be hearing much from him while he's there, but if he manages to send anything else I'll post it here.

We're Still Here

Hi there, remember us? The people who used to have a blog here? We're still alive, just neglecting our bloggy duties.

It's not much of an excuse, but we have been a little distracted lately. Many of you already know this, but Paul and I both served LDS missions in Haiti in the late 80s/early 90s. We've felt heartsick and helpless as we've watched the coverage of the earthquake and its aftermath. We've both felt like we want to just hop on a plane and get down there and do something, ANYTHING, to help the people and the country we love.

Well, an opportunity has finally come up for one of us to do exactly that. Paul is going to Haiti on Tuesday with an organization called Haiti Sak Plen. He'll be there for about a week and a half with a small group who will help rebuild houses damaged in the quake. He and one other guy (Hi Blair!) will be the only Creole speakers, and the other four or so guys are contractors/construction experts. They've got a source from whom they can purchase building supplies, and they'll hire day laborers down there to help with the grunt work. I'm very excited for him to go, and also a little jealous. I'll try to keep you posted on his adventures as they happen, and I'm sure he'll have plenty of stories and pictures once he gets back.