Heading Home 11/27/11, Saturday

It is 9:25 a.m. and we are now driving home on Interstate 66 near the town of Front Royal, Virginia. Our plane from Haiti arrived in Newark late as we missed our plane to Wash D.C. last night. We were delayed in Port au Prince leaving about 40 minutes late and once we landed we had to pick up our baggage and get through customs, hence we missed our plane. We had had about a 1 ½ hour layover. Continental was very accommodating and booked us a new flight today leaving at 6:30 a.m. to Dulles. They even put us up in a hotel room for the night.

Now the trees roll by at 70 miles an hour as I see the Appalachian Mountains around me. It is a new day for us in America, back to our prosperous lives while the people of Haiti cling to where their next meal might come from. I think we are still partly zombies from this travel having to get up at 4:15 this morning and our bodies are trying to recover from this past week’s lifestyle of beans and rice, cold showers, breathing dust, and hearing the rooster crow.

This was a cool looking plant in Haiti that was blooming, possibly a Yucca.

The Last Day, 11/26/11, Saturday

As I sit on the 3rd floor rooftop of the Terre Noire church facing the rising sun a white dove just flew by making its way across the ramshackled rooftops. It weaved with the wind in and around the moving palms and papaya trees. With the sun cresting over the low eastern mountain a young boy in a green soccer shirt with the number eight seems to be playing, throwing tiny pebbles on a concrete roof slab. He is now searching in the overgrown vines for something alive. Life is moving along in Port au Prince.

The blue sky starts to brighten with long wispy clouds amidst bright colors of orange and yellow. Pink abounds everywhere. The sun brightens and songs of joy and serenity resound from the church below. The voices, all in unison make you want to cry for the Haitian people. Goose bumps begin to crawl on my skin as the sun decides to come in all of its full glory. I cry for them now. The cool breeze blows in my face as I try to recover from my sadness wanting to know their pain just a little.

Today I head back to America, the land of the free and wealth. With our short stay here we were able to bless one widow with two children building one home. One tiny speck in a mountain of need. The pastor and his associate stopped by at the house site yesterday checking on his flock like a good shepherd. He was the one who recommended her to Forrest as one of the few lucky ones to receive hope for her future. Many neighbors stood by and watched as we worked, some showed signs of jealousy while others watched with joyful hearts for her bounty. Some even helped. I feel good that we were able to do this for her but why do I feel this way? I do not want to feel good until they all have brighter futures. I know that I have wished for the impossible. The pain is real as joyful songs rise from under the steeple.

A prayer – God you seem like a distant God to me now. I sit here about to leave a humanity that seems to have been treated much like all the trash that flows in its streets and streams. Teach me to have hope and faith for these people. Remind me to pray for them as I go back to my home with electricity, heat, and air conditioning. Where food can be had at a moment’s request. Teach me to love others better, teach me to give more, teach me to pray more, teach me to be thankful more, teach me to desire only what I need not what I want. Please God help me change deep inside my soul so that I can change and do more for those in need. Amen

It is now 6:37 a.m. and the roosters are still crowing and the sun is now providing warmth to my face as it continues to climb higher off the horizon. The southern mountains are washed white while the northern mountains resemble the bumpy Haitian roadways.

Waterfall and swimming hole we went to in Furcy, our first day.

This is a close-up of a stone wall in Furcy.

Children who were late to school had to wait behind this rope.

Part of a mutal I saw in Port au Prince.

Family photo taken with a nice view on our way to Furcy.

Day 5 in Haiti, 11/25/11, Friday

6:15 a.m. Hundreds of roosters can be heard crowing in this morning hour, along with various other noises such as children talking, the humming of motors, horns honking, and the Creole tongue being spoken. It is another beautiful day here in Haiti. Today is our last full day. Where has the time gone? We have worked hard every day and we feel we have accomplished all that we could but I wish we could have done more. There is so much need it is overwhelming. I keep trying to come up with the catch all solution that would fix their poverty problem. I know you have poverty everywhere in the world and that is just a part of humanity’s plight. Maybe a tax system would help, get rid of the political corruption, provide more government jobs, these could maybe be a start to help make an impact.

It is now 4:00 p.m. add we have finished our work here. In the morning we finished up painting at the clinic and we put on the roof of the house we have been working on. In the afternoon we all took four gallons of blue paint and painted the interior of the home. We then gave the woman who will be living here a couple of small gifts, had a short prayer, and then said our goodbyes. I believe everyone present was blessed.

We just went to Garrison’s house to purchase some of his artwork (Garrison is a young man who works at the Blanchard church and lives very close to the church and is an artist.) Linda and I bought a small stone sculpture, a little painting, and 3 pieces of painted metal. The metal pieces were about 8 inches ling of a frog, a dragonfly, and a lizard, they cost $3.00 each.

Finishing up the roof.

Finishing up painting at the clinic.

The woman talking with her pastor as we are finishing up the roof.

Ann Weatherly blowing bubbles with the children.

The finished home in Cite Sole.

We have finished painting the interior walls and are about to have a word of prayer.

Our team of workers in front of the clinic at Cite Sole.

Our leader, our guide, our interpreter, my son.

Day 4 in Haiti – 11/24/11, Thursday

The roosters are crowing and the sun is rising over Port au Prince, Haiti.

An array of sounds and colors you might see in many parts of the world.

Light pink and blue pastels gently radiate above the distant mountains as curved grooves take form.

The coconut palm leaves sway in the gentle breeze as a new day begins to move.

Brighter and brighter the air becomes clearer as white mists start to fade away.

Life in poverty brings new hope for those who can breathe.

School begins, street vendors peddle, and tap taps move across the dust filled streets.

White washed in dirt.

Today half of our group poured concrete on the floor of the woman’s home we have been working on whole the other half painted more on the clinic at Cite Sole. The clinic exterior is really starting to look great. At the house, for a floor decoration the Haitian workers sprinkled some blue and yellow pigments on the floor with the last finishing coat. I was told that the lady whose home we are working on liked blue and yellow. She carried over 100 gallons of water on her head in five gallon buckets to make the concrete. I was humbled. The finished floor looked Bel – Beautiful. For dinner tonight, which was Thanksgiving, we had rice and beans, chicken legs and onions in a red sauce, instant turkey dressing, canned cranberries, and instant pumpkin pie. We brought the later three with us. We also had two cakes that Madam Sterling had bought for us Blancs that said Thinksgiving – Anniversary. It was all delightful holiday in Haiti.

Morning image from the third story church roof.

Pouring the floor for the woman's home.

The woman carrying one of her 25 five gallon buckets of water.

The finished floor with colored pigments.

Trash in the nearby river.

November 23, 2011, Wednesday

Another beautiful morning in Haiti. Our bodies are sore but our spirits are high. Today more work in Cite Sole. It was a toss and turn night of sleep.

It is 7:00 p.m. now and we have had a long day. At 7:30 a.m. we left our compound to Cite Sole. Half of our team painted the clinic exterior while the other worked at the home site. I went to the home and we finished stuccoing the walls and prepared the floor to pour concrete. When we left for lunch one of the Haitian workers was just finishing up the block work in the front of this one room house.

We left at noon today as Forrest wanted to take us sightseeing in Port au Prince. Our tap tap driver (Fritz) (he drives us everywhere and Forrest pays him for the whole day) drove us to a restaurant for lunch that Michael and Forrest had been to before which had good Haitian food. As slated the food was excellent costing our table of 11 about 90 US dollars including the tip. After lunch Fritz then drove us to the Iron Market. This is a large modernized artist market and voodoo market all rolled up into one. It was a complete madhouse as everyone hounded us to buy their goods of paintings, wood carvings, and metal works. Linda and I managed to buy a small painting for $10.00, a small metal sun for $5.00, and a small wooden box for $3.00. Michael and Austin both bought a larger painting (18 inches by 24 inches) for $20.00. It was crazy place as everyone was desperately trying to sell you their work. After about 15 minutes we just had to get out of there. Even as we sitting in the back of our tap tap some were still trying to sell us items. Forrest then took us to a recyclable art place that was very interesting. We met “the teacher” and then bought a small piece for $15.00. There were some really creepy pieces there made out of burnt plastic dolls and dirty stuffed animals. Everything was made from filthy ugly found objects. They almost all had a morbid look to them although there were some just about design using patterns and textures while others attempted to be humorous. After this we went to see the damaged Presidential Palace where we ended up going in a tent city located in a nearby park to see a couple of statues of famous Haitians. One is the statues we saw was of Jean Jacques Dessalines who in 1804 gave Haiti their independence. The other statue is of the slave chained to a rock kneeling down blowing a conch shell. It is called “Le Negre Marron” (The Black Maroon). Both of these sculptures were once in the middle of a park but they are now surrounded by homes made from tents. They call this area a tent city. It was strange being there and slightly unnerving even though we had two guys who knew Forrest and said they would protect us. After this, we drove a short distance to see the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption, Port-au-Prince, which was destroyed by the recent earthquake. As we pulled up near the police car Forrest warned us that many beggars would come and ask for money but to not give them any. This was true and quite heart wrenching. We walked through the church shell of what was once a magnificent structure full of stained glass windows as the poor quietly surrounded us. We then came home for a dinner of rice and beans, beef and onions in a hot sauce, and fresh papaya juice. Yummy!

Finishing up the walls in preparation to pour the concrete floor.

Lunch at the Haitian resturant in Port au Prince. These two dishes were shared by 3 people.

A disturbing piece of recycled art.

Statue of Jean-Jacques Dessalines in a tent city accross from the Presidential Palace.

The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption, Port-au-Prince after the earthquake.

Our son Forrest helping Woodley do his homework one evening.

November 22, 2011, Tuesday

6:15 a.m. What a beautiful day from the rooftop at Terre Noire. The distant mountains to the south show deep curved lines from erosive rain, half shadows forcing its reflective half. A slight breeze is blowing as the sun peaks over the third story rooftop. A large white cross welcomes its light.

I just ate breakfast, spaghetti with onions in a thin red sauce, papaya, a hardboiled egg, ¼ cup of coffee, and 8 ounces of fresh juice. I feel guilty when such poverty sits below me. I do feel the Haitians are very resourceful maybe partly because of their democracy. It seemed in China this past summer poverty was dependent upon the state.

The clatter of children begins to amplify with happy crescendos of joy. A water truck approaches with music playing “Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday dear Haitians, Happy Birthday to You”. On and on the music plays as clean water helps keep the cholera away.

“Asta e ala hatta, an matta le-ca sota,” the children sing welcoming the new day, hope for their parents, and a brighter future than they had. A hope for all of mankind.

9:00 p.m. It has been a long day. I am sitting out on a roof top writing under the stars and artificial light. There is music playing in the background and the sound of a truck is starting up. Today we worked on a Haitian woman’s house. We helped put up concrete blocks to make the roof smooth and we stuccoed the walls with concrete. We also broke up the rubble on the ground in preparation for pouring a nice level concrete floor. The woman whose house we were working on was carrying two cement blocks at a time on her head from a temporary structure nearby. She then proceeded to provide all of the water that was needed to mix the concrete. This was a lot of water she carried (over 100 gallons), in 5 gallon buckets on her head. It was amazing to see how hard she was working for her new home. We did not put that much block up but it took a long time to complete. The woman then made lunch for all the Haitian workers. You could see the eagerness and joy in her unbreakable worn face. She was proud and hard working just as much as us, if not more. It was a humbling experience. After our lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at the church in Cite Sole half of our team went back to the house site while the other half stayed at the new clinic and painted. The front of the clinic is starting to look like a real place to welcome patients.

The following was written based on how I interpreted the woman’s eyes.

They are here! I must hurry and carry the cement blocks to my new home. One, two, three, help has arrived, they are here. I must get them water for the concrete. Three gallon tubs, 5 gallon tubs, 5 gallon buckets, is eight enough for them? My house is being built, it will be my home to live in. They promised to have this done in July but then they said they had no money left. Praise God! I sleep with no roof but they say I will now have a new roof, even a new secure door. I can’t help cry tears of joy, praise God almighty, he is providing for me. What else can I do to help? More water, they need more water for the concrete. Look at what they are doing, building my walls, stuccoing the walls, so smooth. I can’t wait to touch them. I think I might sleep here tonight, who cares if there is no roof yet. I am so happy, praise God. It is time for lunch, they must be getting hungry. I must make them a hardy meal to help give them strength. They need manna for their bodies. How many meals do I need? The man laying block, his helper, the foreman making my walls, so beautiful. The young man mixing the concrete. That makes four, anymore? I hope they like my cooking, it is for them. My new home will be for me, Praise God, Praise God, Praise God!

Do you now wonder why I am here in Haiti? To see this woman’s face and how much this means to her. There are many people who have made this possible which makes me even more humble. I wish everyone living here could be so lucky. And so do they!

Beginning to start working on the woman's home.

Denny preparing to do the stucco.

The woman whose house we were working on.

The woman in Cite Sole.

The children preparing to sing.

November 21, 2011, Monday

Now that was a good banana, sweet, natural, and full of flavor. Thank you Haiti! I am eating breakfast at the Blanchard church with Haiti Outreach Ministries. There is a clatter of activity going on, people are talking Creole, children making noises, and in a city of 2 million people there is very little traffic noise. I hear an occasional rooster crowing but the normal sounds of school are distinctly overheard, crying children. As I look from the open aired dining area on top of the 3rd floor of this concrete building I see palm leaves jumping into the air, two large mountains standing like giant arches of haze. Not haze from pollution but haze from the morning burn off of the sun’s heat. Behind me is the six thousand foot mountain we drove over yesterday to hike near the town of Furcy on the terraced filled farm land that had an incredible multitude of shades of green. Our destination was a small little pool with a natural, slightly bumpy, water slide. It was divine. Divine is a nice way to describe why I am here. I came to see my youngest son Forrest who has lived in Port au Prince since last Thanksgiving. Linda (my wife of 33 years) is here, Michael (our oldest son), Tommy (Linda’s younger brother), and Ann and Austin (Tommy’s two children). We all came down to visit Forrest and to build a couple of roofs and paint on the new clinic being built at the Cite Sole church. Tommy’s family raised $1000 for a roof and my home church raised $1000 for a roof.

We arrived Saturday landing at 1:00 pm, got through immigration, picked up our luggage, and then was mobbed by 200 Haitians wanting to carry our bags. Fortunately after walking about the length of a football field we saw Forrest and his welcoming party waiting for us with two Tap Taps. A Tap Tap is a Haitian taxi that is a pick-up truck with a high cover over the trucks bed and has two parallel benches to sit on. The best seat is in the open air where the tailgate would be.

The children are all lined up dressed in pink and singing. What are they singing? I don’t know, but it is angelic harmonic melodies from young hearts beating as one, intent on their future.

It is now 4:04 pm and we are back at the open air dining area. There are 5 large white plastic round tables with a high 15 foot slanted tin roof. That keeps it fairly cool up here since there is a nice breeze. Today we painted the front exterior of the new clinic they are building at the Cite Sole church compound. It is also with Haiti Outreach Ministries. We went to church here at 7:30 am yesterday morning before we went on our Furcy hike. We painted white oil based on the walls and oil based gray on the metal doors and windows and an oil based Bermuda green on the square exterior support columns and trim. We had Eddie and John Goudy help us. They are both Haitians that work with Forrest. Before we started painting we first cleaned (wiped off) all surfaces with old T-shirts.

It was a hot day today, so hot that Ann fainted in the morning while painting. Linda heard her fall and cried out, “Ann are you OK?” Ann had gotten stuck between the aluminum ladder and the freshly painted metal window she was painting. As she came to, we picked her up off her fallen position. She recovered quickly and painted the rest of the day. We were thankful that she did not fall face first to the concrete slab and that the sticky paint acted as a glue to hold her up. After that I kept telling her to drink plenty of water and if she had not peed, drink until she needed to. I don’t think she has peed yet, ha!

The distant mountain is starting to cloud up almost obscuring the green ridge lines. There is a men’s choir singing now, loudly with a saintly harmony. At the same time in another room close by a girls’ choir is singing. The sounds are quite harmonic and healing to the soul. Our cooks have just delivered the food and are singing along with the men. If life were only this simple. Almost like a romantic lifestyle, certainly reminds me of singing choirs I have heard in movies. Now they are talking like they are all speaking in tongues. I don’t think they are but it is a rumble of unknown sounds. Now their leader has called out to them and silence. Dead silence, so silent you could hear a feather hit the ground. I think I will go take a cold shower (that is all we have). Everyone in our group has already taken one. Bonjour!

A Tap Tap, we just got picked up at the airport.

Tommy and Linda with children after church.

Our hike to the water slide in Furcy.

Children lined up getting ready to go to school at the Blanchard compound.

Ann Weatherly doing some painting.

North Tazewell, Virginia

I am home now. Linda and Michael picked me up at the Wash D.C. airport on Friday June 10th. I had two days that day. I left at 11:00 am and arrived at 11:00 am the same day. Now that was a little strange. Customs went well but getting my baggage was more difficult. One of my bags was a long skinny box that contained a Chinese wall hanging and 8 large sheets of rice paper. I had to put in a box because at the Japanese airport (China airport was fine) check-in they would not allow me to carry it on because it had a bottom plastic piece that was too long. I guess they thought it could be used as a club. Unfortunately this bag came down the unusual size package conveyor belt and it was not working properly. After a 30 minute delay two men finally climbed down the conveyor belt and retrieved my package. I saw Linda and Michael around noon and gave them both a big hug, it was good to get back and see my family. The six hour drive home I tried to sleep a little in the back seat because my body thought it was midnight – 6:00 am. We dropped Michael off in Blacksburg, picked up Sophie at the Kennel, and made it back home around 6:15 pm. It was a long day and I was in bed by 9:00 pm.

Saturday I cut the lawn and did some weed eating and Sunday I was dragging a little so I took it a little easier. Today (Monday) I have done some weeding in the garden (mostly the onions), cut some more grass, and several other small chores around the house. I have now come inside because it is quite hot outside and I thought I would write one last journal about the China trip.
First it was a wonderful experience and the people in China were very kind to me. I will never forget their kindness. The food was delicious although at times a little strange but I just went with the idea of “just try.” I did eat very little of anything that was hot or spicy. Sometimes I have stomach pains and intestinal pains after eating something spicy. I never got any type of diarrhea or stomach illness while in China so I was very happy about that. My favorite food was the Chinese dumplings since Linda and I have eaten these for years. Other favorites were barbecue pork, sliced cucumber, meatballs, and tomato sauce eggplant. Some of the unusual things I liked that I had never eaten before were lotus root, a thinly sliced marinated yellow radish, noodle broth, and sweet clear fungus soup. The fish I would have to say was my least favorite primarily because it was often very spicy, had bones, came out of the polluted river, was just the fish head, and many times I was just not sure what type of fish it was. Speaking of bones, almost all the meat had bones, sometimes it was 95% bone on the plate. The meat often had lots of fat on it, big chunks of fat. One time I had pig’s feet (I thought it was a chicken wing) and it was like eating pure fat. I did try turtle soup, just the broth; I did not get any of the turtle meat. Basically it was a whole turtle cooked in water. When frog was served I just never got around to trying it because there was so much other good food on the table. Luckily it never stopped in front of me. Remember all the large banquet meals were served with a lazy Susan. They would start with about 6 dishes and then the server would keep adding dishes until about 15 – 18 different dishes were served. When something made its way around to you, you would grab some with your chopsticks and put it directly in your mouth. You could put it on your plate but most people did not do this unless you wanted several servings of that dish. The last dish served was always watermelon, which was your dessert. Sometimes I would stop by the market before going to my apartment and get ice cream.

I got to see a lot of Nanjing often going to parks and seeing a lot of the historical sites. I became familiar with the buses but was not always sure where they were going. The bus stops only were written in Chinese. I did have a bus map but it was confusing at times. There just are a lot of buses, remember Nanjing has 8 million people. Nanjing does not have a lot of white people. I often would not see a white person for the entire day. Shanghai on the other hand had many white people. I got stared at a lot because frankly I look different. I am 6 foot 2 inch white man. This did not bother me but I did notice it.

The three campuses affiliated with Jiangsu Institute of Education were all nice and the students were very friendly. Most students would just giggle when they saw you unless they had met you before and then they would say hi. I always felt welcome.
The food in the canteen on our campus tasted good but it was difficult to order even with someone helping you. I usually would just try and point or if I saw something I liked I would say, “I want that.”

I guess that is all I will write for now. I have written more in my journal and might someday post some of those ramblings.

God Bless!

This is one of the oil painting rooms. I think it was on the 5th floor with no elevators. It was very crowded. The assignment was doing a full figure of someone including something interesting in the backfground.

Another Photo

This is the oldest building on campus. My apartment was not very far from here.

Another Photo

This bike/motercycle path got very crowded in the mornings and evenings. You could walk on it but you had to keep a look out. I almost got run over a couple of times.

Another Photo

A couple of high rise apartments across the river. This was very close to the campus I was staying on. The river was very scenic lined with willow trees.

Tokyo, Japan

My first earthquake. For about 30 seconds my hotel room on the 11th floor was swaying back and forth. It was like, What do you do, Panic, wait and see if it gets better. I turned off my computer as the battery was low and went out in the hall where a lady was also a little concerned. Luckily she spoke English. Then a loud speaker came on and said, “Do not panic, our hotel is Earthquake proof.” Yea right! It appeared to have stopped but I grabbed my key and took the elevator down to the lobby and sat down there for about 45 minutes eating my dinner of snacks,homemade bread from Shanghai, dried banana chips, a small Pringle box of wheat chips, and some M&M’s. I then asked the hotel clerk if it was safe to drink the water in Japan. He said, “yes”, I said, “I have been in China for a month and it was not safe to drink unless boiled.” I then went back to my room where my computer quickly died and I called the front desk and luckily they had a power adapter, yea! So that is why I am able to type now.

It was sad leaving Nanjing this morning but I am excited about getting home. My train to Shanghai went well, my guide met me there and then took me to the airport although he left me waiting in the wrong area to get my boarding pass. I sat there for 1 1/2 hours until I checked myself and it was 4 gates away. I cleared the Chinese customs and Japanese customs and now have to spend the night here before leaving at 11:00 am and arriving at 10:45 am the same day. How is that for saving time. Reminds me a little of the movie Groundhog Day with Bill Murray.

I am actually a little tired as I got up at 5:00 am this morning so I will write some follow up once I get back to the farm.

Amber and Lydia at the Ming tomb in Beijing. This is the 3rd emperor who moved the capitol from Nanjing to to Beijing. He built the Forbidden City and also was the son of the first Ming emperor but defeated the 2nd emperor who was the grandson of the first emperor. The first emperor liked his grandson from another son better.

Another Photo

Dragon at Yuyuan Garden. This is a famous classical garden located in Anren Jie, Shanghai. The garden was finished in 1577 by a government officer of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) named Pan Yunduan. Yu in Chinese means pleasing and satisfying.

One More Day Before Departure

Today was a relaxed but busy day. I worked on my Power Point this morning and then worked on a couple of art projects. I ate lunch in my room: a strawberry jelly sandwich, an apple, and some Pringles. John my interpreter came by around 1:00 and we went over my lecture. The lecture to the art education majors went well and the students seemed to appreciate learning more about western art and in particular how it influenced American art. Afterwards Guelay walked over with me to the art supply store for a quick trip to help me buy a little more contact paper for the project I was working on. We found some quickly, it helped that I had an example of what I was looking for and I got a meter of it for $1.00. Then she walked me back to campus where I had a dinner with some of the art faculty of the college. Also, was a party chairman representative? I had met her before. She does not teach but I guess makes sure the right things are taught. Lynn called me later and said she got a phone call and that she needed to talk with me about something political. I thought, great, what did I say that is going to get me kicked out of the country one day early. It turned out it was about something completely different and Lynn said they really are not policing what you might be saying. After a great dinner of about 20 Chinese dishes, fried dumplings, burning red hot fish, vegetables, three soups, watermelon, chicken, pork, boiled dumplings, radish, peaches, prunes, duck, chicken, and I can’t remember what else, we toasted our goodbyes to each other. WOW, they really put on a spread of food. I then went to the art building where 3 students helped me work on a woodcut I was trying to finish. They don’t have a press but use a large flat wooden spoon to press the paper against the wood. I then come back to my room at 9:30 to take a shower and miraculously have been able to post my blog tonight. One more day before departure.

Another Photo

Large pot at the Yixiag museum.

Another Photo

This is part of a Ming dynasty park. It is one of the most beautiful parks you will ever visit. It is in Shanghai.