Ariving in Haiti!

(These next blogs will be written retrospectively, as the Internet availability at the compound we stayed in was not reliable)

We left Albuquerque yesterday, and after a few connection landed in Miami, where we managed to find food and get three hours sleep. Early this morning we got up for our final flight to Port au Prince, Haiti!

When we arrived we were greeted by live Haitian music in he terminal. After getting our bags and equipment, we headed outside into the heat! Winter in Haiti is still hotter than England ever gets. The airport was bustling with people. Aid workers, UN workers, Tourists (not so many), Haitians and people offering to carry our bags.
We finally met up with Marita, our liaison and translator to the people of Haiti. She is originally from Canada, and speaks French and Haitian Kraol fluently. Marita led us to a bright yellow school bus, where we met Chad and Sam, who run the Grassroots United organisation.
Sam drove us through the chaotic streets of Port au Prince, past street vendors selling food, supplies and sweets, past countless cracked concrete buildings, while Moto's (crazy motorists) weaved around the traffic. Everyone was constantly honking their horns.
We turned onto a very bumpy side road, which led us to the Grassroots compound. Chad gave us the tour, which included the toilets, showers, cholera station and the hole in the wall (where you can buy beer). After the formalities we dropped all our bags and started working, and within ten minutes I was pounding tyres!

I generally worked with Mike Reynolds (the crew call him Gandalf), Mike Bellasone (AKA Navy Mike), Jonah Reynolds (Mike R's son) and Amzi. On day one we worked mostly on the cistern, that will hold the water used for drinking, and showering.
First we had to scrap the organic spongy layer and disturbed earth away, then we pounded and leveled the car tyres, which has been collected from the streets by Haitian volunteers. After Mike was happy with the foundation of 10 or so tyres we placed the cistern on top.
As soon as this was done we started to dig the septic tank to the right of the cistern. Eventually this will be a 5' deep by 4' diameter hole. We probably got just under 2' done that day.
The Haitian volunteers were a fantastic help. They arrived after lunch for the first day, and were very enthusiastic. It was their first Earthship day so they made some mistakes, but were very willing the learn EVERYTHING.

Phill and Rory plastered the original dome completed in the first Haiti trip, and started to form the gutter, while Brian started making the window and door for the main dome.
I started teaching some Haitians how to mix cement in the mixer (1 part cement, 3 parts sand, water and fibres), while Mike R and Salty (he was in the navy for 20 years hence salty) taught people how to build bottle walls and dig with the electric digger. Maria got 5 people on making plastic bottle bricks.

I met Peter Cos, a very friendly 28 year old Haitian, who has 2 small children (I later found out that his partner and mother of his children was killed in the earthquake). He's a musician, and used to be a sound engineer for a local radio. Peter worked very hard, learned a lot on the first day, and always spoke to you with a smile on his face!

The first day ended with a lot of work done, and me completely shattered! Dinner was a good meal of beans and rice, with a black bean source which I devoured. I then set up my tent and slept until seven.