damage

it is what i do, it is what HODR.ORG does, responding to those in need after a natural disaster - but it doesnt get any easier with time, this being the 7th disaster that i have witnessed. yesterday when we arrived in the city of gonaives, haiti i was speechless (as were stef and john as we peered out the windows of our muddy, struggling, lurching 4x4) and then i cried. i cried again today when we visited a school and medical clinic, i cry as i type this.
the damage here is from a river that jumped its bed and raged through the city center. we have found crumbled buildings, hundreds of tumbled cars, broken walls, people living on their roofs, and mud everywhere. a great deal of water is still trapped in the low lying city and it sits chocolate brown defiling all it contacts. there is mud that has baked and curled up around the cracks, there is mud that sucks your boots off, there is mud that moves slowly to the side as you trundle, and there is the silt mud that splashes. all of this mud can be found in the homes, business', schools, and churches of this city populated by 300,000.
the mud is overwhelming in depth and coverage. there are vast areas with 2 feet of mud (some areas more, some areas less) really - block after block after block. in the areas fortunate enough to be somewhat dry the dust is choking. there are people everywhere carrying things on their head with their skirts/pants hiked baring their upper legs and showinga a few splatters of dried mud, as you follow toward the knee the mud is darker, thicker, and finally just wet near the ankle. their steps are measured - as if walking on ice. their pace is steady, their posture is erect.
they are coping, but there is damage to the country, the city, the things, the people......... and the people who witness it.

3 years to the day

Three years ago today I started my journey with Hands On Disaster Response (HODR), at the time known as “Hands On USA (HOUSA)” during the organization's Katrina relief project in Mississippi. Three years later I have returned to the Gulf Coast to respond to another major hurricane.

On September 18, 2005, I left Massachusetts and flew south to see what I could do to help those affected by Hurricane Katrina. Rob and Helen, two veteran volunteers (having volunteered for several days), picked me up at the airport in Mississippi and brought me to the HOUSA headquarters on Pass Road in Biloxi.

Today I returned to the Gulf to see what not only I, but WE, Hands On Disaster Response, might do to help those affected by Hurricane Ike. This time around Aaron and Tiffany, two multi-project long-term veteran volunteers, picked me up at the airport and this time we are responsible for assessing and setting up a project if needed and possible.

Three years ago to the day that I started I headed into a new disaster zone to potentially create the project where the next volunteer will join our HODR family.

The opportunity to help and the HODR experience has grown by leaps and bounds over the past three years. We have had 9 projects around the world. We are in the midst of our largest project, Project Cedar Rapids, 1600+ volunteers in 88 days and counting, while we are assessing storm damage in both the southern US and in Haiti. We have grown to handle two simultaneous projects at one time (in Pisco, Peru and Rayenda, Bangladesh), and over the next few weeks it is possible that we could end up with three active projects at one time.

So much has changed since I first began hauling tree limbs in Mississippi on those sweltering hot days. One thing hasn’t changed though…whether you’ve been on the ground for two days or two months at a HODR project, you’re a veteran, and even those who only have a day to give are part of the HODR family. This veteran HODR volunteer, and now US Operations Director, is very thankful to all those who have made this last three years such a great experience. You have changed my life and together we’ve changed the lives of those we have helped. Thanks for showing up and digging in.

- Bill