readier..readier...

There are two really big containers in the living room. they're pretty: one is light b lue and the other an appely (yes: that's how I want to spell it) green. One even has wheels! The great part about these is easy organization and you can sit and work on them!
The dogs look at them and think "oo-oh! There she goes again".

I wish leaving became easier for me. This time, so close after Nepal, is really, really hard. I don't want to leave Carl again. I keep asking him to come. He is my love and my best friend. I need to be with him. And I am sure he is angry and sad and frustrated to have me leave again as well. He has made it clear that he is worried. Give him a call, a kind word when I am gone, Please?
Yet I am pulled the other way too: I hear Haiti and see it in my mind - already having so little in comparison to much of the world. So robbed by any culture that came along to do so. And still so.
I become so annoyed (furious is a better word) when people tell me about other nations being "just as" or even "more than". Do they not see? And SO WHAT! Everyone - all needy, deserve our help. Each team, every donation, all efforts are needed wherever we see need. Asia, Africa, Central and South America, Caribbean..on and on.
But about Haiti: do we not, also, acknowledge that these are our neighbors? Not just in time of such devastating need, but in time of every day? How can we let others live in squalor, in intellectual deprivation and physical hunger day by day? All can be (yes: I do believe ALL) changed through education. They can taught so they may establish a government that can give leadership, regulations, honesty and accountability. They can have good schools with good teachers and high standards, to present a stronger generation. Agriculture re-forestation are musts. Medical care, building practices, roads, clean water and sewage building. Tourism would be wonderful: their beaches, esp in the south and along the northern coast, are gorgeous. (Most are owned by 'Blans..')The fruits and vegetables are plentiful in variety and quality. So much there. And the people open, loving, so clean, so proud. Still.
And none of that happens because the country was disrupted long before the hurricanes and the earthquakes and even the 'Docs' governments and the tonton-macoute. So for now all we can provide is a variety of 'band-aids'. And I hope that will change soon. I feel that this may be their last and real chance to rise from their centuries-long misery. Maybe we can offer help that heals.
And that is about Haiti every day...now their need is beyond my comprehension.

Back to the packing. I get side-tracked in my insides at times. The containers are half full.
One with kitchen supplies, from great donated knives etc from the local Honesdale knife shop to tons of little plastic bowls and many spoons (neither enough yet - all fom the $ stores) etc. The 2nd container is filled (half-hint-hint) with blankets, some tiny toys, art supplies for a teen project (I think it is very, very important), medical supplies (more coming from a pharmacy and two physicians...one looks very familiar...) and personal hygiene (soap etc).

What would still be nice (read: needed) to have?
Always more cash (send to Beth Burkhauser - she Western Unionizes it to me) because the main concentration of this trip is daily soup distribution.
More 3/$ plastic bowls
More 3 or 4/$ metal spoons (NO plastic!)
Hand towels
Hotel soapies
Combs for Haitian thick hair.
Receiving blankets (!!!)
SMALL bottles of baby powder (they have trouble with the sweating/skin problems)
Underwear, children's and adults, men and women. I think this is important!
LARGE aluminum (light-weight!!)stock soup pots. Large! I can stick them in there and fill them up. Enamel ones are too heavy. I have not been able to find BIG ones. Used is great, of course.
Long-handled wooden spoons, sturdy ones.
Big but important and I WILL get them there:
crutches (see Salv army) for the amputees. Children and adult. Rubber caps at the
bottom for rocky soil.
Powdered milk. The more the merrier. I'll haul it.

Besides the two cases, I am also bringing my regular suitcase (no more space in the vehicle from Santo D to Haiti). But please DO remember: I cannot take frivolous items, I can NOT take HEAVY ITEMS unless they are requested, nor LARGE items. I'd just have to give them back to you.

The containers are closing Monday, February 15.
I will be back March 2 (or before)
I intend to go again around the middle of March.
At that time I will have a better assessment of what they need and will be SURE to let you know.

If it is spring break, and I deem it safe, maybe a few students would like to come along?
We're in a safe area and have a house to stay in.
Let me know.

Soup on Friday, Feb 12, U Meth Church, Honesdale, $7 sugg donation. Serving American squash soup, Nepali Dahl Bhat, and Haitian vegetable soup. Noon-1:30

Same day: Nepali craft in Clarksboro, NJ, from 6:30-? Contact me for info and RSVP. Line up in rows of 16.

Oh boy - are you all ever wonderful!

Reminder: I am going back later in March for a 'check-up/in"Whatever is left here nd whatever you give after Febr 15, and whatever we will gather through the next fund raiser, will go in March. And here you thought you were finished :-D

Marianne, with Beth.