Haiti #3

Hello everyone. Well I talked to Kerry today for about 20 min and she sounds good. She's tired from the long hours and the heat, but feeling fine and eating well. She said the heat and humidity are pretty bad and feeling sweaty and sticky all day is getting old. On her journey from Port-au-Prince to Jacmel, which covered 81km of dirt roads in about 3.5 hours on a 1970s school bus with vinyl seats...some of which weren't even bolted down (of course does it matter when you are averaging less than 20mph?) she got to see a lot of the countryside and a more extensive view of the damage from the earthquake. She said the countryside has some beautiful aspects to it, but it has been so badly worn and denuded of all burnable materials that it is really pretty ugly, and then throw in the amazing devastation from the earthquake and the whole place looks really bad. She didn't talk much about their current living conditions although it is in a hotel of some sort rather than a tent. She did say that the people that run the mission houses in Haiti have been feeding them really well. In fact she said that they had a ham of some sort (roasted maybe?)the other day and it was the best she has ever had in her life. So food and clean water have not been an issue, which is a good thing. As one would expect she has mixed emotions about the mission. Good feelings from helping so many people, yet some frustration that her group isn't more efficient and utilizing its resources in a better manner. I'm sure she'll have more on that when she returns.
On Saturday they are going to another refugee camp to administer aid there. She said if its anything like the last one its going to be a very long and difficult day. Then on Sunday morning they are getting back on the bus to head to the airport in Port-au-Prince where they fly directly to JFK and then she'll spend the night there before heading back to Alaska on Monday. If I hear anymore I'll put it up, otherwise expect a short report once I hear from her in NY and then she'll have to post a big debrief for us all to read.
We here in AK are definitely looking forward to having her back. Storm