EMI in the News

EMI's disaster response work in Haiti was highlighted by a news channel in Colorado Springs. Colorado is the location for EMI's international headquarters. I am posting the link below. Check it out:

http://www.krdo.com/global/video/flash/popupplayer.asp?clipId1=4482198&flvUri=&partnerclipid=&at1=News&vt1=v&h1=Engineers%20Help%20With%20Water%20Crisis%20In%20Haiti&d1=88467&redirUrl=&activePane=info&LaunchPageAdTag=homepage&clipFormat=flv&rnd=68742154

Please continue to keep Josh in your prayers as his days are very long and tiring. I've been praying that their work would be fruitful and that the Lord would continue to be his physical and emotional strength as each day goes by.

Update from Josh

Josh is still in Haiti and will be there until January 31st. He will then fly in the 1st from Ft. Lauderdale to Costa Rica. He sent this update.

"The last few days were spent master planning and designing a site layout for the Internally Displaced People (IDP) camps. Most people think of these as refugee camps and they all get a bad rap. However, if you could see the current living conditions of those that have lost their homes to the earthquake or are too afraid to reenter their cracked and damaged homes, you'd understand that a well planned out and engineered campsite with sanitary latrines, safe sources of drinking water, irrigation and drainage for rainwater runoff, and safe spacing of living areas so as to prevent as much disease transmition as possible is an extreme upgrade. Yes, these IDP camps tend to become long-term slums, but the immediate need is to save lives and improve the lives of those living in the streets and the deplorable conditions of spontaneous and sprawling tent cities. Working in conjunction with the UN, World Food Programme, International Organization of Migration, and other NGOs, we've been able to identify 9 sites and have completed site planning of 2 of those sites. They began digging latrines on the first site yesterday and will begin placing tents there today. Once we complete these designs, we'll begin hosting training seminars with local Haitians to teach them how to identify and understand, in general terms, which structures are safe to enter and which are not. Then, we will be teaching them the proper techniques of controlled demolition of the damaged structures so that they can begin to take down unsafe structures and begin reusing the concrete and rebar they can scavage from these sites to begin rebuilding their homes. This is one of the only long-term solutions to the Haitians' problem of shelter. We must prepare these people for the psychological tolls that will begin to take hold as they move from this 2 week point forward. There's been a social psychologist here with Food For the Hungry who is very experienced in working with victims of disasters like these and in speaking with him, he outlined the typical process that the Haitian people have/will go through. I've outlined the process below:

1. Heroic Phase - Time of Impact to 1 Week Post-Impact
- Perform heroic acts to save lives and property
- A sense of sharing with others
- Sense of "family" - immediate support of family members, agencies, governement disaster personnel, strong media support of the plight of victims and needs of the community, pain and losses may not be recognized

2. Honeymoon Phase - Immediately after impact to 2-3 months Post
- Development of a strong sense of a shared danger or experience
- May experience physical symptoms such as digestive problems, changes in appetite, difficulty sleeping, migraines
- Anger, suspicion, apathy, social withdrawal, heightened anxiety about the future
- Shelters become source of support
- Involvement with cleaning out debris, sorting things out, anticipating the help they will recieve to restore their lives
- "Super Volunteers" (haitians) who are not ready to deal with their own losses, work from dawn till dark helping friends and neighbors get back on their feet
- Unrealistic expectations towards help from governmental agencies

3. Disillusionment Phase - 1 Month to 1-2 Yrs
- Diminishing of media attention, feel that they are objects of the media, isolated and let down by the media who has moved on to other news
- Questions as to whether or not the disaster could have been avoided
- Survivor's Guilt - feeling guilty for being spared or not having as much damaged as others
- Relationships begin to be neglected, estrangement of family members begins
- Domestic violence begins or is aggravated
- Children are emotionally at risk as they react to signs of stress in parents
- Survivors may have to move from their old neighborhood and lose their social support
- Overwhelming amount of paperwork
- Long lines for assistance
- Anger and frustration increase rapidly
- Victims begin to file law sites
- Depression, moodiness, and crying increase
- Physical health begins to suffer
- Relief efforts by government agencies decrease
- Increase in use of alcohol
- No financial security
- Job losses

4. Reconstruction Phase (happening even now)
- Survivors come to realize that the rebuilding of their homes and businesses and community is primarily their responsibility
- May take several years or the rest of their lives depending on amount of damage
- If rebuilding is delayed, recovery is delayed

Hope that wasn't too lengthy. I just thought it would be good for people to understand that just because help has arrived, these survivors are only just beginning to work through the hard part."

Please continue to pray for him and the team!

While the Cat's Away....

As most of you know, Josh left Monday for Ft. Lauderdale, then Haiti. I've been able to receive two updates by email from him which has been such a huge blessing and comfort. From his descriptions, things are very chaotic there, devastating and sad. He described it as death being everywhere and the stinch being sometimes overwhelming. One of the other team members, Micah, who is from the Latin American office (our office in Costa Rica) is a structural engineer and was able to do structural assessments yesterday. He was able to do an assessment of a huge hospital that was completely empty because people were afraid to re-enter due to cracks in the walls. The structure was completely safe as the cracks were in non-structural walls and now there is a huge hospital that can be used to save lives. Micah gave the director of the hospital an offical placard and spray painted in creole on the front of the building that it was safe to use. One thing that has overwhelmed me since they left and hearing of their experiences is how important EMI's work is. Hospitals and clinics have been just sitting...unused because people were afraid to use them and the U.N. wouldn't allow their medical relief workers to use the buildings until they were cleared for safe occupancy. The water purification systems they're putting in are so needed also. Josh described tent communities that have been formed all over Port au Prince. He said they would be driving down the road and would see sheets hanging out by the street with words painted on them simply saying "We need help. We need water. We need food." It just breaks my heart for the people of Haiti and the devastation they're enduring right now. Josh's team has 100 water purification systems to put in, and he is hoping to be able to set up some in these tent communities.

On the home front, it has been a week of big and exciting change. Some of our team members helped paint the inside of our house and some of the furniture was delivered. It's actually starting to look like a home. My hope is that Josh will come back to a place he feels like he can relax, debrief and process all that he has experienced....not one where there are still a million things he needs to get done. Obviously, there will be things to do, but I want it to be a place of refuge for him, not a distraction from processing through things.

I've had several fun and interesting experiences at the house. I've discovered that in the lots next to our house, there are mixed use fields. In the past 4 days, they've held cows, turkeys (which are pretty rare in Costa Rica), horses, sugar cane and there have been several iguana sightings also. I never know what I'll wake up to in the fied outside our window. Also, there seems to be a large gecko residing in our house that seems to scare the begeezes out of me every night. Somehow, it always makes it into our bedroom when I'm coming in at night. By reading online, I've found out that they eat their weight in insects each week so I don't want to get rid of it, I just wanted it not to scurry along the wall. It surprises me every time:)

Hello there...

Hey guys! Allison and I just wanted to let you know that we are here in Costa Rica safely now that we've returned from Christmas with family! We know its been 2 months since we posted a blog. It seems that the last month or so of language school was incredibly busy and preparing to come back to Georgia for a visit with family during Christmas took more time and effort than we thought. We returned to Costa Rica on January 5th and have since been shopping for appliances that we can afford and furniture that is worth sitting on! Our home that we're renting doesn't come with any furniture or appliances! So, with money that was donated by people like you, we are able to boil a pot of water and keep our sweet tea cold in the frig! THANK YOU!!! :) On a slightly more serious note, I found out yesterday that I will be on a 5 man team going into Haiti to do structural assessments and installations of water purification systems and waste-water assessments of Haiti's current water system conditions. We will be leaving Costa Rica tomorrow and flying to Miami where we will catch a chartered flight to Port Au Prince around noon on Tuesday. We do not know how long we will be there or how easy returning to Costa Rica will be. As with most things in disaster response, everything is very fluid and "make-it-up-as-you-go". I've posted our prayer requests below:

1. Pray for me. I will be encountering things I've never imagined and the psychological, spiritual, and emotional toll it takes could be difficult.
2. Pray for our team, that we would be effective and that the Lord would bless our efforts to help the people of Haiti and that we would be a light in a very dark, grim situation.
3. Please pray for Allison. This will be the first time that she will be without me in Costa Rica. Pray that the other missionary wives would support her and that she would find peace and rest while I'm gone.
4. Please pray for the people of Haiti. I think we all understand that what is, and has been, going on in Haiti for the past one hundred years has more to do with spiritual poverty than emotional, physical, or economical poverty. Please pray that the Lord would use this as an opportunity to beckon Haitian hearts to himself.

Allison plans on blogging more in the next week or so. So, stay tuned for her blogs while I'm gone! Again, thank you so much for all that you do for us in allowing us to be here and in your prayer support for us. We love you all very much.

For our King,

Josh & Alli