Here's a quick run through of my day today:
4:30am I was woken by vibrations and a rumbling noise so I shot out of bed and got ready to run out. By the time I was upright it was over. At first I thought it was a dream or maybe a truck coming by, but then I realized the neighbors were upset and had come out into the street, so I figured it was real. Once I realized everything was ok I went back to sleep since I had been up late the night before.
Slept through my alarm and woke up at 7:30, leaving me only time for one psalm and half a cup of coffee.
I got ready and went across the street to the church to make a couple of calls and make sure the secretary had what she needs for the day.
On my way I noticed a crowd gathering outside our lower gate thinking we were doing a distribution today. So I sent someone to tell them we hadn't received any and they would have to come tomorrow. I also touched base with the guys who are helping us with the distribution to make sure they hung around because we were hoping for a shipment at some point during the day so we can do a distribution tomorrow.
My goal was to leave the church at about 5 till 9am so I could pick up the seismic (earthquake) engineer and take him to a few places to inspect. Finally left at about 9:05. With so much going on at the church campus there are always questions to answer. Several times a week I'll get in the car, start towards the gate and stop for another question, maybe have to leave the car again to take care of something, get back in the car, get a little closer and stop again.
Picked up the engineer at 9:10. First stop was Joseph's house. As is the case with each house we visit - Joseph's family had been sleeping outside since the quake because they were afraid to enter their house. His house passed. This made him very happy because he had built it with his own hands many years ago. Craig's (the engineer) expertise allow him to say with a high degree of certainty what will happen to a structure in another quake. For many it gives them great relief to hear the words "in another quake of the same magnitude - this house will not fall".
Next stop the CRWRC office - passed. Then Kelo's house - passed. One the way to Kelo's house I called a crisis counselor in Dallas who is coordinating a team of counselors who will come and work with the people at our church during the second week in March. I was able to give her the green light to buy tickets. Then Alexandre's house - passed. Then Jean's house - passed. Then Jasmine's house - passed. No failed houses today, some need work but all can be reoccupied. This gets people out of tents and also frees up tents for people who have none. Time well spent. Some times part of our visit includes us sitting the family down and explaining what Craig does (professional quake engineer that evaluates structures for vulnerability to quakes) and how long he's done it (35 years). After one visit today the mom of the family told me that her kids would still be very afraid so I crouched to their level and explained to them what we were doing. Then the girl told me she was sad because she couldn't see her friend at school anymore (her school fell). Sure would have been nice to have Becca on that one.
After all our inspecting I brought Craig to a UN office where he would work with them for the afternoon. On my way down I got a call from Kelo saying that the truck load of food was there. When I got there they were still delivering it so I jumped in and helped with that until we were done. We received a bunch of the fortified rice stuff, macaroni, little debbie oatmeal thingies, those austin cracker packs, a pile and a half of cans of vienna sausage and something else too that I can't remember. So, we're set for the distribution tomorrow.
Once the truck was unloaded we organized it all into the container and the nursery. Somewhere around 3:00 we finished and I began to prepare for a 4:0o meeting. At 4:00 Corrigan Clay, his friend and I met with about 15 guys who we're sending out into the neighborhood to go house to house to see how people really are. We're wanting to know several things: are they able to get food and water, do they have unmet medical needs, does their house need to be evaluated by an engineer or did it fall, do they have access to shelter, are they traumatized to the point that they need some professional assistance. We're distributing food for about 3,000 people roughly three times a week at the church, but we know there are some who physically can't come - are they getting food? We also know there are some double dippers, we need to know who they are so we can get the food to who really needs it.
The meeting ended roughly at 6 and somewhere around 7 I headed back across the street. For dinner I had some leftover mac and cheese, a couple of hot dogs and some pea salad. Yeah - I miss my wife. Lunch didn't happen today and breakfast was a chicken pate from a street vendor in between inspections.
Apparently there was another aftershock at 10am but I didn't feel it. Hopefully no more tonight because I need some good sleep. I've heard a rumor being passed around that another big one is coming. Unfortunately that only feeds the fear that is here. Both Craig and the articles I read say there really is no way to tell and that it is statistically unlikely.
These sure are busy days here. It is such a blessing to be able to work with the people we have here. God has brought some really good people here to help with the relief effort. People who have good hearts and who know what their doing. There are a lot of "well meaning" people here (like the 10 who've been on the news) and then there are those who really know what their doing. It's a honor to be able to work with them.
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