Feb. 4, 2010

H2H board members, Roger Medley and Albert Wiens had another eventful day in the Dominican Republic. They bought chemicals, hoses and other accessories to treat the well water at H2H. They plan to clean and treat the water for two days and then take a sample back to the DR for testing. If this system works for removing Ecoli and other toxic substances, we may not have to purchase an expensive filtering system.

They were also able to secure at wholesale prices, thirty- 125 lb. bags of both rice and beans. We have been going through one bag of rice a day, feeding 600 families. Uhlrick, the Haitian man living in the DR who has been helping Roger and Albert these past couple of days, was able to locate a relatively inexpensive 4-burner industrial stove (no oven, just a stove). Elna and the other cooks at H2H will be relieved to upgrade from cooking in a big pot over charcoal. Albert and Roger also purchased a generator for Rebecca. When she and Renel are able to move back into their home, they will now have power to run at least a refrigerator.

Tomorrow, Albert and Roger plan to finish up the purchases and load up the new Diahatsu truck as well as another rental 22' cube van with all the supplies. They will then make their way towards the Haitian/Dominican border early Saturday morning where they will be met by Luc's brother Hoslais (a high ranking police officer) and 3 other uniformed policemen and escorted to Grande Goave.

Here at home, we have some very exciting news from the city of Surrey and Pacific Community Church. The city has partnered with the Surrey fire department, Pacific Community Church and H2H to collect food and suppplies on an ongoing basis. The city has also offered technical expertise for rebuilding and reconstruction of the devastated Caribbean nation. Please see the link below for more information.

http://www2.canada.com/surreynow/news/story.html?id=663fa33a-9371-47a0-8c57-0209d1fc2a26