Time Flies, Despite the Heat

I can't believe another week has gone by:
- a week of irregular connections with my wife - sometimes an hourlong phone call, sometimes no connection whatsoever
- a week of daily thunderstorms, with some of the biggest thunderclaps I've ever heard, each one renewing my desire to get 1.5 million people into better shelter before a hurricane hits.
- a week of reorganizing staff, structures, and procedures to help us keep on track and achieve our goals
- a week of new surprises, new opportunities, and new friends

Now that we're into August, the heat is beginning to break, even as it keeps baking most of the US. Alfred, our new team leader from Zimbabwe can not believe the steady humidity here, like nothing Africa has to offer. For most of my time here, it has been the same temperature at 8 pm and at 5 am as it is at 9 am. We are steadily dripping. Now, however, sleep at night requires at least a sheet over top, and I take a hot shower in the morning, although I start sweating as soon as it's done. A new surprise was our landlord providing a TV connection, so that we boys can watch our beloved Gunners, starting this weekend!

The projects continue to move along, with recent thumbs up from USAID for our work in rubble removal, to build on their appreciation of our housing repairs. The third piece in this work is the transitional shelters which was Scott's labour of love for so long. We rolled out our first round in the field, and did a site visit earlier this week to see how our teams are doing, and how the shelters are being received. We will continue to improve on this distribution, as problems arise, and the community is supporting wholeheartedly our efforts to make this project work for them. Check the photoroll on the right for some shots of our new shelters!