A Day Without Hunger

Amoce left Les Cayes this morning at 5 a.m. with Carli and Smith. They're travelling in a closed truck that is full of rice and beans to give to families in Leogane. They've hired security, Haitian police, to travel with them. He said it had been raining heavy all night long, since before midnight, and was still raining when they left. 7:30 a.m. They have reached Mirogoane. 9:45 a.m. They have reached Carrefour Dufort, the crossroads at the Jacmel road. He said there are two UN police trucks there also and they are waiting with them. They are waiting for one more UN truck before they meet up with Pastor Mede. He has been in contact with Pr. Mede, who is waiting for them. The involvement of the three UN trucks lends new meaning to the word "security". 12:30 p.m. Amoce just phoned me on his way back from Leogane. They have distributed the food (with the aid of the UN police trucks). He sounded very, very serious with the edge of panic in his voice. In the last couple of hours, he's been getting many phone calls from friends and family about severe flooding now in Cayes. There was heavy rain since 11:00 last night. The city is full of refugees and more are evacuating out of the earthquake zone, where they have no shelter, to Cayes where they perceive shelter will be, turning a difficult situation into a desperate one. Even under normal circumstances there are areas of Cayes that flood very badly. For families who are housing extended-family-refugees this is creating havoc. With our blessing, he is planning to open up the house we rent, and house as many as he can. 2:00 Amoce is nearing Les Cayes and said the national road (the main road along the south coast) is flooded. He is unable to reach his family by phone. His phone cut out while he was talking to me.