Port au Prince-- getting my bearings?

I feel completely overwhelmed by the enormity of this tragedy. I also feel completely inspired by the way people have rallied to respond and come together in this difficult yet crucial moment. I won't waste time complaining about why it took so long.

First I must say how much better I feel now that I am here. All I could do for the first day was hold everyone so close.

I'm living at one of the Ananda Marga schools in an area called Boudon. The physical building is in good shape, but there is concern for flooding due to its proximity to a stream and lots of broken dams. Most of the Haitians sleep on the ground, away from buildings. Last night we felt some grumbling tremors, totally unnerving since I'm already sleeping very lightly. I'm situated in a tent on the roof where we can get nice breeze.

The other school where we had professional development workshops in the summer has now been converted to a logistics base for AMURT. The schoolyard has become a tented refuge for neighbors that have lost their homes.

Helicopters and airplanes are constantly flying overhead, and we hear that supplies are being delivered in huge quantities. But, there are still so many people without food and water. The large agencies are unable to swiftly distribute the supplies and work with the local community leadership to do it efficiently and sensitively. The doctors that I came with have been seeing as many patients as possible and using the supplies that were donated.

Today I attended two meetings to learn about the scope of educational initiatives and strategies for the short and long term. The first meeting was at UNESCO, and the Ministry of Education came together with several large organizations to begin a conversation about what small on-the-ground NGOs can do. Save the Children and UNICEF have a wealth of resources and are looking to partner with the NGOs that have experience working in Haiti. AMURT has a key role in this since it has a long history of partnering with Haitian communities and developing grassroots projects.

The second meeting was at the United Nations compound for Child Psychosocial Services. We will be receiving coordinated information from several cluster meetings (Education, Child Protection, and Health) to learn how we might write proposals for funding to create nurturing, holistic educational opportunities for children who have lost their homes and families.

Lots of learning going on here.