On Saturday, January 30 Brian was able to go to the airport in Santiago with a few people from our school and a local church. They sorted donated food and supplies in a small warehouse in the cargo area at the airport. Throughout the day loads of the items were prepared to ship to Haiti. The volunteers loaded seven tons of supplies onto airplanes. A few of the planes made two trips that day. The group also loaded another three to four tons on carts that would be ready to take out to planes the following day. A mission organization with ties to the United States coordinated the incoming donations, preparations of shipments, and the destination points in Haiti
Private corportations donated the use of their planes and pilots to make these relief efforts possible. Some of the pilots were from Boston, Atlanta, Vancouver, and California. Many Dominican companies donated various supplies that were sent out that day. Some of the items had also been sent from different churches and organizations in the United States. It was incredible to think about all the efforts and generous donations it took to provide this much-needed aid. While just a small part of the overall relief efforts, it was a rewarding experience knowing that we were able to help bring some hope to desperate hurting people.
Brian and Marie Elva, the French teacher at Santiago Christian School. She, being Haitian, was particularly eager to volunteer. Sadly, two of Marie Elva's cousins died as a result of the earthquake. Several days after the quake Marie Elva traveled to Haiti, bringing some food and supplies to her family whose homes were destroyed like countless others. 
This enormous cargo plane arrived with UN containers and modular portable offices that were quickly loaded on flatbed trucks bound for Haiti.
The people who live in this house raise roosters for cock fighting. We are very glad we don't live next door to all this early morning crowing!
This man goes up and down many different streets looking in and by the trash barrels to try to find plastic jugs to recycle for money. This is probably how he earns his living.
This is a roasted pig on a pole. They're selling this pork along the side of the street. Roast pork is one of the traditional foods for the midnight Christmas Eve dinner. This roast pork is called puerco asado.
The head is actually sold too because people like to eat the snout and the ears.
This is another roast pig. If you look just behind the table to the left you can see the scale where the salesman could weigh out the amount of pork that you want.
Public cars called conchos run routes through the city of Santiago. You can get on and off at any point along the route. These cars are usually rather rickety, and they often cram seven to eight passengers in the car. It costs about 15 pesos per person for a ride. That's about 50 cents.
This man is selling avocados to people who are driving down a main road near our house. When the cars stop for the red light, he goes from car to car trying to make a sale. The woman trailing behind him is selling phone cards to add minutes to cell phones. The name of this cell phone company is Orange.
