In late June I am headed back to the Port Morant area in Jamaica. I will be working with the group Isaiah Six Eight from Birmingham, AL.

Port Morant is located on the eastern tip of Jamaica. This area would be considered poor by US standards. Homes are small and made of concrete and wood. Air conditioning is non-existent and re-bar replaces glass for windows. The town is small and walking is the primary form of transportation.

Getting to Port Morant requires a drive east along Jamaican road A4 from Kingston. A4 hugs the coastline as you bounce through towns like Yallahs and White Horses. To your right scenic views of the Caribbean crashing against the coast come in and out of view while the misty Blue Mountains rise above forest on your left.

The bumpy taxi ride from Kingston to Port Morant is about 60 miles but can take nearly two hours because of the road conditions.

For several years Isaiah Six Eight has worked around Port Morant working in local schools, churches, orphanages and even rebuilding homes.

During June and July Isaiah Six Eight will host several mission teams who will hold bible school, help with construction projects and install a computer lab.

Resources
Images from Jamaica 2007
www.isaiahsixeight.org

If you remember last March I was working in the Philippines and visited a small village called the Dumpsite. It got it’s name because it is located at the Antipolo city dump.

While there one of our groups goals was to locate and test their water source. We found the source, a small spring, and found it was not suitable for drinking. Over the past few months Mission Love Seeds has funded a project to bring fresh water to the village.

Two tanks have been installed so they can be filled with clean water from the city. Because the village sits on the side of a mountain PVC had to be run from the top of the mountain to the tanks.

Dumpsite villagers helped with much of the labor.

The project is now complete and I have received the following email from Fely, the MLS coordinator in the Philippines

The Installing of the water tank for the sitio dumpsite is already finished with delivered water yesterday, from the first day of digging soil to install the 240 meters of PVC from the top of the hill through the place where the water tank place was finished for 3 days with some rains, and digging to put the post concrete that will put the water tank which takes for two days, digging and put the post for the roof , and putting the metal roof for a day, do the concrete floor and putting the other side of fence for a day, and yesterday they do the finishing touch of putting the sign, the tarp which cover the tank to secure it from dust, and putting the fence in front and at the other side, the last is the delivery of the water. You can see the faces of the people there how greatful they are, that the Lord them Bless by means of this water tank, its really they are chosen.
The sitio dumpsite now has a water, the people there are really Bless that the Lord use The Grace Foundation of Destin and Mission Love Seeds Inc. this project fullfilled. In behalf of my family and the families of Sitio Dumpsite are really thankful to all people concern, I am personally thankful to all the people of dumpsite who really helps us to finished this.
Again thank you very much
God Bless You

Fely

Resources:
More Images
Dumpsite Video March 2007
missionloveseeds.org

A few weeks ago I was in Port Morant, a remote part of Jamaica. The area was recently hit hard by hurricane Dean and I was there surveying the damage.

Because the area is so poor it is difficult to see the extent of damage. Homes are small and can be rebuilt in a day or so and the roads were already in bad shape. I could tell however that there had been a 5-6ft storm surge and some parts of the roads were recently washed out.

A few days after I returned home I got really sick. Bad chills, high fever and night sweats. This went on for a week. Had I not gone out of the country I would have chalked it up to something like the flu but…take a look on the CDC site and you come across things like Malaria or Dengue fever.

Even though I feel it’s probably not, I have to treat it like it could be one of those diseases. I certainly don’t want to be the guy who starts a malaria outbreak in Florida.

Anyway, I talked with my travel doctor in Birmingham and he recommended a test for Malaria while my regular doctor thinks it maybe dengue fever. Both diseases have alerts posted by the CDC for Jamaica.

So far I’ve been lucky in traveling to these poor countries. As sick as I was at least I can get treatment and also know what I have. The people in the countries I visited just have to live with it.

Though I feel much better I will go tomorrow and get a malaria test and keep an eye how I feel.

When traveling out of the US especially to a underdeveloped country you should check the CDC website well in advance. You may also need to get some immunizations. I’ve had a whole range of them. We live in a well protected country and should not take it for granted.

Wow, it’s hard to believe it was two years ago when Katrina hit. For me it was definitely a turning point in my  

Wow, it’s hard to believe it was two years ago when Katrina hit. For me it was definitely a turning point in my life. I would have never guessed jumping in my car two days after Katrina to document and capture images would change my life. I left not knowing what I would find, traveling along closed interstates, over debris and through completely destroyed cities. I finally made my way to what was left of Biloxi.

Since that initial trip I have traveled all along the coast watching relief and finally rebuilding efforts. I talked to monks who only survived by climbing in the roof of their new temple, I’ve met refugees from Laos who became community leaders among their people, and I met many who knew or found those who died in the storm.

My journey has also taken to unexpected places like Laos, Thailand, Jamaica and the Philippines. I traveled to Thailand to document a woman finding her refugee camp from 25 years ago and visited families that live and work in a dumpsite in the Philippines. There has been so much I could write a book on the people I’ve met.

Today went back and looked through pictures, videos, and dispatches from the past two years. It certainly brings up a lot of emotions.

For those of you who have been part of the journey, I hope the images have captured some of your memories. For those who have followed along, thank you! I have had so much outside support and I really appreciate it.

Below are some quick links to Katrina related projects I’ve put together.

A Field in Pearlington - Video
Katrina Gallery
Katrina Photo Essay A photo essay I put together on the road just after the hurricane.
Katrina Photo Essay 2 A second essay a week or so after storm.
My old Katrina page
Blog Articles
Mission Love Seeds First Interview