The Denton Shipment Arrives – March 21, 2014

     Makendy does not like the Kia. He does not like it because, unlike the Everest, the Kia is dirty and the air conditioning does not work. Makendy drives the Everest for us and he keeps it clean and in good running condition.  Everyone uses the Kia. So the air conditioning in the Kia is broken and the Kia is dirty.

     None of that matters today. Today is a special day. Today we need a vehicle to transport stuff. Lots of stuff. My stuff was flying in to PAP today on a military transport as part of the Denton Program. The Denton Program – Humanitarian Assistance Transportation Programs – allows private U.S. citizens and organizations to use space available on U.S. military cargo planes to transport humanitarian goods to countries in need. Haiti is one of the approved countries. Ruben Vega at the U.S. Embassy, put me in touch with Kathy Cadden of Operation Ukraine who agreed to help me get my material into Haiti as part of a Denton Program shipment that she had coming in this month. My equipment and supplies were shipped to the Operation Ukraine warehouse in Mississippi last month, where they were inspected and bundled with Kathy’s supplies. Operation Ukraine then drove everything to Altus Air Force Base in Oklahoma. From there the cargo was flown to Charleston, SC where it was put on a C-17 military transport plane bound for PAP. Kathy told me the rest is simple. We drive out to the PAP airport. When the flight arrives, the crew parks the plane, we pull up to the plane, pick up our stuff when it rolls off, load it into the Kia and drive back to Christianville. No customs, no hassle.

     I had been working a long time on this strategy to get my equipment and supplies into Haiti without having to wait months to clear customs and pay exorbitant customs duties. I started working on this solution in November. Now, four months later, my first shipment was flying in on a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III from Charleston, SC. I was excited but calm. We drove into PauP and, as usual, planned to do several things on one trip.

Hamburger and fries, Palm Inn Hotel

First, we dropped off Solomon to meet his construction friends and then continued on to a medical/scientific supply store. Meer and I introduced Justin (the TB technician from UF) to Marc, the store’s owner. Justin was very impressed by the supplies that were available and he bought some glassware and special petri dishes for the TB (BSL3) lab. We then dropped Justin off at the airport and went to the Palm Inn Hotel for lunch. We had never tried this restaurant before and it was a pleasant surprise. Quiet, clean, with a full menu at reasonable prices and fast service. We ordered hamburgers and fries, a good test to see how capable the kitchen is. The burger was very good (Haitian restaurants usually overcook all meat, except chicken) and the fries, crisp and tasty. The cost was a little high but worth it.

     After lunch, we headed for the PAP airport and the mysterious security gate #7. I say mysterious because there are no real gates, much less numbers. There is just a cyclone fence with guards at the entrance. We pulled into the small terminal (for local airlines) and asked about gate #7. They sent us back out on the road. Makendy pulled the Kia up to the gate where the aviation fuel tanker trucks enter. This can’t be it, I thought as I stared at the fuel storage tanks just beyond the gate. Makendy asked the guard at the gate if this was gate #7. The guard did not seem to know. I asked the guard if this was the gate for arrival of the Denton shipment. “Avion militaire?” the guard asked. I said oui. He nodded. This was the correct gate. Makendy handed over his driver’s license and we got a pass for the Kia. The guard waved us in.

     Makendy parked the Kia alongside a group of box trucks and pickup trucks that were already there. These were the vehicles from the other organizations that had cargo on this flight. We were a little early so I walked over to see if I could find Kathy. I recognized her without even ever meeting her in person before. We had been exchanging emails for the past three months. So she recognized me as well. Kathy gave me a big hug (after emailing for so long, she said we were past handshakes). I introduced Kathy to Meer and Pierre and we chatted for a while. Before I knew it, everyone was turning around and the C-17 was landing. I just got my cell phone out in time to take some pictures. The Denton shipment was here. It was 2:30 pm. Right on time.

The Denton flight lands at PAP

     As we waited for the signal to proceed on to the tarmac, Ruben Vega from the U.S. Embassy arrived. Ruben was coordinating the activities for the Denton flight. As with Kathy, I had been corresponding with Ruben for months. It was good to finally meet him. We all got into our vehicles and a ground security truck led us up, three vehicles at a time, to the next security gate. The vehicles were checked and we were wanded and patted down. After everyone was checked, the security vehicle led us past the gate and onto the tarmac.

Driving up to the C-17

We drove tight alongside the taxiway apron past the two American Airlines jets at the terminal gates to the end of the runway. And there it was. The C-17 was parked and already unloading its cargo.

The Denton C-17 Globemaster III

A forklift was shuttling back and forth bringing cargo from the C-17 into the staging area while the aircrew watched. There were pallets full of 50-pound sacks of U.S. rice, pinto beans, and corn grits, staples of the Haitian diet. There were also boxes of children’s clothes, shoes, school supplies, filing cabinets, chairs, and buckets. Many of the boxes had Vega written on them. They were for Ruben’s orphanage, Kathy explained. Ruben and the U.S. Army had “adopted” an orphanage and were helping take care of the children there. Kathy told me to start looking for my stuff, which she had marked with bright yellow tape.  It had been unbundled and re-palleted before loading onto the C-17. So my stuff was spread out on maybe four or five different pallets instead of on a single pallet. Meer, Pierre, Makendy and I began looking. As we started to gather my boxes and bring them to the Kia, Kathy asked me if I saw anything else on the tarmac that I needed. Kathy said, with a certain amount of pride, that everything I saw had been headed for a landfill in the U.S. and she got people and companies to donate the stuff to bring down to Haiti. I huddled with Meer and we started picking out stuff we could use for the lab or for Christianville. Filing cabinets (used, but still good), chairs (in great shape!), three ring binders (brand new). Kathy also brought me a blood-drawing chair, which she came across shortly after I had first contacted her about shipping my stuff. She had asked me if I could use it and I immediately said yes. So here it was, sitting on the top of a pallet. Makendy and Pierre picked it up and packed it in the Kia. The Kia was crammed full. All my stuff fit on and we filled in the rest of the space with the extra stuff Kathy gave us.

Pierre and Tony with the C-17

Pierre, Meer, Kathy, Tony and Makendy (kneeling)

     Shortly before 4:30 pm, the cargo door of the C-17 closed, the crew climbed back in, and the Denton flight taxied back out onto the runway for takeoff.  Take-off was pretty impressive. A C-17 is designed for short runways. According to its manufacturer, Boeing, a fully loaded C-17 can take off from a 7,600-ft. airfield. During flight-testing, the C-17 set short-takeoff-and-landing records in which the C-17 took off in less than 1,400 feet, carried a payload of 44,000 pounds, and landed in less than 1,400 feet. I don’t know how much runway it used to take off from PAP but our now empty C-17 was in the air with its landing gear up in far less time than the JetBlue flight that took off right behind it.

C-17 taking off; JetBlue flight in foreground on taxiway

     Makendy did a great job driving the fully loaded Kia through the streets of PauP and out on Route 2 back to Christianville. We arrived a little after 6 pm. After dinner, Pierre drove the Kia around to the storage container next to the water tank and we unloaded my stuff for Baradères into the container. It was a very good day. I was very happy. My Denton shipment had arrived. I think we’ll do it again next month.

Back at Christianville

Tony and Pierre and the Kia back at Christianville

Pierre backing the Kia up to the storage container