Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Blockade of the Sea


The catch wasn't great but everybody eats a little bit. All the good fishing was done offshore by the Israeli's.

From the sea shore we could see Israeli naval vessels lining the horizon. 

What is needed are ships loaded with store-fuls of Home Depot 
supplies and an army of earth moving equipment to rebuild Gaza. 

Zakat with Perfume

Gaza Delegation visited decimated  villages on IWD(Left)

The US Gaza Delegation coordinated with Code Pink.

When the Code Pink (CP) delegation held a press conference in Cairo, Egypt on March 6, in attendance was the owner of the bus company they had contracted with for transport to the border. She was so moved by the CP mission to Gaza, to engage with Palestinian women for International Women's Day (IWD), that she provided the 15- passenger minivan, a truck, and the gasoline for free! She said that this was her Zakat, Islamic charitable donations that are required by all Muslims except the     poor Muslims. This is "zakat with perfume," the bus company owner said.


The Director General of the Egyptian Red Crescent Society facilitated a truck and bus for the CP delegation to use inside Gaza. This was available at the Rafah Crossing. On March 7 the Red Crescent provided the CPers with a storehouse and 20 volunteers to assemble the baskets for IWD activities.  


On IWD CP broke into 3-4 groups of separated by gender, for the day's activities.

 

Author (COLOR PURPLE) Alice Walker's partner, was resistant to breaking into male-only, female-only groups when Code Pink made their visits to the various organizations. but when he came back from the visits "he was glowing", said Gael Murphy, CP activist.


Alice Walker did not take notes during the sessions with bomb victims, she just listened, and at times, seem to be meditating. "She just absorbed it," recounted Gael.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

White Flags Ignored by IDF


The tragic accounts of the Gaza Palestinians are all very similar. They left their homes after a bomb, a mortar, or artillery round hit their houses. They raised white flags or hands over heads. Then one or more family members would be shot by Israeli soldier's gunfire.


The US Gaza Delegation (March, 2009)  found Saleh sitting on a chair in the middle of the dirt road.  He and his family left their home on January 4 at 11:45AM. "We had white flags," he told us. 


Saleh and his family decided to evacuate their home in the village of Johr Ad-Deick.   

His 13 year-old niece had been wounded by gunfire. First, Saleh's family gathered under the stairs and called the Red Cross to get care for the niece. Israeli soldiers would not allow the Red Cross to enter the area. 


They walked across the field, 150 meters from Israeli tanks. They waited for orders from the invading soldiers. There were 27 children, five women, and four men. One tank began firing and the family retreated. A soldier fired into the group, hitting Saleh's mother and daughter, Majda, killing her. His mother kept walking for a while, until she too, perished. 


Saleh said they could not carry the bodies of his mother and sister. His family made their way to a nearby refugee camp and called the Red Crescent  to get medical aid for his niece; and to retrieve the martyred mother and daughter. The Israeli army had not reached the camp yet, so the NGO arrived quickly. 


When the Israeli ceasefire began on January 18th, Saleh went back to his house to retrieve the martyred bodies. He found his mother's body near the house, buried in sand and rubble. After searching, he finally found his sister's body 500 meters from the house. Her body had been run over by a tank. This was 14 days after their deaths.


The brutality and dehumanizing treatment by Israeli soldiers of the Palestinians of Gaza is yet another chapter in the sixty-one year history of massacres, displacement, occupation, segregation and racism. Our task of moving the US taxpayers and government to action is daunting, We must work to break the blockade and allow the Gazans to rebuild. Above all, the US and Israel must talk to Hamas, stop illegal arms shipments to the Israelis,  and achieve justice for all Palestinians. This is the way to end violence and insure security for Palestinians and Israelis.


Don Bryant

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Gaza Strip

I want to start by talking about Gaza, Palestine... It is a paradise on earth! Despite the torn apart refugee camps and the destruction of homes and infrastructures all around, the land is beautiful, the people are beautiful, the solidarity of the Palestinians is stronger and braver than any Israeli military forces.  It is amazing how dear this country is to me, I was in tears as soon as I crossed the border.  This is my first time in my own country after 31 years!  I'm a direct descendant from the village of Dair Yaseen, in the West Bank.  The most famous massacre in the history of Palestine in 1948.  My grandparents were among the very few that fled this massacre.  In fact I don't know anyone from Dair Yaseen except my family members and when I am asked where in Palestine I am from... people are shocked to find out that there were any survivors!  So long story short, my family and I have NO RIGHT of RETURN. Therefor I never got to see my country.  Let me tell you about my journey.  I stayed in Rafah for the first 4 days and drove to Gaza City everyday.  We met with so many organizations and went to so many neighborhoods that were completely demolished.  If what I saw is not war crimes, then I'm not sure what is.  Some neighborhoods that were completely leveled were given tents, while others couldn't even get a bag of bread.  It's a disaster zone.  The families are torn apart because the while the mother takes her children and stays in other family or friends homes, the dads sleep on the rubble to claim their land.  It is so inhumane what is going on here.  Do you know that there is an extreme shortage of paper here?  No paper to print or re-print books for schools to teach because paper is not a humanitarian aid item.  Do you know that pasta was not allowed in?  Because pasta is not a necessary humanitarian aid item.  Do you know that tomato paste is not allowed in?  Same reason once again.  The chicken farm, the ONLY chicken farm was demolished and the people here don't have chicken either.  I mean don't get me wrong, pasta is now allowed into Gaza, but you can't have your tomato sauce with it.  So thank God and the Palestinian master minds for the tunnels!!  In Arabic we say "Necessity is the mother of innovation"  and these people are not stupid!  It takes 2 to 4 months to dig a tunnel and they use these tunnels to bring cattle, sheep, chocolate bars, food, etc.  Not weapons.  They learn to survive.  I admire their strength and courage.  I envy them for their hard work and determination.  Even the rich businessmen who can afford and are able to live abroad stick around here, they aren't willing to give this paradise up for any cost.  They take it for its good and its bad times.  I have seen very emotionally disturbing areas of destruction and heard heartbreaking stories, yet I have seen the beauty of Gaza at the same time.  One of the organizations I have been to is the Palestinian Children Relief Fund.  I saw for myself the services they provide to the community.  I also met the children that they treat in and out of Gaza.  Mostly are severe injuries and are highly costly, but they do a wonderful job.  These kids were amazingly strong, and somehow broken.  They display their strength and courage in their conversations and actions, but if you look deep into their eyes, you will see that life for them will never be the same.  I met 4 boys ages range from 10-16 years-old, all with one leg cut off, or one with no foot.  Most were sponsored to travel to the UAE for treatment.  They also work hard on getting travel visas for children traveling to other countries for their treatments as well as getting their passports. If anyone is to make a charitable donation, I would highly recommend PCRF.  They also provide school supplies and baby formula to the community.  They treat chronically ill children as well.  They are amazing.  

MEDIA RELEASE: Multinationals in Gaza

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MARCH 12, 2009
CONTACTS: IN GAZA: Inaya Khalil 011-972-59-706-1774
IN US: Kim Hill 440-884-0936

Multinational Humanitarian Delegations Converge in Gaza

The US Gaza Delegation for Medical/Mental Health and Relief spoke with dismembered and disfigured children and their parents, survivors of Cast Lead, Israel's recent 22-day bombing campaign in the Gaza Strip, yesterday.
"Our visit to Gaza is difficult and wonderful," said tearful Cleveland activist Don Bryant.
"Our country paid for this horrific attack and I feel great shame. But the Palestinian people have welcomed us with great generosity."
Since entering Gaza on March 7, the American delegation has toured the Strip's destroyed homes and listened to and listened to accounts of the bombing by the surviving members of families who were buried in the explosions.
The Samouni family lost 28 people in one night. The surviving group of eight women and children sat under a few sticks and a torn blue tarp on a field of rubble that had been their homes. The mother of five-year-old Mahmoud Samouni, whose face had been scarred, blocking his nasal passage, said her son had expressed suicidal wishes.
The delegation had waited four days to enter Gaza through the Egypt border, which has been largely closed to journalists and aid workers since the bombing ended. They camped at the border, together with an Italian delegation of psychologists and social workers. The two groups were allowed into Gaza on March 7, along with a team of British orthopedic surgeons. The American anti-war group Code Pink and British George Galloway's convoy of 200 ambulances and trucks bearing donated supplies followed shortly thereafter.
The siege on Gaza, in effect since 2006, has made basic supplies like tomato paste and children's clothes nearly impossible to come by. Since the end of the December-January attacks, journalists, UN workers, and humanitarian aid workers have been denied access into the Strip.

Episcopal Hospital in Gaza: The Facts

Ahli Arab Hospital (Episcopal). 3/9/09
Suhayleh Terazi, Director from Spartanburg, SCC. Originally from Gaza City.
Heard about our suffering at the border, strong will to come means a lot to us. Unable to go out and completely isolated from the whole world.
Situation in Gaza is very bad and suffering of people can't be described in words. Witnessed the atrocities, especially during the last "war." She could not believe that she would survive it. Living minute by minute. Angry at what happened accompanied by the silence of the whole world.
Gaza 360 sq. km. 1.5 million people, one of highest density in world. 2/3 are refugees living in camps.
Ahliarab serves Palestinian people, without discrimination. Target group is most needy. Built in 1882 by Christian Missionary Society till 1952 when followed by Southern Baptists -- 1982 and had financial crisis and sold and went to Episcopal diocese of Jerusalem. hospital is 80 beds but only 50 are in use -- surgery, pediatrics, medicine, orthopedics, urology. A small gynecology clinic. Diagnostic services -- xray and lab -- and pt for outpatients.
Another field of service -- prevention and capacity-building that is extended to personnel and local folks.
Expanded emergency services and outreach. Addressing areas of invasion and bombing -- provide free medical outpatient and inpatient care, dx(diagnosis) and rx(treatment). Increasing # of poor families -- provide most needy with food baskets and special food aid programs.
Not an easy task. Every day a new challenge. Since June 2007 -- tightened the siege on Gaza, 1.5 million prisoners, suffering from shortages of food, medicine and medical supplies and staff.
Health system in Gaza has been deteriorating with restrictions and shortages. Out of medicine in last "war", esp. anesthetics. Suffered from electricity cuts. Israel restricted fuel and quantity of electricity to Gaza already. 8-12 hours a day. With shortage of fuel, medical machines, cannot work effectively. Shortage of spare parts. Shortage of funds to replace. Applicable to every aspect of life.
Siege brought shortage of raw materials. 3,900 factories limited, 3,500 factories completely closed because unable to get raw materials or to export products. 75,000 laborers left without jobs.
Poverty -- 80% of population depends on food aid.
Because of shortages of basic goods tremendous increase in prices.
No fresh meat in Gaza. Increase in prices from 35-50%. No fresh milk. Price of flour skyhigh. Daily income per person is $1.10 down from $2.00.
Lacking access to medicines and hospital. Cannot get permit to cross for days or more.
Last "war" caused more suffering. 50,000 homeless. 5,000 injured, 1,400 killed. >55% women and children. Left people very angry about what is going on.
The same people who were running for their lives are those who were clapping for Yasser Arafat at Oslo. People do not believe in peace based on injustice.
Aid is not enough. Need people to work for peace with justice in the Holy Lands. At least 2 states built on dignity. Security of Israel will never be if neighboring people are hungry, angry and humiliated. Humiliation and isolation will bring more violence to the area. Need advocate for peace built on justice.
One of biggest problem is shortage and contamination of water. Network needs pumps and and pumps need fuel. Every day 40-50 million liters of sewage dumped into Gaza.
Now have influx of medicines. Still missing many items. Have to apply through who to get medicines.
Has small autoclave in Israel waiting for permit to come in. Shortage of anesthesiologists and cardiologists and ICU personnel. Appreciate part-timers. Arab-American Mediacl Association would like to come but can't secure passage.
During the last 2 weeks, head of churches came from Jerusalem, but didn't allow the Anglican Bishop because he has a Palestinian passport.
She has a Palestinian ID card and US passport -- cannot go to the West Bank. A prisoner.
Outreach program Tuesday and Saturday. Try to plant hope for better days to come.
During the war, took the complex cases. 15 % of the surgical patients. All lectures are open to other health providers. Are here for the community. During the first intifada Amal came here and visited. Per annum caring for 32,000 outpatients and 4800 inpatients.
First intifada 185 staff members and now 60 full-time and 60 part-time.
Provide outpatient mental health services -- medical director has found that a lot of children have psychological problems -- bedwetting, fear of going out. Call Eyad Suraj, Palestine Mental health Program to provide the services. Working with community leaders and women's groups -- send buses and bring them into the hospital for exam and treatment.
Episcopal Relief and Development. Provide money and advocacy -- preach for reconciliation, peace and justice. Arabs and Jews are brothers and sisters. This conflict should end soon.

Monday, March 9, 2009

Getting into Gaza

Hello again, 
This is Inaya reporting from Gaza!  First of all I mentioned in my earlier blog the hardship we faced in order to get through the Rafah border in Egypt.  To summarize it all, it took us 4 attempts in 4 consecutive days.  On the 3rd day, we went back to the border with no intention to turn back around.  I for one was going to stay no matter what.  So we were all determined to stay and get in, and if we didn't get in we were sticking around and demonstrate till someone hears us.  I contacted several press people, Aljazeera, Daily Press in Cairo and a local journalist and human rights activist in Al-Arish to come and get coverage of our stay at the border.  We arrived at about 11 am on the 3rd day and stayed all day battling with our 'friends' at the Egyptian border.  No luck still, so we pulled out our tent, got permission to put it up too, and we decided to camp out there.  I am assuming that they allowed us to put up our tent because they really didn't think we would really stay, little did they know we actually did.  When they realized that we are sticking around they made us tear down our tents.  We also had the delegation from Italy join us in our stay so they were even more shocked to see about 30 people sleeping in front of the borer in the cold, windy desert weather all night.  But we did, and that night there were about 7 Israeli strikes at the border attempting to destroy tunnels.  Some were about 1/2 a kilometer away.  We felt the impact loud and clear.  It was frightening and discouraging at times but we stuck it out.  I can barely imagine the daily torture that the Palestinians go through every day.  On the 4Th day, after spending the night on the bare cold concrete on the side of the border, we were ready to and more determined to put up another fight for this good cause.  We were there all day again, going back & forth with Egyptian authority trying to convince us to leave and return with our approval from our embassy because that is the only way in.  By now we learned their bureaucracy and can outsmart them.  We were joined by the Italian Delegation, whom consist of 21 members one of them whom is French and another who is Swiss.  The Italians had a group of 9 doctors who put up a table to triage by-passers as a symbolic statement.  While the rest of us put up banners and made posters to protest this blockade.  We were also then joined by a British Delegation that consisted of 12 members whom were all doctors that brought in cases of medications and medical supplies and as well were not allowed in.  They were going back and forth for 3 weeks they told me.  Another group of 2 British young men also joined us, and they were making a documentary about Gaza.  All these groups stuck together and we all held a demonstration forming a long line across the gates of the Rafah, Egypt border.  We were chanting and even singing in Italian to end the siege on Gaza.  People started to gather around and we created a bit of a chaos that the Egyptian Authority did not appreciate.  At this point I don't think they wanted the publicity, so they worked on getting rid of us one way or another.  And the one way was not an option, so the only way to get rid of us is to let us in.  I am proud to say that I personally gave them hell.  I was loud and clear on my demands and wasn't going to take NO for an answer.  So did all the other members.  We were fed up at this point.  I am also proud to say that the Egyptian Authority called me out of the crowed and asked me where is the rest of my group and to get them ready because at last they were going to let us through!!  They did apply a few of extra and unnecessary demands on their part just to make it more difficult but we gladly did what they asked of us.  For one they asked us to go to the Press Ministry and get passes for 2 of our members in order to get in, but with all the media and press contacts I had, I had the perfect resources to make it happen over the phone!  I even got passes for a California journalist, as well as our 2 British film makers.  Everyone was great full and so was I.  I am proud that the US Delegation was the first to break through the border and were the first in.  It took team efforts and lots of courage.  I am glad to be able to connect with everyone once again, and will write more about my actual experience in Gaza in the following blog. 

Crossed into Gaza/ Refugees Devastated

The US Gaza Delegation for Medical/Mental Health and Relief finally received approval to enter the Gaza Strip through the Rafah Crossing on Friday, March 6, 2009. We had camped at the border gate one night and were prepared to camp again. We received word late Friday afternoon that we would be allowed to enter Gaza, Palestine. With us was the Italian Delegation of mostly mental health professionals and a team of British orthopedic surgeons.


We have much to report, but I will start with this summary of our visit to a village that was devastated by the US funded Israeli massacre in Gaza.

On March 8, International Women's Day, the US Gaza Delegation for Medical and Mental Health visited the Al Shata' village in North Gaza City. The village was in a state of disaster. There were piles of rubble everywhere. Some homes were partially destroyed with makeshift plastic roofs and lean-tos to keep out the wind, sand and rain. One boy of about 15 years approached us with his father. He had two toes missing, a disfigured hand and wounded eye and other bruises. Gaza Delegation member Dr. Saeed Algheri examined him on the spot. Other delegates provided his father with the phone number of the Palestine office of the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund of Kent, Ohio.


Delegate and filmmaker Edward Salem had walked off into the rubble and I followed him over piles of broken concrete blocks, splintered beams and scattered housewares, fixtures and children's book bags and smashed toys. There were two men sitting by a small campfire next to their destroyed home. Edward was sipping a coffee that they had offered him from their meager supplies. The woman of the "house" began talking in Arabic to US/Gaza delegate Dr. Martha Nathan and me. Neither of us understood the words, but we certainly heard her anguish. Delegate Inaya Khalil came over and told us that the woman only wanted a tent so her family could have a safe place to sleep. She showed us the shelter they had built to keep their supplies. It was not adequate for sleeping because the logs they used were unstable and might not stand in a heavy wind. The rain came in at times and soaked the few belongings they had salvaged from their pre-massacre (yes, MASSACRE) lives. The woman showed us the embroidered crafts that her disabled daughter had made. Two robes and an embroidered cloth tray with a broken frame. I gratefully purchased this fine piece.


The worst was yet to be revealed to us. Over a few more piles of broken Palestinian lives and refugee camp homes we came upon a woman, about forty years old. She carried a young boy and invited us into her collapsed porch. She was speaking and digging with her hands in the dirt. I thought she was looking for something. I asked Inaya what she was looking for. "She's showing us her husband's blood," she told me. He had been gunned down with forty bullets by Israeli soldiers. The soldiers came in the night and shouted in Hebrew for the owner of the house to come outside. The eldest son, who now sat before us, had risen to answer the soldiers call. Mrs. Al Samouni, the wife of the dead man whose blood stained the earth, told us that Mr. Al Samouni gestured his son to sit back down and he went to the door, now riddled with bullet holes. He went out with his hands raised above his head. He was killed with merciless gunfire - along with 28 other members of the Al Samouni family killed by heavy artillery, except for one other who was killed by gunfire.


Mrs. Al Samouni begged the soldiers not to kill the children. "We are not Fatah! We are not Hamas!" With utter merciless brutality these gutless murderers shot the four-year old child inside the house. Today, and everyday, they live in the two-room house with these dark memories, with little to eat, and the stench of death all around. On our way out the son picked up a gun shell he found in the rubble; he handed it to me. We determined it was from an M-16, made in the USA.





Friday, March 6, 2009

Crossing into Gaza

Good morning everyone. My name is Jake Bosley and I am a good friend of Inaya's and supporter of the Gaza Delegation 2009. I received a call from Inaya at about 11:00 am East Coast Time, or about 6:00 pm Egyptian time. She had asked me to relay the message that everyone in her delegation is safe and they have been camping out at the border in Rafah. They have met up with other delegations from Europe and will eventually meet up with Code Pink from Washington D.C. The delegations persistence and determination to help the Palestinian people has paid off and the Egyptian government has allowed them to cross the border into Gaza tonight by 10:00 pm Egyptian time. Israel tends to strike the border in late evening, and last night the border was hit about 7 times by Israeli missiles. Tonight we are hoping for a safe and ‘missile free' crossing. Everyone is getting a firsthand feeling of how the Palestinian people live each day in Gaza. Although nerves are high, the help that they will give will definitely be worth it. Inaya is hoping for a chance to post pictures soon but I will keep everyone posted when information comes in. Thanks to everyone for keeping up with the blog! -Jake

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Pictures

I have tried so hard today to upload pictures on this blog but the internet connection must be slow because it just simply took too long and then failed.  I wanted to introduce you all to our group.  Our delegates are Don, Amal, Marty, Saed, Lora, Edward, Paki, & Inaya (myself) I am usually behind the camera.  We have one more delegate joining us tonight, his name is Michael.  I will try to post pictures and videos through this blog as I have access to the internet.  I am sorry to say that I forgot the video camera wires at the border with rest of my belongings as I rushed to catch a taxi to go to an internet place to communicate this to you all, and for that I am unable to put up my videos.  I will next time inshallah.  Please keep in mind, we have also experienced explosions at the border twice!! Today's bomb struck loud, hard and rather close.  We felt the impact on the daily lives of the Palestinians in Gaza.  We were startled, the ground shook beneath us and around us.  We all jumped out of place and looked around scarred and confused.  We didn't know what hit, and where it came from.  All we know is that Israel is trying to bomb and destroy the tunnels beneath the border so all else is insignificant.  

Rafah Border, Egypt

This is our 3rd day at Rafah Border in Egypt.  We have been trying to get into Gaza for the past 3 days and had no luck with Egyptian national security.  We have been given the run around from one person to the other, and to the next!  No one is helpful.  We are like a soccer ball been kicked from one end of the field to the other.  The Egyptian authority are telling us that they need a document from the US Embassy stating our names and positions along with the permission to enter Gaza.  On the other hand, the US Embassy, Vice Consul, is telling us that they have NEVER given such document! In fact the document that they did give us is an affidavit stating that " I have read and understood the travel warning issued by U.S. Department of State relating to the Gaza Strip.  I assume the risk for myself and understand the Embassy does not recommend my travel to the Gaza Strip.  I also understand that the Embassy cannot provide me with consular services in the Gaza Strip".  Basically our own US Embassy washed their hands off of us.  But we called the Embassy while on our way to Rafah Border today & the Vice Consul told us that although they don't recommend our travel to Gaza, they can't prevent it either, but they cannot support it.  That is why we signed the affidavit.  Another thing she said was that the Egyptian Authority has complete and total control of their border in Rafah.  They just probably don't want to tell us bluntly that they won't let us through so they don't look bad or get the heat, so they tell us to refer to our Embassy.  And our Embassy won't give us the permission of course because that would show support or sponsorship on the American part and how would that make them look to Israel??  Israel on the other hand won't let anyone in from any border as a way of punishment to the Palestinian people in Gaza.  So here is our plan... we are staying at the border today and camping out all night.  We have teamed up with another delegation from Italy called Viva Palestina which consists of 21 members, 19 Italian, 1 French, & 1 from Swiss.  Nine of whom are doctors.  They will join us in camping at the border tonight.  We also met a British Delegation of 12 members whom are all doctors and they cant get in.  They have been trying for 3 weeks.  I have personally contacted several people from the press to see if we can get coverage of this chaos.  I contacted 2 people from Aljazeera, 1 person from The Guardian Post and another from the Daily Press.  I am hoping someone would respond to us so that we can apply pressure on whom ever is in control of this bureaucracy.   

Monday, March 2, 2009

School supplies, Water units, and Soccor balls

Todays trip to the US Embassy in Cairo, Egypt was not totally fruitless - we now have the hours of operation for the consulate 8AM-11AM. We plan on getting there Tuesday, 3/3/09 at 8:30AM to get the required affidavits that we will need to get into Gaza, through the Rafah Crossing also on Tuesday. It is a five hour trip from Cairo - We also plan to get the water purifiers through our contact, Faiza, and the Iraq Water Project (Cleveland, OH contact, Art Dorland w/ Vets for Peace) in the morning before we head to Rafah.The school supplies collection in Cleveland last week was pretty darn good, considering we just had 3 days to do it- filled one large suitcase and a duffle bag with pecils, pens, folders, glue stick, staplers, etc. ( our luggage was NOT detained like the last time I came to the Middle East).The Massachusetts team members, Dr. Martha (Marty) Nathan and Paki Wieland brought a bunch a soccar balls and other goodies for the children.We plan on meeting up with the Code Pink Delegation , including, Rachel Corrie's Parents and author Alice Walker and some 60 others in Gaza.

In CAIRO, Egypt

Hello everyone,

The Gaza Delegation has now arrived in Cairo, and will be going to the US embassy to get our passes to enter Gaza. If all goes well, we should be heading to the Rafah border right after. We are really excited and ready. I personally can't wait! Our delegation consists of 8 members at this time, one more to follow in a few days. This is a wonderful group of people. We will be taking pictures and posting them as soon as we have access to internet services.