Local volunteer describes Mexican disaster relief mission last fall

By Astara van der Jagt

Last November, after Mexico had been hit by two major earthquakes and a hurricane in quick succession, John Green found himself passing an erupting volcano in Puebla state. A rock the size of a melon flew by the supplies truck that Green, 59, had driven down from Ottawa on a five-and-half-week volunteer relief mission.

Green, a hazardous materials specialist, was set to drive down to Mexico with $82,000 worth of hardware supplies, donated by his company, P.R.E.P. Services International Ltd., and other local businesses. But two days before his departure in late October, he was contacted by his church, Centretown United, with a request.

The church had 432 boxes of clothing, feminine and baby products as well as sleeping bags donated by the Ottawa Bytown Rotary Club, and the church wanted him to bring the supplies to Mexico, the office administrator, Nancy Desjardins, told him. But the items had to be sorted, labelled and repackaged first.

On Feb. 4, Green shared the story of his relief mission last fall in a presentation at the church, and showed photos from his trip to volunteers who helped prepare some of the donations.

Green described an unforgettable experience filled with gratitude, grief and urgent need, as well as a little danger.

On the first day he arrived in Santa Cruz, Green said, no one approached him. Yet on the last day, it took him seven hours to say his goodbyes to the children alone.

“I speak almost no Spanish, but I didn’t really need it. While I was there, we spoke the language of emotion,” he said.

Green described getting a phone call from a woman in Puebla City whose daughter, son and husband had died in their home after the Sept. 19 earthquake caused the concrete ceiling to collapse. Refusing to leave, she resorted to living in a hammock beside her destroyed home, Green said. She told him that the drug cartels were not letting any aid through, and that the government was unresponsive to residents’ needs. He drove to the city a week later.

In Puebla City, some women told Green, “We’ll give you anything you need: rock cocaine, local liquor, or company” in exchange for the donations.

“No one could believe we didn’t want anything in return,” he said.

Green’s wife, Francine, said that although it was nerve-racking to worry about her husband’s safety on his relief mission, it is what he wants and loves to do.

“It’s so rewarding, so I can’t be selfish,” she said.