Week one is complete and we are now well into week two. Access to the internet (and electricity) remains intermittent but I have come to see both as a blessing when available. We have taken to sleeping on the roof of the school where it is much cooler and waking up every morning we are greeted by a panoramic view of mountains and the sea.
Sunday, we hiked to Bassin Bleu waterfalls in the mountains and cooled off in the aquamarine pools. It was the perfect reward for an intense week.
The computer room construction project is well underway and the crew we are working with is incredible. Several are working barefoot and everything is done by hand with few tools and meager supplies, but the progress is amazing. Knowing our work is going to produce a computer room is a rewarding feeling at the end of each day even if we won't be here to see the finished product. Boss Niki, who heads up the construction crew, invited us to his 80th birthday at his house and we were treated to a delicious meal and opportunity to meet his family.
When we're not working we are getting to know the twenty-eight boys here at Trinity House. Many are Restavek kids or orphans. Each has seen more in their young lifetime than I could ever imagine. St. Joseph's is a unique home where they have been adopted until age twenty-one. They are now one big family and it is an amazing family to be welcome into. Last night, the boys put on a riveting dance performance for us. All their passion and pain and joy explodes when they are performing and doing what they love.
Yesterday, Melshi, the Director of Trinity House showed us how to cook a traditional Haitian meal of poisson (fish) Diri Djon Djon (creole rice) and fried plantains. We began with a trip to the local market to pick up the ingredients which was quite an adventure. The market was a maze of tightly packed vendors hawking their goods and bartering back and forth. Some of the women in the market started singing and pretty soon everyone had joined in. It was a true feast for the senses. The food was delicious and I have a new appreciation for what goes into every meal here.
Outside Trinity House, about 40 families are living in tents on the soccer field. We ventured out and ended up being great entertainment for the kids serving as part amusement and part jungle gym. They brought out their carnival masks and gave us a quite a parade.
It's hard to believe we have only a few more days here. Time has passed so quickly. Haiti truly is a place of incredible contrasts. There is so much beauty here and so much hope.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
More Pictures
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| View from the roof of Trinity House, Jacmel |
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| Haitian Dinner of Poisson and Diri Djon Djon |
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| Bassin Bleu |
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Port -au-Prince
Getting off the plane in Haiti is like a punch in the face of your senses. The heat, the noise, the smell, the seeming chaos, the rubble, tent cities everywhere. The Haitian five piece band banging out a welcome tune and the French Creole all combine to leave you feeling overwhelmed, nervous, out of place and excited.
I'm ecstatic to see both my suitcases arrive and after fighting my way to the van with Jackson, our one armed porter, seeing Andrea's wave and welcoming smile was a huge comfort.
Port-au-Prince is like nothing I've ever seen. The sidewalks hold the rubble removed from the roads so everyone walks along the gutter with trucks and bikes careening a few inches away. It's hard to know what it looked like here before the earthquake. Some say not too different. The buildings sit slanting every which way above the rubble, skeletons on the skyline. The UNICEF tents sit on top of these, laundry airing out beside. These are now the prime locations where you can catch the breeze at night. Most people are still crowded in tent cities with names like "Peace" and "USA" depending who donated the aid. Electricity is intermittent and still no running water at most places.
We arrive at St. Josephs School off 91 Delmas and meet our eclectic crew. After we settle in for the night we have a delicious dinner of vegetable soup and fried plantains. Then we hear the amazing story of St. Joseph's from the founder Michael Geilenfeld and Director and former Restavek child, Bill, who entertained us with some of the best Djembe drumming I've ever heard.
Tomorrow, our crew heads south to Jacmel's Trinity House and the rest stay to help rebuild St. Joseph's.
I'm ecstatic to see both my suitcases arrive and after fighting my way to the van with Jackson, our one armed porter, seeing Andrea's wave and welcoming smile was a huge comfort.
Port-au-Prince is like nothing I've ever seen. The sidewalks hold the rubble removed from the roads so everyone walks along the gutter with trucks and bikes careening a few inches away. It's hard to know what it looked like here before the earthquake. Some say not too different. The buildings sit slanting every which way above the rubble, skeletons on the skyline. The UNICEF tents sit on top of these, laundry airing out beside. These are now the prime locations where you can catch the breeze at night. Most people are still crowded in tent cities with names like "Peace" and "USA" depending who donated the aid. Electricity is intermittent and still no running water at most places.
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| Port-au-Prince |
We arrive at St. Josephs School off 91 Delmas and meet our eclectic crew. After we settle in for the night we have a delicious dinner of vegetable soup and fried plantains. Then we hear the amazing story of St. Joseph's from the founder Michael Geilenfeld and Director and former Restavek child, Bill, who entertained us with some of the best Djembe drumming I've ever heard.
Tomorrow, our crew heads south to Jacmel's Trinity House and the rest stay to help rebuild St. Joseph's.
Pictures
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| View from St. Joseph's, Port-au-Prince |
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| Presidential Palace, Port-au-Prince |
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| Tent City, Port-au-Prince |
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Sunday, August 15, 2010
Heading to Haiti
Brian and I began this blog with the idea that together we would share our love of travel and adventure with our family and friends, which we surely will. However, for the next two weeks, this blog is going to be about my trip to Haiti to volunteer with a school and orphanage in Jacmel. This will be a solo journey that I have been able to do with the love and support of Brian, who is right now driving home from the airport and planning to fill his free time with fishing and lots of guitar playing while I'm gone.
Over the last few weeks, Haiti has become my obsession and its history has rivaled the best fiction and horror. After colonization by the French in the 1700's, exports from Haiti made it more prosperous than all the thirteen colonies combined. However, the cost of prosperity was staggering. The huge sugarcane plantations were owned by a handful of white men made rich by the hundreds of thousands of slaves brought from West Africa to work the fields. The conditions were so brutal that the average life expectancy upon arrival was less than ten years. While the French Revolution was roaring, Haiti was in the midst of its own revolution pitting whites, desperate to preserve the system of slavery, against blacks, desperate to end it and gain independence. During the ensuing revolt, atrocities were carried out by all sides which horrified the rest of the world. Yet it wasn't until twelve years later, in 1804, that Haiti declared its independence and became the first and only nation in history created by a slave revolt.
The rest of the world then began to turn its back on Haiti. The American colonies were expanding, slavery was still in place there, and Haiti was plagued by one bad dictatorship after the next. The last 30 years have been defined by the reign of terror of Papa and Baby Doc Duvalier then Aristide and now the devastating earthquake on January 12 and seem to cast Haiti in a shadow of chaos and destruction.
But make no mistake, the Haitian people are the most resilient. Seven months after the 7.0 magnitude quake thousands are still living in tent cities, trying to move on, rebuild and I hope be able to use people like me for some labor. Enter Hearts With Haiti, an organization that has three schools throughout the country and was in the midst of expanding their school in Jacmel when the earthquake struck. The school where we will stay tonight in Port-au-Prince, St Joseph's, was also badly damaged and has a rebuilding project occurring at the same time. Our project: Complete the construction of a classroom and computer room for the school and orphanage in Jacmel. I couldn't ask for a better opportunity to celebrate my 28th birthday and spend the next two weeks. See you in Haiti.
"To do something, however small, to make others happier and better, is the highest ambition, the most elevating hope, which can inspire a human being."
- John Lubbock- British Biologist
Over the last few weeks, Haiti has become my obsession and its history has rivaled the best fiction and horror. After colonization by the French in the 1700's, exports from Haiti made it more prosperous than all the thirteen colonies combined. However, the cost of prosperity was staggering. The huge sugarcane plantations were owned by a handful of white men made rich by the hundreds of thousands of slaves brought from West Africa to work the fields. The conditions were so brutal that the average life expectancy upon arrival was less than ten years. While the French Revolution was roaring, Haiti was in the midst of its own revolution pitting whites, desperate to preserve the system of slavery, against blacks, desperate to end it and gain independence. During the ensuing revolt, atrocities were carried out by all sides which horrified the rest of the world. Yet it wasn't until twelve years later, in 1804, that Haiti declared its independence and became the first and only nation in history created by a slave revolt.
The rest of the world then began to turn its back on Haiti. The American colonies were expanding, slavery was still in place there, and Haiti was plagued by one bad dictatorship after the next. The last 30 years have been defined by the reign of terror of Papa and Baby Doc Duvalier then Aristide and now the devastating earthquake on January 12 and seem to cast Haiti in a shadow of chaos and destruction.
But make no mistake, the Haitian people are the most resilient. Seven months after the 7.0 magnitude quake thousands are still living in tent cities, trying to move on, rebuild and I hope be able to use people like me for some labor. Enter Hearts With Haiti, an organization that has three schools throughout the country and was in the midst of expanding their school in Jacmel when the earthquake struck. The school where we will stay tonight in Port-au-Prince, St Joseph's, was also badly damaged and has a rebuilding project occurring at the same time. Our project: Complete the construction of a classroom and computer room for the school and orphanage in Jacmel. I couldn't ask for a better opportunity to celebrate my 28th birthday and spend the next two weeks. See you in Haiti.
"To do something, however small, to make others happier and better, is the highest ambition, the most elevating hope, which can inspire a human being."
- John Lubbock- British Biologist
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