Bonjou Bonjou!
I'm back in Eugene, trying to finish a thesis in the next 3 weeks and also tying up loose ends from the Haiti trip y'all accompanied me on. One of the things I have to do is prove I was actually there, so this is the list I came up with; it left me feeling incredibly blessed to have had such a diverse and unique experience.
While there I worked with:
King's Organization in Port-au-Prince for 2 weeks doing hospital administration (translating documents and making employee name badges) and teaching English to the children in the orphanage.
http://www.lumiereministries.com/KingsOrganization.html
PAZAPA in Jacmel for 3 weeks working with mentally and physically disabled children, assisting at the school for the deaf, and doing minor office work for the director, with whom I stayed.
http://pazapa.org/
Forward Edge International in Carrefour for 1 week serving with my church in a tent village helping to build a security perimeter and translating between my church volunteers and the locals.
http://www.forwardedge.org/opportunities/haiti.shtml
All Hands Volunteers in Leogane for 3 weeks volunteering with Haitians and other internationals building schools, making bio-sand water filters, painting murals, economic development at a women's co-op, playing with kids at an orphanage, and rubble removal.
http://hands.org/2011/03/08/help-build-a-school-in-haiti/
(I'm actually in this movie! You can see the back of my head as I'm painting a quote on a school wall).
Haiti Foundation of Hope in Terre Blanche for 10 days translating for the nursing volunteers, working in the pharmacy and around the clinic: doing sonograms, giving shots, and talking patients through procedures.
http://haitifoundationofhope.org/give-hope/
There are two great video clips on this website too that show where we were and how you can get involved too!
For those not already on facebook - here's a link to my photos!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=353390&id=729155967&l=628a18c901
Until next time - possibly this July!
Ana
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
Home...sort of
Well, I made it! I landed in Miami last Sunday, March 13th and then later that day in Houston, Texas where I was blessed to spend a few days with my brother and cousins. We watched Dumb and Dumber and Inside Job, a documentary about the Wall Street direction of our government. Welcome to the U.S.
Pat (my brother) and I also learned how to shoot a 1911 Springfield pistol and an AR-15. Welcome to Texas.
Wednesday March 16th I arrived in San Diego to the waiting arms of Joshua. Welcome home! (Sort of). The past 5 nights have not been spent consecutively in the same place and I'm still, in a sense, living out of my backpack. All of this to say, it's been an absolute blessing to be home and to have so many people with whom to share stories and memories and to contemplate the big "What's next?" question.*
One of the highlights of being home was going to Journey Church with Joshua's family and hearing Pastor Edouard from Carrefour, Haiti! It filled me with such joy to hear Creole and to speak with him and his translator after the service. It was such a high to have to come down from that I feel as though this may be the beginning of the infamous "Readjustment Phase" - the questioning, the frustration, the reminiscing and the checking of plane ticket prices for a trip back in the summer!!!
Much love to you all and thank you for all of the prayers that got me home safe!
*At this point, the "What's Next" question looks like it will be answered with a return to San Diego this summer to live with my best friend Ashley, look for a job and begin taking Nursing pre-requisites at a community college. Si Bondye vle : )
Pat (my brother) and I also learned how to shoot a 1911 Springfield pistol and an AR-15. Welcome to Texas.
Wednesday March 16th I arrived in San Diego to the waiting arms of Joshua. Welcome home! (Sort of). The past 5 nights have not been spent consecutively in the same place and I'm still, in a sense, living out of my backpack. All of this to say, it's been an absolute blessing to be home and to have so many people with whom to share stories and memories and to contemplate the big "What's next?" question.*
One of the highlights of being home was going to Journey Church with Joshua's family and hearing Pastor Edouard from Carrefour, Haiti! It filled me with such joy to hear Creole and to speak with him and his translator after the service. It was such a high to have to come down from that I feel as though this may be the beginning of the infamous "Readjustment Phase" - the questioning, the frustration, the reminiscing and the checking of plane ticket prices for a trip back in the summer!!!
Much love to you all and thank you for all of the prayers that got me home safe!
*At this point, the "What's Next" question looks like it will be answered with a return to San Diego this summer to live with my best friend Ashley, look for a job and begin taking Nursing pre-requisites at a community college. Si Bondye vle : )
Friday, March 11, 2011
The Last Round of Goodbyes
I knew that this last week would fly by, but it is still hard to see it ending so soon.
This week has been full of scrubs and hand sanitizer and "take these and come back in June." I have renewed interest in medicine and am considering pursuing a nursing degree. I was able to do so much hands-on (with gloves) learning here, I made and gave shots, removed IVs, changed IVs, held tiny little babies while we gave them shots, and comforted so many people during their operations, giving them consolation that the pain was only going to last a little while longer. I have seen the most beautiful smiles, showed women their babies inside of them and helped them calculate their due dates. I've counted pills and passed out chocolate, held hands and danced with two tiny old women on International Women's Day.
One woman in particular will always stay in my heart. Her name is Laurencia and she is married with 5 children. She came in on Monday morning with a cyst on her upper inner thigh; it truly resembled a testicle and caused her quite a bit of pain when she sat down. She had had it for the past 9 years after her 3rd child was born but it had only recently begun to hurt. I wandered into the operating room right as she was lying on the table and was asked to translate what Dr. Bill and Critical Care Nurse Levi, were about to do. I wound up sitting on a stool at the head of her bed, holding her hand and talking with her for the majority of the operation. She smiled the whole time, and it lit up the room. After the operation was finished we gave her some money so that she could pay the moto driver to go extra slow on her way home to Gonaives. I was struggling to imagine how she would straddle a motorcycle for a 12 mile ride on bumpy dirt roads after having this surgery in her groin. Gratefully, Pastor Delamy corrected us by explaining "this ministry has vehicles for many reasons and taking her home is one of them." We told her to keep the money and use it so that she and her husband could come in and get his feet checked out. (She had asked if we could give her cream for his excema. Thankfully, Dr. Bill said no, because when they both came in Thursday morning, it was not excema that he had!) I walked into the clinic Thursday morning and there she was, first in line and greeting me with her beautiful smile. She told me that her husband was waiting outside, his name is Markeuty, and that I should find him. I walked outside, said hello to a man with a huge smile and then turned to face a crowd of perhaps 70 people and thought "how am I going to find her husband out here?" I simply said "Markeuty?" and of course, it was the man with the huge grin. The entire time we treated him - including a very painful foot bath, he smiled. The two of them have to be the sweetest couple in all of Haiti and I was absolutely blessed to have met them! And to think they are only 2 out of the 900+ patients we saw here this week!
We're leaving Terre Blanche tomorrow morning to stay the night at Kaliko, a hotel on the beach just north of Port-au-Prince so that we might catch an early flight on Sunday. It's going to be hard to leave this place.
The past 10 weeks have been some of the best weeks of my life. I am grateful for all of the friends and memories I've made and will cherish them always. I'm also terribly grateful for all of the people here who are now praying with me that I can find a job in the States that will enable me to "vini anko byento" (come again very soon).
Si Bondye Vle.
This week has been full of scrubs and hand sanitizer and "take these and come back in June." I have renewed interest in medicine and am considering pursuing a nursing degree. I was able to do so much hands-on (with gloves) learning here, I made and gave shots, removed IVs, changed IVs, held tiny little babies while we gave them shots, and comforted so many people during their operations, giving them consolation that the pain was only going to last a little while longer. I have seen the most beautiful smiles, showed women their babies inside of them and helped them calculate their due dates. I've counted pills and passed out chocolate, held hands and danced with two tiny old women on International Women's Day.
One woman in particular will always stay in my heart. Her name is Laurencia and she is married with 5 children. She came in on Monday morning with a cyst on her upper inner thigh; it truly resembled a testicle and caused her quite a bit of pain when she sat down. She had had it for the past 9 years after her 3rd child was born but it had only recently begun to hurt. I wandered into the operating room right as she was lying on the table and was asked to translate what Dr. Bill and Critical Care Nurse Levi, were about to do. I wound up sitting on a stool at the head of her bed, holding her hand and talking with her for the majority of the operation. She smiled the whole time, and it lit up the room. After the operation was finished we gave her some money so that she could pay the moto driver to go extra slow on her way home to Gonaives. I was struggling to imagine how she would straddle a motorcycle for a 12 mile ride on bumpy dirt roads after having this surgery in her groin. Gratefully, Pastor Delamy corrected us by explaining "this ministry has vehicles for many reasons and taking her home is one of them." We told her to keep the money and use it so that she and her husband could come in and get his feet checked out. (She had asked if we could give her cream for his excema. Thankfully, Dr. Bill said no, because when they both came in Thursday morning, it was not excema that he had!) I walked into the clinic Thursday morning and there she was, first in line and greeting me with her beautiful smile. She told me that her husband was waiting outside, his name is Markeuty, and that I should find him. I walked outside, said hello to a man with a huge smile and then turned to face a crowd of perhaps 70 people and thought "how am I going to find her husband out here?" I simply said "Markeuty?" and of course, it was the man with the huge grin. The entire time we treated him - including a very painful foot bath, he smiled. The two of them have to be the sweetest couple in all of Haiti and I was absolutely blessed to have met them! And to think they are only 2 out of the 900+ patients we saw here this week!
We're leaving Terre Blanche tomorrow morning to stay the night at Kaliko, a hotel on the beach just north of Port-au-Prince so that we might catch an early flight on Sunday. It's going to be hard to leave this place.
The past 10 weeks have been some of the best weeks of my life. I am grateful for all of the friends and memories I've made and will cherish them always. I'm also terribly grateful for all of the people here who are now praying with me that I can find a job in the States that will enable me to "vini anko byento" (come again very soon).
Si Bondye Vle.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Next stop... Houston?
I can't believe it but I'm at my final destination (sort of).
My last few days in Leogane were rather eventful, the morning after I posted about my crazy weekend, we had an earthquake at 4:10am. It was small and didn't last very long, but it was enough to get hearts pumping and minds racing. It was either a 4.6 or a 3.8 (magnitudes different I realize, but in Haiti news is all "yo di" (rumor) and I'm only repeating what I was told). I was in the middle of some strange dream and proceeded to get caught in my mosquito net while trying to escape my bunk. I wasn't panicked, thank the Lord, but I was a little shaky afterward and spent the rest of the morning lying in the middle of the courtyard watching the stars fade and praying for all of the children who are growing up in such unstability.
The next 3 days were full of concrete and power tools and lots of laughter but all with the tinge of sadness that is becoming all too familiar. I left Leogane this morning at the break of dawn and spent the entire day in a car going to, waiting at, and going from the airport all of the way up north past Gonaives. This is an absolutely gorgeous, breathtaking, heartbreakingly beautiful country and I am very happy to not be sitting in a car right now! I will be spending the next week speaking Creole and taking vitals for up to 1,000 patients at a rural clinc with a team from the Northwest. This should round out my experiences rather well as I will now have some medical experience to add to the list of responses to the ever-popular question "so what have you been doing in Haiti?"
This has been quite the whirlwind adventure, and I'm still struggling to believe I've been here over two months already. Everyplace I have gone now, I have been invited, begged even in some cases, to stay longer. Everytime, I have had to say no after wrestling with the temptation to throw it all in the wind and cancel my return ticket. I am glad I have said no and kept on with this journey, but now the end really is in sight. I leave Haiti a week from Sunday and I am praying that between now and then God will prepare my heart for leaving and also prepare me for the culture shock of visiting a cousin in Texas!
Thank you all for the prayers and continued love and support. I'll try to post one more time before Texas, but if not...next stop: Houston!
My last few days in Leogane were rather eventful, the morning after I posted about my crazy weekend, we had an earthquake at 4:10am. It was small and didn't last very long, but it was enough to get hearts pumping and minds racing. It was either a 4.6 or a 3.8 (magnitudes different I realize, but in Haiti news is all "yo di" (rumor) and I'm only repeating what I was told). I was in the middle of some strange dream and proceeded to get caught in my mosquito net while trying to escape my bunk. I wasn't panicked, thank the Lord, but I was a little shaky afterward and spent the rest of the morning lying in the middle of the courtyard watching the stars fade and praying for all of the children who are growing up in such unstability.
The next 3 days were full of concrete and power tools and lots of laughter but all with the tinge of sadness that is becoming all too familiar. I left Leogane this morning at the break of dawn and spent the entire day in a car going to, waiting at, and going from the airport all of the way up north past Gonaives. This is an absolutely gorgeous, breathtaking, heartbreakingly beautiful country and I am very happy to not be sitting in a car right now! I will be spending the next week speaking Creole and taking vitals for up to 1,000 patients at a rural clinc with a team from the Northwest. This should round out my experiences rather well as I will now have some medical experience to add to the list of responses to the ever-popular question "so what have you been doing in Haiti?"
This has been quite the whirlwind adventure, and I'm still struggling to believe I've been here over two months already. Everyplace I have gone now, I have been invited, begged even in some cases, to stay longer. Everytime, I have had to say no after wrestling with the temptation to throw it all in the wind and cancel my return ticket. I am glad I have said no and kept on with this journey, but now the end really is in sight. I leave Haiti a week from Sunday and I am praying that between now and then God will prepare my heart for leaving and also prepare me for the culture shock of visiting a cousin in Texas!
Thank you all for the prayers and continued love and support. I'll try to post one more time before Texas, but if not...next stop: Houston!
Monday, February 28, 2011
Woush!
Woush. (Wow.) What a weekend!
Saturday morning began like a typical day of work here in Leogane, I took a taptap with two other volunteers to a school site that we have been putting a mural on 3 of its walls. We were doing the finishing touches in the early morning sun, and everything was going wonderfully. Some local children had come by to watch us work, to color flowers for us and to help us paint. At lunch time, I took a moto back to base, ate some rice and beans and then dressed for a meeting. The meeting was a local womens' cooperative, and we went to discuss how best we as an organization could assist them. The meeting progressed from 85% of the women saying that they could easily handle 100 chickens each in their current living situations, to telling me in individual interviews that for their 5 kids they buy 3 eggs a week, they don't have any jobs or skills, they're unmarried and they eat chicken when they can find the money. They had waited all day in a makeshift conference room of tarps and thin tree trunks salvaged from the nearly treeless mountains and here we were asking them if they cared about how much food was being imported into Haiti each day. (Rough estimates put egg importations from the Dominican Republic and one million eggs per day). It was a heart-wrenching afternoon to ask these women personal and potentially embarrassing questions and then walk away at the end of the day with them thanking us for the little installation of hope in their lives. We came home to base to dinner, which of course, was chicken.
Haiti is a difficult place, but there is beauty in gratitude for a simple thing like a plate with a piece of chicken on it, and the opportunity to talk with people and give them a taste of hope for a better future.
Sunday, I went to church, a Baptist service (that I understood about 75% of) on love and the verb tense in John 3:16. God loved us and still does. Good stuff.
After returning to base, there was a group who went to the beach, the 5 other people I went with decided to go as cheap as possible by walking across Leogane, to take a taptap to Gran Goave, to take motos to Paradis Beach. When we arrived, the other people who had left after us by machinn prive (private car) were there waiting, but out quite a few more goude than us. We spent a wonderful February afternoon floating in the beautiful Caribbean and soaking up too many rays. I had borrowed two mismatched sandals and we had quite a a good laugh walking up and down the beach looking for other sandals that might fit and match. No such luck but we caused quite a scene and entertained quite a few of the locals. Silly blan.
The afternoon was winding down and we were getting tired. We tried calling the motos who had brought us but the number didn't work. Instead, two of the girls I was with went and asked the restaurant to call motos for us. They said that they did but 15 minutes later it was a taptap that arrived not 3 motos. The chauffeur was less than friendly and wanted to charge us an absolutely ridiculous rate. A friend of some of the local volunteers, a wealthy man who was admittedly rather drunk, decided to step in and help us barter, even though Robinson a volunteer from Gonaives, was there already bartering for us and soberly. So here's what went down: drunk man called already-angry chauffeur some nasty words people didn't want to repeat, and then angry chauffeur man decided to go to his taptap and take out a tire wrench to start beating up drunken man. It got bloody very fast and loud and rather scary. A crowd gathered and broke up the fight, another local volunteer, also a little drunk, arranged for us to ride in the back of an NGO's pickup, but promptly after pulling out of his parking spot got the fastest flat I've ever seen. Eventually we crammed 10 people in the back of a short-bed pickup and drove back to Leogane.
When we got to Leogane, I thought it would be a good idea to go to a local restaurant with music and food. We walked over there, there wasn't any music and the food came very slowly. I messed up the order, and when my ham and cheese arrived it was soaked in mayonnaise and far less appealing. There was also a drunk man in the streets who kept pestering us for food. Meanwhile the music had started and we couldn't hear ourselves think, so we walked the rest of the way home, I was exhausted and it didn't help that I was trying to speak French with the two Canadians who were there. Woush. What a day.
This morning, the exhaustion continued with a conversation with two of the local volunteers about values and politics and the problems with NGOs and the need to be paid for work done. A similar conversation at lunchtime, about Haiti's need for a dictator who can kill people who are opposed to development, the problems with NGOs, and the exhaustion kept mounting, weighing my heart down. Thankfully, this afternoon I got to go "rubble" (sledgehammer and shovel) for 3 hours, and this made everything better.
Praise the Lord for physical labor.
Woush.
Saturday morning began like a typical day of work here in Leogane, I took a taptap with two other volunteers to a school site that we have been putting a mural on 3 of its walls. We were doing the finishing touches in the early morning sun, and everything was going wonderfully. Some local children had come by to watch us work, to color flowers for us and to help us paint. At lunch time, I took a moto back to base, ate some rice and beans and then dressed for a meeting. The meeting was a local womens' cooperative, and we went to discuss how best we as an organization could assist them. The meeting progressed from 85% of the women saying that they could easily handle 100 chickens each in their current living situations, to telling me in individual interviews that for their 5 kids they buy 3 eggs a week, they don't have any jobs or skills, they're unmarried and they eat chicken when they can find the money. They had waited all day in a makeshift conference room of tarps and thin tree trunks salvaged from the nearly treeless mountains and here we were asking them if they cared about how much food was being imported into Haiti each day. (Rough estimates put egg importations from the Dominican Republic and one million eggs per day). It was a heart-wrenching afternoon to ask these women personal and potentially embarrassing questions and then walk away at the end of the day with them thanking us for the little installation of hope in their lives. We came home to base to dinner, which of course, was chicken.
Haiti is a difficult place, but there is beauty in gratitude for a simple thing like a plate with a piece of chicken on it, and the opportunity to talk with people and give them a taste of hope for a better future.
Sunday, I went to church, a Baptist service (that I understood about 75% of) on love and the verb tense in John 3:16. God loved us and still does. Good stuff.
After returning to base, there was a group who went to the beach, the 5 other people I went with decided to go as cheap as possible by walking across Leogane, to take a taptap to Gran Goave, to take motos to Paradis Beach. When we arrived, the other people who had left after us by machinn prive (private car) were there waiting, but out quite a few more goude than us. We spent a wonderful February afternoon floating in the beautiful Caribbean and soaking up too many rays. I had borrowed two mismatched sandals and we had quite a a good laugh walking up and down the beach looking for other sandals that might fit and match. No such luck but we caused quite a scene and entertained quite a few of the locals. Silly blan.
The afternoon was winding down and we were getting tired. We tried calling the motos who had brought us but the number didn't work. Instead, two of the girls I was with went and asked the restaurant to call motos for us. They said that they did but 15 minutes later it was a taptap that arrived not 3 motos. The chauffeur was less than friendly and wanted to charge us an absolutely ridiculous rate. A friend of some of the local volunteers, a wealthy man who was admittedly rather drunk, decided to step in and help us barter, even though Robinson a volunteer from Gonaives, was there already bartering for us and soberly. So here's what went down: drunk man called already-angry chauffeur some nasty words people didn't want to repeat, and then angry chauffeur man decided to go to his taptap and take out a tire wrench to start beating up drunken man. It got bloody very fast and loud and rather scary. A crowd gathered and broke up the fight, another local volunteer, also a little drunk, arranged for us to ride in the back of an NGO's pickup, but promptly after pulling out of his parking spot got the fastest flat I've ever seen. Eventually we crammed 10 people in the back of a short-bed pickup and drove back to Leogane.
When we got to Leogane, I thought it would be a good idea to go to a local restaurant with music and food. We walked over there, there wasn't any music and the food came very slowly. I messed up the order, and when my ham and cheese arrived it was soaked in mayonnaise and far less appealing. There was also a drunk man in the streets who kept pestering us for food. Meanwhile the music had started and we couldn't hear ourselves think, so we walked the rest of the way home, I was exhausted and it didn't help that I was trying to speak French with the two Canadians who were there. Woush. What a day.
This morning, the exhaustion continued with a conversation with two of the local volunteers about values and politics and the problems with NGOs and the need to be paid for work done. A similar conversation at lunchtime, about Haiti's need for a dictator who can kill people who are opposed to development, the problems with NGOs, and the exhaustion kept mounting, weighing my heart down. Thankfully, this afternoon I got to go "rubble" (sledgehammer and shovel) for 3 hours, and this made everything better.
Praise the Lord for physical labor.
Woush.
Monday, February 21, 2011
It's Been A While...
Tet chaje! It's been quite a bit of time since I've updated you on my happenings. I've been in Leogane for almost two weeks now with All Hands Volunteers. It has been absolutely incredible to see what living with over 70 other people has been like, and how much work it takes to keep things running smoothly. We had a bit of a sickness outbreak, the most educated guess was dysentery but no one really knows for certain what had, at point, 17 of our people lying on thermarests near the bathroom for days on end. I'm grateful to announce that aside from over a week of diarrhea and only one day of falling asleep while working, I made it through the epidemic unscathed.
The days are filled with manual labor, but also lots of laughter and telling stories. The beauty of becoming more and more fluent is that I don't miss out on the stories from half of the volunteers and I have gotten to become good friends with several of the local volunteers. One girl, Fredna took me to her house last Sunday for dinner, we took a moto way out into the countryside as the sun was hiding behind beautiful, voluptuous clouds. We rode past churches and little shops and fields full of plantains and bananas and all sorts of plants of unknown names and purposes.
When we arrived, we sat under a huge kalbas tree as neighbors and family members gathered to talk to the blan who spoke Kreyol. When I looked uneasily up at the gigantic fruit looming above my head, I think I was comforted with a "don't worry they won't fall, they're not ripe yet," but of course, when you want to hear something, you hear it! Either way, nothing fell, and after a delicious dinner and a Coca-Cola and a fresh coconut off the tree, we sat and told riddles and laughed until the sun began to set and Fredna and I took a moto back into town, through the dirt roads, passing the soccer fields and loto shops and the little tables with their candles being set out for the night's games of chance.
There is a bar next door to the Base where we stay and I've been going and learning how to kompa and showing the other blans that you don't have to be drunk to have a good time.
The hardest part has been hearing the news that a little girl died at the orphanage last week from cholera and that two of the other kids were sick in the clinic. Everyone was very somber and many people joined in an impromptu prayer circle that night. The two children are back at the orphanage and were running around happily this morning when we went to sing and hold them and fill their physical touch quotas as best we could.
The best part has been the freedom of travel and the opportunity to go to Jacmel this past weekend! There was a group of volunteers who wanted to take advantage of the 2 day weekend (every other weekend is a 2 day weekend) to travel to Jacmel to see Carnival and to take a little break from the sledgehammers and cement mixers. So of course I tagged along! We shared a minibus there and due to some political manifestations the road was blocked between Jacmel proper and the hotel everyone else was staying at - so they team decided to wait it out at the beach. This very quickly led to the idea of taking a boat to the hotel and avoiding the roads entirely. I helped negotiate their certain death and off they went, leaving myself and Robinson (an international volunteer but from Gonaives, Haiti) dancing on the beach with a bunch of adorable little kids.
We walked up to Marika's house, through all of my old stomping grounds and then went and visited PP and spoke with him and Mr. Noel for a little while, enjoying the laughter and story-telling that always happens in the company of friends. That night, I went to dinner with Marika and the kids to meet the same team coming in that I came in with when I first came to Jacmel. It was wonderful to see them and to spend the evening relaxing and then sleeping in a real bed after a real shower and waking up to real breakfast! What a joy!
The best part was going to church with Jeanette and Mami Doune and Robinson and PP and Patrick and so many of the children from PAZAPA - what a blessing that was! After church, lunch and then walking through town again, the whole gang Jeanette, Robinson, PP and Patrick and Carnival too! Every corner we took there were more colored costumes and people covered in syrup and charcoal running through the streets dancing and lovingly/drunkingly threatening passer-byers. The day ended with a joyful goodbye and a ride to the bus depot by a friend of Robinson's - Haiti is a wonderfully small country - everywhere you go you're bound to see someone you know! Home again to the base and dinner at a little shop in town.
It's been a busy past week and a half and it's hard to believe I've only got a week and a half more before I head off to my next destination of Terre Blanche (near Gonaives in Artibonite).
Time is flying!!! Much love and many thanks to you all.
Lanmou,
Ana
The days are filled with manual labor, but also lots of laughter and telling stories. The beauty of becoming more and more fluent is that I don't miss out on the stories from half of the volunteers and I have gotten to become good friends with several of the local volunteers. One girl, Fredna took me to her house last Sunday for dinner, we took a moto way out into the countryside as the sun was hiding behind beautiful, voluptuous clouds. We rode past churches and little shops and fields full of plantains and bananas and all sorts of plants of unknown names and purposes.
When we arrived, we sat under a huge kalbas tree as neighbors and family members gathered to talk to the blan who spoke Kreyol. When I looked uneasily up at the gigantic fruit looming above my head, I think I was comforted with a "don't worry they won't fall, they're not ripe yet," but of course, when you want to hear something, you hear it! Either way, nothing fell, and after a delicious dinner and a Coca-Cola and a fresh coconut off the tree, we sat and told riddles and laughed until the sun began to set and Fredna and I took a moto back into town, through the dirt roads, passing the soccer fields and loto shops and the little tables with their candles being set out for the night's games of chance.
There is a bar next door to the Base where we stay and I've been going and learning how to kompa and showing the other blans that you don't have to be drunk to have a good time.
The hardest part has been hearing the news that a little girl died at the orphanage last week from cholera and that two of the other kids were sick in the clinic. Everyone was very somber and many people joined in an impromptu prayer circle that night. The two children are back at the orphanage and were running around happily this morning when we went to sing and hold them and fill their physical touch quotas as best we could.
The best part has been the freedom of travel and the opportunity to go to Jacmel this past weekend! There was a group of volunteers who wanted to take advantage of the 2 day weekend (every other weekend is a 2 day weekend) to travel to Jacmel to see Carnival and to take a little break from the sledgehammers and cement mixers. So of course I tagged along! We shared a minibus there and due to some political manifestations the road was blocked between Jacmel proper and the hotel everyone else was staying at - so they team decided to wait it out at the beach. This very quickly led to the idea of taking a boat to the hotel and avoiding the roads entirely. I helped negotiate their certain death and off they went, leaving myself and Robinson (an international volunteer but from Gonaives, Haiti) dancing on the beach with a bunch of adorable little kids.
We walked up to Marika's house, through all of my old stomping grounds and then went and visited PP and spoke with him and Mr. Noel for a little while, enjoying the laughter and story-telling that always happens in the company of friends. That night, I went to dinner with Marika and the kids to meet the same team coming in that I came in with when I first came to Jacmel. It was wonderful to see them and to spend the evening relaxing and then sleeping in a real bed after a real shower and waking up to real breakfast! What a joy!
The best part was going to church with Jeanette and Mami Doune and Robinson and PP and Patrick and so many of the children from PAZAPA - what a blessing that was! After church, lunch and then walking through town again, the whole gang Jeanette, Robinson, PP and Patrick and Carnival too! Every corner we took there were more colored costumes and people covered in syrup and charcoal running through the streets dancing and lovingly/drunkingly threatening passer-byers. The day ended with a joyful goodbye and a ride to the bus depot by a friend of Robinson's - Haiti is a wonderfully small country - everywhere you go you're bound to see someone you know! Home again to the base and dinner at a little shop in town.
It's been a busy past week and a half and it's hard to believe I've only got a week and a half more before I head off to my next destination of Terre Blanche (near Gonaives in Artibonite).
Time is flying!!! Much love and many thanks to you all.
Lanmou,
Ana
Friday, February 11, 2011
Not Just "All Hands"
I have internet! But not on my own little computer, I have to use the group laptops as they come available, but regardless, this is a great blessing for all of us. (Hopefully you feel this way too!)
I am in Leogane, safe and sound and living with 70 other people in a large open air cement palace. It feels like Eugene in the co-op sense and the compost bins, but very much still like Haiti in the heat, mosquitoes and the work!
Every morning we wake and eat a simple breakfast of instant oatmeal and hot water or corn flakes and instant milk. We are ready by 7:28am to go to work on one of many different projects - laying a foundation for a school, rendering walls for another school, demolition (more technical), rubbling (far less technical ~ sledgehammering), BSF (BioSand Filter creation), and other various projects like compost duties, Baby Orphanage, or whatever else some one has the initiative of doing. The organization is called All Hands and they really are just that! The physical labor feels wonderful after weeks of primarily working just my mouth, but of course, I am still working with that too. My Creole is getting so much better and it's an absolute joy to be meeting more and more people everywhere I go.
Most of the people here stay for months and my 3 weeks, I've been told, will pass quickly. In the meantime, I feel like this a time for me to practice the faith I have been so dependent on the past 6 weeks and actually be honest about it with the people here who are looking for grander purpose in their lives.
I've been able to have one really good conversation already today, over lunch dishes, about how and why I wound up in Haiti. I am feeling very led to doing this type of work in the future - being a missionary to the missionaries of sorts. I say "of sorts" because we are all truly missionaries in one sense or another. We are certainly not all preaching the same gospel, but we are all preaching something.
So many aid organizations have such good intentions and yet the end results fall short and the root issues remain. Perhaps I am here for such a time as this, to learn what works best and to spread that method one group of well-intentioned missionaries at a time.
(Of course, I'm still learning what this method is - but that's why I've still got a month to go!!)
Thanks for the prayers and emails and love - you're all wonderful!
Until the computer is free again,
Ana
I am in Leogane, safe and sound and living with 70 other people in a large open air cement palace. It feels like Eugene in the co-op sense and the compost bins, but very much still like Haiti in the heat, mosquitoes and the work!
Every morning we wake and eat a simple breakfast of instant oatmeal and hot water or corn flakes and instant milk. We are ready by 7:28am to go to work on one of many different projects - laying a foundation for a school, rendering walls for another school, demolition (more technical), rubbling (far less technical ~ sledgehammering), BSF (BioSand Filter creation), and other various projects like compost duties, Baby Orphanage, or whatever else some one has the initiative of doing. The organization is called All Hands and they really are just that! The physical labor feels wonderful after weeks of primarily working just my mouth, but of course, I am still working with that too. My Creole is getting so much better and it's an absolute joy to be meeting more and more people everywhere I go.
Most of the people here stay for months and my 3 weeks, I've been told, will pass quickly. In the meantime, I feel like this a time for me to practice the faith I have been so dependent on the past 6 weeks and actually be honest about it with the people here who are looking for grander purpose in their lives.
I've been able to have one really good conversation already today, over lunch dishes, about how and why I wound up in Haiti. I am feeling very led to doing this type of work in the future - being a missionary to the missionaries of sorts. I say "of sorts" because we are all truly missionaries in one sense or another. We are certainly not all preaching the same gospel, but we are all preaching something.
So many aid organizations have such good intentions and yet the end results fall short and the root issues remain. Perhaps I am here for such a time as this, to learn what works best and to spread that method one group of well-intentioned missionaries at a time.
(Of course, I'm still learning what this method is - but that's why I've still got a month to go!!)
Thanks for the prayers and emails and love - you're all wonderful!
Until the computer is free again,
Ana
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Growing Pains
Bonjou tout moun!
M poko pale kreyol konn yon rat men m'ap apprann toujou!
I'm writing primarily to share with you what this past week has brought before I leave the beauty of wireless for 3 weeks. I think I will still have occasional access, but God only knows and I don't want any of you worrying.
I have spent the past 5 days in Port-au-Prince withe Morquettes at King's Hospital. During this time I have been doing minimal amounts of work and it has been a struggle to accept each day that passes without feeling like I have accomplished anything. However, yesterday afternoon some old friends of the Morquettes showed up, Steve and Margaret Johnson. What a joy it was for the Morquettes and of course, I always enjoy meeting new people! So this morning, I was sitting in Dr. Morquette's office with Margaret waiting to hear what job he had for me to do today, and instead was blessed with time to simply sit and be reminded that wherever I am is where God wants me to be. And whatever I am doing, can always be for His glory and I can always be learning more.
I've been surprisingly tired this week- it feels like growing pains- I have been learning so much!
I'm off to Leogane tomorrow, Lord willing, and will be meeting entirely new people and having entirely new experiences.
I'll try to keep you informed as I can!
Mesi pou priye yo, (thank you for the prayers!)
Ana
M poko pale kreyol konn yon rat men m'ap apprann toujou!
I'm writing primarily to share with you what this past week has brought before I leave the beauty of wireless for 3 weeks. I think I will still have occasional access, but God only knows and I don't want any of you worrying.
I have spent the past 5 days in Port-au-Prince withe Morquettes at King's Hospital. During this time I have been doing minimal amounts of work and it has been a struggle to accept each day that passes without feeling like I have accomplished anything. However, yesterday afternoon some old friends of the Morquettes showed up, Steve and Margaret Johnson. What a joy it was for the Morquettes and of course, I always enjoy meeting new people! So this morning, I was sitting in Dr. Morquette's office with Margaret waiting to hear what job he had for me to do today, and instead was blessed with time to simply sit and be reminded that wherever I am is where God wants me to be. And whatever I am doing, can always be for His glory and I can always be learning more.
I've been surprisingly tired this week- it feels like growing pains- I have been learning so much!
I'm off to Leogane tomorrow, Lord willing, and will be meeting entirely new people and having entirely new experiences.
I'll try to keep you informed as I can!
Mesi pou priye yo, (thank you for the prayers!)
Ana
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Pride and Joy
Hello February - when did you get here!?
The time certainly flies when you're having fun and what could be more fun than spending a week digging fence post holes in the sun and scooping up sewagey mud with your gloved hands?
It may sound like complaining but I am being 100% honest! This week was absolutely full of JOY! I cannot tell you how many times each day I found myself bursting into laughter; whether it be at one of the numerous Chris Farley references, at an impression of a football player by a football player, the security guard Bob whining at getting a zit popped by a passing female friend, or the overall contagious joy that seeing my church in Haiti brought to me. I went to bed every night with a smile on my face, praising God for another day of laughter and another night sleeping under his stars (and once under his rain!)
Despite the energizing joy and leaving the team today feeling SO filled with peace and faith and passion, this week did present me with a new struggle. The struggle isn't necessarily what is new, but my recognition of it in my life has been of fairly recent origin: Pride.
C.S. Lewis calls it "The Great Sin...the essential vice." He says that "it is Pride which has been the chief cause of misery in every nation and every family since the world began" (Mere Christianity, 108). Being in Haiti and reading this means quite a bit more than reading it in the comfort of our U.S. democracy. Is this sin in me the same thing that has historically brought Haiti to its violence and corruption?
Before this week I was proud of my comprehension of the conversations I had and the success and maneuvering through a Haitian marketplace, it's true. But this week, I felt needed. I was translating for people other than myself and it was actually working! I was able to help explain parts of the culture and situation here for the team and answer questions for the strangers who watched us work. I wish that I could say I handled this all with the grace and humility Jesus would have had, but I did not. I let it get to my head and found myself losing touch with the servant's heart I hoped I would always pursue. But as confession is a rather humbling experience, I knew I had to tell all of you what really impacted me most this week, not simply about the wonderful people and activities that have certainly touched my life.
So there you have it, my Pride and Joy. Both stemming from my God-given ability to learn Kreyol - something I will always praise Him for - so long as I don't get caught up again in my own praise.
Glwa a Dye (Glory to God)
The time certainly flies when you're having fun and what could be more fun than spending a week digging fence post holes in the sun and scooping up sewagey mud with your gloved hands?
It may sound like complaining but I am being 100% honest! This week was absolutely full of JOY! I cannot tell you how many times each day I found myself bursting into laughter; whether it be at one of the numerous Chris Farley references, at an impression of a football player by a football player, the security guard Bob whining at getting a zit popped by a passing female friend, or the overall contagious joy that seeing my church in Haiti brought to me. I went to bed every night with a smile on my face, praising God for another day of laughter and another night sleeping under his stars (and once under his rain!)
Despite the energizing joy and leaving the team today feeling SO filled with peace and faith and passion, this week did present me with a new struggle. The struggle isn't necessarily what is new, but my recognition of it in my life has been of fairly recent origin: Pride.
C.S. Lewis calls it "The Great Sin...the essential vice." He says that "it is Pride which has been the chief cause of misery in every nation and every family since the world began" (Mere Christianity, 108). Being in Haiti and reading this means quite a bit more than reading it in the comfort of our U.S. democracy. Is this sin in me the same thing that has historically brought Haiti to its violence and corruption?
Before this week I was proud of my comprehension of the conversations I had and the success and maneuvering through a Haitian marketplace, it's true. But this week, I felt needed. I was translating for people other than myself and it was actually working! I was able to help explain parts of the culture and situation here for the team and answer questions for the strangers who watched us work. I wish that I could say I handled this all with the grace and humility Jesus would have had, but I did not. I let it get to my head and found myself losing touch with the servant's heart I hoped I would always pursue. But as confession is a rather humbling experience, I knew I had to tell all of you what really impacted me most this week, not simply about the wonderful people and activities that have certainly touched my life.
So there you have it, my Pride and Joy. Both stemming from my God-given ability to learn Kreyol - something I will always praise Him for - so long as I don't get caught up again in my own praise.
Glwa a Dye (Glory to God)
Monday, January 31, 2011
Kafou!
Bonjou toutmoun!
Well I've made it to Carrefour and the team from Grace made it here too! Gloire a Dieu!
The last week in Jacmel was one of incredible memories and also a heavy heart as I departed. Thankfully, the church of Patrick and PP had services Wednesday and Thursday evening that I was able to attend and it was such a blessing. Wednesday night I was handed a microphone to introduce myself in front of the congregation - this seems to be a repeating pattern but every time I'm always a little caught off guard. Thursday, after a long day of feeling low and quiet and sad the service was rambunctious and full of laughter and joy and I left dancing through the streets with Jeanette and Mammi Doune (the matron of Patrick and PP's house).
Friday afternoon, I was in Carnest's classroom until PP stole me into his classroom. I will admit I much preferred this as PP's students are the most advanced and we can communicate the most easily. (I've come to recognize how much I value communication - I guess it shouldn't be that big of a surprise!)
I had written a letter in Kreyol and English that I was going to try to sign to each classroom - a letter of thanks and also one of encouragement, that though the world cannot always understand, God does. Instead, they had a surprise party planned and wouldn't let me begin to read my letter until after they had presented me with a Jacmel T-shirt, a calendar with a picture of all of the staff on one side and all of the students and myself signing "I love you" on the other, the preschool class also made me an adorable card that everyone signed. Marika made a little speech and then finally they let me read my letter while Patrick interpreted it for me. Perhaps the best part, was Patrick saying at the end that it's not a party unless we eat together and one of PP's students asked if this meant we were all going to eat the wheat and beans they always serve for lunch. We all laughed and in came the cake and sodas!! It was such a surprise and I will always cherish the time I spent at PAZAPA and in Jacmel.
I left with Carnest in a van packed full of people and luggage and a couple of hours later was being dropped off in front of the Morquettes' house. I thought my day had finally ended but instead I walked into 19 people waiting for dinner and having a
grand time while doing it. Not only were they 19 people from Xenos Christian Fellowship in Colombus, Ohio, half of them were people I had met, two days prior, at the Epi in Jacmel! They had recognized me from the photo on the fridge of the 2009 trip with the Peeles, the Morquettes, Joshua and myself. What a small world! What a big God!
The next morning, Tony's uncle and cousin came and picked me and drove me the traffic-free way to the airport, paying for parking and a bottle of water, against my insistence. Haitian hospitality knows no ends and I have never before felt so well taken care of. I waited at the airport pou kont mwe and met up with Jeff and Jude from Forward Edge and eventually the Grace Team!! That night we laid low staying in the Guest House in Grace Village, Carrefour (Kafou). Jon, an Associate Pastor/Worship Leader found a tired guitar and we sang a few songs, in English and went to bed. It was so enjoyable - in the true sense of the word, to sing in English and it has been an absolute pleasure being in the company of friends who get to experience Haiti for the first time.
Yesterday was a double header for church services but both were entirely different experiences. The first, Jon preached about the Lord's Prayer and really communicated well. For his first time with an interpreter, he really excelled and we are all proud of him, and more so blessed to have a God that is multilingual! The evening service was at a church a mile away and we crammed in, Haitian style, 20 people in a little mini-bus and drove over to another church. Jon introduced everyone, with me translating and we all sang How Great Thou Art. It was quite the cacophony of praise, but it was, indubitably, a joyful noise!
The sermon was about giving everything to God and not being half in- half out. The preacher was sweating and yelling and Frank "lost his voice for him." The team really enjoyed the service and it was a wonderful experience to see the service through "new eyes."
Today after a 5am wake-up to do devotions in the dark, we breakfasted and got to work. Beca and I "cleaned rice" with some of the women at the Lord's Kitchen and the other 5 got to work sorting through a storage room of donated items.
Talk about a practical "giving wisely" lesson. Who sends ski pants to Haiti!? And thank you, but there's no need to send expired canned octopus, we'll be fine without. After lunch we went out into the yard to help sort 470 kids into two lines to carry bowls full of rice and beans back to their families in the village. I interpreted a mini counseling session for one of the security guards and Jeff, and we all laughed quite a bit.
One of the best parts for me so far this week had been the conversations about faith and life and tough questions that I can understand 99% of. It has been so energizing already and I'm only praying now to not be too energetic for my still slightly jet-lagged, culture-shocked teammates.
Until I find internet again,
Ana
Well I've made it to Carrefour and the team from Grace made it here too! Gloire a Dieu!
The last week in Jacmel was one of incredible memories and also a heavy heart as I departed. Thankfully, the church of Patrick and PP had services Wednesday and Thursday evening that I was able to attend and it was such a blessing. Wednesday night I was handed a microphone to introduce myself in front of the congregation - this seems to be a repeating pattern but every time I'm always a little caught off guard. Thursday, after a long day of feeling low and quiet and sad the service was rambunctious and full of laughter and joy and I left dancing through the streets with Jeanette and Mammi Doune (the matron of Patrick and PP's house).
Friday afternoon, I was in Carnest's classroom until PP stole me into his classroom. I will admit I much preferred this as PP's students are the most advanced and we can communicate the most easily. (I've come to recognize how much I value communication - I guess it shouldn't be that big of a surprise!)
I had written a letter in Kreyol and English that I was going to try to sign to each classroom - a letter of thanks and also one of encouragement, that though the world cannot always understand, God does. Instead, they had a surprise party planned and wouldn't let me begin to read my letter until after they had presented me with a Jacmel T-shirt, a calendar with a picture of all of the staff on one side and all of the students and myself signing "I love you" on the other, the preschool class also made me an adorable card that everyone signed. Marika made a little speech and then finally they let me read my letter while Patrick interpreted it for me. Perhaps the best part, was Patrick saying at the end that it's not a party unless we eat together and one of PP's students asked if this meant we were all going to eat the wheat and beans they always serve for lunch. We all laughed and in came the cake and sodas!! It was such a surprise and I will always cherish the time I spent at PAZAPA and in Jacmel.
I left with Carnest in a van packed full of people and luggage and a couple of hours later was being dropped off in front of the Morquettes' house. I thought my day had finally ended but instead I walked into 19 people waiting for dinner and having a
grand time while doing it. Not only were they 19 people from Xenos Christian Fellowship in Colombus, Ohio, half of them were people I had met, two days prior, at the Epi in Jacmel! They had recognized me from the photo on the fridge of the 2009 trip with the Peeles, the Morquettes, Joshua and myself. What a small world! What a big God!
The next morning, Tony's uncle and cousin came and picked me and drove me the traffic-free way to the airport, paying for parking and a bottle of water, against my insistence. Haitian hospitality knows no ends and I have never before felt so well taken care of. I waited at the airport pou kont mwe and met up with Jeff and Jude from Forward Edge and eventually the Grace Team!! That night we laid low staying in the Guest House in Grace Village, Carrefour (Kafou). Jon, an Associate Pastor/Worship Leader found a tired guitar and we sang a few songs, in English and went to bed. It was so enjoyable - in the true sense of the word, to sing in English and it has been an absolute pleasure being in the company of friends who get to experience Haiti for the first time.
Yesterday was a double header for church services but both were entirely different experiences. The first, Jon preached about the Lord's Prayer and really communicated well. For his first time with an interpreter, he really excelled and we are all proud of him, and more so blessed to have a God that is multilingual! The evening service was at a church a mile away and we crammed in, Haitian style, 20 people in a little mini-bus and drove over to another church. Jon introduced everyone, with me translating and we all sang How Great Thou Art. It was quite the cacophony of praise, but it was, indubitably, a joyful noise!
The sermon was about giving everything to God and not being half in- half out. The preacher was sweating and yelling and Frank "lost his voice for him." The team really enjoyed the service and it was a wonderful experience to see the service through "new eyes."
Today after a 5am wake-up to do devotions in the dark, we breakfasted and got to work. Beca and I "cleaned rice" with some of the women at the Lord's Kitchen and the other 5 got to work sorting through a storage room of donated items.
Talk about a practical "giving wisely" lesson. Who sends ski pants to Haiti!? And thank you, but there's no need to send expired canned octopus, we'll be fine without. After lunch we went out into the yard to help sort 470 kids into two lines to carry bowls full of rice and beans back to their families in the village. I interpreted a mini counseling session for one of the security guards and Jeff, and we all laughed quite a bit.
One of the best parts for me so far this week had been the conversations about faith and life and tough questions that I can understand 99% of. It has been so energizing already and I'm only praying now to not be too energetic for my still slightly jet-lagged, culture-shocked teammates.
Until I find internet again,
Ana
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Chloraquine #6
Dear fellow adventurers, this morning I took my 6th chloraquine (hot pink anti-malarial pill)- meaning we've been on this journey for coming on 4 weeks already.
The past few days have been filled with wonderful little moments I would like to share with you:
Friday after school got out I went home with Marika and we drove out to the Hotel Cyvadier. I had been there once before in 2009 but only to enjoy its wonderful view and then get back in the car to return to another hotel. This time we got to stay and actually go down to the water and swim! January 21st and I'm swimming in 80 degree water with two adorable kids clinging to me with every oncoming wave. The hotel is perched on a absolutely gorgeous tiny little bay and the kids and I traversed up and down rocks and through a spider-and-crab- filled terrain just to go in the water a little further down the coast. It was beautiful and also hilarious because I wound up carrying both kids across one particular section of the shore due to the sudden disappearance of a very large crab into the crashing waves.
After rinsing off, we ate as the sunset and large beetles dive-bombed the tables around us. I forgot the way fish is served here an ordered the Poisson Creole. It was on the cheaper side but came Haitian-style: head, eyes, tail, fins, skin, bones - everything but the guts. I struggled through it with guidance from Marika and felt quite accomplished an hour later to have eaten about 4 ounces of fish. It was a beautiful evening.
Saturday was fairly uneventful as I was coming down with a head cold and I spent the day reading and playing cards with kids and fighting the inevitable.
Sunday: the inevitable. Slept in, missed church and sat sleepily on the sidewalk to watch Mardi Gras celebrations around noon and then later Carnival in the evening. Mardi Gras is quite lively- people running en masse, mostly naked, covered in a mud they make out of sugar cane syrup and charcoal dust (the flies love this). Often, the mud/nudity is replaced or in addition to face paints and dressing in drag. Large groups of people will form around a few men in drag and they will parade the streets for hours with Haitian rum and song. It's during this marching about that people can do pretty much whatever they want including, covering other people in mud! Luckily, I was not covered though I did have a lovely conversation in French with a fairly large important businessman as he sat next to me, very drunk, shirtless, covered in black mud, with a long brown flowing wig and man thong intentionally exposed. Just lovely.
I had lost my braids to the Caribbean on Friday so Monday when I arrived at school Madga, one of the teachers, told me that I was no longer Haitian, I was back to being just another blan. She loves me. : )
After school and dinner (amazing chicken, a boiled plantain, iceberg lettuce and tomato slices) I went over to PP, Patrick, Carnest, and about 11 other people's house for Lekip Langle. English club! It was only PP and I for a little while laughing as he called himself Superman for jerrywiring a lightbulb and styrofoam to make an area outside bright enough for us to gather. It failed enough times for us to call it quits and go inside. All the while laughing at the not-so-super Superman. Patrick came home apologizing for being late and not too long after Mister Noel also joined us. The other members never came but we discussed titles and "have been" and our best friends. One of my favorite lines was: "My best friend, he's female." I have a growing appreciation for already being able to speak English. Creole is much easier to learn, though what it lacks in conjugations it makes up for in contractions and idioms!
After Mr. Noel went home, Carnest joined us and we began an odd circle of saying our goodbyes prematurely. I nearly cried - and for me that's saying quite a bit! Jeanette cried earlier in the day at the news of my coming departure this Friday. It would be a lie to say that I want to leave this place.
Today, I was at PAZAPA all day, with Carnest and the little little deaf kids in the morning - one of whom fell asleep within seconds when she crawled into my lap as we waited our lunch (blè e pwa franse - wheat and French beans), and then the afternoon with PP in the 5th and 6th grade class. We read in Creole/watched in Sign a story about a goat named KeKe, did some division problems and were learning geography when we had a little problem with discipline with one of the older boys. He had made an offensive sign to one of the other teachers but only PP saw it. While all of the teachers dealt with this, I was left standing in front of a class trying to explain what a baromètre is in Sign. I can hardly do this in English let alone ASL/Creole/French! But they were understanding and I used lots of colored chalk and we pretty well covered végétation, saisons, l'atmosphere, le zone tropicale, and l'equateur. All in a days work!
I am home now, sitting on the 2nd floor porch, overlooking the quiet street. A couple of cows were led past earlier and motorcycles pass every so often. The kids are studying with Marika's help and I am resisting the urge to scratch my bug bites. It's going to be hard to say goodbye to Jacmel, but the adventure must continue - I still have 6 more chloraquine to take before returning Ozetazini (to the U.S).
Love and rice and beans,
Ana
The past few days have been filled with wonderful little moments I would like to share with you:
Friday after school got out I went home with Marika and we drove out to the Hotel Cyvadier. I had been there once before in 2009 but only to enjoy its wonderful view and then get back in the car to return to another hotel. This time we got to stay and actually go down to the water and swim! January 21st and I'm swimming in 80 degree water with two adorable kids clinging to me with every oncoming wave. The hotel is perched on a absolutely gorgeous tiny little bay and the kids and I traversed up and down rocks and through a spider-and-crab- filled terrain just to go in the water a little further down the coast. It was beautiful and also hilarious because I wound up carrying both kids across one particular section of the shore due to the sudden disappearance of a very large crab into the crashing waves.
After rinsing off, we ate as the sunset and large beetles dive-bombed the tables around us. I forgot the way fish is served here an ordered the Poisson Creole. It was on the cheaper side but came Haitian-style: head, eyes, tail, fins, skin, bones - everything but the guts. I struggled through it with guidance from Marika and felt quite accomplished an hour later to have eaten about 4 ounces of fish. It was a beautiful evening.
Saturday was fairly uneventful as I was coming down with a head cold and I spent the day reading and playing cards with kids and fighting the inevitable.
Sunday: the inevitable. Slept in, missed church and sat sleepily on the sidewalk to watch Mardi Gras celebrations around noon and then later Carnival in the evening. Mardi Gras is quite lively- people running en masse, mostly naked, covered in a mud they make out of sugar cane syrup and charcoal dust (the flies love this). Often, the mud/nudity is replaced or in addition to face paints and dressing in drag. Large groups of people will form around a few men in drag and they will parade the streets for hours with Haitian rum and song. It's during this marching about that people can do pretty much whatever they want including, covering other people in mud! Luckily, I was not covered though I did have a lovely conversation in French with a fairly large important businessman as he sat next to me, very drunk, shirtless, covered in black mud, with a long brown flowing wig and man thong intentionally exposed. Just lovely.
I had lost my braids to the Caribbean on Friday so Monday when I arrived at school Madga, one of the teachers, told me that I was no longer Haitian, I was back to being just another blan. She loves me. : )
After school and dinner (amazing chicken, a boiled plantain, iceberg lettuce and tomato slices) I went over to PP, Patrick, Carnest, and about 11 other people's house for Lekip Langle. English club! It was only PP and I for a little while laughing as he called himself Superman for jerrywiring a lightbulb and styrofoam to make an area outside bright enough for us to gather. It failed enough times for us to call it quits and go inside. All the while laughing at the not-so-super Superman. Patrick came home apologizing for being late and not too long after Mister Noel also joined us. The other members never came but we discussed titles and "have been" and our best friends. One of my favorite lines was: "My best friend, he's female." I have a growing appreciation for already being able to speak English. Creole is much easier to learn, though what it lacks in conjugations it makes up for in contractions and idioms!
After Mr. Noel went home, Carnest joined us and we began an odd circle of saying our goodbyes prematurely. I nearly cried - and for me that's saying quite a bit! Jeanette cried earlier in the day at the news of my coming departure this Friday. It would be a lie to say that I want to leave this place.
Today, I was at PAZAPA all day, with Carnest and the little little deaf kids in the morning - one of whom fell asleep within seconds when she crawled into my lap as we waited our lunch (blè e pwa franse - wheat and French beans), and then the afternoon with PP in the 5th and 6th grade class. We read in Creole/watched in Sign a story about a goat named KeKe, did some division problems and were learning geography when we had a little problem with discipline with one of the older boys. He had made an offensive sign to one of the other teachers but only PP saw it. While all of the teachers dealt with this, I was left standing in front of a class trying to explain what a baromètre is in Sign. I can hardly do this in English let alone ASL/Creole/French! But they were understanding and I used lots of colored chalk and we pretty well covered végétation, saisons, l'atmosphere, le zone tropicale, and l'equateur. All in a days work!
I am home now, sitting on the 2nd floor porch, overlooking the quiet street. A couple of cows were led past earlier and motorcycles pass every so often. The kids are studying with Marika's help and I am resisting the urge to scratch my bug bites. It's going to be hard to say goodbye to Jacmel, but the adventure must continue - I still have 6 more chloraquine to take before returning Ozetazini (to the U.S).
Love and rice and beans,
Ana
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Glass Half Full
This week has been one of perspective and choice. I think it being the third week gone had something to do with it; but I also received the email from Teach For America saying that I would not be joining the corps this year.
I firmly believe that the days leading up to hearing this news had been full of preparation for hearing it. I have been learning to look at the positive when things seem frustrating. For example, bug bites. What could be more annoying than the constant itching and ever-present fear of tiny little insects? Well, I've discovered that these bug bites all seem to go away within about 3 days provided I don't touch them. This was probably common knowledge for most people but I was still rather pleased to make this little discovery. Also, children with special needs can be so frustrating because nothing seems to get through sometimes. But on the positive side, kids I've never even spoken with come up and take my hand smiling, and kids that I have been able to work with these past few weeks smile when they see me and wave me over to sit with them, greeting me with sign for "bonjou" I didn't think they understood. If I have helped them with their abc's perhaps I will never know, but to spread a little joy in other people's lives has become my life goal and all that I hope to pursue. There are many other positive sides to life too: toilet paper and indoor plumbing, clean water and food every day. A fan to sleep in front of and music-- something I've come to appreciate more spending so much time around deaf people.
Nevertheless, despite my days of thinking positive, hearing about TFA did make me feel fairly incompetent. I was hoping to have some sort of pity party after work yesterday but before I could make the suggestion, PePe and Patrick invited me to church. Can't really suggest going to a bar after that! (Just kidding parents!)
So, last night another 3 hours of church. I understood more and more and could ask appropriate questions afterwards, though I was very brain-tired. The best part of the evening however was not my growing understanding of Creole but the fact that Jeanette came with me. Apparently she hasn't been going since she moved from her home in the mountains to Jacmel to work in this house. On our walk home Patrick was joking with her and saying that now she has to come all of the time. This made me so incredibly happy to think that even though I won't be here for very much longer, Jeanette can now feel comfortable and go as often as she wants. It's a small thing really, but it's the whole concept of long-term positive actions that makes me most happy. and filled with joy.
Just this morning Jeanette and I walked to the market where in search of a new skirt I purchased a dress and a bathing suit instead. Jeanette stretched her money quite a bit further coming home with a bag full of food AND a new skirt. I still have so much to learn, but this is ALWAYS something I consider to be on the positive side of life!
True, I was disappointed about Teach For America and didn't want to write any sort of blog about it due to embarrassment and feeling downhearted, but life is too good to worry about things like rejection from organizations when I can always make new friends. Friends last longer than jobs anyway! So thanks for being a friend!
For those of you who are interested, Bob Welch wrote a wonderful column about Haiti. It appeared in Sunday's Register Guard and can be found via the link below:
http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/news/cityregion/25775939-46/haiti-carr-says-fans-earthquake.csp
I firmly believe that the days leading up to hearing this news had been full of preparation for hearing it. I have been learning to look at the positive when things seem frustrating. For example, bug bites. What could be more annoying than the constant itching and ever-present fear of tiny little insects? Well, I've discovered that these bug bites all seem to go away within about 3 days provided I don't touch them. This was probably common knowledge for most people but I was still rather pleased to make this little discovery. Also, children with special needs can be so frustrating because nothing seems to get through sometimes. But on the positive side, kids I've never even spoken with come up and take my hand smiling, and kids that I have been able to work with these past few weeks smile when they see me and wave me over to sit with them, greeting me with sign for "bonjou" I didn't think they understood. If I have helped them with their abc's perhaps I will never know, but to spread a little joy in other people's lives has become my life goal and all that I hope to pursue. There are many other positive sides to life too: toilet paper and indoor plumbing, clean water and food every day. A fan to sleep in front of and music-- something I've come to appreciate more spending so much time around deaf people.
Nevertheless, despite my days of thinking positive, hearing about TFA did make me feel fairly incompetent. I was hoping to have some sort of pity party after work yesterday but before I could make the suggestion, PePe and Patrick invited me to church. Can't really suggest going to a bar after that! (Just kidding parents!)
So, last night another 3 hours of church. I understood more and more and could ask appropriate questions afterwards, though I was very brain-tired. The best part of the evening however was not my growing understanding of Creole but the fact that Jeanette came with me. Apparently she hasn't been going since she moved from her home in the mountains to Jacmel to work in this house. On our walk home Patrick was joking with her and saying that now she has to come all of the time. This made me so incredibly happy to think that even though I won't be here for very much longer, Jeanette can now feel comfortable and go as often as she wants. It's a small thing really, but it's the whole concept of long-term positive actions that makes me most happy. and filled with joy.
Just this morning Jeanette and I walked to the market where in search of a new skirt I purchased a dress and a bathing suit instead. Jeanette stretched her money quite a bit further coming home with a bag full of food AND a new skirt. I still have so much to learn, but this is ALWAYS something I consider to be on the positive side of life!
True, I was disappointed about Teach For America and didn't want to write any sort of blog about it due to embarrassment and feeling downhearted, but life is too good to worry about things like rejection from organizations when I can always make new friends. Friends last longer than jobs anyway! So thanks for being a friend!
For those of you who are interested, Bob Welch wrote a wonderful column about Haiti. It appeared in Sunday's Register Guard and can be found via the link below:
http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/news/cityregion/25775939-46/haiti-carr-says-fans-earthquake.csp
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Bon Fete!
Apparently in Haiti if it is your sweetheart's birthday it's your birthday too. I like this idea very much as today is Joshua's birthday - and therefore I celebrated.
I spent much of the morning on Skype hoping to catch a certain Birthday Boy but then I remembered the three hour time difference. Darn. But the day was not spent in vain, I was able to do some English editing and document formatting for Marika/PAZAPA and then at 3pm Patrick and PePe (in Haiti you would only need to write PP but since I want you my dear reader to understand the pronunciation, I shall write Pepe) arrived. I had not understood what they meant yesterday when they said that they would be by at 3 and then we would go visit Jacmel together so I was stinky and sweaty when they arrived to take me out and about to see more of the city.
I changed quickly and off we went, laughing at my misunderstanding. Our first stop was their church to grab a bowl of rice and beans and to go online. I was handed a mac and instantly went on Skype just to check and who should I find there but the beautiful Ashley Nelson available for a video chat. She met Patrick and PePe and we all shared some lovely broken English, both from translation and from internet connection. Nevertheless, it was a true blessing and absolutely filled me with joy!
We went down to the docks and caught a sunset and a futbol in the back (whoops!) and then we walked through the mache (market ) at dusk on a Saturday - which is veritably crazy. I came to understand that if you say "wheelbarrow" people get out of your way - just like in a kitchen if you say "hot" - regardless of whether you have a plate of hot food or a wheelbarrow - people seem to move!
We sat in a park and talked with a group of young boys, one of whom had a deformed wrist. We told him about PAZAPA and chastised another little boy for teasing him. Hopefully some good will come of that little encounter. I love how in Haiti if you want to talk to someone, you just talk to them, no matter if you know them or not. It makes for a very friendly, very talkative country.
We walked all over town and up past the cemetery and back to Marika's house just as it was getting truly dark. Not too long after I went with Marika e ti moun yo (and the kids) to pizza at the local fast food/wireless restaurant next door to PAZAPA. Truly a day of good friends and celebrations.
Bon Fete Mon Amour! I'm celebrating here in beautiful Jacmel!!
I spent much of the morning on Skype hoping to catch a certain Birthday Boy but then I remembered the three hour time difference. Darn. But the day was not spent in vain, I was able to do some English editing and document formatting for Marika/PAZAPA and then at 3pm Patrick and PePe (in Haiti you would only need to write PP but since I want you my dear reader to understand the pronunciation, I shall write Pepe) arrived. I had not understood what they meant yesterday when they said that they would be by at 3 and then we would go visit Jacmel together so I was stinky and sweaty when they arrived to take me out and about to see more of the city.
I changed quickly and off we went, laughing at my misunderstanding. Our first stop was their church to grab a bowl of rice and beans and to go online. I was handed a mac and instantly went on Skype just to check and who should I find there but the beautiful Ashley Nelson available for a video chat. She met Patrick and PePe and we all shared some lovely broken English, both from translation and from internet connection. Nevertheless, it was a true blessing and absolutely filled me with joy!
We went down to the docks and caught a sunset and a futbol in the back (whoops!) and then we walked through the mache (market ) at dusk on a Saturday - which is veritably crazy. I came to understand that if you say "wheelbarrow" people get out of your way - just like in a kitchen if you say "hot" - regardless of whether you have a plate of hot food or a wheelbarrow - people seem to move!
We sat in a park and talked with a group of young boys, one of whom had a deformed wrist. We told him about PAZAPA and chastised another little boy for teasing him. Hopefully some good will come of that little encounter. I love how in Haiti if you want to talk to someone, you just talk to them, no matter if you know them or not. It makes for a very friendly, very talkative country.
We walked all over town and up past the cemetery and back to Marika's house just as it was getting truly dark. Not too long after I went with Marika e ti moun yo (and the kids) to pizza at the local fast food/wireless restaurant next door to PAZAPA. Truly a day of good friends and celebrations.
Bon Fete Mon Amour! I'm celebrating here in beautiful Jacmel!!
Thursday, January 13, 2011
And Spaghetti for Breakfast
It's hard to believe that I have only been here in Jacmel for 4 days. Already I have done so much and experienced so many things I never imagined and made so many new friends (not that I can remember all of their names yet, but I'm working on it!).
I have two friends in particular that I am especially grateful for, Mesye Patrick and Mesye PP (Pierre-Paul). They are both teachers at the school for the deaf as well as youth pastor-type figures at the local Protestant church. They know everyone in town and have taken me under their wing to show me around. They live nearby and walk me to and from places, and they are always making sure I am safe. I especially appreciate this since last night I found myself in the middle of a few thousand people marching down the streets of Jacmel singing praises to God and
carrying signs to further praise the one who kept them alive this time last year and ever since.
It was the one-year anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti yesterday and everything shut down like a Sunday so that people could go to church or remember in their own way. I chose to go to church and I learned why the sign for Protestant in ASL is fists waving above your head. The place was packed with people dancing and singing and swaying and shouting and kneeling and weeping and going absolutely crazy with gratitude and adoration. One of my favorite songs was I Know My Redeemer Lives - mainly because they sang the chorus in English a few times!
After church in the morning, I took a nap to let the incredible humility and gratitude of the morning sink and settle in my brain, I am learning so much here.
In the afternoon I met up with every Christian in Jacmel and together we walked the entire length of the city, singing and dancing and shouting praises to God again. It was incredible. Hours and miles later, we stood in the downtown square/big intersection and waited for the truck which had been carrying the band to unload piece by piece the whole setup and bucket-brigade it through the crowd onto the less mobile stage for the actual message part of the "croisade." Unfortunately, by this point, I was completely exhausted and thinking that I ought to get home in case Marika was waiting up for me, since we usually went to bed around this time (9). So I asked Patrick when it would end, "in two more songs we are going to start." Oh. I said I should leave soon, "no problem" he said and went back to singing. Then I repeated myself a little later, and he said "whenever you say" after this song? "sure." Then the song merged into the next one and he started singing, but then looked at me and I nodded so we took off through the crowd! It was amazing how fast we threaded through this crowd of people and I was about to feel relieved when I saw that now he was talking to his friend Bebe, the Motorcycle taxi driver. Oh dear.
I had heard stories of moto accidents and had already figured out how to say "oh no thank you, i really can't, you see, i promised my mother I wouldn't do anything stupid.." and then here I was sitting on the back of Bebe's motorcycle, cruising through the streets of Jacmel, and trying not to get dust in my eyes but still be able to see in order to brace myself for the inevitable death.
Glory to God I made it home in one piece! Marika was not worried at all, but rather spending the 12th in a different Haitian style, with friends and some good Haitian rum. I showered, drank about a gallon of water and passed out. And this morning, spaghetti for breakfast.
I love Haiti.
I have two friends in particular that I am especially grateful for, Mesye Patrick and Mesye PP (Pierre-Paul). They are both teachers at the school for the deaf as well as youth pastor-type figures at the local Protestant church. They know everyone in town and have taken me under their wing to show me around. They live nearby and walk me to and from places, and they are always making sure I am safe. I especially appreciate this since last night I found myself in the middle of a few thousand people marching down the streets of Jacmel singing praises to God and
carrying signs to further praise the one who kept them alive this time last year and ever since.
It was the one-year anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti yesterday and everything shut down like a Sunday so that people could go to church or remember in their own way. I chose to go to church and I learned why the sign for Protestant in ASL is fists waving above your head. The place was packed with people dancing and singing and swaying and shouting and kneeling and weeping and going absolutely crazy with gratitude and adoration. One of my favorite songs was I Know My Redeemer Lives - mainly because they sang the chorus in English a few times!
After church in the morning, I took a nap to let the incredible humility and gratitude of the morning sink and settle in my brain, I am learning so much here.
In the afternoon I met up with every Christian in Jacmel and together we walked the entire length of the city, singing and dancing and shouting praises to God again. It was incredible. Hours and miles later, we stood in the downtown square/big intersection and waited for the truck which had been carrying the band to unload piece by piece the whole setup and bucket-brigade it through the crowd onto the less mobile stage for the actual message part of the "croisade." Unfortunately, by this point, I was completely exhausted and thinking that I ought to get home in case Marika was waiting up for me, since we usually went to bed around this time (9). So I asked Patrick when it would end, "in two more songs we are going to start." Oh. I said I should leave soon, "no problem" he said and went back to singing. Then I repeated myself a little later, and he said "whenever you say" after this song? "sure." Then the song merged into the next one and he started singing, but then looked at me and I nodded so we took off through the crowd! It was amazing how fast we threaded through this crowd of people and I was about to feel relieved when I saw that now he was talking to his friend Bebe, the Motorcycle taxi driver. Oh dear.
I had heard stories of moto accidents and had already figured out how to say "oh no thank you, i really can't, you see, i promised my mother I wouldn't do anything stupid.." and then here I was sitting on the back of Bebe's motorcycle, cruising through the streets of Jacmel, and trying not to get dust in my eyes but still be able to see in order to brace myself for the inevitable death.
Glory to God I made it home in one piece! Marika was not worried at all, but rather spending the 12th in a different Haitian style, with friends and some good Haitian rum. I showered, drank about a gallon of water and passed out. And this morning, spaghetti for breakfast.
I love Haiti.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Jacmel! (Or Part 2 of a 6 Part Journey)
I made it to Jacmel!! By the grace of God!! My dear friend Tony came and picked me up from the Morquettes Sunday morning and took me all the way back across Port-au-Prince (from Delmas 33 to Bon Repot) to attend the church of his friend (the driver of the taptap). We arrived late, meaning we were seated in the very front. I was not only the only blan in the city, but the only woman without my head covered. Sweet. Then, his friend had us stand in front of the church and introduce ourselves. I went first. i think this is one of those experiences that make people in the US never want to return to church. It wound up being totally fine, i made a little joke and everything seemed to lighten up afterwards.
I couldn't help but make a few observations about the church building while the sermon was being given. It's a large wide room, almost circular. Built with concrete blocks for walls and 2x4s (sort of) for roof support. The roof is a collection of tarps from various relief organizations and there is a wonderful gap between the walls and the ceiling just about everywhere that makes for a lovely breeze. There was toilet paper wrapped around several of the posts as decorations and a red sheet hung behind the stage with some large gold Christmas bows. We sat on 2x10s placed on cinder blocks to make benches and it was sticky and we sat close together. All in all, it was beautiful. It was about John 6, and the bread of life and everything took on a much deeper meaning. When you might not actually eat any bread that day, to say Amen after being told that Jesus is the bread of life and that you will never hunger again means so much more!
I prayed to better appreciate all that I do have, and to keep remembering that I will always have more than enough.
I met up with a medical team from Virginia yesterday at the airport - again thanks to Tony. And we all shared a big van to Jacmel. It was a beautifully curvy road, and we arrived at what felt like very late last night but was in actuality only around 7:30. We met with Marika at a ridiculously gorgeous hotel right on the beach and then I returned with her to her house, a few blocks away. It is also beautiful and she lives here with her two children Anika and Max. They are adorable and sweet and speak a wonderful mixture of Creole French and English. Marika, who has lived here all her life, also teaches Spanish at the local school and works at a school for the deaf in the afternoon - meaning she also signs ASL. Uhh, role model!? Definitely. I am so blessed to be living here for 3 weeks.
I'm not positive what I'll be doing yet besides anything that I'm told - but I'm getting better at that! : )
I couldn't help but make a few observations about the church building while the sermon was being given. It's a large wide room, almost circular. Built with concrete blocks for walls and 2x4s (sort of) for roof support. The roof is a collection of tarps from various relief organizations and there is a wonderful gap between the walls and the ceiling just about everywhere that makes for a lovely breeze. There was toilet paper wrapped around several of the posts as decorations and a red sheet hung behind the stage with some large gold Christmas bows. We sat on 2x10s placed on cinder blocks to make benches and it was sticky and we sat close together. All in all, it was beautiful. It was about John 6, and the bread of life and everything took on a much deeper meaning. When you might not actually eat any bread that day, to say Amen after being told that Jesus is the bread of life and that you will never hunger again means so much more!
I prayed to better appreciate all that I do have, and to keep remembering that I will always have more than enough.
I met up with a medical team from Virginia yesterday at the airport - again thanks to Tony. And we all shared a big van to Jacmel. It was a beautifully curvy road, and we arrived at what felt like very late last night but was in actuality only around 7:30. We met with Marika at a ridiculously gorgeous hotel right on the beach and then I returned with her to her house, a few blocks away. It is also beautiful and she lives here with her two children Anika and Max. They are adorable and sweet and speak a wonderful mixture of Creole French and English. Marika, who has lived here all her life, also teaches Spanish at the local school and works at a school for the deaf in the afternoon - meaning she also signs ASL. Uhh, role model!? Definitely. I am so blessed to be living here for 3 weeks.
I'm not positive what I'll be doing yet besides anything that I'm told - but I'm getting better at that! : )
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Election Day
It occurred to me this morning, Saturday January 8th, that yesterday was election day and I did not tell you anything about it. I assume that if you're following Haiti news at all, you might be curious as to my on the ground impressions.
Ironically, when I wrote the previous entry, on election day, the thought never occurred to me. Primarily because it was such a non-event.
True, I saw armored U.N. vehicles driving through the streets with men and women soldiers in the back with large guns. True, I saw a large plume of dark smoke from what could have been a road blockade of burning tires. True, I saw the Haitian police at major intersections, but they were directing traffic as they always do. And the smoke is always billowing from somewhere. And the U.N. always drive around with impressive weaponry. If I hadn't known that it was election day, I would not have been able to tell. So there you have it, the election news.
As for cholera, there are many banners throughout the section of the city through which we travel. Saying things like: give your baby your breast for the prevention of cholera. Wash your hands for the prevention of cholera and don't drink untreated water. Dr. Junie told me that at King's they have seen 10 cholera patients thus far with no fatalities. It's true that it is a concern, but with many things in Haiti, media hype and the idea of "selling misery" come into play.
I should make the disclaimer that I am in no means a political analyst, or someone who has the most current information on anything. Please take my comments as simply hearsay, a young woman's interpretations of an incredibly complicated situation.
Ironically, when I wrote the previous entry, on election day, the thought never occurred to me. Primarily because it was such a non-event.
True, I saw armored U.N. vehicles driving through the streets with men and women soldiers in the back with large guns. True, I saw a large plume of dark smoke from what could have been a road blockade of burning tires. True, I saw the Haitian police at major intersections, but they were directing traffic as they always do. And the smoke is always billowing from somewhere. And the U.N. always drive around with impressive weaponry. If I hadn't known that it was election day, I would not have been able to tell. So there you have it, the election news.
As for cholera, there are many banners throughout the section of the city through which we travel. Saying things like: give your baby your breast for the prevention of cholera. Wash your hands for the prevention of cholera and don't drink untreated water. Dr. Junie told me that at King's they have seen 10 cholera patients thus far with no fatalities. It's true that it is a concern, but with many things in Haiti, media hype and the idea of "selling misery" come into play.
I should make the disclaimer that I am in no means a political analyst, or someone who has the most current information on anything. Please take my comments as simply hearsay, a young woman's interpretations of an incredibly complicated situation.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Enough
I speak English. You speak English. We speak English.
But MAN is it a crazy language!!
Today was Day 3 of giving the children who live at King's Garden (the orphanage part of King's Organization) English lessons. The lessons last about 2 hours or until everyone is exhausted (including myself). Today we conjugated to be, to have and to know and then made sentences with nouns, all in the present tense. We then conjugated to be and to have in the past tense and made sentences with both adjectives and nouns. They wound up being slightly depressing! You were pretty. We had a big house. I had a sister. You were a big mother. So we moved on from past tense to sentences with multiple verbs and then onto questions with Do and Does. All was going well and to finish, we learned a new song. Perhaps you know it, it's called "Enough" and it goes like this:
All of you, is more than enough for, all of me. For every thirst and, every need, you satisfy me, with your love, and all I have in you, is more than enough.
You are my supply, my breath of life, and still more awesome than I know. You are my reward, worth living for, and still more awesome than I know.
More than all I want, more than all I need, You are more than enough for me. More than all I know, more than all I can see, You are more than enough for me.
I stood in front of the class, covered in chalk dust (yellow on my black shirt), fending off the mosquitoes that came from who-knows-where as soon as the rain started, and sang this song. It was such a timely reminder.
I am going to Jacmel on Sunday - if all goes according to plans I have yet to make (don't worry mom, I'll make them!) - and will commence the part of my journey where I really am on my own. But even there, I know that I will have more than enough.
But MAN is it a crazy language!!
Today was Day 3 of giving the children who live at King's Garden (the orphanage part of King's Organization) English lessons. The lessons last about 2 hours or until everyone is exhausted (including myself). Today we conjugated to be, to have and to know and then made sentences with nouns, all in the present tense. We then conjugated to be and to have in the past tense and made sentences with both adjectives and nouns. They wound up being slightly depressing! You were pretty. We had a big house. I had a sister. You were a big mother. So we moved on from past tense to sentences with multiple verbs and then onto questions with Do and Does. All was going well and to finish, we learned a new song. Perhaps you know it, it's called "Enough" and it goes like this:
All of you, is more than enough for, all of me. For every thirst and, every need, you satisfy me, with your love, and all I have in you, is more than enough.
You are my supply, my breath of life, and still more awesome than I know. You are my reward, worth living for, and still more awesome than I know.
More than all I want, more than all I need, You are more than enough for me. More than all I know, more than all I can see, You are more than enough for me.
I stood in front of the class, covered in chalk dust (yellow on my black shirt), fending off the mosquitoes that came from who-knows-where as soon as the rain started, and sang this song. It was such a timely reminder.
I am going to Jacmel on Sunday - if all goes according to plans I have yet to make (don't worry mom, I'll make them!) - and will commence the part of my journey where I really am on my own. But even there, I know that I will have more than enough.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Tuesday
We passed a funeral procession on the way to the hospital Tuesday morning. It was a be-flowered hearse followed by taptap and car after taptap and SUV, all full of people dressed in their best black and white attire. The whole procession seemed odd because it was so sunny and because all of the life around the procession continued unaffected. It was not the procession you see in films, with somber music and light drizzle. It was rather humbling, as reminders of mortality often are.
The day continued and I passed the morning sitting in on a presentation in the nursing school on communication and how to act during interviews. It was all in French and I had a rare feeling of linguistic competency. I even made a few jokes to the people around me and the class as a whole at one point. I returned to the hospital not long after being "hired" during an interview simulation and felt particularly joyful.
The hospital did not feel the same joy. I was still trying to track down a few nurses for my sole task of making new badges for the staff and every time I searched one out, I was given the same answer: "l'ap nan sal doperasyon" --she is in the operating room. I knew Dr. Morquette had left for the surgery early in the morning but I was nevertheless surprised at its duration.
I only found out later that the little boy who had the operation passed away on the table.
I did not know him, nor his story. But I saw it all on the faces of his family as they packed their suitcase after hours of waiting, talking, and crying and left the hospital.
The day continued, as days are wont to do, and everything felt odd. Too much "c'est la vie" not enough anger at the tragedy. I am tempted to rant at the injustices of the world and the likelihood that this boy would never have died so young had he not been born into a society with limited access to health care and basic nutrition. But this was just my impression based on stereotypical statistics and I was admittedly very removed. So I will spare you the tirade you've all likely heard me make before and tell you more of this unbelievably long day.
After an afternoon trip past the American embassy (next to the UN headquarters, next to the Philippine Armed Forces headquarters, next to the hospital St. Dominique - all large expansive properties with large fences) to search out some beautiful Haitian metalworks, that night there was a "guitar soiree" at the Morquettes. It was a BBQ/going-away party for Valerie and her beau, Laurent. There was music and laughter and dancing and amazing food and adorable children with whom I played. The most amazing part of it all was not the incredible banann frit or the acoustics of 4 guitarists playing in a concrete courtyard but the fact that Dr. Morquette was the one who did the BBQing, passed around the hors d'oeuvre, served everyone ice cream and cleared the bowls. After a day of surgery and consoling the bewildered and anguished family of a little boy who won't be going home with them.
To end it all, despite my feelings of linguistic competency (I even debated with Dr. Junie the detriments of drinking Coca-Cola in French) and my joy (i.e. pride) at socially surviving the fête, I fell asleep feeling very humbled, hoping to someday have the humility to serve others tirelessly, even at my own party.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Je suis arrivée
After each of my three flights was delayed, I finally landed in Port-au-Prince, surprisingly less than an hour late. My friend Tony was waiting, with car ready. Praise the Lord!
We went all over the city, getting some food, and searching for a phone and phone card. (No luck yet, but will keep you posted). We went to Bon Repo where his aunt and uncle live and are rebuilding their home. It was a beautiful afternoon with a cool breeze and delicious Haitian hospitality.
After several hours of sitting and trying to converse and feeling oh-so-exhausted, Tony's uncle, two cousins and Tony all drove me to the Morquettes, which is apparently NOT on Delmas 33 as I remembered. Nevertheless, we arrived and I met their daughter Valerie and her beau Laurent. We played dominos and laughed, ate delicious dinner (with red sauce!), I read my letter for the week and passed out asleep.
It's my first day "working" at King's and Dr. Junie has me making identification cards for all of the staff. I should get back to it...
Lanmou (Love),
Ana
(the Haitians are very efficient and instead of my name having 6 letters it now only has 3)
We went all over the city, getting some food, and searching for a phone and phone card. (No luck yet, but will keep you posted). We went to Bon Repo where his aunt and uncle live and are rebuilding their home. It was a beautiful afternoon with a cool breeze and delicious Haitian hospitality.
After several hours of sitting and trying to converse and feeling oh-so-exhausted, Tony's uncle, two cousins and Tony all drove me to the Morquettes, which is apparently NOT on Delmas 33 as I remembered. Nevertheless, we arrived and I met their daughter Valerie and her beau Laurent. We played dominos and laughed, ate delicious dinner (with red sauce!), I read my letter for the week and passed out asleep.
It's my first day "working" at King's and Dr. Junie has me making identification cards for all of the staff. I should get back to it...
Lanmou (Love),
Ana
(the Haitians are very efficient and instead of my name having 6 letters it now only has 3)
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Away We Go
After months of planning and re-planning the day has finally arrived. Bags are packed and checked. Arrangements made and confirmed. Goodbyes said and re-said. As I type, I am sitting in the San Diego Airport waiting to board my first of 3 flights to take me to Haiti.
What I find there will be so different from the luxuries I have enjoyed here but the biggest difference will be the company. I will miss so many people while I am gone, the ease of calling up a friend to laugh the day away, and the comfort of love's embrace.
I am so blessed to be flying into the care of friends. To know that familiar faces will greet me, meet me along the way (Michael and Grace Community Fellowship!) and take me home with them is more than I could have imagined. Thank you to all who are making this trip so unbelievable. I love you all!!
Now boarding flight 3028 to Los Angeles....
What I find there will be so different from the luxuries I have enjoyed here but the biggest difference will be the company. I will miss so many people while I am gone, the ease of calling up a friend to laugh the day away, and the comfort of love's embrace.
I am so blessed to be flying into the care of friends. To know that familiar faces will greet me, meet me along the way (Michael and Grace Community Fellowship!) and take me home with them is more than I could have imagined. Thank you to all who are making this trip so unbelievable. I love you all!!
Now boarding flight 3028 to Los Angeles....
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