Day 3: Grace Children's Hospital, Tent Camps, and Djaloki

May 19, 2011

Hello Friends!

We’re happy to report that all 8 of us are back at Walls Guest House alive and well, despite being a little bit sweaty. We had a fantastic day, so here’s the rundown:

We rose bright and early to go to Grace Children’s Hospital, which serves the local community (adults included), where kicked off our day with a beautiful prayer by Melody and the patients who were in for the day. Robinson was our “guide” for the day, and we had a tour of the hospital, much of which was rebuilt after the quake. Thus far, they are making do with what they have, but they look forward to the construction of a more modern hospital in the near future.

Robinson explained that at the hospital, they do everything from basic checkups, to eye appointments, to TB and HIV testing/treatment. The line in the waiting room was impressively long, seeing that it was 8am. Our team then met up with some of the health care workers at GCH, who answered our many questions. Many people who work for GCH also go out into the community (i.e. tent camps) to do educational programs in order to help curb the spread of diseases, improve nutrition, and demonstrate the importance of family planning. Our team eventually went to a nearby tent camp, where Nick, Katie, and I had the opportunity to present an impromptu demonstration on handwashing/sneezing hygiene. Melody also got her glorious moment of weighing a cute baby, while the rest of us befriended the young children and tried to break the language barrier.

Though the conditions in the tent camp certainly are nothing close to what a person needs and deserves, most of us got the impression that the Haitians are incredibly resilient. They had set up shops within the tent camp and went about their daily lives without much fuss – something I’m not sure most Americans would be able to do given the same situation. Furthermore, though we have very limited vocabulary in Haitian Creole (I learned, “My name is” and “Can I take your picture?”), we did our best to connect with the Haitians. Though we couldn’t verbally express it, it seemed like we were all able to let our guards down a bit after exchanging brief greetings and smiles.

Upon our return to GCH, we had the opportunity to play with babies and young children who were patients. It was incredible to see how much some of the children warmed up to us, since they were extremely shy at the beginning. Several of our team members got to walk around with beautiful babies for a long time, while others had fun dancing, singing, and playing ball with other patients. Even though we realize that this is only one day that we are at GCH (we are probably going back on Monday, too), we hope to bring back stories and pictures that will tell inspiring stories of individuals, rather than a group of nameless people to be pitied. Furthermore, we expect that future Haiti Compact alternative breaks will have more continuity, but right now we are still putting our feelers out to see how we can best utilize our time and energy.

Moving on to this evening – it was completely mind-blowing. A voodoo (or “vodou,” as it should be called) priest came to talk to us. Djaloki is an incredible Haitian who tells it like it is. He held nothing back, but so eloquently described to us the history of Haiti, the struggles and triumphs of the Haitians, and demystified vodou religion. It is impossible to breakdown his entire conversation with us into a single blog post, but I highly encourage you to ask one of us about our experiences with him, as it was truly life-changing. To say that he rips down stereotypes and barriers is an understatement. Djaloki challenged us to think in ways that aren’t so black and white, encouraged us to take a different perspective in order to better understand the position of the Haitian people, and inspired us to continue the work that others have started. We all feel very grateful to have shared the evening with him.

To stop myself from rambling, I leave you all with this one thought that Djaloki had reiterated: Though our history (“our” meaning Westerners) with Haiti has been rather turbulent and oppressive, we still have the power to instantaneously build bridges across cultures and understand and appreciate one another. It is then, that as people, we can begin to help each other as follow members of the same community.

And with that, it is bedtime for us here.

Sending you all love from Haiti,

Wesley + Haiti Compact