We woke up this morning to the crowing roosters, cows bleating their disapproval at the blazing sun, and dogs growling at random intervals. Rural Haiti, though lacking the busyness of Port-au-Prince, comes with its own distinct sounds and smells and activity.
After breakfast our team packed into the truck, and headed up to the mountains to see the women of Bailly, a community health project connected to Sonje Ayiti. Several hours over bumpy roads and beautiful views brought us to a concrete church/school/community building deep in the mountains. Inside, women of all ages and sizes and their young children sat on benches, staring at the group of white people, a rare sight this deep into the Haitian mountains. After an introduction, the Haiti Compact team headed to a side room with 20 or so pregnant women.
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| Tail Wags! |
Led by Katie and assisted by a few translators, the women learned how to alleviate back pain, re-align their hips, and hopefully how to take a minute for themselves. The prenatal yoga seemed to be a hit--laughter was frequent. This lasted for two classes and almost an hour, at the end of which we cleaned up and settled in for lunch. Someone hid climbed a tree and brought down several coconuts, which were macheted open for us to drink the juice. (The flap created by this method of opening created the nickname “to-go-conuts”.)
After lunch, we crammed back into the car, minus a suitcase full of yoga mats, (donated by the College Rec Sports department, which, thankfully, were left on the mountain), and drove back to Gabie’s beautiful home. I think the team felt like we had accomplished what we were hoping, and the news that the women were going to gather together on Sunday to do again the moves that we taught them.
The night ended watching a meteor shower over the Haitian mountains--a success I’d say.
-Grace
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