Day 7

Hello friends. Once again, internet access has been limited and so our ability to post has been delayed. But don’t fret. This post is from day seven of our adventures, with more to be posted shortly.

Day seven started early with a quick hop out of bed and back in to the “party bus”. Based on the Cami Express’s performance yesterday, we were certain we’d be driving in a couple Nissan pathfinders or something more reliable. Despite our concerns, we decided to trust Gabie and Steve and made our way back to our seats from the day before. We left at six o’clock, hoping to arrive in PaP before our day of planned activities started. Fate was not kind to that poor vehicle and we broke down for something around the millionth time in the past 24 hours. Gabie, a bit frazzled but never losing her poise, made a few calls and had a tap-tap find us. Now this tap-tap was AUTHENTIC. At first glance this vehicle was overwhelming, exploding with colors and words. The first (and most memorable) phrase I saw read, “Kill me now. Give me Jesus.” Although the seating situation was less than ideal—I had a screw jammed up my butt and Melody was literally hanging off the back end—we FINALLY made it to Wall’s Guest House. For a while there, I wasn’t sure if we’d ever make it out of the Haitian boonies. But we did, safe and sound.

Then something just shy of a miracle happened: we were given breakfast and time to shower and nap before heading out. THANK YOU, JESUS. Between you and me, I was smelling pretty ripe (it was my first shower in 2 days). Breakfast consisted of mangoes, oranges, watermelon, and pulpy flavored yogurts. The girls were given the room the boys had last year, and the boys were given what we’ve named “the cave”: no windows, five beds, whitewashed walls, two oscillating fans, and a piece of [tasteful?] artwork. But we’ll manage (at least there aren’t any bunk beds involved). Just kidding, Timmy. The group spent some much-needed time recuperating, preparing for an eventful afternoon and evening.

The afternoon began with a few introductions. Our driver and translator arrived, both of which we had never met before. The driver only spoke French (I never did catch his name) and Jimmy was our translator/guide/babysitter. They took us to lunch at a swanky “blanc” hangout/hotel appropriately named the Visa Lodge. Inside, it’s easy to forget where you are (precisely why we hated the place). The restaurant was situated poolside, with our table under a cabana-esque overhang. Lunch was served buffet style, complete with Omaha steak and Maine lobster, both obviously imported. A native band serenaded the restaurant with tropical music. It rubbed several of us the wrong way as we began to see how the musicians were being displayed like some Haitian novelty in front of the guests. And when I say guests, I mean white people. Taylor said it best when he whispered into my ear, “hey look, we’re no longer the minority”. For the first time in a week, I was surrounded by more foreigners than Haitians. This comes to show who the hotel/restaurant caters to and expects from its guests. It made me sick. I couldn’t help but think of the bumper sticker I had seen in May that said something like, “Humanitarian Terrorists Are Not Welcome”. How could we be sitting poolside, sipping fruit smoothies and nibbling on steak and lobster when people were struggling to survive a few hundred yards away? Wiping our chins and heading back to the van, we had never been more full and empty at the same time.

Following our guilt-inducing lunch, we began what Melody has dubbed the “poverty tour”. If any of us weren’t already uncomfortable, we soon would be. We drove downtown, seeing a much more urban take on Haitian life. Our first stop was a quick visit to the Musee du Pantheon National. Billy’s participation in an American Studies class, Haiti and the US, this past semester has given him the unofficial title of group historian. When he saw the exhibits, he almost hit the ceiling. Included in the exhibits was the anchor from the Santa Maria and the memorial/burial site of the original rebellion leaders and soldiers (talk to Billy for more info). The museum, the tamest of our stops, was followed by a leisurely jaunt in front of the presidential palace. As an outsider, it was a hard place to be. On one side of the street, there is this beautiful white building collapsed in on itself (SOOOOOOOOO much symbolic irony) and on the other side, there are rows and rows of shitty relief tents and shacks. Keep in mind that the 12th of this month will mark the second anniversary of the quake. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? To make things even more uncomfortable (especially for poor Hannah) Jimmy walked us not through, but around these camps. Our unnamed driver crept behind us in the van. We quickly decided we had had enough.

Desperately trying to separate ourselves from the “HAITI EARTHQUAKE RELIEF TEAM” in matching shirts, we jumped in the van and sped off towards our next destination. Jimmy informed us we were headed towards a cemetery. Which one? I still don’t know. Why? An even better question I can’t answer. We made it to the entrance were a Vodou artist was selling his work. His pieces were fascinating: horrifically manipulated dolls spray-painted black, tied up with string, and pierced with nails. His work will certainly give me nightmares but was interesting enough to solicit a business card from him. Jimmy, using the little intuition he had, decided against entering the cemetery. We packed back in the van and headed towards yet another iconic symbol of the earthquake’s devastation. Driving up to the Cathedral of Our Lady of Assumption, the national cathedral of Haiti, I was speechless. What was once a beautiful gothic/baroque building was now leaning columns and chunks of concrete dangling by iron rods. I stopped to admire the pieces of beautiful handcrafted stone flooring and couldn’t help but think of the archbishop, slain during a service, along with his parishioners on that very floor nearly two years ago. It was some heavy stuff. To make matters even worse, a horde of Haitian beggars ambushed us as we wandered through the cathedral ruins. One woman rubbed her pregnant belly with one hand and held out the other. Another swung her dilapidated arm around, trying to earn our sympathies and throw her a gourde or two. Timmy swears that the man playing the guitar and following us around with a big stick was “conveniently blind”. Despite our sincerest urge to hand these people some money, we knew it wouldn’t be in their best interest. If we gave them a dollar or a million dollars, it would never be enough. I reassured myself that I was on this island to empower the people of Haiti, not to feed the stereotype of the humanitarian [terrorist] tourist. Wading through the crowds of crippled and pregnant natives, we made our way back to the van and moved on.

Jimmy and the driver dropped us back at Wall’s. The team split up and spent some time alone before dinner, frustrated with the afternoon’s activities. Many of us have begun wondering if International Child Care fully grasps the Compact’s mission. We aren’t like the other foreigners we were exposed to today. We’re not trying to “heal” Haiti like the doctors in the restaurant, nor are we trying to “save” Haiti like the 28-person group from central Michigan. We are here to actively learn so that we can address social issues vital to Haiti’s recovery. We are here to help Haiti heal and save itself. Based on the day’s itinerary, I’m not so sure ICC understands. Still full from our buffet lunch, many of us sat silently at the dinner table.

Our day’s saving grace was a familiar face from our trip this past May. Djaloki was kind enough to pay us another visit to discuss Haitian life and his experiences as a Vodou priest. Djaloki is what Haitians call a “shaman”. Being a well travelled, educated man, Djaloki can spur some interesting conversation. He began with a quick bio and a few Haitian proverbs. He then invited us to interrupt him at any time and ask questions, encouraging us to step outside our “comfort boxes”. Nothing was taboo in Djaloki’s eyes. After a few minutes, the new team members began to warm up to his charismatic personality. We began throwing lots of different questions at him, ranging from Haitian culture to organized religion and spirituality. The group was engaged in a conversation with a man who understood the collective Haitian experience. One of the more profound topics discussed with Djaloki was the fast approaching “shift of consciousness”. Ordinarily a topic to deeply philosophical for casual discussion, Djaloki was able to break down the concepts and explain his belief in a current change in collective morality. He believes a vast reformation in the human understanding of the world—and how we interact with it—must occur for us to redirect our present “suicidal path”. According to Djaloki, it is the responsibility of every human being to open his or her mind to the wisdom that knowledge, humility, and symbiotic relationships can provide. It is through this wisdom that we can find hope for the future. He continued, explaining the “Diamond Rule”, “Do unto others as they would have done to themselves.” Mull over THAT for a hot second. I could go on forever about the wisdom oozing from Djaloki.

We spent the rest of the evening reflecting and completing affirmations to help us unwind from one long-ass day.



<3 for Ayiti,

Nick et al.

Day 6, Surprise!

Whew, today was...exciting. We woke up at Gabriel's place in Cap to a beautiful Haitian sunrise over the mountains. The entire top floor/roof of the house we've been at is open air, so we climbed up for a GREAT view! Around 6:30 or so we finished packing up and loaded the air-conditioned bus for our pleasant ride down "smoother" roads than our way up.

1st surprise- Just down the road from Gabby's house, we all had our first break into showbiz, especially Melody. A Haitian comedian was filming a commercial for our bus-line while we were on it! It only took about 20-30 minutes, basically he climbed on and tried to cram next to Melody and another woman (because most Haitian transit is really cramped, like the tap taps). The woman points out that he can comfortably sit in his own seat across the aisle, and BOOM! add for comfortable rides in Haiti. So if any of you are watching commercials in Haiti soon...prepare to see some familiar faces.

2nd surprise- After a few hours on the road, around 10:30 or maybe 11, we stopped at a gas station for a quick break and to fix our bus (something was overheating). Well, since that took longer than we expected, we stopped at the convenience store, where some of us bought some waters and genuine real AMERICAN food (doritos!) Aside from the shocking prices on certain items, we were shocked by how incredibly clean these bathrooms were...not going into more detail but i'm pretty sure everybody was happy about that one. We hit the road once more until...

3rd surprise-So as it turns out, we weren't really "fixed". We stopped again, and continued to stop every 2 miles or so, 'cause we were leaking coolant and had to keep putting in water. Needless to say, that slowed us down a bit. But instead of focusing on a negative, think about this: every time we stopped they made sure we were comfortable before they even worried about looking under the hood. Steve, who as far as I know wasn't associated with the bus company, hopped out every time to do all he could to speed up our trip. Every Haitian we've met so far has been unbelievably helpful and hospitable. More to come on that in a few. Finally, after a while, we stopped to "really fix" the bus again, and while a bunch of people were working on that, we stopped off at a pretty nice restaurant for some lunch and to cool off.

As long as I could possibly make this story, the point is when we finally took off again, the bus STILL wasn't exactly perfect. We drove for a while, and as it got darker we realized there was no way we would possibly make it to Port-au-Prince in time. So Gabby and her friend (who I met at lunch through my "wonderful" skills with French) made some calls, and as it turns out, found us a place to stay at the Partners in Health (PIH) compound. They were wonderful, they took us in last minute, gave us a safe place to stay, and several doctors and nurses gave us their beds. We really stressed to them how much we didn't want to take beds from doctors and nurses, they are doing wonderful things down here, but they were insistent (Seriously...Haitians are some of the nicest and most welcoming people I've ever met). Anyway, we woke up early, hit the road I think around 5:50, and made our way to Port-Au-Prince on Sunday morning. Needless to say, I'm posting this a little after the fact. But I'll leave the next part of the story up to Nick, he's got a lot to tell.

'Till next time,

Brian P.

Day 3

Day 3

Limonad is in the Northern Part of Haiti, right outside of the biggest Northern City, Cap Haitian. As stated in the other blogs, our Hostess, Gabby Vincent, lives about an hour away from our sites at RAFAVAL (the womens’ group chocolate factory) and the start up school, CIMA. Every day we have been taking Taptaps, which are the colorful trucks that are the Haitian form of taxis. Here’s a picture of one:

They are not the most comfortable of vehicles, but have been awesome for team bonding and sitting really close together. Lots of arms have been placed around each other, and many games of Essence have been played. As Kylee has mentioned, the roads are terrible with massive potholes and a lot of the time are made of dirt/mud and gravel.

Today (Wednesday the 4^th), we left in the rain after a delicious breakfast of coffee, spaghetti and bananas, hahaha. The roof of the Taptap was leaking on Timmy’s shoulder, as well as Kylee who was sitting across the way. Luckily, Nick brought mobile speakers that he had gotten for Christmas (thank you Nick’s family!) and we were rocking out on our way to RAFAVAL. I’m sure many Limonadians thought that the group of dancing Blancs in the back of the taptap were out of their mind, but it helped pass the time while we got wet and were rocked around by pot holes.

Once we arrive at RAFAVAL, the business group (Taylor, Nick, Katie, Melody and Brian) went into their office with Patrick (our translator) and interviewed many of the administration and the workers of the chocolate factory. They argued a little bit about the feasibility of the business, but reached an agreement on many of the issues. They started to make ledgers to track how much of the product the factory was selling each day, and started to make other forms to organize the positions and hierarchy within the business. I was not part of the group, but I believe that was the gist of what they accomplished.

The education group (Kylee, Hannah, Timmy and Me) met up in a different room within RAFAVAL and interviewed the teachers of CIMA with our Hostess, Gabriel, who started Sonje Ayiti (the organization that we went through to help both CIMA and RAFAVAL). Gabriel translated for us and we asked them basic questions about the school. They have 50-some kindergarteners and 1^st graders. They are learning basic reading and writing, math, singing and history, as well as social skills and how to interact in more formal settings. We found that school is looked upon as a luxury, especially in this severely poor community. Almost no one can afford to go to school, private or public, let alone get past elementary school. We asked the teachers what they needed from us. Besides a school that isn’t hosted within a ripping tent and clean water, they needed help organizing the content they were teaching, so the children would more easily pass the government exams to move up in grades. We set up to make up a basic lesson plan template for the teachers in which they could list the objective for the lesson, pre-evaluate what the students already know, instruct the lesson and evaluate how much the students took in (the OPIE model).

For lunch we had tuna sandwiches with some spicy seasoning. It was delicious. Once we rode back to Gabby’s in the taptap, it would around 4 in the afternoon. We took a nap and had an awesome dinner of seasoned rice, fish with heads, tails and bones (despite the disgusting display, was REALLY delicious).

We did reflection in the boys room and talked about our overall goals for the trip and how they were still being applied in each group. After reflection, we played several games of MAFIA which I was a terrible mayor for. We also did some planning for the next day and put several charts and plans on our computers.

So that is all from Day 3. We are having an awesome time and are in good hands.

Having the experience of our lives,

Billy and the WM Haiti Compact.

Day 1

Southampton County vs. Haiti

I never thought that it was possible for me to be this completely exhausted at 8:23 p.m., but here it is, 8:23, and I’m surprised I’m even awake enough to write this blogpost. Our journey started early this morning at 2:45 a.m., when all of us woke up and got our bags together and scarfed down bagels and coffee courtesy of our team member Brian’s family who are complete godsends. After heading to IAD and arriving (and standing in line for what felt like forever), we had the chance to run into a woman who knew Timmy and is apparently the “Drew Stelljes” of Shenandoah University (and we didn’t even hold that against her, Drew!), who was on her way to Cuba. Only the beginning of random run-ins throughout our time here. After a fiasco with Melody’s checked keyboard and the discovery that the American Airlines worker thought Haiti was a city and a place where trade embargo is enforced, we headed through security (wassup no full-body screenings for anyone!) and had enough time to grab coffee and yogurt before we boarded our flight. I consider myself a non-nervous flyer, but there were some gross things going on during our ascent – lots of turbulence and shakes that were not well received by my near-dehydrated (because of lots of coffee and no water) state. After a brief layover in Miami, we were on our way to Port-au-Prince International Airport. The heat and humid air welcomed us with open arms as did the old standby mariachi-ish band of Ayitians that greeted us warmly in May.

Katie & I successfully navigated our team through Immigration Services and Customs and were praying with every being inside of each of us that when we walked outside past the amounts of swarming people searching for ways to make money, we would be greeted by Gabrielle’s smiling face – and to our relief, WE WERE! She gave us lots of hugs and kisses and welcomed us and escorted us into two waiting cars – a Nissan truck and a Nissan Pathfinder. Timmy & Melody hopped into the truck and the other seven of us hopped into the Pathfinder – and let me tell you, that was only the start of our journey. Now the title of this blog can make sense – I come from a small town surrounded by the vast boonies of Southampton County – and I thought I was a country girl at heart who knew how to roll with the big guys and be in the middle of nowhere. Somehow I found myself as we were bumping along the dirt roads (after a lengthy drive or wind around mountains that made even my strong stomach feel nauseous) completely blown away by the lack of things that were present. Roads peppered with large rocks were normal, as was driving through deep water. It was refreshing to me to watch the faces of Brian, Billy, Hannah, and Taylor as we drove these roads and saw the wide-eyed wonder and fascination that was present in their faces. It even made me giggle – remembering fondly the horrible feeling that I walked out the airport with in May – one of undeserved leadership, nervousness, but most of all – one of complete and utter fear of what was about to transpire. There was no such feeling this time – instead it was replaced by a feeling of excitement, joy, and near familiarity of the area.

Our car ride (which was supposed to be a bus ride – hey ya’ll, it’s Haiti – we have to be flexible!) ended up taking us 5.5 hours – which doesn’t seem like a horribly long time until you realize that you don’t get to stop and it’s windy and half of it consists of roads that have never been paved and have potholes that my 6’5” father could lay inside of and have extra room. We rolled with it, and although there was excited Backstreet Boys singing in the truck, in our car – we decided to replace the lyrics of Wiz Khalifa’s “Young, Wild, and Free” and finish the chorus with ‘Livin’ young and wild and in Haiti’ which I’m sure will be a repeated track on our trip, I’m sure.

Finally – we’re here! At Gabrielle’s house – which is much farther out in the boonies than any hunt club or random farm is in Southampton County is. I’m so excited for what is to come this week – lots of new experiences, love, smiles, and change. So, even though I’m disappointed to say that Southampton County loses the “boonies” challenge, I’m not disappointed to be able to find myself this week in new situations and revel in the opportunities that are about to come my way.

We’ll keep you posted – although we have somewhat limited wireless access and I’m 99% sure this might not get posted tonight!

Tons & Tons of Love to all of our favorite people –

Kylee & the rest of the Haiti Compact gang

We're Safe & Well!

Hi everybody!

I’m writing you from bright and sunny Limonade, a fairly small village in the northern province of Haiti. We have been here since we arrived on Monday and will be making the four to six hour trek back to Port-au-Prince on Saturday. We have been staying with Gabrielle Vincent, the president of Sonje Ayiti, a non-profit organization that does great work here in Limonade. Unfortunately, her house does not have very good internet access, which is why we have been unable to post a blog before now.

Right now, however, we are working out of Rafaval, a cocoa factory run by a number of Haitian women in Limonade. Kylee, Billy, Hannah, and I were showing two Haitian teachers a lesson planning document we made last night on my computer and Patrick, our translator, was kind enough to let us borrow his modem to update you all!

Overall, we have had an amazing experience here in Limonade and in Haiti in general. However, I think our new folks experienced a bit of culture shock at the airport in Port-au-Prince, where you walk out and the “red hats” all try to “help” you with your bags. After navigating the airport via vice grips on our bag” and stubborn refusals to tip for the red hats’ “help,: we met up with Gabrielle and made the afore-mentioned four to six hour ride from Port-au-Prince to Limonade.

To say the ride was adventurous might be a large understatement. The first leg of our trip consisted of hairpin turn after hairpin turn up and down a mountain, which promptly lead to the “Parady Puke.” Fortunately, Brian seemed to make a full recovery in time for approximately three hours of travel on unpaved roads full of potholes, boulders, and mini streams that needed to be crossed. Despite the adventurousness, I think all of us appreciated the opportunity to see the Haitian countryside and see far more of the country than we would have from the air.

Thoroughly exhausted after arriving at Gabrielle’s house, we ate dinner, reflected, and went straight to bed – at 8pm. It was awesome. Approximately 6.5 hours after going to bed – 4:30am, for those whose math skills might be lacking – my bed (i.e. the top bunk) promptly fell onto Nick (i.e. the bottom bunk). Sorry to humiliate you, Mom, and don’t worry, Nick’s parents, he survived the ordeal completely unscathed – not even a scratch! Actually, he barely even woke up. Needless to say, it has become our go-to topic for a good laugh. And the Haitians think it is the funniest thing since forever. So that happened.

As for more substantial things, we have been split into two teams (though we both work out of Rafaval) – the Business (Nick, Taylor, Brian, Katie, and Melody) and Education (Kylee, Hannah, Billy, and Timmy) teams. The Business Team has been working with the women from Rafaval on a variety of things to help their business; I’m sure you will hear more details of their work in a future blog post.

The Education team has worked with three teachers from a school in Cima, an even smaller village outside of Limonade, to work on a method for lesson planning and curriculum building. Not surprisingly, the language barrier has been a struggle and the team without Gabrielle as a translator has been at a disadvantage. I think we have done a great job of pushing through, however, and we have made remarkable progress with our respective groups. I can’t really speak for the Business Team, but I know the Education Team has been encouraged by our progress and the teachers have made us feel that what we have worked with them on will actually be useful to them. We have been extremely cautious to repeatedly seek their feedback – there’s nothing worse than assuming what they need (like we could ever know) and giving them something that isn’t all that helpful. We have worked really hard to make sure our mutual time (so both our time and the teachers’) has been spent effectively.

There’s so much to talk about, but this blog has already gotten pretty long and there are many more people whose perspectives you all should hear from. Please just know that we are all feeling very safe and secure here in Limonade – the hospitality from Sonje Ayiti and the Haitian people in general has been heartening. We feel like our time and the resources used to get us here have been well-spent and we’re very much looking forward to the next several days here in Haiti.

So long for now,

Timmy

Saving the Best for Last!

Hello Blog readers!

As Timmy has already alluded to, I am the last to post my introductory blog post.  I believe there is some ancient (and quite profound) proverb that says (loosely) “he who is best always comes last”; which I am definitely going to prescribe to now!  I must admit it is a little difficult to keep up with teammates as motivated as mine!

A little about me…  I am currently a sophomore at the College, but spent my freshman year at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (about 20 minutes from where I live).  In addition to being involved in the William & Mary Haiti Compact, I am a member of Beta Theta Pi along with Nick and Billy, play on the College’s Croquet Team, and have just been selected to give tours with the Admissions office.  I am also a member of the William & Mary DC Summer Institute of Community Engagement, through which I will intern at a public policy in Washington D.C. this summer.

As Kylee mentioned in an earlier post, my interest in Haiti stems from my family.  I am one of five children, with three adopted siblings.  I have a brother and a sister who were adopted from South Korea, and a sister who we adopted from Haiti in 2001 as a nine year old.  In addition, my mom and her friend started a foundation that aimed to provided proper nutrients to children within orphanages by collecting baby formula (a much needed, but often hard to come by, resource in Haiti).  As a result, I have been aware of the challenges faced by Haiti for most of my life, yet have felt as though I did not have anything to contribute.  Upon meeting Nick, and later the rest of the team, I realized that in joining the Haiti Compact I would be able to institute real social change, and truly make a difference.

I look forward to keeping you updated on our progress!

-Taylor 

(I have also included a great picture of myself for Kylee…)