From Percin to Jacmel

Thursday afternoon, Thony drove me and Rachael out to Petit Goave. Percin is a community in Petit Goave where most of the men are subsistence fishermen. From the Wesleyenne compound, you can look to the ocean and see a bunch of tiny fishing boats docked offshore. When you’ve found those boats, you’ve found Percin.

The view from the Wesleyenne compound. Find the fishing boats, find Percin

Rachael and Sarah lived in Percin in the summer of ’08 where they began building relationships with the members of the community. Part of Rachael’s mission while in Haiti is to continue the work that has been done in Percin and to continue the building of the relationship between her church and the community.  Rachael and I spent the day taking pictures of the sponsored children in Percin’s school. Some of the kids refused to smile while others were posing like models on the catwalk. Kids are so funny sometimes.

I ran into some old friends at the Wesleyenne compound and ended up going to dinner with them at a pizza and ice cream spot that had neither pizza nor ice cream. False advertisement? It happens a lot in Haiti. The food they had was delicious though. As soon as we were done with the chicken, they brought out the plantains. As soon as the plantains were finished and we thought the meal was over, they brought out the rice. As soon as the rice showed up, more friends did too. It was a good night.

Friday morning we headed to the church to meet up with the sponsored children and their families. The 3 of us pulled out our laptops and got to work. We interviewed each child and their parents (if they were present) and filled out the sponsorship update form with the answers they gave us. We covered everything from progress in school to health conditions, changes in the family and living situations to dreams and goals. Some children were going to school for the very first time, others were advancing to the next grade. Many talked about how they lost family members and their houses in the earthquake. A few talked about how they want to be preachers, teachers, and athletes when they grow up. In fact, one kid wanted to be all three. Aim high, little buddy, aim high! I wish I knew how to say that in Creole.

Some of the kids that live near Percin stopped by to hang out with us for the day

Friday night, we were back in Port-Au-Prince. Saturday, I spent the night with my good friend, Kellyanne. Dinner with her and her roommate, Jill, was delicious. Afterwards, some of the Quisqueya crew came over and we passed the time talking and enjoying each other’s company. Sunday we went to a house church located between Kellyanne’s house and my apartment. The message was from Andy Stanley, and it hit home. You know how sometimes you look at someone and know that what they’re saying is from God and it is being said specifically for you? It was one of those messages. So, so good.

This week we’re going out to Jacmel to meet with a pastor and a volunteer in the community to discuss what work I can do.  Jacmel is so close to my heart and having the opportunity to work there would be beyond great. I know that God had a community in mind when He sent me to Haiti and if Jacmel is that community, it would bring me back to the place where my work in Haiti began. God always finishes the work He starts in places and in people. I wouldn't be surprised if working in Jacmel was an extension of that character trait. We will see.

Praises: We’re no longer sick and we’ve gotten to work in the field just a tiny bit

Prayer Requests: A community to work with and housing or a host home in Jacmel

Trash and Treasures

When I was a kid, everyone put their trash at the end of their driveways on Sunday nights. Around 7 pm, you’d see people driving around picking through the trash. I remember one time my dad took me out to see what there was- a table, a stroller, a highchair, a broken tv, and a couch- nothing worth getting… until we found the little red wagon. It had a broken axle, but we knew that it could be easily fixed and my little brother and I would put it to good use. By the time we came back with the car, someone else had already taken it from the trash. Oh, the little red wagon.

This memory flooded my mind on Wednesday night. Around 6 pm, Dokte picked us up and took us to Truitier, a landfill located outside of Port-Au-Prince. One of my monthly donors got me in contact with George, a man she knew from high school. He is a subcontractor for the company that manages Truitier and was helping us dispose of some waste. While we were there, he pointed to the part of the landfill where the garbage trucks entered and dumped what had been collected in the streets and outside of homes in Port-Au-Prince and Cite Soleil. He asked us if we could see all the people. As Rachael and I strained to see through the dark, it became obvious that the lights we saw were headlamps from people picking through the trash. George told us that there were between 60 and 100 “pickers” living in Truitier. Each time a truck comes in, they pick through what was left behind. If there is food, they will eat it. If there is a tire, they will burn it, remove the metal, and sell it. If there are cans and bottles, they will collect them in a bag and recycle them. In fact, one picker has made over $30,000 from selling metal and recycling.  He’s already put that money towards building a house in the country. It may not be the ideal way to live, but it may be one of the few ways for this man's dream to come true.

Both here and afar, it is true that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. 

The Pickers
Photo by Alexandre Meneghini

 Thank you George and your crew, for all the hard work you do at Truitier.

What the Weekend Entails

This past weekend was a good way to kick off our down time here in Haiti. Rachael and I want to start a tradition of eating out every Friday as a way to celebrate the weekend. So, after work on Friday, the 3 of us were walking to Hot N’ Fresh when we ran into Dokte. He drove us to the restaurant (so we didn't have to cross the busy intersection at rush hour) and joined us for dinner. He ran into some old schoolmates and fellow doctors at the restaurant, so they joined us too. They were a part of World Hope International’s NPI project that ended in December of 2010. Now they work for Sean Penn’s organization. I don’t know how we continue to meet employees of Sean Penn, but we do. We ended up sitting at Hot N’ Fresh for THREE hours talking. The night was filled with laughter and much needed socialization.

Saturday morning we tore the house apart in a cleaning frenzy. By the time we were done, the house looked as shiny as Mr. Clean’s head! Maureen had been here for 5 weeks and still hadn’t done anything that every tourist has to do while they’re in Haiti. So in the afternoon, Thony and his family took us up to the Baptist Mission to do some shopping and then took us to The View. At The View, you can see the entire city of Port-Au-Prince, including the bay, suburbs, the palace, the US Embassy, and the airport. We also saw the U.S.N.S. Comfort sitting in the bay. The people that ate with us on Friday night both rode on the helicopters that take patients to and from the Comfort in emergency situations. 

The View of Port-Au-Prince with the USNS Comfort in the bay

We woke up on Sunday morning with the intentions of going to church. However, we had a few complications along the way. So, we decided that it would be a good time to do laundry. By doing laundry, I mean getting 3 buckets full of water, hand washing every article of clothing, rinsing off the soap, then rinsing it again before wringing it out and hanging it up to dry. Not even 5 minutes passed before the skin started peeling off my hand from wringing the towels. It took us about three hours to do all of our laundry. Right after we came inside, it started to rain. So, we frantically ran outside and took down the clothes. We had no choice but to turn our apartment into a giant clothes line. Clothes were EVERYWHERE.

Forget washing machines
Photo by Maureen Bergey

Later that day, Dokte picked us up and took us to a tent city near the airport. This tent city is one of the HIV/AIDS vulnerable communities in which PREVSIDA is working. The PREVSIDA crew organized a soccer tournament for this community; everyone came out to watch. In fact, the perimeter of the soccer field was not formed from painted lines, but instead formed by people. It wasn’t long before someone brought speakers and a laptop. Then the fun really started. There’s something about music that connects everyone, regardless of age, race, sex, occupation, or economic status. The semi-final game ended with a win from the blue team. The final game was tied and it was getting too dark to see the goals. So, it came down to a coin toss. The white team won. Everyone gathered around for pictures as the awards were being given. After the music stopped and the games ended, people went back to their homes as we went back to ours. It never really feels right coming home to an apartment after spending the day in a tent city or falling asleep in a bed after passing a child sleeping on the street. I’m still getting used to living in this paradox we know as Haiti. 

Penalty kicks in the semi-finals

Monday kicked off another week of work. Rachael and I have been working on editing letters that the sponsored children have written to their donors. The letters were translated from Creole to English, but there are spelling and grammatical errors that need to be corrected before being sent back to the D.C. office. Reading these letters also lets us get a good feel for each child. Some children talk about their families, what they did during summer vacation, how well they’re doing in school, and what their ambitions are after graduating. Most of the children say something along the lines of, “If it wasn’t for you, I would not be getting an education,”  “Just know that if I go far in life, it is because of you,” or “Being an active part of my education is the greatest gift you could ever give to me.” When I see things like that, it makes me grateful for the education I had back home and yet worrisome for the children who still don’t have the chance to go to school. Haiti’s illiteracy rate is not only the highest in the Western Hemisphere, but is among the highest in the world. Without sponsorship programs like the ones run by World Hope International and the dedication and sacrifice made by teachers like Kellyanne and the Quisqueya crew, thousands of Haitian children would make the illiteracy statistic even higher than it is currently. Keep up the good work everyone!

This morning I received a phone call from Patrick (our upstairs neighbor) at 6:45 am telling me he was outside my door with a mechanic and needed me to let him in. It turns out that our cistern was leaking gallons and gallons of water. After they fixed some of the faucets, he advised me to take a shower with the little remaining water. Our only functional cistern remaining holds less than 200 gallons of water, which is enough for us to use for relatively 2 days. If the big cistern has a leak, as suspected, we’ll have to have a water truck fill up our smaller cistern every other day! That is not going to be fun at all.

Today is Maureen’s last day, so we’re taking her to the palace and then to dinner. Please pray for her as she returns home tomorrow and readjusts to the American culture. I’m a true believer that sometimes the initial culture shock of a third world country isn’t as difficult to overcome as it is to overcome reverse culture shock when returning back to a first world country. Rachael and I are definitely going to miss Maureen a lot. Thanks for everything, Maureen! :D

Praises: Between the two of us, the quarterly updates for the sponsored children are being completed at a fast pace, we are in relatively good health, and we are adjusting well

Prayer requests: for Maureen as she returns back to the United States; for the construction of the school in Cite Soleil; for patience and flexibility for me and Rachael; for the opportunity for us to begin working with people in the field as we are so anxious to do this; and for a solution to the problem with our cistern

Construction of the school in Cite Soleil

 

Tuesday- 8/30