Earthquakes and Waterfalls

These past two weeks, I’ve had a lot of work to do in Jacmel. I needed to finish up some work with the sponsored kids in Terre Rouge, give a short message to the Wesleyenne Church on Sunday, and take measurements of the field that will possibly be used for the reforestation project. I decided it would be cheaper and more time efficient if I stayed in Jacmel and worked instead of returning back to PAP.

 I had no plans on Saturday and 3 friends were coming to Jacmel, so we made plans to visit Basin Bleu. Basin Bleu is a series of waterfalls that form 3 basins of water, ranging from 15-75 feet deep. I think it may actually be one of Haiti’s national parks. 

So Saturday afternoon, Kellyanne, Kylie, Wesley, Pastor Robert, Emmanuel, Hermanie, Migueline, the driver, and I made the 20 minute drive up the mountains to this little hidden treasure. We hiked into the woods with our guides, went over little rock bridges, up and down steps made of stone, walked through the tops of waterfalls, and made it to each of the 3 basins. 

Kellyanne, Kylie, Pastor Robert, Emmanuel, and our driver walking over one of the stone bridges

The first basin- 15 feet deep

 When we got to the top basin, which is 75 feet deep, the guides took us swimming. Kylie being the daredevil she is, jumped off the rocks about 30 feet tall near the waterfall. She did this 3 times, each time more epically than the last. Me, being terrified of heights, jumped off a big rock that made an island in the middle of the basin. It was probably only 5-8 feet above the water.

I jumped off this rock.... Kylie jumped off that big waterfall behind the rock

The third time I jumped, though, something happened that didn’t happen the first two times. There was so much pressure in my ears that I thought I busted my ear drums. When I came to the surface, my ears hurt so badly that I actually checked to make sure they weren’t bleeding. They were fine so we kept swimming and enjoying our time at the basins. 

Later that night, the 4 of us went to dinner to meet up with one of Kellyanne’s friends who is doing relief work in Jacmel. At dinner, I got a text message telling me about an earthquake that had happened in Jacmel earlier that day. At first I didn’t believe it, so I asked everyone else at the table if they knew anything about it. Kellyanne’s friend said that there had been an earthquake shortly after 2 p.m. that day and this earthquake was unusual because it caused the atmospheric pressure to change so much in a matter of seconds. She said the change was painful for her ears and head. Then our chauffer chimed in and said he had climbed up to the top of the rocks while we were swimming and when he got to the top, he had felt the earthquake. After he said that, it all made sense. I had been underwater during the earthquake.

Although the jolt was strong enough for most people in the city to feel, I haven’t heard any stories of people being hurt, thankfully. I did find out that 3 days before, there was a stronger earthquake that had hit Jacmel. According to the time frame, I would have been on a moto heading home from my last class. So I somehow managed not to feel 2 earthquakes in 1 week.

Handwashing 101

Friday, the 28th I went out to a World Hope International sponsored school in Terre Rouge to talk to them about the importance of washing their hands. We passed out Haitian-made soap that was donated to KALMI by the Kwa Rouj Ayisien (Haitian Red Cross). Here's a picture video of the day. Enjoy :)

You can share this video by selecting the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqBMgeRpmTQ

*sorry about the long picture transitions.... I'm just now learning to make movies with pictures*

The Name of the Game...

I would like to explain the rules of the games we play in Haiti. Here are the top two.

Where are they from?

Origin: We made it up

Played: Anywhere

Entertainment Level: Amusing, imaginitive, satisfying

Skills Needed: Deductive reasoning, knowledge of foreign countries and their stereotypes, eye for detail, ability to hear and identify foreign languages, a good imagination

Whenever we see a group of foreigners, we play this game. We ask three main questions...

1: Where are the foreigners from?

2: What are they doing in Haiti? 

3: What are they doing at their current location?

For example, Dokte took Rachael and I to a restaurant in Petionville. Once we got there, we noticed a large population of Blan (Creole for foreigner/white person) with a few Haitians, too. We couldn't hear them, but we could tell by the way they dressed that the blan were American. Question 1- Answered. We guessed they were relief workers, probably in the public health department and they had Haitians on staff. Question 2- Answered. We then decided that they were meeting at the restaurant to say goodbye to one of their long-time employees. Question 3- Answered.

Question 1: Correct

Question 2: Incorrect

They were from a Catholic group in Port-Au-Prince. We discovered this when we scouted out for their car in the parking lot. Creepers, it's what we are.

Question 3: We will never know if we were right or wrong.

This game is great because for 2 out of the 3 questions, we're always right. The game is pure imagination. We never ask the people where they're from, so they're from wherever we say they are. They are from wherever you think they are. Usually we can narrow it down based on the language they speak, but not always. They work wherever you think they work. They are who you want them to be.

For example, a French-speaking woman walks into Hot N Fresh. She's from France (not because we know she's French, but because she's speaking French and we say she's from France). She has boots on, so she works construction. Plus, the back of her shirt says something in French about construction. It was a dead give-away. She's eating lunch. We win!

Punch Blan

Origin: A derivative of punch buggy, modified and stolen from the Hawaiian man at the airport

Played:

For Chinwas, anywhere.

For Blan, anywhere except large grocery stores, the house church, and the airport

Entertainment Level: It's a riot, comical, amusing, stress relieving, and down right dirty

Skills Needed: Quick reflexes, long attention span, a strong arm, and the ability to see far

This game is great. It's our favorite. Whenever you see a Blan (foreigner/white person), you yell, "Punch Blan" and you get to punch the person next to you on the arm. It's punch bug with a twist.

Punches:

White person: 1 punch

White person with blonde hair: 1 punch and 1 slap

White person with red hair (aka- ginger): 1 punch, whisper "ginger", and dance

Chinwa (Creole for any person of Asian descent): 2 punches





A Day in the Field

So Rachael had a post of what our day-to-day activities are like in Port-Au-Prince . That was a great idea and you should definitely check it out. However, our lives can sometimes be pretty mellow in Port-Au-Prince as we work in the office each day. Our lives on the field, on the other hand, are quite the opposite. They're filled with new experiences, awkward encounters, language and cultural barriers, laughter, friendship, unity, and an understanding that goes beyond words.

Here's what a typical day looks like for me on the field in Jacmel...

4:00 a.m.- City power has just shut off and I wake up when my fan shuts off.
4:30 a.m.- Hear a rooster crowing outside my window. Fall back asleep.
4:55 a.m.- Hear the rooster crowing again. It seems as if he's found a friend.
5:30 a.m.- The roosters have found yet another friend. I think to myself, "They better learn Spanish quickly because I'll punt all three of them across the border if they keep it up!" Fall back asleep.
6:20 a.m.- Wake up, walk behind the church and get my shower ready.
6:22 a.m.- Hermanie gives me a bucket of water for shower.
6:45 a.m.- Dress and go inside. Apply bug spray. Brush teeth. Attempt to have pretty hair for the day.
6:55 a.m.- Attempt fails. Hair goes in a ponytail.
7:10 a.m.- Quiet time and read passages from 2 Corinthians.
7:45 a.m.- Hermanie brings me coffee, bread, and cheese for breakfast. Coffee is exceptionally good today because there is so much sugar in it that milk and/or cream is not needed.
8:15 a.m.- Help Hermanie and Migueli wash dishes.
8:30 a.m.- Clean room and collect dirty laundry.
8:50 a.m.- Meet Ricardo outside of church gate. Three people on a 2-seater moto- pray for protection and thank God for a good driver.
9:02 a.m.- Arrive at KALMI and start the first English class of the day. We grew by 5 people today.
10:50 a.m.- Laugh out loud when a 45-year-old man in my class wrote "I speak English like a native" and then again when he changed it to say, "a native with an accent." Good translation. He would get an A+.
11:00 a.m.- Dismiss class.
11:10 a.m.- Hop on the moto with Ricardo to buy more chalk. A box of 100 pieces costs 175 gourdes or $4.38.
11:17 a.m.- Kick a pedestrian in the gut and nearly flash all of Jacmel when trying to get off the moto in a skirt. Epic fail.
11:24 a.m.- Punch Ricardo when I see another Blan. He is startled when I punch him, which means I have to explain the game we know as "Punch Blan". He thinks it's funny, but I can tell by his laugh that he will never play it because he doesn't want to punch me. It's more of a love pat, really.
11:25 a.m.- Get off moto without kicking anyone. Winning!
11:27 a.m.- Return to KALMI and work on lesson plans.
11:43 a.m.- Walk to Jacmel Epi for lunch.

12:35 p.m.- Power goes out while I'm eating lunch. No problem.
12:42 p.m.- Power comes back on.
12:58 p.m.- Return to KALMI.
1:00 p.m.- Prepare lesson plans for tomorrow.
2:00 p.m.- Start class #2.
3:00 p.m.- Start class #3.
4:15 p.m.- Catch a ride to the Wesleyan Church with Ricardo. This time he gets no punches because I did not see any other Blan.
6:00 p.m.- At the Wesleyan Church I begin teaching class #4 to some of the members of the congregation.
8:00 p.m.- Class #4 ends- time to unwind.
8:14 p.m.- Eat dinner that Hermanie made and watch a soccer game with her, Migueli, and Manuel. Dinner is a salad, avocado, tomatoes, chicken hotdogs, and potato fries.
9:12 p.m.- Hermanie fills bucket full of water.
9:17 p.m.- Shower under the starts listening to a Compas band practice down the street.
9:54 p.m.- Crawl in bed and read The Things They Carried. Good book.
10:32 p.m.- Turn out the lights, yell "bon nwit" over the wall to Migueli and Hermanie. They yell it back.

Jacmel

Well, God gave me a community to work with in Jacmel, just as I had thought and hoped. Actually, He gave me more than one. :D

This week I'll begin teaching English to 50 youth at the KALMI center and 15-20 members of the Wesleyan Church in Jacmel.

KALMI

KALMI is a place for youth to meet, spend time together, and learn new things along the way. There are about 70 individuals altogether and many of them have HIV/AIDS. Currently they have computer classes each day of the week and hope to resume their film-making classes soon. They've asked me to start English classes and hold a class so they can learn how to make bracelets that they can sell. They have a field outside of the city that is going to be used for a reforestation project. They're basically going to turn the field into a nursery for a few months and when the trees and plants are strong enough, they'll take them to various parts of the mountain that are known for erosion.  Planting the trees in those areas should prevent soil erosion and land slides during the rainy season. Talk about cool! They're also interested in doing a community clean up project and painting a mural on one of the walls outside of the youth center. I cannot wait to get my hands dirty with these kids! 

We have such a great trade-off... they teach me Creole and I teach them English. I'll help with informatics classes and they'll eventually teach me how to make a movie. They have the land and some, but not all of the resources needed for the reforestation project. I have a little bit of money to help buy soil and seeds and I have incoming teams that can serve as additional helping hands. They have hand-made crafts for sale, but don't know how to organize a yard sale. I don't have any hand-made crafts except for bracelets, but I can surely help them organize a yard sale!  I feel like this is a perfect example of how God gives each of us special talents and people who have strengths in our weak areas.

The KALMI sign in one of the classrooms

Eglise Wesleyenne de Jacmel

This is the church that my team volunteered at the very first time I ever went to Haiti. The pastor of the church, Pastor Robert, contacted me and asked me if I could also teach English to a few members of his congregation. In exchange for teaching, he's giving me a place to stay while I'm in Jacmel. Since I'm paying for an apartment in Port-Au-Prince, I couldn't afford to pay for a place in Jacmel. Not have a place to sleep would make my work out there pretty difficult.... but now that's not a problem! Even though I don't speak Creole well enough to know what they're saying, I would really enjoy attending their prayer meetings on Friday nights. Prayer is a beautiful thing in itself, but prayer in multiple languages is magestic.

Pastor Robert's church- Leglise Wesleyenne de Jacmel

A view from the pulpit

Our new roommate

Rachael and I welcomed our new roommate yesterday. Her name is Sarah and she'll be working with the Hope for Children program. She'll be here for the next 6 months. We're glad to have her.

An Adventure in Jacmel

So one of my favorite people at KALMI is a guy named Maxo. Maxo lives near the director of the KALMI center and he's always driving his moto around Jacmel, giving people rides where they need to go. Well on Friday morning, the director and I were walking up the road to catch a taxi when Maxo's uncle drove by and told us Maxo had been in an accident. So, we hopped in the car with Maxo's uncle and went to the scene of the accident, which just so happened to be in front of a hospital. When we got there, the police were taking Maxo and the other driver to the police station to fill out a report. Maxo's passenger was in the hospital getting xrays (for only $12.50 a piece.... blows my mind!). So, I got to go to a Haitian hospital, see the xrays, and go into the area where burn victims and people with broken bones were being treated. There were a lot of people there who were receiving treatment from road rash caused from moto accidents. Luckily Maxo's passenger had no broken bones or burns. She and Maxo were both really lucky!

After she was released, we headed to the jail, prison, and police station (all one building) to get Maxo. We literally just walked right into the police station, through the crowd of detained individuals, and into the reporting office. The jail was really cool looking. It was a 2-story building in the shape of a square with a covered courtyard where the detained individuals waited to be released. On each floor were open offices where police officers took accident and criminal reports. They hand wrote each report in a spiral bound notebook. It was SO different than anything I had ever seen before. While I was waiting for Maxo to be released, I started wandering around the courtyard (staying within sight of everyone I knew, though). I ended up finding the bathrooms and on the door was one of the craziest signs I have ever seen here. It was written in Creole, but basically said that police officers were not allowed to use old police reports as toilet paper because it clogs the toilets. I was dying laughing when I realized that's what it said! Anyways, Maxo was released shortly after and was given his moto back. Everyone in the accident was okay, thankfully!

More adventures to come.... thanks for reading!