It's been 5 days since our return from Haiti and I'm just now feeling like it is time to write my last post. My mind has been in so many different places and thoughts have yet to stop running through my head. Being home is very surreal. I'm throwing myself back into my usual routine but Haiti is on my mind. Showering without having to turn the water on and off, brushing my teeth with the faucet rather than a bottle of water, and eating food other than rice and beans is now my new routine but to be honest, I do miss living a more simple, but satisfying life in 85 degree weather in a tropical paradise. I decided to take a short trip to Chicago on Monday to see some friends and my sister. While on the road I got a notification on my phone that one of my friends from Haiti had friended me on Facebook and had sent me a message. My initial reaction was to scream and then get control of the car because I thought I was going to go into the ditch and then shed a few tears. I cannot describe my excitement. It felt so nice to be able to tell all of my friends about my trip and show them all of my pictures. On my drive home I had my ipod on shuffle and We Are the World (the remake for Haiti) came on. I thought, how ironic, because 1) ever since I returned I had been seeing/hearing so many articles, pictures, etc on Haiti and 2) because it was the one year anniversary of the earthquake. I broke down...and attempted to sing at the same time, which I assure you was not pretty, but I didn't care. I loved that song before I went to Haiti but now it just brings back so many beautiful memories. During the song all of the returned and I couldn't help but to smile, cry, and belt out the song all at once. I hope that Haiti has instilled some changes in my life. I hope that I am motivated to live my life full of optimism and hope like all of the amazing people that I met in Haiti. I hope that when life starts to stress me out that I take a seat and remember to live day to day, hour to hour, minute to minute and not sweat the small things because there are many more important things that I need to worry about. The country and the people inspired me and taught me more than I could have ever imagined that they would and I hope that I did something for them too.
I will go back. I'm not sure when, but I know that I will. So, until then, I hope you all have enjoyed my blog and I am so happy that I was able to share with you my experience there.
Thank you all for reading.
More to come.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Friday, January 7, 2011
Sèt
Today...where do I start? We headed off to the worksite at the same time this morning. It rained a few times during the night and once very early in the morning (only Jan knew about that rain) so I woke up in a panic at 6am (partly from panic and partly from the rooster that had been squaking since who knows when) because I thought if it rained today we wouldn't be able to work and therefore wouldn't be able to see all of our friends again before we left. But I was relieved to find out that we were indeed still going to work. It was a hot one, but we only worked until around 11 when we all started wrapping up each house to gather our gifts together. My little guys were hanging around throughout the morning and I made sure to tell them to be there around 11:30 so that we could say goodbye. A few of us who had made some very special relationships with the kids and young adults who hung out and helped us at the work site were able to get their information to pass along to Barb in order to set up a sponsorship for them. DeeDee got the information for one of my little guys, Peter (yes, I'm claiming them all as my own), Pastor did the same for his little guy Evan, and my Dad did the same for his buddy Steevenson. Throughout the morning while we were working however, my dad and I were frequently scanning the work site to see if Steevenson (first name Jean-Baptiste, but goes by his last name) would make it after returning from school. We both kindof shrugged our shoulders as we got on the bus because we still had not seen him show up. Dad made sure he talked to Nathan (the piano player at the church who said he knew Steevenson) and asked if he would get all the information needed for the sponsorship and email it to him so he could pass it along to Barb. Just as we had both kindof given up on being able to see him one more time, Dad happened to look up and see Nathan waving wildly at him and pointing to Steevenson who had just made it in time. I don't think I've ever seen my dad exit a vehicle faster than he did today. While he got all of Steevenson's information (and at the same time forgot to mention to him that we wanted to sponsor him), I frantically dumped all of the contents of my backpack into DeeDee's bag. I jumped off the bus and handed my backpack to Steevenson who kindof looked back at me with a blank look on his face. I told him, "Take this for school." He didn't speak a lot of English but managed to tell us "Thank you very much, may God bless you" over and over again. I don't think I've ever been happier. Definitely one of the best highlights of the day. I was able to give my shoes and gloves to Peter and Maxon, the brothers who I promised them to earlier in the week and handed over the majority of my suitcase to anyone who wanted it. Roberto and Douge, my two Spanish-speaking friends that I met for the first time on Monday, were hard to say goodbye to. The relationships that we all formed with them, especially Roberto who worked side-by-side with us from Monday afternoon on, are all so special and I think I can speak for all of us when I say that we will never forget them. I believe that most of us are now packing lightly and have a lot of room in our suitcase for souvenirs. After our tearful, but happy goodbyes we headed back to the clinic to change and leave again for lunch at a hotel right on the beach (...or right across the street, but close enough). After lunch we traveled down the road a bit to a more lively beach complete with seashell salesmen (a.k.a. little boys who followed us all over), live music (via a car with all of its windows and doors open, but hey, I heard Justin Bieber so I was a happy camper), and beer and bottles of rum and whiskey galore for sale. Once again, living the life here in Haiti. Some of us took the plunge into the water despite seeing a few gentlemen relieve themselves right into the water (I guess if you gotta go, you gotta go) while others walked along the beach or hung out around a table in the shade. We sped back to the clinic after the beach to enjoy our lobster dinner (rice and beans with a lobster stew on top, obviously delicious). After dinner we ate cake with Sidney, her son Howard, Nathan, and Dona (the woman who Dave coordinated this trip with, from LCC) and her family. After they left we all shared what was on our minds and had a great discussion within our little group. I wish I could explain to you all the emotions that have been running through me today, but there really are no words to describe it, as are there really not enough words to describe what this trip has done for all of us.
I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to come to this beautiful country and meet and form friendships with so many of the beautiful people here. Shoutout to my mom again for encouraging me to create this blog for everyone's reading pleasure :) and also for my own journaling purposes. Please still comment and ask questions if you feel the urge because I know that I, as well as everyone else on this trip, is itching to tell you all of the details of our experiences that we've had. Thank you all for reading.
More to come.
I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to come to this beautiful country and meet and form friendships with so many of the beautiful people here. Shoutout to my mom again for encouraging me to create this blog for everyone's reading pleasure :) and also for my own journaling purposes. Please still comment and ask questions if you feel the urge because I know that I, as well as everyone else on this trip, is itching to tell you all of the details of our experiences that we've had. Thank you all for reading.
More to come.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Sis
I'm currently lounging on the 3rd floor balcony with my feet on the railing and a Coke by my side, living the life. There's a sailboat in the distance (we've come to the conclusion that it's full of pirates, Pirates of the Caribbean, get it?...corny, I know). The water is blue and the sky is clear and Pastor just came up to inform us that we're heading to a bar for some beers in about 15 minutes. This is paradise.
After completing 3 houses (up to 5 rows high) we started on 2 new ones. We had to take a small break today (and by small I mean about an hour) waiting on a block delivery. Sidney (Pastor Marquis' wife) told us that throughout the week we had pushed brick production and it was difficult to keep up with the work...a compliment, I think. The work day went well and one of the 2 new houses we started on was complete (up to 5 rows). The first house we started on Monday now has windows on a few of the walls and is the farthest along in terms of progress. There really isn't much more to say because now that we have been working for 4 days, they all seem to run together. We've all found our jobs and that is what keeps the work running smoothly. Today, however, I sensed more relationships forming between our group and the workers that have been with us all week. While waiting for more bricks Jan and I pulled out pictures of our families to show some of the workers. (Beckie if you're reading this, they saw your picture and proceeded to say, "Ohhhhhhhh, muy bonita!!"...don't get confused because the men speak Creole but have realized that we really don't but can understand some Spanish, so that's how they communicate to us sometimes) My dad had some pictures of the snow and icicles from our house so I showed all of our worker friends what beautiful weather we get to enjoy during these winter months. They were pretty impressed. Now they understand why I kept telling them that I love the weather and scenery in Haiti. (I'm now writing after our trip from the bar) We cleaned out the bar-keep's stock of beer (oops!) and some of us purchased small bottles of rum for only $2! (Mom, you would love living in Haiti). Tonight we will enjoy some rum and beer and will probably all sleep like babies. Tomorrow we will work from 8-10am (maybe a little longer, hopefully at least, I need time with my little kids!) and then will spend the rest of the day at the beach and doing some shopping. As excited as I am to come home to freezing weather (not), I am also dreading tomorrow a little. I don't want to have to say goodbye to my friends that I have made here, BUT mi amigo Roberto told me that when I come back I have to call him and he said he will climb the fruit trees and give me some mangos and papayas and will also take me to the beach. What a gentleman!
Well, it's dinner time and it smells delicious so this is where I will end my post for the evening. Thank you all for continuing to read my blog and comment on it, it really means a lot to me and the rest of us here.
More to come.
After completing 3 houses (up to 5 rows high) we started on 2 new ones. We had to take a small break today (and by small I mean about an hour) waiting on a block delivery. Sidney (Pastor Marquis' wife) told us that throughout the week we had pushed brick production and it was difficult to keep up with the work...a compliment, I think. The work day went well and one of the 2 new houses we started on was complete (up to 5 rows). The first house we started on Monday now has windows on a few of the walls and is the farthest along in terms of progress. There really isn't much more to say because now that we have been working for 4 days, they all seem to run together. We've all found our jobs and that is what keeps the work running smoothly. Today, however, I sensed more relationships forming between our group and the workers that have been with us all week. While waiting for more bricks Jan and I pulled out pictures of our families to show some of the workers. (Beckie if you're reading this, they saw your picture and proceeded to say, "Ohhhhhhhh, muy bonita!!"...don't get confused because the men speak Creole but have realized that we really don't but can understand some Spanish, so that's how they communicate to us sometimes) My dad had some pictures of the snow and icicles from our house so I showed all of our worker friends what beautiful weather we get to enjoy during these winter months. They were pretty impressed. Now they understand why I kept telling them that I love the weather and scenery in Haiti. (I'm now writing after our trip from the bar) We cleaned out the bar-keep's stock of beer (oops!) and some of us purchased small bottles of rum for only $2! (Mom, you would love living in Haiti). Tonight we will enjoy some rum and beer and will probably all sleep like babies. Tomorrow we will work from 8-10am (maybe a little longer, hopefully at least, I need time with my little kids!) and then will spend the rest of the day at the beach and doing some shopping. As excited as I am to come home to freezing weather (not), I am also dreading tomorrow a little. I don't want to have to say goodbye to my friends that I have made here, BUT mi amigo Roberto told me that when I come back I have to call him and he said he will climb the fruit trees and give me some mangos and papayas and will also take me to the beach. What a gentleman!
Well, it's dinner time and it smells delicious so this is where I will end my post for the evening. Thank you all for continuing to read my blog and comment on it, it really means a lot to me and the rest of us here.
More to come.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Senk
I can see the layer of dust and dirt forming on top of my keyboard because instead of showering right away when we come home I always blog.
To answer a reader's burning questions: The weather here is unreal. It is so tropical (the picture that I attached for my blog page is the view from our balcony, just fyi). It gets up in the 80s during the day and cools off nicely at night. If you all are green with envy, I don't blame you. In regards to who will live in the houses that we are building: there is a committee at the church who decides what families get the houses. The criteria for qualification is that the family must be homeless (that sounds horrible to say, but in order for them to receive a house they must either have no home or live in a tent); if the decision is between a family without children and one with, then the family with children will get a house; basically the decision is circumstantial. There is a group of workers that has been hired to work with us by the church, so there are no family members helping us build. However, we do have a large number of volunteers who have been hanging around the worksite since Monday and are very eager to jump in and help us out. They are all very helpful and we all appreciate what they have been doing for us. And in terms of DeeDee's diet...she's eating well, as are the rest of us. Like kings and queens actually. Hopefully we all don't return having gained weight...but there's really no telling! Sandy-I hope that answered all of your questions! Please don't hesitate to ask more.
Okay-we've made it over the hump (in terms of working days). I think that each day is a little hotter than the one before, but not unbearable. I talked to a friend that I met the first day at the work site, his name is Kola (spelling??), and asked him what the weather is like in Haiti during the summer and he said, "Well, some people say it is scorching." I'm really glad we are here now...Three houses are currently in progress (I may have mentioned that early, so I apologize). One house has the re-bar installed all around the perimeter and today they started filling in the re-bar section with concrete. In order to do so, they install 2 wooden boards on either side of the wall to create a box and then fill it with concrete and let it set.
To answer a reader's burning questions: The weather here is unreal. It is so tropical (the picture that I attached for my blog page is the view from our balcony, just fyi). It gets up in the 80s during the day and cools off nicely at night. If you all are green with envy, I don't blame you. In regards to who will live in the houses that we are building: there is a committee at the church who decides what families get the houses. The criteria for qualification is that the family must be homeless (that sounds horrible to say, but in order for them to receive a house they must either have no home or live in a tent); if the decision is between a family without children and one with, then the family with children will get a house; basically the decision is circumstantial. There is a group of workers that has been hired to work with us by the church, so there are no family members helping us build. However, we do have a large number of volunteers who have been hanging around the worksite since Monday and are very eager to jump in and help us out. They are all very helpful and we all appreciate what they have been doing for us. And in terms of DeeDee's diet...she's eating well, as are the rest of us. Like kings and queens actually. Hopefully we all don't return having gained weight...but there's really no telling! Sandy-I hope that answered all of your questions! Please don't hesitate to ask more.
Okay-we've made it over the hump (in terms of working days). I think that each day is a little hotter than the one before, but not unbearable. I talked to a friend that I met the first day at the work site, his name is Kola (spelling??), and asked him what the weather is like in Haiti during the summer and he said, "Well, some people say it is scorching." I'm really glad we are here now...Three houses are currently in progress (I may have mentioned that early, so I apologize). One house has the re-bar installed all around the perimeter and today they started filling in the re-bar section with concrete. In order to do so, they install 2 wooden boards on either side of the wall to create a box and then fill it with concrete and let it set.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
announcement
Don't get too excited that I'm posting twice in one night...this is only an announcement. Tonight we had some visitors from Lutheran Church Charities who are here to take pictures and videos among other things in order to promote trips like ours. We were able to record some video testimonies that they are going to post on the website which is: www.lutheranchurchcharities.org
So, the point of this mini-post is: go to the website and check out our videos and spread the word because like I mentioned in mine (and I'm sure the others mentioned it as well), this is an experience of a lifetime and it is something that I urge everyone to do if possible. You won't regret it.
So, the point of this mini-post is: go to the website and check out our videos and spread the word because like I mentioned in mine (and I'm sure the others mentioned it as well), this is an experience of a lifetime and it is something that I urge everyone to do if possible. You won't regret it.
Kat
It's pretty ironic that today's post is titled "Kat" because that just happened to be the score of this morning's soccer game. "Kat a Kat" (4 to 4 for those of you who didn't quite pick up on that). For those of you who might have been doubting my soccer-playing abilities, I'll have you know that I contributed to my team by scoring 1 goal, nevermind that the goalie at the time was probably half my height, but that's not important. In terms of Pastor vs. the soccer game in general I believe the score was: soccer game: 2 (or 3, I lost count) and Pastor: 0. He suffered a few spills early on in the game and after about 10 minutes I turned around to find him on the sidelines. I don't blame him though because these kids were incredibly good at soccer and were probably pretty disappointed with the skills that I told them I had. There was a pretty competitive game going on when we arrived and it took a little negotiating to get them to let our kids play. After showing off a little I decided step out of the spotlight and let the kids shine. (Just kidding, obviously, these kids were unreal). After Pastor and I stepped out of the game our kids that we brought to the field were matched up against the kids that were already there. There were pep talks and coaching coming from a few of the guys that were there before us. One of them told the kids to behave because there was a pastor watching; Pastor got a kick out of that. Whenever there was controversey during the game it was like a small riot broke out. These guys were definitely passionate about their soccer. At one point one of the kids from the other team scored a goal and ran around with his hands in their air until a few of the older guys picked him up and swung him around. It was very World Cup-like. We finally packed up and headed back to the work site where one of the pastors from the church we went to held a short Bible study for the kids before we handed out juice, crackers, and candy that Pastor and I had picked up at the market before the game. The kids listened very attentively to a story about Samuel and Eli and then another lesson about forgiveness. The kids asked the Pastor some tough questions after the lesson, for example: If God created the whole world, why are there so many bad things in it? and When will all of God's people rise again? It was nice to see know that these kids think about things like that but heartbreaking at the same time because some of them know too much. One kid that Pastor hung around with, Evan, who spoke Spanish, pulled him aside and told him how his family didn't have any money and asked if Pastor Strom could get his dad a job. It breaks all of our hearts knowing that these kids have to worry about issues such as money, something that I personally never even thought about as a kid.
We brought 2 soccer balls to give to 2 of the boys. These kept them busy for a few minutes before they were back hanging on all of us. I was really excited to see all of them again today. Pastor told a few of them to wear the same shirts as yesterday so that he could recognize them. As soon as I stepped off the van this morning I was bombarded with kisses on the cheek and hugs and a quick name test to make sure I remembered all of their names.
In terms of our work progress today was definitely a step up from yesterday. We split ourselves into 3 or 4 groups and that way we were able to work on 3 houses at a time. We built all of the walls (5 rows up at least) on 2 houses. After 5 rows of blocks the engineer comes to the houses and installs a reinforcing bar around the entire house to ensure stability. One house's "re-bar" is almost completely installed minus about 4 feet. Tomorrow I'm assuming that they will install a re-bar on the house that I was working on. Hopefully while they do that we will be able to work on a few new houses. We were way more efficient and began to have a sort of flow. The houses that we're building are going to be consist of 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, a living area and 2 porches, one of which is sort of an outdoor kitchen.
There isn't much more to write. I'm currently sitting on the 2nd floor porch/balcony looking out over the ocean view that we have here at the clinic. Rather than quenching our thirst with water after a long days work, the majority of us went straight for the fridge where the beer was. Lutherans... It's almost dinner time a.k.a. time for me to sign off. Thank you for your comments, everyone is always asking if people are reading and commenting so keep em coming please.
More to come.
We brought 2 soccer balls to give to 2 of the boys. These kept them busy for a few minutes before they were back hanging on all of us. I was really excited to see all of them again today. Pastor told a few of them to wear the same shirts as yesterday so that he could recognize them. As soon as I stepped off the van this morning I was bombarded with kisses on the cheek and hugs and a quick name test to make sure I remembered all of their names.
In terms of our work progress today was definitely a step up from yesterday. We split ourselves into 3 or 4 groups and that way we were able to work on 3 houses at a time. We built all of the walls (5 rows up at least) on 2 houses. After 5 rows of blocks the engineer comes to the houses and installs a reinforcing bar around the entire house to ensure stability. One house's "re-bar" is almost completely installed minus about 4 feet. Tomorrow I'm assuming that they will install a re-bar on the house that I was working on. Hopefully while they do that we will be able to work on a few new houses. We were way more efficient and began to have a sort of flow. The houses that we're building are going to be consist of 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, a living area and 2 porches, one of which is sort of an outdoor kitchen.
There isn't much more to write. I'm currently sitting on the 2nd floor porch/balcony looking out over the ocean view that we have here at the clinic. Rather than quenching our thirst with water after a long days work, the majority of us went straight for the fridge where the beer was. Lutherans... It's almost dinner time a.k.a. time for me to sign off. Thank you for your comments, everyone is always asking if people are reading and commenting so keep em coming please.
More to come.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Twa
Please excuse any gramatical or spelling errors throughout my post, I don't think my hands have ever done so much work in one day before.
We started off our day around 8:30am. The worksite I mentioned in yesterday's post was where we are doing the building throughout this week. In all honesty, we had a bit of a slow start. We started by moving concrete blocks from one area to the house that we were building on. While some of us tested out our strength with the "bloks" (see, I'm learning Haitian creole), others walked back and forth with large buckets of water so mix for cement. We all thought we were pretty legitimate until this Haitian woman walks past us carrying one block on her head and another in her hand. She definitely showed us all up. After taking that blow to our ego we carried on. After we all got into a groove, the work picked up. I took several small breaks throughout the day to entertain the little boys that gathered at the site throughout the day. I'm not trying to brag but I'm pretty sure I have a lot of admirers. (Antonio, Peter, Maxon, Roberto, and the list goes on; keep the jealousy to yourself please). I wrote down my email several time so hopefully I get some mail from the little men sometime soon. We promised to bring a few soccer balls tomorrow and that promise quickly escalated into a soccer game and eventually into a World Cup. I really pumped up my soccer skills to the kids so hopefully they're not disappointed when they actually see me play. Pastor is frantically trying to find a striped shirt because he has claimed the job as referee. Game time is 9am, I'll let you all know the outcome tomorrow. While the kids were very entertaining, they were also very clever. They constantly asked for water, food, candy, and anything else they could get. It was very hard to say no because we all know that these kids have very little and to say no to their requests was very difficult. However, most of us decided that on the last work day we'll hand over our shoes and anything else that we can. I was able to talk to the kids about sports, music, and whatever else I could semi-translate to them. They mentioned listening to Michael Jackson and I assumed they liked some of his more popular songs such as "Billie Jean" or "Black and White", but I was pleasantly surprised when they started singing "We Are the World." Coincidentally there was a remake of that song made specifically for Haiti after the Earthquake by Wyclef Jean (who is also Haitian) and many other artisits. If you have a chance you should YouTube the video, I believe you can just type in "We Are the World, Haiti Remake" or something similar to that. It will definitely be worth your while. I was also able to carry on a pretty decent conversation (in Spanish, evidently all of my years of Spanish class is paying off) with two guys in their 20's who spoke Spanish as well as French, Creole, and a little bit of English. They told me about their desire for education, but expressed how difficult it is because they don't have money to pay for it. Unfortunately there are very little job opportunities therefore there is no money therefore they can't go to school. However they are very ambitious young men who have yet to give up their dreams of education. One of the men, Roberto (not the same Roberto from my list of admirers) opened up to Pastor and I about how he lost his mother and a few other familiy members in the earthquake. I found it very difficult to hold back tears as I told him how sorry I was for his losses. Peter (also a different Peter from the one previously mentioned) also told me about his earthquake experience. I was amazed at how easily they spoke about their experiences, but was very glad that they opened up to me about it. I was very impressed with the optimism that these young men have about their futures. They both lost their homes and are now living in tents but I never once heard them complain. Little do these people know, but they are teaching us way more about ourselves and our lives than we will ever teach them.
We ended the day around 4pm and piled into a van to head home. There may or may not have been a few fights for the shower...just kidding, but I do believe that I scraped off a thick layer of dust and dirt while in the shower. Tomorrow's schedule will be the same, except for Pastor and I who will be heading off to the soccer fields for our World Cup tournament.
That's all for tonight, I hope that you all are getting a decent idea of what's going on here. It is definitely something that everyone should experience in their lifetime.
More to come.
We started off our day around 8:30am. The worksite I mentioned in yesterday's post was where we are doing the building throughout this week. In all honesty, we had a bit of a slow start. We started by moving concrete blocks from one area to the house that we were building on. While some of us tested out our strength with the "bloks" (see, I'm learning Haitian creole), others walked back and forth with large buckets of water so mix for cement. We all thought we were pretty legitimate until this Haitian woman walks past us carrying one block on her head and another in her hand. She definitely showed us all up. After taking that blow to our ego we carried on. After we all got into a groove, the work picked up. I took several small breaks throughout the day to entertain the little boys that gathered at the site throughout the day. I'm not trying to brag but I'm pretty sure I have a lot of admirers. (Antonio, Peter, Maxon, Roberto, and the list goes on; keep the jealousy to yourself please). I wrote down my email several time so hopefully I get some mail from the little men sometime soon. We promised to bring a few soccer balls tomorrow and that promise quickly escalated into a soccer game and eventually into a World Cup. I really pumped up my soccer skills to the kids so hopefully they're not disappointed when they actually see me play. Pastor is frantically trying to find a striped shirt because he has claimed the job as referee. Game time is 9am, I'll let you all know the outcome tomorrow. While the kids were very entertaining, they were also very clever. They constantly asked for water, food, candy, and anything else they could get. It was very hard to say no because we all know that these kids have very little and to say no to their requests was very difficult. However, most of us decided that on the last work day we'll hand over our shoes and anything else that we can. I was able to talk to the kids about sports, music, and whatever else I could semi-translate to them. They mentioned listening to Michael Jackson and I assumed they liked some of his more popular songs such as "Billie Jean" or "Black and White", but I was pleasantly surprised when they started singing "We Are the World." Coincidentally there was a remake of that song made specifically for Haiti after the Earthquake by Wyclef Jean (who is also Haitian) and many other artisits. If you have a chance you should YouTube the video, I believe you can just type in "We Are the World, Haiti Remake" or something similar to that. It will definitely be worth your while. I was also able to carry on a pretty decent conversation (in Spanish, evidently all of my years of Spanish class is paying off) with two guys in their 20's who spoke Spanish as well as French, Creole, and a little bit of English. They told me about their desire for education, but expressed how difficult it is because they don't have money to pay for it. Unfortunately there are very little job opportunities therefore there is no money therefore they can't go to school. However they are very ambitious young men who have yet to give up their dreams of education. One of the men, Roberto (not the same Roberto from my list of admirers) opened up to Pastor and I about how he lost his mother and a few other familiy members in the earthquake. I found it very difficult to hold back tears as I told him how sorry I was for his losses. Peter (also a different Peter from the one previously mentioned) also told me about his earthquake experience. I was amazed at how easily they spoke about their experiences, but was very glad that they opened up to me about it. I was very impressed with the optimism that these young men have about their futures. They both lost their homes and are now living in tents but I never once heard them complain. Little do these people know, but they are teaching us way more about ourselves and our lives than we will ever teach them.
We ended the day around 4pm and piled into a van to head home. There may or may not have been a few fights for the shower...just kidding, but I do believe that I scraped off a thick layer of dust and dirt while in the shower. Tomorrow's schedule will be the same, except for Pastor and I who will be heading off to the soccer fields for our World Cup tournament.
That's all for tonight, I hope that you all are getting a decent idea of what's going on here. It is definitely something that everyone should experience in their lifetime.
More to come.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
De
First, I apologize for any spelling errors in my previous post. It's been a long two days.
Second, the title of my post "De" is "two" in Haitian creole, if anyone was wondering.
Alright, here goes my second novel of the evening.
After heading to bed rather early (for me at least) the rest of the group was woke up around 4am because of a very loud rooster. I assume they all went back to sleep but I wouldn't really know because I didn't wake up until Jan shook my foot around 6:45 or so. Shoutout to my mom for reminding me to pack ear plugs. We set out for church around 8, about the time that the service was supposed to start. We arrived in time and the service started shortly after we got there. Luckily we got there when we did because the seats filled up rapidly. After it was over we found out that there were 405 people in attendance. I don't think I have ever attended a church service with that many people, besides when I went to the National Youth Gatherings. That number blew my mind. Not many of these people have the luxury of hopping in their cars and driving to church, but they get there. That in itself was amazing. It was confirmation Sunday, but I'm not sure if that had anything to do with the fact that the service was 3 hours long...but I can say that although I really can't understand a word Pastor is saying, I found myself simply watching the congregation. The best part of the service by far is the singing. There are two girls (last night) and the same two, plus one more who led a majority of the songs. Sophie's cousin Nathan plays the piano, very well I might add with no sheet music in front of him, and also sings/leads songs. Sophie has another cousin, Alex, who is the president of the congregation who participates a lot throughout the services in terms of singing and reading. All of these people have beautiful voices along with the rest of the members. They sing with incredible enthusiasm and passion, more than I've seen in any church before. The songs are beautiful and some of them are familiar hymns that we were able to recognize after a verse or two. We were able to participate in communion. It was an honor to be able to witness the confirmands first communion and then to be invited to partake as well. I caught the eye of a round-faced little girl who never stopped smiling at me; this was and is very common of the children in Haiti. They smile and wave when they see you. Towards the end of the service, two little girls came to sit by me, which was a nice surprise. The pastor introduced our entire group in front of the congregation and afterwards we shook hands with several people, some of which we had met the night before. I was approached by a woman who introduced herself as the mother of one of the girls who sat next to me. The other little girl was her niece. We chatted for a while and took some pictures. Then she asked for my email, but I guess changed her mind and decided to give me hers because the next thing I know her baby daughter was in my arms while she whipped out a pen and paper. More pictures were snapped (my dad has become quite the paparazzi, mom you would be proud). The baby girl was definitely the calmest baby I have ever held and truthfully I wanted to take her home with me, but sadly Sophie rounded us all back and I decided against kidnapping the child and instead traded her back for her mother's email address. We left and came back to the clinic to eat some lunch and rest until 3. Sophie and our driver (his name is Jimi, not sure if that is the correct spelling, but it's pronounced like jeemee) picked us up and we headed to a tent city. We stopped first in a smaller tent community on the road to the other one that we were visiting. I'm not sure if we stopped for Sophie's purposes (she met up with her god-daughter and the baby's mother and gave her a few outfits that Jan had brought), but we were able to pass out some candy and take a look inside a small, one-room house that had been constructed for a woman. I stepped out of the bus to find myself surrounded by kids. It seemes as if they simply wanted to touch our hands. They were very excited and the crowd grew as we stood there. After about 10 minutes we hopped back on the bus and drove farther down the road to a tent city made up of about 192 tents, I believe. These "tents" had a solid concrete foundation and a short wall on each side, with an opening for a door. The rest of the tent was obviously tent material and were about 12ft by 12ft. We were split into groups and were paired with a "guide" each of which were a member of the community's security, if you will. They led us around the rows of tents and spoke to the people who lived there. We handed out sheets, pencils, and some groups had candy as well. The people were very grateful. Sidney (the pastor's wife) brought all of the sheets to the site. She said that the church visits often and distributes materials to those living there. They also come every Sunday and pick up anyone who wants to go to church. It was an amazing experience and definitely something that stays in your thoughts. I can't sit here and pretend that I wasn't overwhelmed with sadness for those who live there but they were so kind and thanked you and smiled at you, which was definitely heart-warming. Once again the kids were excited to see us and as we were leaving one little girl grabbed my hand and started walking with me. Almost immediately another girl saw what she did and ran to grab my other hand. As we walked the just looked up at me and smiled and laughed and once again I had an overwhelming urge to kidnap them but I decided against it. After that we went up the road a little bit and were able to check out our work site. We'll be building houses made from cement blocks. The foundations and portions of the walls have already been constructed. Our goal is to finish one house this week. Sidney and Pastor Marqui (again, I have no idea how his name is spelled but it is pronounced Markee, so I'm just attempting to channel my inner french/Haitian creole-ness and guess how his name is spelled) took us to a 15 house community a little distance behind the church. The houses that are there are what we are going to be building. Most are 1 bedroom with a small porch in the front and back and a kitchen/eating area. There is also a bathroom that is a part of the house but you enter from the outside. Pastor then brought us towards the church and showed us all of their property. There are the beginnings of a guest house (somewhere where we could all stay in the future) and also the area where they are planning on building their church. Pastor said that they are planning to build a church big enough to fit about 1200 people because their church is continuing to grow (they currently have 800 members). There is also a small clinic (about the size of a trailor) that is in the back of the church and another clinic is eventually being moved from Port au Prince to Jacmel to go behind the church as well. After that we headed back home where we enjoyed a delicious meal of fried chicken and rice and beans. Now, I'm not much of a bean girl but I don't think I could have moved that food into my mouth quicker than I did.
Tomorrow we start working at 8am. I can't speak for everyone but I am definitely excited to get my hands dirty. We will be working side by side with a handful of Haitians. I'm itching with anticipation and for the first time in my life probably I can say that I am looking forward to waking up early and doing some manual labor, but don't hold that against me in the future.
Hope you guys are enjoying.
Megan
Second, the title of my post "De" is "two" in Haitian creole, if anyone was wondering.
Alright, here goes my second novel of the evening.
After heading to bed rather early (for me at least) the rest of the group was woke up around 4am because of a very loud rooster. I assume they all went back to sleep but I wouldn't really know because I didn't wake up until Jan shook my foot around 6:45 or so. Shoutout to my mom for reminding me to pack ear plugs. We set out for church around 8, about the time that the service was supposed to start. We arrived in time and the service started shortly after we got there. Luckily we got there when we did because the seats filled up rapidly. After it was over we found out that there were 405 people in attendance. I don't think I have ever attended a church service with that many people, besides when I went to the National Youth Gatherings. That number blew my mind. Not many of these people have the luxury of hopping in their cars and driving to church, but they get there. That in itself was amazing. It was confirmation Sunday, but I'm not sure if that had anything to do with the fact that the service was 3 hours long...but I can say that although I really can't understand a word Pastor is saying, I found myself simply watching the congregation. The best part of the service by far is the singing. There are two girls (last night) and the same two, plus one more who led a majority of the songs. Sophie's cousin Nathan plays the piano, very well I might add with no sheet music in front of him, and also sings/leads songs. Sophie has another cousin, Alex, who is the president of the congregation who participates a lot throughout the services in terms of singing and reading. All of these people have beautiful voices along with the rest of the members. They sing with incredible enthusiasm and passion, more than I've seen in any church before. The songs are beautiful and some of them are familiar hymns that we were able to recognize after a verse or two. We were able to participate in communion. It was an honor to be able to witness the confirmands first communion and then to be invited to partake as well. I caught the eye of a round-faced little girl who never stopped smiling at me; this was and is very common of the children in Haiti. They smile and wave when they see you. Towards the end of the service, two little girls came to sit by me, which was a nice surprise. The pastor introduced our entire group in front of the congregation and afterwards we shook hands with several people, some of which we had met the night before. I was approached by a woman who introduced herself as the mother of one of the girls who sat next to me. The other little girl was her niece. We chatted for a while and took some pictures. Then she asked for my email, but I guess changed her mind and decided to give me hers because the next thing I know her baby daughter was in my arms while she whipped out a pen and paper. More pictures were snapped (my dad has become quite the paparazzi, mom you would be proud). The baby girl was definitely the calmest baby I have ever held and truthfully I wanted to take her home with me, but sadly Sophie rounded us all back and I decided against kidnapping the child and instead traded her back for her mother's email address. We left and came back to the clinic to eat some lunch and rest until 3. Sophie and our driver (his name is Jimi, not sure if that is the correct spelling, but it's pronounced like jeemee) picked us up and we headed to a tent city. We stopped first in a smaller tent community on the road to the other one that we were visiting. I'm not sure if we stopped for Sophie's purposes (she met up with her god-daughter and the baby's mother and gave her a few outfits that Jan had brought), but we were able to pass out some candy and take a look inside a small, one-room house that had been constructed for a woman. I stepped out of the bus to find myself surrounded by kids. It seemes as if they simply wanted to touch our hands. They were very excited and the crowd grew as we stood there. After about 10 minutes we hopped back on the bus and drove farther down the road to a tent city made up of about 192 tents, I believe. These "tents" had a solid concrete foundation and a short wall on each side, with an opening for a door. The rest of the tent was obviously tent material and were about 12ft by 12ft. We were split into groups and were paired with a "guide" each of which were a member of the community's security, if you will. They led us around the rows of tents and spoke to the people who lived there. We handed out sheets, pencils, and some groups had candy as well. The people were very grateful. Sidney (the pastor's wife) brought all of the sheets to the site. She said that the church visits often and distributes materials to those living there. They also come every Sunday and pick up anyone who wants to go to church. It was an amazing experience and definitely something that stays in your thoughts. I can't sit here and pretend that I wasn't overwhelmed with sadness for those who live there but they were so kind and thanked you and smiled at you, which was definitely heart-warming. Once again the kids were excited to see us and as we were leaving one little girl grabbed my hand and started walking with me. Almost immediately another girl saw what she did and ran to grab my other hand. As we walked the just looked up at me and smiled and laughed and once again I had an overwhelming urge to kidnap them but I decided against it. After that we went up the road a little bit and were able to check out our work site. We'll be building houses made from cement blocks. The foundations and portions of the walls have already been constructed. Our goal is to finish one house this week. Sidney and Pastor Marqui (again, I have no idea how his name is spelled but it is pronounced Markee, so I'm just attempting to channel my inner french/Haitian creole-ness and guess how his name is spelled) took us to a 15 house community a little distance behind the church. The houses that are there are what we are going to be building. Most are 1 bedroom with a small porch in the front and back and a kitchen/eating area. There is also a bathroom that is a part of the house but you enter from the outside. Pastor then brought us towards the church and showed us all of their property. There are the beginnings of a guest house (somewhere where we could all stay in the future) and also the area where they are planning on building their church. Pastor said that they are planning to build a church big enough to fit about 1200 people because their church is continuing to grow (they currently have 800 members). There is also a small clinic (about the size of a trailor) that is in the back of the church and another clinic is eventually being moved from Port au Prince to Jacmel to go behind the church as well. After that we headed back home where we enjoyed a delicious meal of fried chicken and rice and beans. Now, I'm not much of a bean girl but I don't think I could have moved that food into my mouth quicker than I did.
Tomorrow we start working at 8am. I can't speak for everyone but I am definitely excited to get my hands dirty. We will be working side by side with a handful of Haitians. I'm itching with anticipation and for the first time in my life probably I can say that I am looking forward to waking up early and doing some manual labor, but don't hold that against me in the future.
Hope you guys are enjoying.
Megan
First impressions.
I'm starting my blog a day late but I figure it is better late than never. I began to email today but realized that creating a blog is probably easier than keeping up with emailing several people a day. (Mom, I'll probably still send you some personalized messages; everyone else-you probably won't be as lucky)
Well, day one in Haiti was an adventure to say the least. It really is a whole different world here. We were greeted in the airport by men playing drums, which was a nice welcome. The airport was simple and small but I must say that it was much easier to find your way around when immigration, baggage claim, and customs was all in the same room. As we stepped outside of the airport, we were greeted by Sophie, who is our "guide" for the week, I guess you could say. She is hilarious and very good-natured and we are very lucky to have her with us while we stay here. As we walked to our van from the building, men gathered on the outside of the fence and called to us incessantly. I didn't understand much besides, "Hey you, pretty lady!" Dad seems to think I got a marriage proposal, but I'm not so sure that's what they were saying. We got to the van and realized how spoiled we really are. While many people were loading into the back of trucks with covered tops, we are being driven around in an air-conditioned van. Anyways, so began our journey through Port au Prince on our way to Jacmel (about a 3 hour trek through the mountains). Simply getting through Port au Prince took about an hour. I can't speak for the entire group, but what I saw was near indescribable. There aren't enough words to portray to everyone what the city was like. People were everywhere, granted it was January 1st, which is their independence day, so that could be why the streets were so busy. A majority of the city is in ruins (the earthquake affected Port au Prince the most mainly because it is the most populous city in Haiti). Buildings are either half there or just rubble. Tent cities are strewn throughout, we would pass one and it wouldn't take very long until we drove by another. The amount of trash that covers the ground and any waterways is unbelievable. I don't have the cord to the camera in order to upload pictures or else I would let you all see what I am trying to describe. I will definitely upload them when I get home because I honestly feel that my description is not doing the city justice. However, on a good note, the people seemed happy. We didn't drive through a ghost town by any means. Like I mentioned earlier, they were celebrating their holiday and it was refreshing to know that despite their living conditions and the state of their city, the people are still able to celebrate what they do have.
From Port au Prince, we traveled through the mountains...literally, through several small towns until we reached Jacmel. Sidenote: the driving in Haiti is an experience in itself. The only road signs I saw were near the airport. After that, you drove where you needed to drive, you pass other cars when you need/want to pass them. There are no stop signs, drivers just understand when they need to stop. I've come to realize that this is my kind of driving. Now, if my mom were riding in this van her foot would probably have gone through the floor as she slammed on her imaginary brakes. The roads were winding and our driver wasn't the most cautious, but he knew what he was doing, because here we are, alive and well. I found it entertaining while others probably had their eyes clothes, praying that we wouldn't drive off a cliff at any moment. Also, car horns are used MUCH more here than they are in the states. While honking your horn in the US is usually a sign of road rage and impatience, here it is more of a warning, sort of "hey, i'm driving behind you and am about to pass you so you should probably move over towards the side of the road before I ram the back of your car" and other drivers are usually very respectful of this. And by drivers I mean both of cars and small motorbike drivers that are seen everywhere. I've seen some of these motorbikes with 4 people piled on, a woman sitting side-saddle, and children sometimes 3 deep sitting in front of the actual driver.
We finally arrived at our destination, a clinic resting down a ways off the main road. I believe that we are incredibly lucky to be staying here, it is extremely clean with two separate sleeping rooms, both with running toilets and showers. There are two or three women who are here during the day that cook for us, so don't be surprised if we come back having gained a few pounds rather than losing some. Hopefully that is not the case but with the food we're eating (hearty soup, spaghetti, rice and beans, fried chicken so far) I wouldn't be surprised if that happened. Hopefully working 8-5 starting tomorrow (monday) will work off our meals. Needless to say we are very spoiled.
We attended a church service that evening which happened to be questioning for a group of confirmands. The church is about 10 minutes away, if that, and is also off the main road. Now that I think about it, most everything is off the main road. But anyways, I found this service to be very incredible. The enthusiasm that the members had during the hymns was overwhelming, in a good way though. We were able to shake hands with some of the confirmands after they were questioned and although they didn't understand what we were saying, they were all smiles and seemed very grateful for our presence. Some boys that I shook hands with did know English and introduced themselves to me. It was a great feeling seeing how eager they were to meet us. I felt honored and very relieved.
I realize that this first blog is a novel and I have a feeling that many if not all of my future posts may be the same, so bear with me please. I feel as though I only began to describe my experience so far and unfortunately I'm not sure if I will ever be able to fully describe what I will have experienced. After one day I wasn't quite sure what to think, I hadn't necessarily let all of my thoughts process, but it has been two days now and I have already learned so much from these people than I could have asked for. My only wish is that I can tell my story as detailed as possible and hopefully inspire everyone else as much as these people have inspired me.
Thank you to everyone who decides to read my blog, I think (and hope) that it will be enjoyable and also a learning experience.
More to come,
Megan
Well, day one in Haiti was an adventure to say the least. It really is a whole different world here. We were greeted in the airport by men playing drums, which was a nice welcome. The airport was simple and small but I must say that it was much easier to find your way around when immigration, baggage claim, and customs was all in the same room. As we stepped outside of the airport, we were greeted by Sophie, who is our "guide" for the week, I guess you could say. She is hilarious and very good-natured and we are very lucky to have her with us while we stay here. As we walked to our van from the building, men gathered on the outside of the fence and called to us incessantly. I didn't understand much besides, "Hey you, pretty lady!" Dad seems to think I got a marriage proposal, but I'm not so sure that's what they were saying. We got to the van and realized how spoiled we really are. While many people were loading into the back of trucks with covered tops, we are being driven around in an air-conditioned van. Anyways, so began our journey through Port au Prince on our way to Jacmel (about a 3 hour trek through the mountains). Simply getting through Port au Prince took about an hour. I can't speak for the entire group, but what I saw was near indescribable. There aren't enough words to portray to everyone what the city was like. People were everywhere, granted it was January 1st, which is their independence day, so that could be why the streets were so busy. A majority of the city is in ruins (the earthquake affected Port au Prince the most mainly because it is the most populous city in Haiti). Buildings are either half there or just rubble. Tent cities are strewn throughout, we would pass one and it wouldn't take very long until we drove by another. The amount of trash that covers the ground and any waterways is unbelievable. I don't have the cord to the camera in order to upload pictures or else I would let you all see what I am trying to describe. I will definitely upload them when I get home because I honestly feel that my description is not doing the city justice. However, on a good note, the people seemed happy. We didn't drive through a ghost town by any means. Like I mentioned earlier, they were celebrating their holiday and it was refreshing to know that despite their living conditions and the state of their city, the people are still able to celebrate what they do have.
From Port au Prince, we traveled through the mountains...literally, through several small towns until we reached Jacmel. Sidenote: the driving in Haiti is an experience in itself. The only road signs I saw were near the airport. After that, you drove where you needed to drive, you pass other cars when you need/want to pass them. There are no stop signs, drivers just understand when they need to stop. I've come to realize that this is my kind of driving. Now, if my mom were riding in this van her foot would probably have gone through the floor as she slammed on her imaginary brakes. The roads were winding and our driver wasn't the most cautious, but he knew what he was doing, because here we are, alive and well. I found it entertaining while others probably had their eyes clothes, praying that we wouldn't drive off a cliff at any moment. Also, car horns are used MUCH more here than they are in the states. While honking your horn in the US is usually a sign of road rage and impatience, here it is more of a warning, sort of "hey, i'm driving behind you and am about to pass you so you should probably move over towards the side of the road before I ram the back of your car" and other drivers are usually very respectful of this. And by drivers I mean both of cars and small motorbike drivers that are seen everywhere. I've seen some of these motorbikes with 4 people piled on, a woman sitting side-saddle, and children sometimes 3 deep sitting in front of the actual driver.
We finally arrived at our destination, a clinic resting down a ways off the main road. I believe that we are incredibly lucky to be staying here, it is extremely clean with two separate sleeping rooms, both with running toilets and showers. There are two or three women who are here during the day that cook for us, so don't be surprised if we come back having gained a few pounds rather than losing some. Hopefully that is not the case but with the food we're eating (hearty soup, spaghetti, rice and beans, fried chicken so far) I wouldn't be surprised if that happened. Hopefully working 8-5 starting tomorrow (monday) will work off our meals. Needless to say we are very spoiled.
We attended a church service that evening which happened to be questioning for a group of confirmands. The church is about 10 minutes away, if that, and is also off the main road. Now that I think about it, most everything is off the main road. But anyways, I found this service to be very incredible. The enthusiasm that the members had during the hymns was overwhelming, in a good way though. We were able to shake hands with some of the confirmands after they were questioned and although they didn't understand what we were saying, they were all smiles and seemed very grateful for our presence. Some boys that I shook hands with did know English and introduced themselves to me. It was a great feeling seeing how eager they were to meet us. I felt honored and very relieved.
I realize that this first blog is a novel and I have a feeling that many if not all of my future posts may be the same, so bear with me please. I feel as though I only began to describe my experience so far and unfortunately I'm not sure if I will ever be able to fully describe what I will have experienced. After one day I wasn't quite sure what to think, I hadn't necessarily let all of my thoughts process, but it has been two days now and I have already learned so much from these people than I could have asked for. My only wish is that I can tell my story as detailed as possible and hopefully inspire everyone else as much as these people have inspired me.
Thank you to everyone who decides to read my blog, I think (and hope) that it will be enjoyable and also a learning experience.
More to come,
Megan
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