It's been awhile. Life got busy. Really busy. I had a million papers and projects and activities to finish up very quickly last term because I did go to Haiti again for Spring break. It was the best trip ever. The stress leading up to it almost drove me insane but as soon as I got to the beautiful little hotel in Santo Domingo and saw Reuben there waiting for me, all the worries from the weeks before melted away. We had a lovely few days in Santo Domingo before heading to Anse Pitre where he is working with a reforestation project.
The project was interesting. Super hippie commune style which most people know isn't really my deal. I'm just not that into communes. And not having an actual bathroom. The people there were really nice though. I did feel like a serious outsider though. Probably just because I was there for such a short amount of time but I really didn't feel like I fit in there at all. And the project is sort of... strange. I don't really get their role in the community or only planting one kind of tree thing or the reforesting a natural desert part. Or the vegan-ness or the bucket toilet system. So yeah, it wasn't my thing.
Luckily, we could only spend a day there before heading to Port-au-Prince for a meeting with Reuben's friend Ernst. The trip there was long. And bumpy. And hot. But also beautiful for the time I was awake which wasn't a ton. We got into town near where Ernst lives just before sunset and a lovely woman showed us to Ernst's street in spite of the fact we knew where we were going. She was just so nice. I hope she is still doing well. Ernst's house is near the national palace which looks the same as it did the day after the earth quake over 2 years ago. Although I understand other things are a priority before rebuilding the palace, it would be nice to see Haitians working on it since it is such a symbol of the country.
Ernst's house is a nice apartment on the top floor of a three story building. There is a lovely porch out front which was a great place for people watching. There was also running water! A treat that I was ecstatic about after traveling all day. We met Ernst's son, Emanual, who was a little ball of energy. Three year olds are the same every where. Curious, energized, unlikely to listen to you and always finding some trouble to cause. I think he was especially wound up because his mother had had another baby just three days earlier. I couldn't believe the level of hospitality to let us stay at their house just days after the baby had been born and I'm sure his wife was still exhausted. But that's just how they role in Haiti; unending hospitality.
The next day we went to the meeting which hopefully went well. It was to get funding and other connections for Ernst's schools in his home village. If anyone reading this has any interest in getting involved with schools in Haiti, Ernst is a great man with big dreams from his home village. He is deeply committed to education for all children and continuing education for adults. He works extraordinarily hard for his family and community but needs some outside funding for his schools. So contact me if those things are appealing to you!
We stayed another night in PaP and then got on the road to our main adventure: going to La Gonave, the island in the middle of the bay in Haiti... More on that adventure in my next post which, yes, I will actually complete in a timely manner.
On a separate note, I have been reading different articles about Haiti for my global health class and they are all negative. Every single article I have read has talked about what is wrong there, how unhealthy people are, the quantity of orphans, the general failure of aid money. Can no one report on anything good in Haiti? For God sake the place is not that bad. Yes, there is poverty. Yes, there are sad things. But there is hope. There is beauty. Someone report on those things. And make the article longer than a paragraph, because there is enough hope and beauty there to fill a whole newspaper.
