So Long and Farewell, for Now...

There is something that I said at my little goodbye speech at tonight’s meeting that I would like to reiterate. Being in the United States, and elsewhere I’d imagine, nearly everything you hear in the news about Haiti is disheartening, bad news. But being here in Leogane with All Hands, you feel that there is hope.

Working with the young Haitian volunteers, I’ve seen the future leaders of the country, the men and women who are going to bring real and lasting change to the Haiti. Working with the international volunteers is an honor and a pleasure every single day. I have met some of the most amazing people here.

I spent my last workday doing a couple of different things. In the morning I worked on bio-sand filters, tediously sifting wet sand (which, if you couldn’t guess, is a real pain in the ass). In the afternoon I worked with one of the staff members, Chris, a translator, Berlyne, and two local volunteers to help put together a radio show that will air one or two days before the one year anniversary of the January 12 earthquake. The local guys running the show want a portion of the show to be devoted to earthquake safety and preparedness information, which is something I was pretty involved with last time I was here. I was really happy to have that as my last afternoon of work; it really brought things full circle. After work I sat around with Berlyne and we chatted for a while. For the first time since I’ve known her, she told me stories about her experiences during and after the earthquake. The stories she told me about her family and friends death and suffering were a strong reminder about why I came to Haiti in the first place. It was really emotional but I’m glad she opened up and talked to me about the things she did. All Hands is doing a lot of really wonderful projects involving the anniversary and memorial of the quake (including a major clean up of the cemetery/mass grave site in the city – oddly enough, during yesterday’s meeting, the team reported that during the work day Jared Leto randomly showed up to see what they were up to). And tomorrow a PBS film crew is stopping by our base. Interesting.

As I’m sitting here, typing up this blog post, it’s hitting me more and more that I don’t want to leave. My head tells me that I have to go home because my new semester starts on Monday. But my heart is reminding me how content and right I feel being here. As much as I want to stay, I know I can’t. The pragmatic part of me has to outweigh the idealistic part of me. Alas.

But to end on a happy note, I did have an amazing second trip to Haiti. I definitely foresee a third trip in the not-too-distant future.

See you Stateside.

Love,

Daniel

P.S. Today I learned a little Haitian proverb that has really stuck with me: ranje kabann ou avan domi nan je w’. The rough translation is, make your bed before you get sleepy. Just something I liked that I thought was worth a second thought.

Cooking for a Crowd

The week got off to a slow start but has since progressed nicely. Monday morning I went out to a rubble site, feeling pretty nasty from this cold, and was somewhat ineffective. In the afternoon I decided to stick around base and help around where I could. I ended up going to the market with one of the base managers to pick up food for today.

Today, the entire kitchen staff was attending a funeral, so we volunteers were tasked with making lunch and dinner. I jumped on the opportunity. We had a small team to prepare food. It turned out to be a lot of working (preparing meals for 80 people), but we had a good time and made some delicious food along the way. For lunch we made pastas; some with a spicy peanut sauce, some with pesto (made with basil from our garden), and some plain. We had boiled hot dogs, which were a nice change from the fried hot dogs we usually have. And we had a nice salad (including radishes from our garden) with dressing. I was surprised when the food came back in and there were a ton of hot dogs leftover. It was later explained to me that the local volunteers didn't eat them because they didn't look familiar. Haitians, I found out today, are extremely reluctant to eat anything unfamiliar to them (evident by their lack of interest in both lunch and dinner).

In the afternoon we prepared dinner, which consisted of chicken (boiled, rubbed, then baked - as opposed to fried), potato salad, rice, red sauce, lentils, and salad. The meal was extremely well received (by the international volunteers at least). Making a meal for so many people, most of whom seemed to enjoy it, is exceedingly satisfying.

Tomorrow is my last day of work. I can't believe it. It's unreal how quickly time passes being at this project. I guess time flies when you're busy and having fun. Tomorrow I'll be working on bio-sand filters. It's before 8 o'clock and I'm nearly ready to go to sleep. Cooking took a surprising amount out of me.

Until next time.

Love,

Daniel

Welcome to the World of 2011!

It has been a fantastic new year's holiday! Friday morning (and Thursday afternoon) I worked on building and installing a playground at one of the local clinics. Friday we actually went over to the clinic and set up a swing set, slide, and monkey bars. The doctors there (Israeli's working through IsraAID) were really excited to see the play area get set up. We were given the afternoon off work. A huge number of the international volunteers left base for the weekend, going to Jacmel (beach town about two hours away) and to other various destinations. I decided to skip the hassle associated with Haitian travel and relax on base. I'm glad I ended up sticking around, as there were just some 15 or so people on base, so things were quiet and conducive to relaxation. Friday afternoon I walked around town with a couple other volunteers, Martin and Bruce. We stopped by a little store that sells Pringles, Ramen, and such. For dinner a bunch of us went to a restaurant called Masaje, which sells burgers, fries, and stuff like that. We all sat around, talking about where we were one decade ago (I was in Rome, listening to the Pope give a speech), and our most memorable moments from this past year (for me, it was probably dancing around Leogane to the song Waka Waka - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGkgBxORvs4). Shortly after coming to base, we headed to Joe's bar, next door. Our curfew was extended two and a half hours, to 12:30. Most people who stuck around base, and a lot of the local volunteers, hung out at Joe's for the night, playing Bananagrams and drinking Prestige (Haitian beer) and rum. When the clocks struck midnight, we banged pots and pans and joined arms, swaying to the beats of the music.

I slept in "late" Saturday morning. When I got up, a friend, April, was in the kitchen cooking made-to-order breakfast for everyone. I got eggs (with real cheese!), toast, and hot chocolate. I spent the entire day being lazy (except for my daily run with Jolinda). Dinner was Indian food! It's hard to make some things work with the limited resources available in Leogane, but we managed to have a meal with a squash mush-type-thing, dahl, couscous, and spicy peanut noodles. After, we watched Papillon, a 70s film with Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman. It's a prison escape movie and was surprisingly good.

Today was another full day of nothing (again, except for running laps behind base). I've so far probably spent a solid six hours sorting through the shared music folder. There are nearly 16,000 songs to go through. It's nearing bed time and I've made it to the "m" section. There was an unfortunate incident on base today that has left a lot of people pretty pissed. Sometime this morning, some person or people managed to scale the wall of our base and get on the roof, slashing several tents open and stealing various things. We have guards and everything, but apparently there is a sort of blind area. I feel really bad for the people who got there things stolen. It's sad and frustrating to see something like this happen, but I guess, as the saying goes, "shit happens".

Tomorrow it's back to work. I've got a pretty annoying cold, but am looking forward to see what the week brings. I only have three more days of work, as I'm leaving Thursday. I'm going to make the best of my final days here!

Hope everyone has had a fantastic start to the new year.

Love,

Daniel

P.S. I took the picture above at a local watering hole Bruce, Martin, and I stopped at on our Friday afternoon walk around town. Apparently the bartender doubles as a mechanic and the bar doubles as a menagerie, where the dog was doing push-ups to impress the chicken and her chicks.

2010: A Year in Review

This year has been good to me. It has been jam-packed; from leaving Boston to getting a job in Chapel Hill to going to Haiti for the first time to visiting Singapore to moving to Asheville for school and now being back in Haiti, it has been an eventful 365 days. The year brought sadness in the passing of my grandmother and the year has brought joy in my sister's marriage. There were rough patches like the difficulties I had at Northeastern, more than balanced by the joy I've found being at UNCA. I have maintained relationships with old friends, and made many new ones. I want to thank everybody for being a part of a formative and life-changing year in my life. I can't wait to embark on the adventures of a new year with you all.

I wish everyone a wonderful New Year's Eve and a happy and peaceful 2011.

All my love,

Daniel

The "C" Word

Today was another successful day of rubble. I basically spent the whole day removing rebar, though I got in a few good sledge sessions in. It's unreal how quickly the days pass here. I can't believe I'll be home next week. If I could stay longer I would. But school is calling my name.

Tomorrow I'm taking the day off from rubble to go install a playground at one of the local clinics. Patients often spend hours and hours waiting to be seen, so All Hands built a good old fashioned playground (i.e. slide, swings, etc.) to keep the kids occupied.

There are a lot of things going on in Haiti right now, so I'm going to try to talk a bit more about some of the various issues. One that (I think) has been in the news a fair amount recently is cholera. The disease causes severe diarrhea and vomiting, which leads to dehydration. It's spread mostly through ingesting contaminated drinking water or food. Most cases have been reported in an area some 50 miles north of Port-au-Prince, but it has spread to most everywhere in the country. When treated, cholera is usually treatable, but, sadly, many Haitians don't have access to the basics required for recovery. It's frustrating; people should not be dying of cholera in 2010, yet they are. Nearly 3000 people have died during this epidemic so far. The origins of this epidemic are still unknown. A lot of people believe the UN troops from Nepal brought the disease, though this hasn't been confirmed. The UN is "looking into the origins", so we'll see what they conclude. But what can be said is that some Haitians associate the disease with foreigners. There have been stories (including within the very organization I'm working with) of NGO workers being held-up, threatened with violence, and questioned about the origins of the disease. It's obviously a sensitive issue, so we at All Hands don't use the word "cholera" when we're out in town. We talk about it discreetly, using code words and such. We have foot baths by all the doors around base filled with bleach water that everyone steps in before coming inside. We're trying to be extra careful and using lots of hand sanitizer. But there is only so much one can do. There have been some confirmed cases of cholera in Leogane, though it hasn't been a major issue. And we can only hope it stays that way.

I'm too tired to go on, so I must retire.

Hoping everyone is enjoying their last few days of 2010.

Love,

Daniel

P.S. The photo above is of the rubble team that I was on yesterday. This is a picture of us on the clean slab at the site we finished in the morning.

Rubble, Rubble, Rubble

Today was a long and successful day. In the morning I went out to the same rubble site as I did yesterday afternoon. The whole team busted ass and we were able to clear the slab before getting picked up for lunch. For those who don't know, one of the major projects All Hands does is clearing rubble. After the earthquake, some million and a half people were left homeless, and many thousands of structures were left in pieces. So our organization will go out, usually to houses or schools, and clear the rubble. Almost all construction in Haiti is concrete and rebar (steel bars that are used to reinforce concrete), so that's mostly what we're dealing with. Sometimes we begin by demolishing the house if it's needed. Then we use a combination of sledge hammers, pick-axes, shovels, rebar cutters, and wheel barrows to break up and move the rubble, leaving a clean slab that can be rebuilt upon. It's pretty physically demanding work, but I really like it.

So anyhow, finishing the site in the morning was really rewarding. After a quick afternoon nap, our team got sent out to a new rubble site. This one is considerably bigger than the last. It's two stories, twelve rooms. My afternoon was spent on rebar detail, which is a bit like a giant puzzle. When I got back to base, Jolinda and I ran some laps behind the base in the JLB. Then I had make-your-own egg sandwiches for dinner and had the nightly meeting, followed by a cold but refreshing bucket shower.

Now I'm totally wiped out. Typically, I'll be heading to bed early, as I have to get up early for more rubble action.

Missing you all.

Love,

Daniel

Back to Basics

Today was a hell of a first day back to work from the holiday. In the morning I went to school six and spent the whole time sifting sand. It has become a forte of mine and I have, thus, become a go-to-guy when it comes to sand sifting. And when I say it has become a forte, I mean it's something I've done a few times (there is not really much skill involved). There were a TON of kids on site, and it got a little crazy. On one hand you want to involve the community as much as possible, but on the other hand, they can slow the progress and create more work. It's a delicate balance, but we still got a good bit of work done. While I was working with the sand, others were mixing concrete and rendering the backside of the school.

In the afternoon I came back to base for lunch and went out to my very first rubble site of this trip! Picking the sledge back up felt great. Plus I got to do some shoveling, picking, and wheelbarrowing. Getting a good sweat going with all these tools in hand was nice. In a lot of ways, in coming back, I feel like I hardly skipped a beat.

After coming back from work for the day I went out behind our base, to the Joint Logistics Base (JLB), which is a huge backyard we rent out to various NGOs, and went for a jog with one of the base managers, Jolinda. I had dinner and a quick shower. Then it was meeting time. But this was a special meeting in that it was Short Shorts Monday (the last one of 2010), and this one was judged by an esteemed panel. There were four contestants, me being one. We all got up, walked and danced around a bit, were subjected to cat-calls, etc. It was great. We all won in a different category. I won the "classic" award. A former All Hands volunteer, Tim (big ol' Aussie guy), used to wear short rugby shorts (and nothing else) everyday. In homage of him, I wore short rugby shorts (and nothing else). It was a fun experience, getting a little extra skin in the breeze and all. I know the picture above is a little dark, but you get the idea.

I just had my beginner Creole class taught by a local volunteer, Peterson. I'm sitting around now waiting for the Saints-Falcons game to be projected on the big screen. Then it's off to bed good and early. It's back to rubble in the a.m.!

Hope everyone had a good start to the week.

Love,

Daniel