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.