I woke up last night around quarter after two to the sound of dogs fighting. Or maybe they were playing, I can't say for sure. But when I saw what time it was I was extremely excited because right before going to bed I heard there was going to be a lunar eclipse but it wasn't happening until the middle of the night so I figured I'd miss it. Then, thanks to those dogs, I got up and stood in the courtyard by myself and caught the last bit of the moon disappearing and headed back to bed.
I got up this morning at pretty much the exact same time as yesterday, 6:45. I had corn flakes with powdered milk and coffee for breakfast. I may have missed Haitian food, but I really didn't miss the breakfasts. Today was similar to yesterday in that most of the volunteers went to one of the two school projects. I went to school six again and spent nearly all morning sifting sand. It may not sound exciting (and it isn't really) but me and two others got a system going so were working pretty efficiently. While we were sifting, there was concrete being mixed for rendering. At first, the concrete was being mixed in a mixer powered by a stationary bicycle, which people would take turns riding. It was pretty cool but it turns out that mixing it with shovels on a piece of plywood on the floor is faster, so they switched to that method. Then the rendering began. What it is is a mixture of gravelly sand, concrete powder, and water. Once this is thoroughly combined, the resulting substance is applied to the walls, which at this point is just a form board and chain-link fence. So I did a little bit of rendering with a lot of help from a two little Haitian boys who, I must admit, were probably better than me at this.
Like yesterday, we stayed on site for lunch and afternoon break. During the break the team leader from the other school came to school six looking to trade some of his volunteers for those at our site. He said that people were too hot. I should have taken this as a sign to stay where I was, but in the afternoon I walked down the road to go work at school seven, where they are laying the foundation. This was hard, hot work, but fun. From the outside (and to me at first) the process looked like sheer chaos. After participating, I realized that it was, in fact, chaos. But controlled chaos. Here is how it worked in a nutshell: someone fed sand, rocks, concrete powder, and water into an actual cement mixer then would throw the buckets forward to someone who would catch the buckets and throw them to people on the side of the foundation, who would fill the buckets with said rocks and sand and would run the buckets back to the mixer. Once the mixture was made, wheelbarrow runners would have their barrows filled with concrete and would run them onto the foundation, where they would be directed as to where to dump. Then there were people who would run to the wells and fill buckets with water to bring to the mixer. And repeat. I don't know if you'll be able to picture this all happening, but everybody had their place and things ran well. I started as a wheelbarrow runner then switched to bucket catcher. In the afternoon I pretty much managed to get myself covered head to tow in concrete, dirt, and whatever else it was I was covered in earlier.
I came back to base totally wiped out. We had make-your-own egg sandwiches for dinner then had the meeting. Post-meeting there was a brief Christmas dinner crew meeting, where we discussed what supplies we were going to need from Port-au-Prince. Leogane has some of necessities one would need, but when it comes to some of the things like, say, ham or cream, you need to go to the capital. The menu is still definitely not set, so ideas are still welcome. We want to make items that are simple but delicious. After this I decided it was time for a real shave. It was interesting because I got to see what I would look like with different facial hair styles. I can now definitively say that I look goofy as hell with a mustache, though I suspected as much. Now, for the first time in ages, I'm totally clean shaven. I had two main reasons behind shaving - it will be less hot and this way I won't get some horrible facial hair tan from all the time I'll be in the sun. I complimented my shave with a thorough and long bucket shower. I went from extremely dirty to the point I'm at now, less dirty. Bucket showers have their merits, but you really can't get completely clean. But I certainly feel a lot better. And now I'm here in the "internet cafe", updating the blog and jamming out to whatever comes up on shuffle.
As usual, I'm tired (but in a good way). Tomorrow I'm signed up for more foundation fun, where I'm sure to dirty myself terribly once more.
Happy official winter.
Love,
Daniel
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Monday, December 20, 2010
Blanc on a Hot Tin Roof
Today, my first work day, was very productive and very tiring. It was nice and cool last night and I slept superbly. I woke up "late" this morning (6:45) and rolled out of bed for the Monday 7 o'clock pancake breakfast meeting. For work today most all of the volunteers went to one of the two school builds that are in-progress. I went to school six, where the progress is further along than seven. I spent the entire morning chillin' in the rafters, helping to put up the tin roof. Being that I know nothing about roofing, I mostly just assisted the three folks working up there. It was a little scary but a little awesome. I ended up covered in this roofing-tar-like-substance. The site was really cool in that there were tons of volunteers, local and international, as well as a lot of community members, children and adults. There were lots of people doing lots of different things but it all came together nicely. School building has definitely become one of All Hands priorities. This is very evident by how quickly the different steps in the building process are moving. Today's work was all-day, meaning that we didn't come back to base for lunch and break but instead had lunch and rested at the site. I ate Haitian food! It was as good as I remembered. We had rice and beans (no doubt), stewed onions, chicken, and some vegetables. It was delicious and comforting. I ate it with the beautiful scenery surrounding the school - mountains, sugar cane fields, cows.
The afternoon moved a bit slower and I stayed off the roof. I spent most of the time shoveling wet sand, putting wet sand out to dry, shoveling dry sand, moving dry sand, and sifting that dry sand. It's part of preparing for tomorrow, where we will do rendering. I'm not exactly sure how it works, as I've never done it before, but it is essentially applying a coat of cement-like material to the walls. Given that I am on the rendering team tomorrow, I should have a better idea of what it is and how it works soon. Anyways, we left the site and came back and had dinner. Dinner was a Haiti classic (in my mind, at least) that consisted of spaghetti with pink sauce (mayo and ketchup), bread, a triangle of bongu "cheese" (probably not actually cheese, but close enough), and some veggies. Again, it proved to be a very comforting meal.
After dinner we had our daily meeting where we talk about our work from the day, make announcements, sign up for chores, and sign up for the next day's work.. By the end I had volunteered to be on the Christmas dinner crew. I asked if I was allowed, being that I'm Jewish and all (apparently, yes, I am). So now I have to brainstorm ideas. Any input would be appreciated, by the way. After the meeting I had my first earned bucket shower. It was cold but completely refreshing. Straight after I went to beginner Creole class. It was taught by one of the local volunteers, Peterson. Some of the stuff I knew already but some of it was new, and what wasn't was a good refresher. I always regret the fact that I didn't learn much Creole at all last time I was here so I'm going to do what I can while I'm here this time. It seems like a pretty easy language to learn (relatively speaking) with a simple grammar structure and Creole seems somewhat intuitive to me. But we'll see. After my language class I came to where I sit now, the "internet cafe" AKA an area with a couple picnic tables where people congregate to use their computers. I'm sitting at a table with a lot of local guys/girl. My "professor", Peterson, stopped by for a while and listened to some Notorious BIG on my big headphones. This reminds me of another huge change on base I neglected to mention - local volunteers are allowed inside! Before, there was a rule that said only international volunteers and on-staff locals (i.e. translators, tap-tap drivers, cooks) could come in. There was a lot of opposition to the rule but when I left, it still stood. But now it's different and is really, really great. We work together all day and the local and international volunteers are often very close, so it only seems fair/makes sense that they should be welcome in our home. And now they are!
Now it is approaching ten o'clock and I'm wiped out. Nearly time for bed.
Goodnight.
Love,
Daniel
The afternoon moved a bit slower and I stayed off the roof. I spent most of the time shoveling wet sand, putting wet sand out to dry, shoveling dry sand, moving dry sand, and sifting that dry sand. It's part of preparing for tomorrow, where we will do rendering. I'm not exactly sure how it works, as I've never done it before, but it is essentially applying a coat of cement-like material to the walls. Given that I am on the rendering team tomorrow, I should have a better idea of what it is and how it works soon. Anyways, we left the site and came back and had dinner. Dinner was a Haiti classic (in my mind, at least) that consisted of spaghetti with pink sauce (mayo and ketchup), bread, a triangle of bongu "cheese" (probably not actually cheese, but close enough), and some veggies. Again, it proved to be a very comforting meal.
After dinner we had our daily meeting where we talk about our work from the day, make announcements, sign up for chores, and sign up for the next day's work.. By the end I had volunteered to be on the Christmas dinner crew. I asked if I was allowed, being that I'm Jewish and all (apparently, yes, I am). So now I have to brainstorm ideas. Any input would be appreciated, by the way. After the meeting I had my first earned bucket shower. It was cold but completely refreshing. Straight after I went to beginner Creole class. It was taught by one of the local volunteers, Peterson. Some of the stuff I knew already but some of it was new, and what wasn't was a good refresher. I always regret the fact that I didn't learn much Creole at all last time I was here so I'm going to do what I can while I'm here this time. It seems like a pretty easy language to learn (relatively speaking) with a simple grammar structure and Creole seems somewhat intuitive to me. But we'll see. After my language class I came to where I sit now, the "internet cafe" AKA an area with a couple picnic tables where people congregate to use their computers. I'm sitting at a table with a lot of local guys/girl. My "professor", Peterson, stopped by for a while and listened to some Notorious BIG on my big headphones. This reminds me of another huge change on base I neglected to mention - local volunteers are allowed inside! Before, there was a rule that said only international volunteers and on-staff locals (i.e. translators, tap-tap drivers, cooks) could come in. There was a lot of opposition to the rule but when I left, it still stood. But now it's different and is really, really great. We work together all day and the local and international volunteers are often very close, so it only seems fair/makes sense that they should be welcome in our home. And now they are!
Now it is approaching ten o'clock and I'm wiped out. Nearly time for bed.
Goodnight.
Love,
Daniel
Sunday, December 19, 2010
By a Hair
So I'm officially at the All Hands base in Leogane, Haiti. I got up this morning around 5, after an hour or so of sleep. My mom drove me to the airport to catch my 7 o'clock flight. I was a little nervous from the get-go about the fact that I had less than an hour between the time my flight landed in Miami and the flight for Port-au-Prince (PauP) took off, but I figured that as long as we got in the air without too much delay, I'd be fine. But, of course, there were two separate mechanical issues that caused delay. So we took off nearly an hour late from Raleigh and I figured missing my connecting flight was a pretty real possibility. When we finally did take off I heard the man sitting behind me talking about his being worried he was going to miss his connecting flight, also to Haiti. I mentioned that I was in the same situation so we decided we'd haul ass together to make the flight. And we did. We ran across Miami Airport's concourse "D" and made it just in the nick of time (as in, had we been a minute later, we probably wouldn't have gotten on the plane).
I got a little sleep on the flight and woke up just before landing. The airport in the capital is pretty hectic but I managed to get through customs, get my checked bag (checked luggage doesn't have a baggage claim per-se, it's more of a free-for-all where all the bags are strewn about an airplane hangar), and find my driver without too much trouble. The ride from PauP to Leogane is under 20 miles but still manages to take hours. We hit some serious traffic, but there is so much to see that I had no trouble keeping myself occupied. Once you get past the city and its traffic and closer to Leogane, you're able to see (and feel) huge cracks on the roads that resulted from the earthquake. Commuting between PauP to Leogane provides ample opportunity to see the poverty and devastation, some of it caused by the earthquake, some of it not. Huge tent cities are still a primary means of housing for those displaced by the quake. One thing I did notice was an increase in the prevalence of political graffiti (or at least it seemed that way), which makes sense because the country is in the midst of "elections".
Though the ride was interesting, I was relieved and excited when we finally got into Leogane. Things looked similar to how I remember (which is comforting but somewhat disconcerting). Once I stepped inside the base I really did feel right back at home. Some things have changed around base, but mostly it's the same, with some improvements. There is more wooden furniture, much of which, I am told, was made while the volunteers here were on lockdown at the base when the election situation was more heated. Small maintenance details, such as putting real doors on the shower stalls and having more shelving space, have really helped make the base come together. One thing that is significantly different than when I was here during the summer months is the number of volunteers on base. There were often 120+ people staying on base when I was last here but now there are maybe 50 or so of us. As it turns out, it was the election violence significantly impacted the numbers, as many people decided not to come, were unable to come, left early, or rescheduled. I can already tell that the group dynamic is really different with the smaller numbers, and it seems to generally be a good thing. But of the people that are here, I know a whole bunch of them from my last trip, which is really nice. I've gotten and given my fair share of hugs today, which made me happy. Oh and one amazing difference is that in the temperature. It is considerably cooler than it was during my last visit, and that fills me with nothing but joy. To be able to wake up not drenched in my own sweat (or even drenched in less sweat) is going to be such a treat in the mornings. Speaking of treats, the internet connection has improved so, so, so much. For better or worse, being connected is a comfort so I'm very pleased with the internet situation.
Today is a Sunday, which means it's a non-work day. I think coming today was good timing; I got to have a whole free afternoon to set my living area up (once again, in the bunks) and schmooze with friends, old and new. I walked around, handing out some of the candy I brought (thanks Brandi!), which led to many new friendships. I met a woman who graduated from UNC in '07, so we spent some time arguing about basketball and talking about how much we love Carrboro! Sunday is the one day of the week we don't get fed, so I ended up munching on the remains of my plane snacks. But I can't wait for some Haitian food tomorrow!
From what I've heard, tomorrow is an "All Hands Day", which means all volunteers are going to work on one of two school projects together. I'm looking forward to seeing how efficient this organization has become at school-building. Though, I must admit, I'm seriously craving some time with my old friend, the sledge hammer. For the rest of tonight, I'm going to just enjoy the weather and relax. Maybe I'll get in a round or two of Bananagrams, who knows? I just had my first bucket shower of the trip. I was actually a little chilly, but I'm definitely not complaining. I think I'm looking at a good night of sleep ahead of me!
Hope everyone is well. Don't forget to keep in touch!
Love,
Daniel
I got a little sleep on the flight and woke up just before landing. The airport in the capital is pretty hectic but I managed to get through customs, get my checked bag (checked luggage doesn't have a baggage claim per-se, it's more of a free-for-all where all the bags are strewn about an airplane hangar), and find my driver without too much trouble. The ride from PauP to Leogane is under 20 miles but still manages to take hours. We hit some serious traffic, but there is so much to see that I had no trouble keeping myself occupied. Once you get past the city and its traffic and closer to Leogane, you're able to see (and feel) huge cracks on the roads that resulted from the earthquake. Commuting between PauP to Leogane provides ample opportunity to see the poverty and devastation, some of it caused by the earthquake, some of it not. Huge tent cities are still a primary means of housing for those displaced by the quake. One thing I did notice was an increase in the prevalence of political graffiti (or at least it seemed that way), which makes sense because the country is in the midst of "elections".
Though the ride was interesting, I was relieved and excited when we finally got into Leogane. Things looked similar to how I remember (which is comforting but somewhat disconcerting). Once I stepped inside the base I really did feel right back at home. Some things have changed around base, but mostly it's the same, with some improvements. There is more wooden furniture, much of which, I am told, was made while the volunteers here were on lockdown at the base when the election situation was more heated. Small maintenance details, such as putting real doors on the shower stalls and having more shelving space, have really helped make the base come together. One thing that is significantly different than when I was here during the summer months is the number of volunteers on base. There were often 120+ people staying on base when I was last here but now there are maybe 50 or so of us. As it turns out, it was the election violence significantly impacted the numbers, as many people decided not to come, were unable to come, left early, or rescheduled. I can already tell that the group dynamic is really different with the smaller numbers, and it seems to generally be a good thing. But of the people that are here, I know a whole bunch of them from my last trip, which is really nice. I've gotten and given my fair share of hugs today, which made me happy. Oh and one amazing difference is that in the temperature. It is considerably cooler than it was during my last visit, and that fills me with nothing but joy. To be able to wake up not drenched in my own sweat (or even drenched in less sweat) is going to be such a treat in the mornings. Speaking of treats, the internet connection has improved so, so, so much. For better or worse, being connected is a comfort so I'm very pleased with the internet situation.
Today is a Sunday, which means it's a non-work day. I think coming today was good timing; I got to have a whole free afternoon to set my living area up (once again, in the bunks) and schmooze with friends, old and new. I walked around, handing out some of the candy I brought (thanks Brandi!), which led to many new friendships. I met a woman who graduated from UNC in '07, so we spent some time arguing about basketball and talking about how much we love Carrboro! Sunday is the one day of the week we don't get fed, so I ended up munching on the remains of my plane snacks. But I can't wait for some Haitian food tomorrow!
From what I've heard, tomorrow is an "All Hands Day", which means all volunteers are going to work on one of two school projects together. I'm looking forward to seeing how efficient this organization has become at school-building. Though, I must admit, I'm seriously craving some time with my old friend, the sledge hammer. For the rest of tonight, I'm going to just enjoy the weather and relax. Maybe I'll get in a round or two of Bananagrams, who knows? I just had my first bucket shower of the trip. I was actually a little chilly, but I'm definitely not complaining. I think I'm looking at a good night of sleep ahead of me!
Hope everyone is well. Don't forget to keep in touch!
Love,
Daniel
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Take Two
It has been over five months since I was last in Haiti and it has continued to be on my mind ever since. Observing Haiti from the outside is especially disheartening; the news coming out of the country always seems to be one horrible story after another. Since I was last down there, Haiti has been hit with a cholera epidemic, weathered several storms accompanied by flooding (most notably Tomas), and is in the midst of an election fiasco, which has caused intermittent surges of violent protests. This is all happening while Haiti is trying to pick up the pieces from the January 12 earthquake.
But then there are some positives coming out of Haiti, some steps in the right direction. There are thousands of people, Haitian and non-Haitian alike, working together to bring about a safer, healthier, more-together country. The resilience, wisdom, and kindness of the Haitian people is inspiring and this is what gives me hope for the future of Haiti.
Coming to the decision to return to Haiti this winter involved a lot of internal back-and-forth. On one hand, of course I wanted to go back! The time I had spent down there May-July profoundly changed my life. I made friends, both local and international. I was able to see and do some pretty wild things. On the other hand, I kept asking myself whether coming down for three or so weeks was worth it. I didn't want to be a disaster tourist, I wanted to be an effective volunteer. When I weighed my options, in the end, I decided that I could make my short time there worth it. There are a number of things I'm hoping to accomplish on this trip. I will help with the projects that All Hands (formerly Hands on Disaster Response or HODR) are working on - rubble/demolition, bio-sand filters, disaster risk reduction, school building, etc. Check out http://hands.org/ for more specifics on projects and the organization as a whole. Another goal I have for my trip is to collect some information and get some questions answered for a project my friend and fellow volunteer Brandi and I are hoping to put in motion this summer (more on the composting toilets summer project in the future). I also am looking forward to seeing friends, eating delicious Haitian food (oh, plantains, how I've missed you), and moving from the dreary North Carolina cold to the tropical heat down south (it's currently 50 degrees warmer in PaP than Chapel Hill).
My original ticket had me leaving for Haiti this past Monday, but due to civil unrest caused by the elections (which forced the airport to close) I have a new departure date - tomorrow, Sunday, December 19. I leave in the early morning and should be on base in Leogane (about 18 miles west of the capital) by mid-afternoon.
Though I won't be gone too long, I'll still miss all of you, my friends and family. Please keep in touch! I should have consistent access to the internet, so shoot me emails (danielmatchar@yahoo.com), send me stuff on facebook/twitter, and keep checking in with the blog, which I plan on updating frequently. I'll be back in the States January 6, so until then...
Hoping everybody is staying warm.
Love,
Daniel
But then there are some positives coming out of Haiti, some steps in the right direction. There are thousands of people, Haitian and non-Haitian alike, working together to bring about a safer, healthier, more-together country. The resilience, wisdom, and kindness of the Haitian people is inspiring and this is what gives me hope for the future of Haiti.
Coming to the decision to return to Haiti this winter involved a lot of internal back-and-forth. On one hand, of course I wanted to go back! The time I had spent down there May-July profoundly changed my life. I made friends, both local and international. I was able to see and do some pretty wild things. On the other hand, I kept asking myself whether coming down for three or so weeks was worth it. I didn't want to be a disaster tourist, I wanted to be an effective volunteer. When I weighed my options, in the end, I decided that I could make my short time there worth it. There are a number of things I'm hoping to accomplish on this trip. I will help with the projects that All Hands (formerly Hands on Disaster Response or HODR) are working on - rubble/demolition, bio-sand filters, disaster risk reduction, school building, etc. Check out http://hands.org/ for more specifics on projects and the organization as a whole. Another goal I have for my trip is to collect some information and get some questions answered for a project my friend and fellow volunteer Brandi and I are hoping to put in motion this summer (more on the composting toilets summer project in the future). I also am looking forward to seeing friends, eating delicious Haitian food (oh, plantains, how I've missed you), and moving from the dreary North Carolina cold to the tropical heat down south (it's currently 50 degrees warmer in PaP than Chapel Hill).
My original ticket had me leaving for Haiti this past Monday, but due to civil unrest caused by the elections (which forced the airport to close) I have a new departure date - tomorrow, Sunday, December 19. I leave in the early morning and should be on base in Leogane (about 18 miles west of the capital) by mid-afternoon.
Though I won't be gone too long, I'll still miss all of you, my friends and family. Please keep in touch! I should have consistent access to the internet, so shoot me emails (danielmatchar@yahoo.com), send me stuff on facebook/twitter, and keep checking in with the blog, which I plan on updating frequently. I'll be back in the States January 6, so until then...
Hoping everybody is staying warm.
Love,
Daniel
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
?
Here I am sitting in an internet cafe in Port-au-Prince. It's been an unreal few days (and few months).
I think the story of my latest adventure can wait until I get home and we can talk in person.
Until next time.
Love,
Daniel
I think the story of my latest adventure can wait until I get home and we can talk in person.
Until next time.
Love,
Daniel
Sunday, July 4, 2010
The Surreal World: Haiti
So I’m having a bit of a stressful night and I’ll explain why in a second. For this reason, all I’ll say about the last two days was that Friday I did housecleaning in the morning with my buddy Jason then did more teacher-training stuff in the afternoon. Saturday morning there was a teacher training and that went really well. What was really cool was that the training we did took place at the first school HODR built (and it just opened last week)!
Ok so yesterday after plans changed a dozen times, I headed off to Jacmel (beach town two hours away) with Jason. Three friends, Brandi, Sarah, and Avery, were already in Jacmel and they arranged a room for us. Jason and I hopped on a tap-tap to a town just a little ways away to catch a second tap-tap to Jacmel. We waited around for over an hour at the pick-up point but all the vehicles that passed were full. We saw a couple of NGO people in a nice car so I stuck up my thumb and they pulled over. It just so happened that these two doctors and their translator were heading to Jacmel for the night in their AVIS rented 4X4. So we talked in the car and learned they work at a clinic up in a remote mountain town a few hours from Jacmel. We told them our story and in mentioning we were leaving Haiti on Thursday they made a proposition to us – we come to their clinic and stay for a couple nights and work with them then Jason and I go with their translator and take their rental car to Port-au-Prince on Wednesday and drop the car off at AVIS and stay at their base in PAP for the night and head to the airport in the morning. This saves us the money from taking the shuttle and means we don’t have to get up as early Thursday morning. More importantly, though, it means that we get to have an awesome adventure – see a new, different part of Haiti, see how a remote clinic works, spend time with awesome people, and so on (Brandi will be joining us as well). So the reason I’m stressed is because I have to pack all my stuff and make all these arrangements so I can leave for the mountain in the morning.
But today was absolutely amazing. The five of us HODR people went with the two doctors and translator on a hike, which lead us to this gorgeous waterfall. We dove off cliffs and swam all morning. I won’t go into much detail because, honestly, it was indescribable. I can say, however, that it was one of the more wonderful mornings I’ve had in a while (or ever). The last 24 hours has been pretty surreal but I’m going to roll with it.
So it seems I’m in for one more big adventure before I come home. I likely won’t have internet until Wednesday. I look forward to seeing you all soon.
Lets all have a good week.
Love,
Daniel
Ok so yesterday after plans changed a dozen times, I headed off to Jacmel (beach town two hours away) with Jason. Three friends, Brandi, Sarah, and Avery, were already in Jacmel and they arranged a room for us. Jason and I hopped on a tap-tap to a town just a little ways away to catch a second tap-tap to Jacmel. We waited around for over an hour at the pick-up point but all the vehicles that passed were full. We saw a couple of NGO people in a nice car so I stuck up my thumb and they pulled over. It just so happened that these two doctors and their translator were heading to Jacmel for the night in their AVIS rented 4X4. So we talked in the car and learned they work at a clinic up in a remote mountain town a few hours from Jacmel. We told them our story and in mentioning we were leaving Haiti on Thursday they made a proposition to us – we come to their clinic and stay for a couple nights and work with them then Jason and I go with their translator and take their rental car to Port-au-Prince on Wednesday and drop the car off at AVIS and stay at their base in PAP for the night and head to the airport in the morning. This saves us the money from taking the shuttle and means we don’t have to get up as early Thursday morning. More importantly, though, it means that we get to have an awesome adventure – see a new, different part of Haiti, see how a remote clinic works, spend time with awesome people, and so on (Brandi will be joining us as well). So the reason I’m stressed is because I have to pack all my stuff and make all these arrangements so I can leave for the mountain in the morning.
But today was absolutely amazing. The five of us HODR people went with the two doctors and translator on a hike, which lead us to this gorgeous waterfall. We dove off cliffs and swam all morning. I won’t go into much detail because, honestly, it was indescribable. I can say, however, that it was one of the more wonderful mornings I’ve had in a while (or ever). The last 24 hours has been pretty surreal but I’m going to roll with it.
So it seems I’m in for one more big adventure before I come home. I likely won’t have internet until Wednesday. I look forward to seeing you all soon.
Lets all have a good week.
Love,
Daniel
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Acronyms Galore
Wednesday was a typical day of rubble. I went back to the kindergarten site and wheel barrowed the whole day. One cool thing was that Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) AKA Doctors Without Borders sent a backhoe and a couple dump trucks to the site to pick up some of our rubble – they’ll be using it as a foundation for a new field hospital (which will probably be around for 2-5 years), which is really exciting. Last night I lay in a hammock with my friends Brandi (from Kentucky) and Jason (from Scotland). In attempting to get all three of us in the hammock (build for 1-2 people), it snapped and we all fell on our ass. None of us got severely hurt AND the hammock wasn’t broken in a vital spot, so no big deal.
Today in the morning I worked on more disaster risk reduction (teacher training) stuff. Again, we have a new group of people joining on this project so I worked on getting them up to speed on the disaster portion of the seminar. For lunch we had spaghetti. Most people don’t love this meal, but I do. It’s noodles, which one must dress with ketchup and mayonnaise, and hotdog, which I cut up and throw in. Today was extra special in that there were hard-boiled egg halves and a piece of Bongu cheese (this funky triangle-shaped, of course unrefrigerated, soft cheese), which I mashed in there as well. In the afternoon I went back to the school rubble site. It was a slow afternoon because we had a Bobcat come to make more room for us to dump our rubble (necessary but inconvenient). This site is RIGHT off the national highway, so there aren’t many safe dumping sites.
Also today there were a bunch of high-level officials from the World Food Program (WFP) and possibly some other organizations that came through HODR. In our backyard we have something called the Joint Logistics Base (JLB). The JLB is five acres, which belongs to HODR that we are renting out to other organizations. Currently the Cooperative Hosing Foundation (CHF), the Canadian Red Cross, and Habitat for Humanity rent space in our JLB. More organizations, such as WFP, are looking at renting space there too. What’s exciting about this is that HODR is getting a lot of exposure to some big names in the NGO community. The people that were here today are, essentially, in charge of hundreds of millions of dollars and there is some potential for HODR to see some benefits in the future. In fact, Hands On is getting a lot of really good press from this project. Prior to Project Leogane, HODR has had 13 projects, beginning with the 2004 tsunami project in Thailand (so it’s a really young organization). I’m getting the impression that this organization is seriously taking off, which is awesome because it is such an amazing organization. I suggest that, if you haven’t already, check out www.HODR.org for more information.
Today was Canada Day so the Canadians have made us all poutine, so I’m going to go check to see if it’s ready.
Tomorrow is Friday! Hooray.
Love,
Daniel
P.S. I’m coming home a week from today. I can’t believe it. Bittersweet times.
Today in the morning I worked on more disaster risk reduction (teacher training) stuff. Again, we have a new group of people joining on this project so I worked on getting them up to speed on the disaster portion of the seminar. For lunch we had spaghetti. Most people don’t love this meal, but I do. It’s noodles, which one must dress with ketchup and mayonnaise, and hotdog, which I cut up and throw in. Today was extra special in that there were hard-boiled egg halves and a piece of Bongu cheese (this funky triangle-shaped, of course unrefrigerated, soft cheese), which I mashed in there as well. In the afternoon I went back to the school rubble site. It was a slow afternoon because we had a Bobcat come to make more room for us to dump our rubble (necessary but inconvenient). This site is RIGHT off the national highway, so there aren’t many safe dumping sites.
Also today there were a bunch of high-level officials from the World Food Program (WFP) and possibly some other organizations that came through HODR. In our backyard we have something called the Joint Logistics Base (JLB). The JLB is five acres, which belongs to HODR that we are renting out to other organizations. Currently the Cooperative Hosing Foundation (CHF), the Canadian Red Cross, and Habitat for Humanity rent space in our JLB. More organizations, such as WFP, are looking at renting space there too. What’s exciting about this is that HODR is getting a lot of exposure to some big names in the NGO community. The people that were here today are, essentially, in charge of hundreds of millions of dollars and there is some potential for HODR to see some benefits in the future. In fact, Hands On is getting a lot of really good press from this project. Prior to Project Leogane, HODR has had 13 projects, beginning with the 2004 tsunami project in Thailand (so it’s a really young organization). I’m getting the impression that this organization is seriously taking off, which is awesome because it is such an amazing organization. I suggest that, if you haven’t already, check out www.HODR.org for more information.
Today was Canada Day so the Canadians have made us all poutine, so I’m going to go check to see if it’s ready.
Tomorrow is Friday! Hooray.
Love,
Daniel
P.S. I’m coming home a week from today. I can’t believe it. Bittersweet times.
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