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

Great End to a Great Holiday

Sunday has been a day of digesting and sunshine. I beat my own record and slept in until 8:30. Around 11, a dozen or so other volunteers (local and international) hopped in a tap-tap and headed to Paradise. This is a beach about an hour away, one that I went to once last time around. I had a really nice time – swimming, walking, eating, relaxing. These two and a half straight days off have really spoiled me. I’ve had an amazing holiday, but I’m truly excited and ready to get back to work tomorrow. I’m going to try to get to sleep early so I’m well rested for the workweek.

Hope everyone had a great holiday!

Love,

Daniel

Jwaye Nowel!

Yesterday and today have been very cheerful days! Even cleaning the base didn’t seem so bad. I’m having a completely new experience and I think it’s that I’m “in the Christmas spirit”. I finished cleaning yesterday with enough time to have a while to relax before lunch. After eating and a short afternoon meeting, we were free to do what we pleased with the day. Another volunteer, Lauren, and I went out to find gifts for our secret Santa’s. We went to the local market to look for presents. It was crazy and hectic and I left empty handed. The only options there would have been cooking oil or batteries, pretty much. On the way back to base I stopped and got a ton of Haitian candy and decided that would suffice as my gift (along with a couple of treats I brought from the States and a little poem). Once back on base I headed to the kitchen to do prep work for the big Christmas day meal as well as the chili and cornbread Christmas Eve dinner. Dinner last night came out great and everybody ate and ate and ate. For dessert we had more candy than we knew what to do with (though we managed to take care of it). After dinner I went out to do a little sky watching. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many stars shining as bright as last night. It was one of the most breath-taking things I’ve ever seen. Though I could have watched the stars all night I decided to go next door to Joe’s for my first Prestige (Haitian beer) of the trip. Before bed I hung around in the kitchen, chatting before sleeping.

I slept in this morning until 7:45! Now that it’s cooler, I don’t wake up every morning at 5:30, which is sweet. I basically spent the whole day in the kitchen, prepping and cooking Christmas dinner. It was a complete and total success. Everything turned out fantastic and everybody is having a wonderful night. This Christmas thing is pretty awesome, I must admit. We sat around for ages, eating, drinking, and being merry. For dinner we had ham, chicken, cabbage and kielbasa, roasted potatoes, corn bread stuffing, frittata, Mexican beet salad, carrot salad, zucchini stir fry, green salad with balsamic vinaigrette, and pickles (don’t know how that made it to the table, but it was a good edition, none-the-less). A true feast; everything was delicious. The tables themselves were super-festive, with candles and fake snow, which was cold to the touch. Before moving on to dessert we all gathered around the tree to open our secret Santa gifts. I got an awesome sun that I’m sure to put a lot of mileage on. Speaking of things that go on your head – we all had paper crowns! After opening gifts we had dessert. We had minced pie, a British treat that I’ve never had before that has fruit and nuts inside a pastry crust, pumpkin pie (partially my creation), and Christmas cookies. And homemade whipped cream on the side. Now we’re all hanging around, attempting to digest the massive amounts of food consumed. Over in the area of base where movies are played, there is a fire being projected on the screen. Next to the fire are our "stockings", pictured above.

There are a lot more details I’d like to include, but I think I’m about to slip into a food coma. I’ll definitely post some more tomorrow. What I can say, for sure, is that this was my best (first) Christmas ever!

Hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas!

Love,

Daniel

On the Eve of the Eve

Aside from getting a bottle of Coke from down the street I didn’t leave base at all today. I was just so tired from these last few days that I decided to stay on base and work on bio-sand filters. It was more physical of a day than I was hoping for, but I suppose we are about to get a nice little break. Tomorrow, being Christmas Eve and all, we’re only working in the morning. We get the afternoon off, all day Christmas off, and Sunday (our usual non-work day) off. So I’ve got two and a half days to recover and get ready for next week! As I said, I worked on bio-sand filters today. Basically they are a concrete structure, maybe three feet tall, that provides clean drinking water. I don’t know the exact science behind it, but you put a layer of gravel, a layer of coarse sand, and a layer of fine sand into the filter. You put contaminated water into the filter everyday for two weeks and it forms a bio-layer. This layer acts as the filter, purifying any water you put into it (except salt water). It’s brilliant, cheap, and easy to make! Using molds our team made four filters, which are setting as I type this. All we did was put concrete into the mold, beat the hell out of the outside of the mold to get rid of air bubbles, and leave it to dry. What’s also so great about these purification systems is that they can last ten to fifteen years! All Hands is pushing this project and it’s becoming really successful.

I had lunch today on base for the first time since I’ve been here (I’ve been at all-day sites all previous days) and did lunch dishes after. Then I lied down for a bit and listened to part of a This American Life Episode. Ira Glass’s comforting voice nearly put me to sleep, but I fought it and got up for afternoon work. I spend the afternoon working with all local volunteers, sifting sand behind base for the bio-sand filters. The sand was wet so sifting it was a real pain in the ass, but I listened to same Haitian music and learned some dirty words in Creole, so that made things better.

People are starting to get into the Christmas spirit around here. We’ve got a (tropical) Christmas tree, with pieces of wood as a skeleton and huge palm-tree-like leaves. There are little hands we’re all supposed to write our wishes on and they’re going to be the ornaments. Plus we’ve got a little secret Santa thing going on! I’m excited to see what this “Christmas” thing is all about. I figure since finding Chinese food in Haiti is unlikely, I might as well go all out with this holiday!

I just spent the last couple of hours hanging out on the roof of our base. The stars and moon are brighter in Haiti than anywhere I‘ve ever been. To be able to relax up there is a perfect ending to my night and puts me at peace. Tomorrow morning I do house cleaning. I’m off to bed.

Happy eve of Christmas Eve!

Love,

Daniel

Swedish Fish?

I was talking to a volunteer today who was saying that he thought the third day of work is the most physically challenging. Given my current state I would have to second that. I was sore from the first couple days of work and to add to it, today was one of the most physically demanding workdays I've ever had. I went out with a dozen or so others to work on the foundation at school seven. My whole day was pretty much consistently catching buckets (which I'm pretty good at it turns out) and then carrying buckets filled with sand and gravel. And when I wasn't doing those things I was probably schlepping these 100 pound bags of concrete mix. The sun was brutal all morning but, due to the time-sensitive nature of working with concrete, we weren't able to take many breaks. Of course I could go run and get water anytime I needed it, but long breaks where we could sit in the shade and relax were few and far between.

For lunch I had a Haitian delicacy I hadn't had yet this trip - goat. I find it to be pretty delicious. Afternoon was much the same as the morning: hot, sweaty, dirty, tiring. But at the end of the day, we finished the slab. There is now a foundation for school seven to be built on! So in the end, all the work was definitely worth it.

I was really excited to get back to base because I was so tired and also because I've been looking forward to the arrival of my buddy and all around awesome guy Dan, who was here when I was. He brought me Swedish Fish! This is because when I mentioned them to a non-American international volunteer the other day, he had never heard of them. Surely this was an anomaly, I assumed. But upon further inspection and informal surveying, hardly any of the non-American international volunteers here had ever heard of, much less eaten Swedish Fish. A travesty. So I asked Dan to bring some and I passed them out at the meeting. It was a good dessert follow-up to our delicious dinner (which included for my first time this trip, plantains and spicy Haitian coleslaw)!

As usual I'm hanging out in the "internet cafe" right now, just having got out of a long Christmas dinner crew meeting. We've got our menu tentatively set. We're going to do roasted chicken, two salads, stuffing, pumpkin pie, and some other things I can't think of at the moment. It's going to be super delicious and I'm looking forward to spending some time (probably a lot of time) in the kitchen.

Tomorrow I'll be taking it easier, I'm hoping, and will be working on bio-sand filters. Basically it's a sustainable and clean way to purify water and we distribute them to the community. Details on this project will come as I learn more tomorrow. There is lots more stuff I'd like to write about but I'm just too tired, so for now...

Merry hump day.

Love,

Daniel