Lane's Adventures

We made it back to the US Saturday evening and headed downtown in NYC for dinner and to hang out since we had a 12-hour layover at JFK. Some of our team members hadn’t seen Times Square, so we stopped in and had dessert at Planet Hollywood (tourist, I know, but a cool way to wrap up the trip). Ended up getting a hotel room and squeezing all 10 of us inside…despite crammed quarters, it beat sleeping on the airport floor again!

This trip was an eye-opening experience from two aspects: being a trip leader and the poverty in Haiti. After planning the trip since last year, it was cool to see everything in motion and all of the team members enjoying themselves. After the earthquake last year, I read about the issues with infrastructure and homelessness in Haiti, but it couldn’t hit home until all of my senses were bombarded with the reality of the dusty streets. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, so there were a lot of issues even before the earthquake. As I mentioned before, everyone still marches on and is working toward making their country a better place for future generations.

It was neat to be there during the election runoff and talk to locals about their thoughts on government and the outlook of a party change. In many ways, it’s what the US was looking for during the ’08 election: a change and hope for the future. Whether or not this will be the case is to be determined, but it the tentative outcome seems to have lifted the morale of the Haitians with whom I spoke.

Can’t wait to go back here and continue the work of our team and future teams. It was very special to be in Haiti with Michael Bonderer from Homes from the Heart because of his vast expertise and the fact that our team is the first HFTH team to have worked in Haiti. If you’re interested in HTFH, check out www.homesfromtheheart.org.

I can’t believe that we just finished our last day in Haiti. Now that we’re in this routine, it seems like we’ve only been here for a couple of days!

Today was a pretty laid-back day. We stopped a couple of places on our way out to Balan to pick up rakes and a soccer ball, then we did some cleanup work when we arrived. An hour or so later, we visited the village elementary school which was built by Foi et Joliet. It’s an extremely nice school and I estimate that there were about 100 children in attendance through fourth grade or so. Even though the children couldn’t understand anything I was saying, there was still a cool bond because I can tell they really look up to us. They’re also fascinated with our cameras since they can see what they look like. It is my guess that many of them have never seen their own image before (and perhaps hadn’t seen any or many foreigners either).

After snapping hundreds of photos and playing with the children, we headed back to the to-be-guesthouse where we had stored the donations (there were several large suitcases full of all kinds of things that I mentioned yesterday). The daunting task was to distribute them fairly. I had guessed that it would be a struggled, but for what ensued I could not have mentally prepared myself. We created a line outside of the house and tried to keep people going in two-by-two to pick up donations and exit, but there were many who tried to cut the line, mothers who would take donations from their children and push them back in line for more, and then people who crowded around me as I was stationed at the front door. Andrew was at the end of the line making sure that people didn’t get back in, and several others were inside actually handing out the goods. As the village realized what was going on, droves more people began to show up and it got a little uglier. People began to push and bicker over the donations and eventually we ran out and had to turn some away. Needless to say, they were not happy.

The entire exercise had me on edge. It’s indescribably difficult to turn people away who so badly need the clothes, shoes, and toiletries, but it’s also frustrating when people try to(and get away with) circumvent[ing] the system — it’s just not fair for everyone else standing in line, and for every person who doesn’t follow rules, more begin to disobey. Not knowing Creole or French left me with only pointing and basic (mis-pronounced) phrases. In all, I felt great that we were able to relatively equitably distribute the donations, and I was happy that everyone who got things desperately needed them, but I realize now how difficult the actual process is. I’ve never been in the thick of it like this before and wouldn’t have guessed something could be so heartwrenching when I just drop donations into a box or money into a can. Finite resources, infinite demand.

On our way back to Port au Prince, we stopped at another roadside stand to eat. If you eat here, there are no health codes that will stop you from eating anywhere. It was literally a metal shack with a dirt floor 15 feet from the busy road. I sat on the floor as I devoured a plate of rice and beans with goat meat. I don’t want it to sound like I’m complaining…I’m just trying to capture the essence of the situation, but I wouldn’t trade it for a Big Mac. Much like the places I visited in Africa, this country runs on rice and beans! We also had some bottled Coke made with real sugar – that was tasty, albeit overpriced (and by that I mean $1.50, which was about as much as our meal).

Our last night in the compound was relaxing and reflective. We decided to play a team game of hide-and-seek (yeah, I know, we’re twenty-somethings!). It was a blast, then we chatted for quite a while. I can’t wait to get back together with the team when we return home since we’ve all gotten so close. Ali mentioned how she loves these trips because they pull together people who wouldn’t otherwise hang out; an “eclectic bunch” as she said. I concur.

Tomorrow we’ll pack up and head to the airport around 10am for our 12:30 flight. Then an overnight layover in NYC, so we got a hotel room (hope we don’t get caught with 10 people in our two-bed room . Should be a good last adventure to hit the town for the evening.

Thanks for following! I may have some more commentary from the plane tomorrow. Also, look for pictures on Sunday evening when I return to my laptop.

Thursday was one of our most fun days even though it was a short work day. During the morning, we trucked to Balan and finished the footers and the outhouse hole. After our lunch of beans and rice (which was really tasty!), we headed back toward town to a hardware store. The fact that there is literally only one Home Depot-esque hardware store in an entire country which is rebuilding after a major disaster is more evidence to my claim that there is literally no infrastructure available.

On our way back to the compound for the day, we stopped at a grocery store, which is also extremely rare, and so pricey that it’s only feasible for foreigners or the rich. We picked up hot dogs (American, eh?) and buns for dinner.

When we made it back to the compound, we had a chance to see things in action since this is a trade school/college. We spent a couple of hours chatting with Michael about Homes from the Heart and his worldly (and amazing) adventures. He told us of how he’s expanding into Guatemala and Nicaragua (I really hope to go to Guatemala next December) and a little about his life. He’s one of the most inspiring people I know — it’s not just anyone who can show up in a country like Haiti and decide to build a presence for a small NGO. HFTH’s strategy of building a community rather than just houses is also uplifting and vitally important, in my opinion.

We also had a chance to talk to a couple of students in the compound before Father Gabriel, the man in charge of the organization called Foi et Joilet, stopped by. He’s been all over the world and was recently doing doctoral studies when he was asked to come to Haiti and help out with post-earthquake assistance. This trade school (which is in the compound where we stay) hosts over 1,000 students who learn electrical trades, sewing, carpentry, plumbing, mechanics, etc. I think this is another outstanding way to improve the country’s economy, especially in these trying times.

After the sun started to go down, we collected wood scraps and had a great time roasting hot dogs on our small campfire. Our team has continued to bond well – we’ve got a good mix of personalities and ages, so I think it has been one of my best UC experiences. Ali and I had a conversation this evening about how now that we’re in the routine it’s not abnormal to wake up in a guesthouse under a mosquito net and take showers every couple of days…we might as well stay!

PICTURES: I’m sorry that I haven’t been able to upload any! I haven’t had my Blackberry out during the day to take them, so I’ll update each post as soon as I’m back in Cincy.

I’m delinquent in writing because I fell asleep early last night. On Wednesday we worked on footers again; we were pouring the top layer of the foundation. As I mentioned on Tuesday, we were pouring the footers that are underground, but on Wednesday we began pouring the top layer which brings the foundation level (the metal forms will be placed here for the final foundation). In order to pour this, we had to pick up large rocks and the mason broke them into smaller pieces and arranged them in the foundation, then poured concrete over top.

Another project that we started on Wednesday was digging a 6-foot deep hole for a latrine. Although digging a deep hole in desert soil is not easy, Rod, Mark, and I started out slowly with a pick and a couple of shovels. The most rewarding aspect was that after lunch while I was mixing concrete, other team members were actually in the hole shoveling out and all I could see were their necks.

By the end of the day, we had completed three walls of the foundation finishing and nearly an entire hole.

It was neat to interact with many of the people from Balan who come out to watch the construction. For many of the children, it is their first time seeing foreigners, so it’s our duty to have a positive interaction. Even though the language barrier is an issue, everyone manages to have a great time with the children. One of the saddest aspects, though, is that the children are constantly begging for everything that we are wearing, and even the water that we’re drinking. There are so many children that it’s literally impossible to give them each something, so it only makes it worse to give to a select few in this context. Fortunately we brought along many suitcases full of donations from toiletries to children’s clothes that we’ll distribute equitably on Friday.

Day four was off to a slow start when we got to the worksite because we were waiting on supplies. We did some more cleaning as a team on the guesthouse and school area, but then we had a chance to play with the school children.

We gathered about 50 children in the schoolyard and taught them how to play duck-duck-goose. They had a great time playing with us…boy they are fast! When it was my turn I actually took an embarassing fall coming around the circle and got caught! At least it was a good laugh for the kids and only minor abrasions on my arm and leg. As Michael mentioned early on, one of the most important things is to connect with the children here, and give them hope that we care about their future and more people will be back to help. Even though I can’t really converse with the children, when we laugh together, I can feel this special bond.

Luckily three of our team members: Jewels, Andrew, and Robby know quite a bit of French, which is the language for education here (Creole is spoken colloquially).

Before lunch we had an opportunity to start setting the footers on our worksite as all of the pieces had come together. The method is one that I’ve never seen. Large rocks are placed into the footers and we create a concrete mix (cement, water, sand/gravel) to pour between rocks and “glue” them together. Typically, Michael prefers to set forms and create solid concrete footers, but as I mentioned, the forms are stuck in port inside a shipping container. One and a half walls were done by lunch and we knocked the remainder out by 3:30 or 4:00. Mixing concrete by hand definitely takes a toll, but is still rewarding. Since we were using stones, there was less concrete to mix by hand than we’d have otherwise had to mix.

In the evening we stopped at a supermarket (which is a very rare find) and bought some lunchmeat for dinner. Besides this, it’s beans and rice for most meals, which is good, but the variety was welcomed. We had another relaxing evening in the compound bonding with the team. To our dismay, the water was not working, so we wiped off with baby wipes and went to bed pretty dirty.

This morrning we woke up around 5:00 AM to roosters crowing. We ventured out to a hotel for breakfast when Michael, Rob, and Karla came. The food was great — we had eggs and ham with coffee and mango juice.

During breakfast, Karla showed us a photo of the White House in Haiti, pre-earthquake and we had discussed going to see what are now the ruins of the building. When we drove to the White House what we saw was almost unfathomable; this was near the epicenter of the earthquake. I’ll attempt to attach this photo, but in case you can’t see it, several floors of the building were crushed and the roof is sitting sideways on top. Nearby, everything is in complete ruins and there are tent shanties everywhere. This is a major problem because the dense population in the city is making cleanup very tough; anytime someone cleans a plot of land, people immediately rush in to inhabit it. The potential solution is to relocate the city-dwellers to the fringes of town (into the hillsides) in other tent houses until the city is adequately cleared and redeveloped. There are posters with the plan in front of the White House, but I’m sure this will be a daunting task.

After lunch, we drove some more and ended up going to the seaside. On the drive out, we saw these tent villages where people are being relocated. They are on the fringes of town, and with the rains which will come in a couple of weeks, I’m worried about mudslides. We passed by an area which appeared cleared and bore the name of a saint on a nearby sign. It wasn’t until we were several hundred meters away that we realized this was a mass grave. It was a chilling realization to think that this happened just over a year ago.

I will say, that although the situation with no infrastructure is very grave, the condition of the city has apparently improved immesnsely because rubble once filled the streets, making them nearly innavigable (according to Michael and Rob who were here last January).

On the way to the compound for the afternoon, we stopped at an extremely authentic Haitian food stand beside the road. It was quite something to be eating in this setting, but the food consisting of rice, chicken and stewed carrots, onions, and beans was quite tasty.

Since we don’t leave the compound unless we’re in the trucks, we had quite a bit of time to kill in the late afternoon/evening, so we played quite a few games as a team. Here’s one reason why I love Serve Beyond Cincinnati so much…we can bring together ten Bearcats who hardly know one another and have a truly sincere and impactful time together laughing (sometimes to the point of tears), discussing, reflecting, and sweating.

On an unrelated note, the election went off today seemingly without a hitch…it sounds like from the word on the street that Sweet Mickey will win, but the official results aren’t due for quite some time. We have seen scores of UN police who are here to ensure that the election goes smoothly.

I made friends with a guard at our compound and discussed this political climate and we taught one another our respective languages. He speaks almost no English, and I don’t know any Creole or French, so we exchanged phrases using first hand gestures and then discussion in three languages. I’ll need a lot of practice, but I now understand common greetings and phrases.

Tomorrow we head to Balan early in the morning to visit a school site and the area where homes will be built. Although we need to assess the situation, we will likely work on a guesthouse tomorrow and sitework for houses the following days. More to follow.

White House Ruins

Our journey to Haiti was nothing short of laborious…we arrived in JFK after midnight and slept (or not) on the hard floor until about 5:30 when we grabbed coffee and headed to the terminal. By lunchtime we were on the ground in Haiti. Flying in, I could see an endless sea of temporary tent houses and metal shanties. There are no tall buildings, no developed roads. Normally when I fly over a city I see well planned grids or at least straight roads. Not here.

On the ground, we were greeted by a familiar face – Michael Bonderer who I met this time last year in El Salvador. Last January he was on the ground already working on ways to build houses in Haiti. With Mike were Rod and Suzy, two volunteers from Texas. As we shuttled to our van, scores of people acosted us to carry our bags (as I’ve seen in many places) but when we boarded the taptap (a pickup with seats in the back, essentially), we were in for a very bumpy and smelly ride.

The lack of infrastructure here is the most striking problem. Sewage smell is everywhere, the roads are almost innavigable for the heavy and disorderly traffic, and clean water is hard to find. When we drove over a river, it was clear why cholera is so prevalent…

Since I only have my phone (and there’s service – but I’m not using it during the day, just for blogging?) I won’t write at length, but we are here during a very interesting time. There was recently an election, but it did not turn out, so there is a run-off election happening tomorrow. The two candidates are both seemingly unqualifed: one is a 70 year old wife of the former president, and the other is a national music icon. It seems like the music icon will win. Throw into the mix that the former president, who was in South Africa just returned to the country yesterday (ZA flew them back), but it’s about 50/50 whether or not he returns to the political arena. To be honest, I didn’t study the political situation much prior to coming, so I’ve gathered this from the people here in Haiti (disclaimer for factual errors).

The compound where we’re staying is very safe. Just as any developing country I’ve visted, everything is in a walled-off compound and it’s not advisable to venture out after dark. Ours is covered by razor wire and two armed guards. Our bunkhouse is also pretty nice (hopefully the picture attaches).

Today we really bonded as a team – I’m excited because the only people who I really knew well starting off were Lindsay and Megan, so I know by the end of the week I’ll have seven outstanding new friends. We spent the afternoon getting settled in, having a race to put together wheelbarrows, getting hamburgers for dinner, and playing a great game of mafia.

More tomorrow…or Monday. I’m so excited to be here and I know we’ll be making a huge difference starting Monday when we’re working on construction of a school. (We were planning to work on houses, but the forms are stuck in the port in a shipping container…more later).

Hugs to everyone!

We’re on our way to the airport with our loaded down van! Clearly Mark is excited per his napping!