Nous Esperon Pour le Meilleur Demain
We Hope For A Better Tomorrow
To see this chapter with full pictures please click here
Spending the past two weeks in Haiti has taught me some vital lessons about life… Yet, still so much to learn. This journey has me stepping back for a moment to take a good look at how I choose to live my life. I clearly see plenty of room for self-correction… in how I perceive the world around me, in how I go about treating others, especially those in need, and in how I take what I have, what God blesses me with and choose to utilize it to benefit those souls He also puts in my path from day to day..
I take so many things for granted everyday. Everything from the littlest and simplest things such as being able to brush my teeth, grab a glass of water when I’m thirsty, a snack when I’m a bit hungry between meals, to more important and even vital things such as going to see a doctor when I am not feeling well.. I woke up this morning, walked into the kitchen to make a morning pot of coffee… clean running water from a faucet I could trust would not kill me… cream and sugar sitting their in the cupboard at arms reach… A hot shower calling out my name… It’s all there at my disposal.
“Every Christian, in fact, is impelled to adopt Christ's attitude towards those without food: "Misereor super turbam, quia... nec habent quod manducent". "I have compassion for the crowd, because... they have nothing to eat" (Mk 8: 2).
Cardinal Angelo Sodano, 20 September 2004
How can I change my own life in ways that can benefit those who wake up each morning in other parts of the world to no job, no money, no food, no water, no medicine, and very little hope that their current situation could ever possibly change? It seems so unfair that while in some regions of the world we enjoy an easily obtainable abundance of wealth we take for granted and yet, in other places our brothers and sisters have very little if any personal comforts at all to make it through their day. We see it all the time… Poverty, malnutrition, starvation… What can we do about it? How can we even the score so that our brothers and sisters in other rooms of the world do not suffer?
Most of us could never handle living the way 3rd world peoples have no other choice but to live. We do not know what it is to be them… to continually live day-in and day-out in utter poverty. We only know what it is to witness their poverty from behind a television screen… and even then, only to the extent we even choose to look towards and acknowledge that such poverty actually does exist… But to actually live it is something we simply never have to worry about.. We just take for granted that it’s all there at our disposal every morning we awake.. We simply go on with our lives because we know that everything we need is there... No worries… Our coffee, our groceries, our televisions, our jobs, our homes, our cars, our medicine, we reach for a warm blanket when it’s cold, and we turn on our air conditioners when it’s hot…
Now that I’ve been home a few days, I have this undying feeling going on in my heart that I left Haiti in the midst of a mission rather than having completed one… That there is unfinished work we left behind.. Well, there is so much truth to this. But the reality is that an intricate part of any mission is that we take turns.. We, being the collective groups of missionaries who continually flow in and out of a third world nation..
Hearts Together For Haiti is just one of many humanitarian aid groups making continual trips to Haiti. The past 10 days ending last week was just our turn to arrive and offer help. In the area of Jacmal and Cayes Jacmal alone, there were at least a dozen or so small groups like our own working together to assist those in need. Some groups were very small in numbers, perhaps 3 or 4 who travelled together from their hometown while others were part of a larger support network bonding together under the wing of another well established group such as those who came from various locations throughout Canada and the U.S to assist Dr. Tiffany who had been in Jacmal since about January 14th…
Our team of hearts made up mostly of nurses with the exception of 3 non-medical myself included, and Dr. Denis Marier, a homeopathic doctor who travelled with us, worked well together and side by side at the Centre Medical Emmanuel in Cayes Jacmal with other medical and non-medical personnel of various talents during the 10 days we were in Haiti.. Of such groups were nurses, doctors, pharmacist technicians, mental health counselors, as well as general assistants and such hailing from Virginia, New York City, Tennessee, Texas, Florida, Utah, Kentucky, as well as Toronto & Windsor Canada…
The three main points of operation our team seemed to float back and forth between were the clinic in Cayes Jacmal, the Jacmal airport where Dr. Tiffany had much of her efforts going on, and the Mother Teresa Orphanage right in the heart of Jacmal where a few from our team along with Jenna, an amazing young lady of only 16 years old who travelled on her own from Florida had been continually offering help and assisting between Dr. Tiffany in her efforts and the Mother Teresa Orphanage..
To describe the physical landscape of Haiti, it is a beautiful paradise in many ways comparable to even Hawaii or the Bahamas. A blend of beautiful palm trees mixed with tropical and sub-tropical plant life line the beaches, the mountain sides, the rivers and it’s streams… For the most part Haiti is extremely mountainous adding to the sheer beauty of an already gorgeous tropical heaven.
The people of Haiti are beautiful people. It has been said that the white man who went to Africa and brought slaves to Haiti had chosen the most beautiful of the slaves to bring. Haitians are friendly people. They are meek and mild. I met so many who just had this gentle spirit about them, even in all of their suffering. They are a grateful people continually saying “thank you” for coming to their country to help. Smile at a Haitian and you will undoubtedly always receive a smile in return.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Chapter 2 -It Was As If God Tapped Me On The Shoulder
To see this chapter with full pictures please click here
Since returning home I’ve encountered a continual flow of family, friends, and other people in passing who know about or have just come to learn that I’ve recently returned from Haiti this past week and they immediately ask, “So what was it like?” And my mouth opens to speak but no words come out… There are no words quickly available to summarize and put into perspective our trip in a single sentence or even in a few short sentences. Words that do eventually come to mind? Well….. how about sad… heartbreaking… frustrating .. Sad and heartbreaking to spend time in the midst of and witness 3rd world poverty first hand, and frustrating to see this kind of suffering knowing it doesn’t necessarily have to be that way…
Our group, Hearts Together For Haiti for the most part worked at a clinic in Jacmal. One of the frustrations was that the doctors and nurses were working under third world conditions.. namely, a lack of medicine and a lack of medical equipment, even basic medical equipment used to save lives, little means to sterilize and to keep the surrounding environment clean and germ free, toppled with a sense of continual chaos and disorganization, though everyone involved tried their best to cut through the confusion and maintain a sense of order around them. To quote nurse Jenny upon arriving at the clinic, "It seems as though everything we learned in med school just went out the window!"
But also, the word touching quickly comes to mind… Touching, in the sense that we’ve met so many really beautiful yet again, suffering souls whose hearts even in the midst of all their personal suffering, a suffering you and I could probably never take on or handle well ourselves radiate what I personally believe is the true essence of God’s love… Haitians for the most part are extremely warm hearted and kind people.. and they are extremely grateful for the help they are continually receiving..
Still, they need so much more help, and most importantly, they need not be forgotten eventually once things begin to settle down and the media attention begins to dwindle away. Rebuilding and aiding poverty stricken Haiti in their dire need will take years to achieve. Earthquake or no earthquake, they are a nation in great peril… But to the Haitian, the help we give them does not go un-noticed.. They are an extremely grateful people full of smiles, especially in gratitude of the help they are receiving. I went down there to help and yet in so many ways I left feeling as though I was more on the receiving end then on the giving end.. but what I received money can’t simply buy.
This earthquake, an extremely un-anticipated earthquake mind you, would catch Haiti by total surprise drastically changing the lives of almost every Haitian. Haitians were now threatened with losing the very little they even possessed to begin with. Earthquake or no earthquake, Haiti is an extremely poor country, one of the poorest in the world and undoubtedly the poorest of all the Caribbean and Central American nations. As well, Haitians have had to deal with decades and decades of corrupt government that have made it extremely difficult for even the hardest of hard working Haitians to be able to make ends meet on a day to day basis. The biggest complaint I heard from any Haitian was that even as money pours into their country, if it is money that reaches the hands of the government the Haitians themselves almost never see it.. Actually, that is about the only complaint I ever heard from the locals.. But it was a complaint shared by many.
I’ve heard it said by many since Jan 12th that Haiti will undoubtedly benefit greater in the end as a result of this recent earthquake. That, as a result of this earthquake, Haiti now has the worlds attention and will get the help it’s needed all along. Well, on one hand, there may be some truth to this statement in that more organizations, more nations, and more people are indeed coming forwards in wanting to help, yet, I’m not totally convinced this statement is 100% correct. Only if the help is to continue in the long term will this statement prove to be true. Even the largest and most established of humanitarian aid groups, I’m talking the big ones like Red Cross, World Vision, and Doctors Without Borders just to name a few are becoming more and more strained as more and more catastrophes occur more frequently around the world. So, for nations like Haiti to not be forgotten over time means more and more volunteers and humanitarian aid workers coming forwards to help whether it be with large organizations like the above mentioned or with one of the numerous smaller ones similar to Hearts Together For Haiti.
How It Began For Me
My journey to Haiti itself pretty much began on January 12th though confirmation that I would be travelling there of course would not come until days later. I had been sitting at my computer doing some work late in the afternoon and had taken a moment to browse Spirit Daily, my favored online Catholic news source, when I noticed a news link that read, “Strong Earthquake in Haiti”. As I clicked on the link, a link to the first CNN reports coming in, I had this uncanny immediate inner sense that my own life in some peculiar way was about to change, though in that moment I really had no clue as to why I would even think this. I had seen this kind of breaking news report come in many times before, as we all have, and never once thought how such news could or would ever personally affect me.. Yet, the sense was strong that this breaking news somehow would.. It was the first tap on my shoulder God would make.
The initial report on CNN actually first read, “no casualties reported at this time.” yet I also knew that this was going to change in the moments to come simply because it only made sense that it would. I’m not a pessimist and I certainly believe in and hope for miracles, but the reality was Haiti had just had a 7.3 earthquake not even 10 miles from it’s capital city Port Au Prince. To have absolutely no casualties would have been the ultimate miracle of miracles far greater in magnitude than last years Hudson River plane crash where everyone miraculously survived… Yet the grim reality that we would soon come to learn over the next few days and weeks that nearly a quarter million people had died in Haiti was completely unfathomable.
Over the next 48 to 72 hours my prayer life would escalate and my prayers would become more fervent and focused almost solely on what was happening in Haiti the more I saw the images flash across the television and computer screens as news updates from various sources continued to pour in. Anyone with any sense of compassion at all were finding themselves continually choking up with tears at the sounds of mothers crying for their missing children and children crying for their mothers.
On Friday, January 15th, only 3 days after the earthquake I received my second tap on the shoulder by God. This time His attempts to get my attention were very clear and undeniable. Though I can not say God actually spoke to me directly in an audible way like a locution or vision, it was very clear to me that He had just placed on my heart in the most powerful of ways a sudden extremely strong desire, almost an urgent inner need, to go to Haiti and help..
I had been reading online an article from the Windsor Star about Frank Chauvins orphanage and how he lost 3 girls and a worker in that orphanage… and reading this article tore at my heart as it did for many in our community. Like many Windsorites, I knew who Frank Chauvin was. In fact, years earlier, Elizabeth and I had him over for dinner one night and he spoke to us about his ongoing efforts in Haiti. Now to learn that he lost 4 simply broke my heart. As well, our community was waiting in anticipation about the whereabouts of one of our priests Fr. Giroux who had been missing since January 12th. So for Windsor, the Haiti devastation was really hitting home.
As I read the article, the desire to go and help was rapidly intensifying. Still, it wasn’t making a whole lotta sense. I’m not a doctor or a nurse. I’m a construction worker I thought as I read, “The Windsor-based aid group Hearts Together for Haiti is also in the initial stages of planning a trip to Port-au-Prince within the next several weeks to offer assistance. Chairman Steve McDougall said about a half dozen volunteers, which he hopes will include trained medical professionals, could travel at the end of February.” The initial need seemed to be medical. Yet it still seemed to be on my heart to want to go and help. Yet me? I barely have work right now and can barely make ends meet myself. I’m behind on my bills. I have no money saved. I have commitments here at home with Don Bosco Home… and with my own children who need me here. “Nope… It seemed God was saying. I want you to go to Haiti. You can certainly help.” And suddenly, all the excuses I was quick to come up with seemed easily workable to make it possible to go. The next paragraph jumped out at me full force, “McDougall said volunteers could help out with medical treatment and making repairs at Chauvin’s orphanage or offering help at Giroux’s Haiti Mission in the neighborhood of St. Michel.” And there was confirmation. This organization may actually be able to use me.
There were of course initial obstacles. I needed to know that Greg would be okay with it here at Don Bosco Home if I left for a while. I needed to know that Elizabeth and my children would be okay with it. I needed to know that my spiritual director would be okay with it. The last time I had approached him with a similar urge to go help was in 2005 when I wanted to go to New Orleans and help in the initial days after hurricane Katrina. He simply said, “No, not unless you go with an organized group.” But at the time I could not find such a group to tag along with unless I had medical experience. This time the urge was that much stronger. But I needed to know that I could be of use in Haiti by some organization, and especially, not a hindrance. The last thing Haiti needed was another hungry mouth to feed. Even if Greg, Elizabeth, the children and my spiritual director were okay with it, I would still need to find out if I could be used by someone down there.
I had such a strong urge after reading that Windsor Star article that despite these obstacles I wanted to phone to offer help immediately. Still, I knew what was right and so I first went and approached Greg about it in his office. He sat and listened to me and when I was finished explained that when he ran the first Don Bosco Home twenty years earlier, after about a years time he felt this need to get away from it all, like a strong sense to escape. I said, “Greg, it’s not like that. I have no desire to ‘escape’ Don Bosco Home. This is my home and as of right now it’s my life.” I explained. ” And believe me, if I didn’t want to be here I simply wouldn’t.” Greg respected that about me and understood. ”I think it’s noble of you. Pray about it over the weekend and see how you feel in a few days.” I took his advice..
Next, I phoned and left a message with my spiritual director Fr. Beaune. Father listened to me as I shared this strong desire to go to Haiti and to my surprise said, “John,. That’s very noble of you and if you can do it, and if Greg and your family are okay with it I think you should do it.” Two of the four obstacles fell into place immediately. Only two more to go. I phoned and spoke about it with Elizabeth who immediately expressed that she was okay with it providing it would not be for an extended period of time, as in months. Over the weekend I stopped by and Elizabeth and I first sat down with Elise and explained the possibility. Elise was excited… And Nathaniel? Well, at age fifteen he floored me with his immediate comment when eyes wide he said, ”Well papa, if you die while you are there you’ll go straight to heaven because you’re helping people.” I slightly smiled at his innocence of heart but assured him, ”Nathaniel, let’s not go there. Papa’s going to be alright… and he’s going to come home.” and hugging me he simply said, “I know.”
Now that everyone in my immediate life at home seemed okay with it, and by this time those close to me here on Thy Daily Bread Forum were also showing great support it was now time to contact someone and offer help. I first phoned Frank Chauvin at home and left a message. I later learned from Frank himself that he did get the message but it was one of so many as he was flooded with calls around the same time and was overwhelmed with trying to gain word of the situation in Haiti concerning his orphanages that he never did get the time to phone me back. However, in the meantime, I had also phoned and left a message with Steve McDougall, Coordinator of Hearts Together For Haiti and a member of the board of Directors, and had emailed him with information about myself as well. I was able to reach Steve over the weekend which opened the door and began preparations for an upcoming trip to Haiti. The possibility was slowly becoming a reality.
Since returning home I’ve encountered a continual flow of family, friends, and other people in passing who know about or have just come to learn that I’ve recently returned from Haiti this past week and they immediately ask, “So what was it like?” And my mouth opens to speak but no words come out… There are no words quickly available to summarize and put into perspective our trip in a single sentence or even in a few short sentences. Words that do eventually come to mind? Well….. how about sad… heartbreaking… frustrating .. Sad and heartbreaking to spend time in the midst of and witness 3rd world poverty first hand, and frustrating to see this kind of suffering knowing it doesn’t necessarily have to be that way…
Our group, Hearts Together For Haiti for the most part worked at a clinic in Jacmal. One of the frustrations was that the doctors and nurses were working under third world conditions.. namely, a lack of medicine and a lack of medical equipment, even basic medical equipment used to save lives, little means to sterilize and to keep the surrounding environment clean and germ free, toppled with a sense of continual chaos and disorganization, though everyone involved tried their best to cut through the confusion and maintain a sense of order around them. To quote nurse Jenny upon arriving at the clinic, "It seems as though everything we learned in med school just went out the window!"
But also, the word touching quickly comes to mind… Touching, in the sense that we’ve met so many really beautiful yet again, suffering souls whose hearts even in the midst of all their personal suffering, a suffering you and I could probably never take on or handle well ourselves radiate what I personally believe is the true essence of God’s love… Haitians for the most part are extremely warm hearted and kind people.. and they are extremely grateful for the help they are continually receiving..
Still, they need so much more help, and most importantly, they need not be forgotten eventually once things begin to settle down and the media attention begins to dwindle away. Rebuilding and aiding poverty stricken Haiti in their dire need will take years to achieve. Earthquake or no earthquake, they are a nation in great peril… But to the Haitian, the help we give them does not go un-noticed.. They are an extremely grateful people full of smiles, especially in gratitude of the help they are receiving. I went down there to help and yet in so many ways I left feeling as though I was more on the receiving end then on the giving end.. but what I received money can’t simply buy.
This earthquake, an extremely un-anticipated earthquake mind you, would catch Haiti by total surprise drastically changing the lives of almost every Haitian. Haitians were now threatened with losing the very little they even possessed to begin with. Earthquake or no earthquake, Haiti is an extremely poor country, one of the poorest in the world and undoubtedly the poorest of all the Caribbean and Central American nations. As well, Haitians have had to deal with decades and decades of corrupt government that have made it extremely difficult for even the hardest of hard working Haitians to be able to make ends meet on a day to day basis. The biggest complaint I heard from any Haitian was that even as money pours into their country, if it is money that reaches the hands of the government the Haitians themselves almost never see it.. Actually, that is about the only complaint I ever heard from the locals.. But it was a complaint shared by many.
I’ve heard it said by many since Jan 12th that Haiti will undoubtedly benefit greater in the end as a result of this recent earthquake. That, as a result of this earthquake, Haiti now has the worlds attention and will get the help it’s needed all along. Well, on one hand, there may be some truth to this statement in that more organizations, more nations, and more people are indeed coming forwards in wanting to help, yet, I’m not totally convinced this statement is 100% correct. Only if the help is to continue in the long term will this statement prove to be true. Even the largest and most established of humanitarian aid groups, I’m talking the big ones like Red Cross, World Vision, and Doctors Without Borders just to name a few are becoming more and more strained as more and more catastrophes occur more frequently around the world. So, for nations like Haiti to not be forgotten over time means more and more volunteers and humanitarian aid workers coming forwards to help whether it be with large organizations like the above mentioned or with one of the numerous smaller ones similar to Hearts Together For Haiti.
How It Began For Me
My journey to Haiti itself pretty much began on January 12th though confirmation that I would be travelling there of course would not come until days later. I had been sitting at my computer doing some work late in the afternoon and had taken a moment to browse Spirit Daily, my favored online Catholic news source, when I noticed a news link that read, “Strong Earthquake in Haiti”. As I clicked on the link, a link to the first CNN reports coming in, I had this uncanny immediate inner sense that my own life in some peculiar way was about to change, though in that moment I really had no clue as to why I would even think this. I had seen this kind of breaking news report come in many times before, as we all have, and never once thought how such news could or would ever personally affect me.. Yet, the sense was strong that this breaking news somehow would.. It was the first tap on my shoulder God would make.
The initial report on CNN actually first read, “no casualties reported at this time.” yet I also knew that this was going to change in the moments to come simply because it only made sense that it would. I’m not a pessimist and I certainly believe in and hope for miracles, but the reality was Haiti had just had a 7.3 earthquake not even 10 miles from it’s capital city Port Au Prince. To have absolutely no casualties would have been the ultimate miracle of miracles far greater in magnitude than last years Hudson River plane crash where everyone miraculously survived… Yet the grim reality that we would soon come to learn over the next few days and weeks that nearly a quarter million people had died in Haiti was completely unfathomable.
Over the next 48 to 72 hours my prayer life would escalate and my prayers would become more fervent and focused almost solely on what was happening in Haiti the more I saw the images flash across the television and computer screens as news updates from various sources continued to pour in. Anyone with any sense of compassion at all were finding themselves continually choking up with tears at the sounds of mothers crying for their missing children and children crying for their mothers.
On Friday, January 15th, only 3 days after the earthquake I received my second tap on the shoulder by God. This time His attempts to get my attention were very clear and undeniable. Though I can not say God actually spoke to me directly in an audible way like a locution or vision, it was very clear to me that He had just placed on my heart in the most powerful of ways a sudden extremely strong desire, almost an urgent inner need, to go to Haiti and help..
I had been reading online an article from the Windsor Star about Frank Chauvins orphanage and how he lost 3 girls and a worker in that orphanage… and reading this article tore at my heart as it did for many in our community. Like many Windsorites, I knew who Frank Chauvin was. In fact, years earlier, Elizabeth and I had him over for dinner one night and he spoke to us about his ongoing efforts in Haiti. Now to learn that he lost 4 simply broke my heart. As well, our community was waiting in anticipation about the whereabouts of one of our priests Fr. Giroux who had been missing since January 12th. So for Windsor, the Haiti devastation was really hitting home.
As I read the article, the desire to go and help was rapidly intensifying. Still, it wasn’t making a whole lotta sense. I’m not a doctor or a nurse. I’m a construction worker I thought as I read, “The Windsor-based aid group Hearts Together for Haiti is also in the initial stages of planning a trip to Port-au-Prince within the next several weeks to offer assistance. Chairman Steve McDougall said about a half dozen volunteers, which he hopes will include trained medical professionals, could travel at the end of February.” The initial need seemed to be medical. Yet it still seemed to be on my heart to want to go and help. Yet me? I barely have work right now and can barely make ends meet myself. I’m behind on my bills. I have no money saved. I have commitments here at home with Don Bosco Home… and with my own children who need me here. “Nope… It seemed God was saying. I want you to go to Haiti. You can certainly help.” And suddenly, all the excuses I was quick to come up with seemed easily workable to make it possible to go. The next paragraph jumped out at me full force, “McDougall said volunteers could help out with medical treatment and making repairs at Chauvin’s orphanage or offering help at Giroux’s Haiti Mission in the neighborhood of St. Michel.” And there was confirmation. This organization may actually be able to use me.
There were of course initial obstacles. I needed to know that Greg would be okay with it here at Don Bosco Home if I left for a while. I needed to know that Elizabeth and my children would be okay with it. I needed to know that my spiritual director would be okay with it. The last time I had approached him with a similar urge to go help was in 2005 when I wanted to go to New Orleans and help in the initial days after hurricane Katrina. He simply said, “No, not unless you go with an organized group.” But at the time I could not find such a group to tag along with unless I had medical experience. This time the urge was that much stronger. But I needed to know that I could be of use in Haiti by some organization, and especially, not a hindrance. The last thing Haiti needed was another hungry mouth to feed. Even if Greg, Elizabeth, the children and my spiritual director were okay with it, I would still need to find out if I could be used by someone down there.
I had such a strong urge after reading that Windsor Star article that despite these obstacles I wanted to phone to offer help immediately. Still, I knew what was right and so I first went and approached Greg about it in his office. He sat and listened to me and when I was finished explained that when he ran the first Don Bosco Home twenty years earlier, after about a years time he felt this need to get away from it all, like a strong sense to escape. I said, “Greg, it’s not like that. I have no desire to ‘escape’ Don Bosco Home. This is my home and as of right now it’s my life.” I explained. ” And believe me, if I didn’t want to be here I simply wouldn’t.” Greg respected that about me and understood. ”I think it’s noble of you. Pray about it over the weekend and see how you feel in a few days.” I took his advice..
Next, I phoned and left a message with my spiritual director Fr. Beaune. Father listened to me as I shared this strong desire to go to Haiti and to my surprise said, “John,. That’s very noble of you and if you can do it, and if Greg and your family are okay with it I think you should do it.” Two of the four obstacles fell into place immediately. Only two more to go. I phoned and spoke about it with Elizabeth who immediately expressed that she was okay with it providing it would not be for an extended period of time, as in months. Over the weekend I stopped by and Elizabeth and I first sat down with Elise and explained the possibility. Elise was excited… And Nathaniel? Well, at age fifteen he floored me with his immediate comment when eyes wide he said, ”Well papa, if you die while you are there you’ll go straight to heaven because you’re helping people.” I slightly smiled at his innocence of heart but assured him, ”Nathaniel, let’s not go there. Papa’s going to be alright… and he’s going to come home.” and hugging me he simply said, “I know.”
Now that everyone in my immediate life at home seemed okay with it, and by this time those close to me here on Thy Daily Bread Forum were also showing great support it was now time to contact someone and offer help. I first phoned Frank Chauvin at home and left a message. I later learned from Frank himself that he did get the message but it was one of so many as he was flooded with calls around the same time and was overwhelmed with trying to gain word of the situation in Haiti concerning his orphanages that he never did get the time to phone me back. However, in the meantime, I had also phoned and left a message with Steve McDougall, Coordinator of Hearts Together For Haiti and a member of the board of Directors, and had emailed him with information about myself as well. I was able to reach Steve over the weekend which opened the door and began preparations for an upcoming trip to Haiti. The possibility was slowly becoming a reality.
Chapter 3 -Until We’ve Actually Seen It First Hand
Until We’ve Actually Seen It First Hand , It’s Very Difficult to Wrap The Mind Around It… And Even Then….
To see this chapter with full pictures please click here
“As I reflect on our shared experience I am reminded of a quote by Mother Teresa....."we can do no great things, only small things with great love". Our days at the clinic in Cayes Jacmel were overwhelming, the need was so great. But God doesn't ask that we care for the whole world, but to care for one person at a time.”
Nurse Kim, our newest member here on Thy Daily Bread commenting in a recent email about our trip to Haiti..
I’ll apologize ahead of time if I seem like I’m jumping around in my reflections at times. While I am trying to share as events happened from January 12th until now, I’m also hopping, skipping, and jumping around as things come to mind that I feel called to be share ahead of time. So please bear with me and hopefully I’ll remain clear throughout these reflections as to what time frame I’m speaking about at any given time.
So before I go much further I really do want to take a moment again to thank everyone who made charitable contributions towards this trip and towards HTFH, to everyone who stood behind me and supported me, and especially for all of your continual prayers which have meant so much and were really felt. Our humanitarian efforts would not have been possible without all the help we received. Thank you..
Our nurses and medical personnel on this trip were outstanding by the way! I want to take a moment and really applaud them because it was the combination of medical experience and expertise on this trip that worked so extraordinarily hand in hand with such great compassion and tender care that I believe is what made all the world of a difference while we were in Haiti. Everyone who came on this trip did so as a volunteer. There was no paycheck. Time was taken away from daily routines, jobs, and families to travel to Haiti wanting to help. And as a witness on this trip, a person myself who has no medical experience and sometimes felt extremely limited in what I had to offer, I also bear witness to the loving care and compassion that was shown by our nurses. They were awesome! I probably need not say much as the numerous pictures I will be posting throughout these reflections will tell it all… Although I will share much more on the wonderful work our nurses did during our time in Haiti in the post's to come.. But for now just wanted to take a moment to commend them on their wonderful efforts and rather large hearts!
From January 12th over the next few weeks until it was time to leave I joined thirteen other local volunteers who were beginning to prepare for this potential trip to Haiti. And when I say ‘began to prepare’ there is a lot to be said about this kind of planning… Not just physical planning but mental, emotional and spiritual planning just the same. And in so many ways I wasn’t even sure how to go about it except for the continual information coming in mostly via emails from our Coordinator Steve Mcdougall who we are all grateful for the tremendous help he offered us in taking the time to brief us both before and during the trip. Steve summoned several meetings in the basement of a local Church Jo-dee had arranged for us to meet at.
It was during these meetings the most that we would come to learn about what to expect when we reached Haiti. It was also during these meetings that we would begin to come to know one another and what we each had to offer... though I'm not sure anything could really prepare us for a lot of what we were about to witness.. And I must admit I felt inadequate during the first meeting as we went around the table and introduced ourselves taking a moment to share in brief our credentials for lack of a better word. Almost everyone in the group was offering some kind of medical experience. When it came to me I could offer experience in construction and experience in helping troubled teens. To me it wasn’t enough.. But to the rest of the group including our coordinator Steve and two other board members Keith & Marcia they felt I could be of help. So I thought, well, if they felt I could be of help then I will trust that and continue in preparations.
During one of the initial conversations I had with Steve over the phone he told me that I would need to start on shots immediately. Mostly the Twinrix shot because I would need to have it in your system weeks in advance before going to Haiti. Well, for someone like me, this was the tell-all & end-all that would determine just how serious I actually was about making this trip. Anyone who knows me knows how extremely petrified I am of needles! I run the other way at the mere mention of shots.. I’ve been that way ever since I was a little kid and as an adult I’ve never seemed to overcome that fear. So if I was going to get shots in order to make this trip then I needed nothing short of a miracle, a tremendous outpouring of God’s graces. I went to a nearby clinic that same day and inquired about the Twinrix shot. No sense in procrastinating. They were ready right there on the spot to take me in and start me on the first of three doses but at the moment I didn’t have the money on me so I opted for an appointment the following day. A single Twinrix shot would cost $71.00.. I would need three before I left.
Also needed was an updated Tetanus shot. And according to the CDC’s website it wouldn’t hurt to get a shot to fight against typhoid as well although typhoid at that time was not of great concern. At the doctors blessing I skipped the typhoid shot but did eventually get the three Twinrix shots and the Tetanus shot. And upon getting the last of three Twinrix shots I also began taking Malaria pills. And at the suggestion of my doctor I took an oral dose of Dukoral, a medicine to fight against Diarrhea, a common occurrence among those travelling to 3rd world countries especially who are not accustomed to the foods and surrounding environment.
I went to my appointment as scheduled and when it came time for the shot I lifted my sleeve and like a good trooper turned my arm towards the nurse and the needle she held in her hand. “Okay, go for it!” I said with a smile… followed by, “Ouch! That hurt!” As the nurse gave me the shot I tensed up and moved a bit just as the needle went in.. Truth was though, I was still eager to get this shot… First time in my life I ever felt eager to have a shot. And despite the sharp bruising pain from accidentally moving I still had that eagerness on my next visits.. The eagerness was in wanting to see this through to go to Haiti.. Whatever it took.. Whatever I needed to do..
So the grace was certainly there! Remember, God tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I would go to Haiti, it only made sense He wouldn’t abandon me in the process but make sure I was given the grace and strength needed to fulfill what He was asking of me… And it was this way for all of us who made this trip. Perhaps not in terms of getting shots so much but in so many other ways different for each individual. Getting time off work, pre-arranging things for while we would be gone… everything just seemed to fall into place for us as we continued to prepare. Even arranging for police clearances and updated passports at the last minute for a few individuals in the group fell into place in perfect timing.
I do realize so many of the pictures are sad and can be difficult to look at.. And believe me, I’m not showing them to make anyone feel sad as almost unavoidable as that may be. In so many ways the whole journey to Haiti was sad and difficult for all of us who went to witness which is why I’m struggling a bit myself these past few days to try to write about our journey. I usually don’t have difficulty journaling about my experiences at least in the same manner I am right now. I usually don’t struggle to reflect as I live them…I can get writers block like anyone.. But this is different. I’ve pretty much written a book already over the past three years or so about my conversion journey even though it’s no where near its end… And I’ve written pretty much with ease about the joys of traveling to Medjugorje on two occasions.. But this is very different in so many aspects… But mostly, simply because of the inner sadness one is left with witnessing such devastation and how it has affected these poor people.
Yet for those of us who have been to Haiti… Well, we carry a message for the suffering soul… We made a promise to bring back home and share this message with the rest of the world in hopes of acquiring more help. Not just more help but continual help for years to come. We bring to our society here at home an S.O.S. if you will on the behalf of our new Haitian friends… and make no mistake about it, it’s a very legitimate and urgent one!
A few days before we left to return home, a few young Haitian boys who had been working around the clinic as translators came to me with a plea. Actually it was an idea. One that I thought was brilliant and rather commendable coming from 16 year olds. They wanted to know if I could get them some early level school exercise books in English… Simple grammar books at an elementary level… perhaps grade 1 or 2 level. Having began to learn English themselves they want to take what they are learning and teach English to the younger children in their village. Many of the children are not in school right now and there is no immediate sign that they will be attending school any time soon. In some cases it’s a result of the Jan 12th earthquake but in other instances school is just not available especially to the younger children. The intent of these young boys is to give the children of their village a head start.
Every young Haitian wants to learn English because they know in the end this opens the door to a better life… A life they can only dream of… Yet all they desire is a fair chance in life to crawl out of the impoverished life they’ve had no choice but to cope with and live thus far. I thought, “How noble of them!” to want to give back to their community what they are being blessed with. I suggested they make a list of what they might be looking for and I would look into it once home. Well, the next day they returned with a list of items that they felt would be beneficial to their efforts and in big letters across the top of the paper it read “DON’T FORGET US JOHN”
I am looking into getting them what I can on that list. The greatest challenge though is not so much acquiring the items themselves but rather getting them to Haiti. The cost’s for shipping are astronomical! But we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. For now, the plea is for basic school books and learning tools that can help these young students to help the younger ones within their own community have a chance to better themselves. This is just one of many examples or ongoing issues the Haitians face. Lack of food.. Lack of clean water.. Lack of medicine.. And a lack of education and jobs… And when you have such simple and basic necessities missing in a society compounded with disease and illness, there has to be a sense of hope for the suffering people of that society.
The thing is, being forgotten is the Haitians greatest worry when it comes to trying to survive by relying on foreign aid... It’s a potential nightmare for them. It’s not a matter of Haitians asking for the world. It’s a matter of asking that the world not forget about them… simply because in being forgotten naturally comes the feeling of abandonment which leads to hopelessness.. When we feel abandoned it only goes to reason we feel hopeless.. It’s about having nothing or very little and trying to cope with the little you have with no light shining on the future.
Garbage was a common scene throughout the city of Port Au Prince.. It’s not as easy as summonsing garbage trucks right now. There simply are none. In most cases the local people are raking and seeping the garbage into piles along the streets and burning it which creates a horrible smell I can only describe as similar to burnt hair… But what else can they really do at the moment.
When we visited one of the tent cities in Jacmal, a population of 955 families, we were escorted around the grounds by one of several young Haitian men working as a security guard. He told me of how some other humanitarian aid workers had come through the tent promising help but they never heard from them again. One thing a humanitarian aid or group does not want to do is make a promise they cannot keep. Because of the dire needs Haitians are coping with even saying, “I’ll see what I can do.” is a promise to them. When you are down and out and struggling to survive all the help you can get is extremely vital to your very existence. There can be nothing worse than to be promised help and the promise be an empty one. So for reasons such as this it is extremely important to the Haitian people that they are not forgotten. And it is for this reason that for those of us who traveled to Haiti our mission did not end the last day of our trip. Our mission continues to be a mission that bears witness to the suffering we have seen and to bring what we have experienced to the rest of the world so that aid to this poor nation will continue as needed. It’s one step at a time... One task at a time… One effort at a time.
To see this chapter with full pictures please click here
“As I reflect on our shared experience I am reminded of a quote by Mother Teresa....."we can do no great things, only small things with great love". Our days at the clinic in Cayes Jacmel were overwhelming, the need was so great. But God doesn't ask that we care for the whole world, but to care for one person at a time.”
Nurse Kim, our newest member here on Thy Daily Bread commenting in a recent email about our trip to Haiti..
I’ll apologize ahead of time if I seem like I’m jumping around in my reflections at times. While I am trying to share as events happened from January 12th until now, I’m also hopping, skipping, and jumping around as things come to mind that I feel called to be share ahead of time. So please bear with me and hopefully I’ll remain clear throughout these reflections as to what time frame I’m speaking about at any given time.
So before I go much further I really do want to take a moment again to thank everyone who made charitable contributions towards this trip and towards HTFH, to everyone who stood behind me and supported me, and especially for all of your continual prayers which have meant so much and were really felt. Our humanitarian efforts would not have been possible without all the help we received. Thank you..
Our nurses and medical personnel on this trip were outstanding by the way! I want to take a moment and really applaud them because it was the combination of medical experience and expertise on this trip that worked so extraordinarily hand in hand with such great compassion and tender care that I believe is what made all the world of a difference while we were in Haiti. Everyone who came on this trip did so as a volunteer. There was no paycheck. Time was taken away from daily routines, jobs, and families to travel to Haiti wanting to help. And as a witness on this trip, a person myself who has no medical experience and sometimes felt extremely limited in what I had to offer, I also bear witness to the loving care and compassion that was shown by our nurses. They were awesome! I probably need not say much as the numerous pictures I will be posting throughout these reflections will tell it all… Although I will share much more on the wonderful work our nurses did during our time in Haiti in the post's to come.. But for now just wanted to take a moment to commend them on their wonderful efforts and rather large hearts!
From January 12th over the next few weeks until it was time to leave I joined thirteen other local volunteers who were beginning to prepare for this potential trip to Haiti. And when I say ‘began to prepare’ there is a lot to be said about this kind of planning… Not just physical planning but mental, emotional and spiritual planning just the same. And in so many ways I wasn’t even sure how to go about it except for the continual information coming in mostly via emails from our Coordinator Steve Mcdougall who we are all grateful for the tremendous help he offered us in taking the time to brief us both before and during the trip. Steve summoned several meetings in the basement of a local Church Jo-dee had arranged for us to meet at.
It was during these meetings the most that we would come to learn about what to expect when we reached Haiti. It was also during these meetings that we would begin to come to know one another and what we each had to offer... though I'm not sure anything could really prepare us for a lot of what we were about to witness.. And I must admit I felt inadequate during the first meeting as we went around the table and introduced ourselves taking a moment to share in brief our credentials for lack of a better word. Almost everyone in the group was offering some kind of medical experience. When it came to me I could offer experience in construction and experience in helping troubled teens. To me it wasn’t enough.. But to the rest of the group including our coordinator Steve and two other board members Keith & Marcia they felt I could be of help. So I thought, well, if they felt I could be of help then I will trust that and continue in preparations.
During one of the initial conversations I had with Steve over the phone he told me that I would need to start on shots immediately. Mostly the Twinrix shot because I would need to have it in your system weeks in advance before going to Haiti. Well, for someone like me, this was the tell-all & end-all that would determine just how serious I actually was about making this trip. Anyone who knows me knows how extremely petrified I am of needles! I run the other way at the mere mention of shots.. I’ve been that way ever since I was a little kid and as an adult I’ve never seemed to overcome that fear. So if I was going to get shots in order to make this trip then I needed nothing short of a miracle, a tremendous outpouring of God’s graces. I went to a nearby clinic that same day and inquired about the Twinrix shot. No sense in procrastinating. They were ready right there on the spot to take me in and start me on the first of three doses but at the moment I didn’t have the money on me so I opted for an appointment the following day. A single Twinrix shot would cost $71.00.. I would need three before I left.
Also needed was an updated Tetanus shot. And according to the CDC’s website it wouldn’t hurt to get a shot to fight against typhoid as well although typhoid at that time was not of great concern. At the doctors blessing I skipped the typhoid shot but did eventually get the three Twinrix shots and the Tetanus shot. And upon getting the last of three Twinrix shots I also began taking Malaria pills. And at the suggestion of my doctor I took an oral dose of Dukoral, a medicine to fight against Diarrhea, a common occurrence among those travelling to 3rd world countries especially who are not accustomed to the foods and surrounding environment.
I went to my appointment as scheduled and when it came time for the shot I lifted my sleeve and like a good trooper turned my arm towards the nurse and the needle she held in her hand. “Okay, go for it!” I said with a smile… followed by, “Ouch! That hurt!” As the nurse gave me the shot I tensed up and moved a bit just as the needle went in.. Truth was though, I was still eager to get this shot… First time in my life I ever felt eager to have a shot. And despite the sharp bruising pain from accidentally moving I still had that eagerness on my next visits.. The eagerness was in wanting to see this through to go to Haiti.. Whatever it took.. Whatever I needed to do..
So the grace was certainly there! Remember, God tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I would go to Haiti, it only made sense He wouldn’t abandon me in the process but make sure I was given the grace and strength needed to fulfill what He was asking of me… And it was this way for all of us who made this trip. Perhaps not in terms of getting shots so much but in so many other ways different for each individual. Getting time off work, pre-arranging things for while we would be gone… everything just seemed to fall into place for us as we continued to prepare. Even arranging for police clearances and updated passports at the last minute for a few individuals in the group fell into place in perfect timing.
I do realize so many of the pictures are sad and can be difficult to look at.. And believe me, I’m not showing them to make anyone feel sad as almost unavoidable as that may be. In so many ways the whole journey to Haiti was sad and difficult for all of us who went to witness which is why I’m struggling a bit myself these past few days to try to write about our journey. I usually don’t have difficulty journaling about my experiences at least in the same manner I am right now. I usually don’t struggle to reflect as I live them…I can get writers block like anyone.. But this is different. I’ve pretty much written a book already over the past three years or so about my conversion journey even though it’s no where near its end… And I’ve written pretty much with ease about the joys of traveling to Medjugorje on two occasions.. But this is very different in so many aspects… But mostly, simply because of the inner sadness one is left with witnessing such devastation and how it has affected these poor people.
Yet for those of us who have been to Haiti… Well, we carry a message for the suffering soul… We made a promise to bring back home and share this message with the rest of the world in hopes of acquiring more help. Not just more help but continual help for years to come. We bring to our society here at home an S.O.S. if you will on the behalf of our new Haitian friends… and make no mistake about it, it’s a very legitimate and urgent one!
A few days before we left to return home, a few young Haitian boys who had been working around the clinic as translators came to me with a plea. Actually it was an idea. One that I thought was brilliant and rather commendable coming from 16 year olds. They wanted to know if I could get them some early level school exercise books in English… Simple grammar books at an elementary level… perhaps grade 1 or 2 level. Having began to learn English themselves they want to take what they are learning and teach English to the younger children in their village. Many of the children are not in school right now and there is no immediate sign that they will be attending school any time soon. In some cases it’s a result of the Jan 12th earthquake but in other instances school is just not available especially to the younger children. The intent of these young boys is to give the children of their village a head start.
Every young Haitian wants to learn English because they know in the end this opens the door to a better life… A life they can only dream of… Yet all they desire is a fair chance in life to crawl out of the impoverished life they’ve had no choice but to cope with and live thus far. I thought, “How noble of them!” to want to give back to their community what they are being blessed with. I suggested they make a list of what they might be looking for and I would look into it once home. Well, the next day they returned with a list of items that they felt would be beneficial to their efforts and in big letters across the top of the paper it read “DON’T FORGET US JOHN”
I am looking into getting them what I can on that list. The greatest challenge though is not so much acquiring the items themselves but rather getting them to Haiti. The cost’s for shipping are astronomical! But we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. For now, the plea is for basic school books and learning tools that can help these young students to help the younger ones within their own community have a chance to better themselves. This is just one of many examples or ongoing issues the Haitians face. Lack of food.. Lack of clean water.. Lack of medicine.. And a lack of education and jobs… And when you have such simple and basic necessities missing in a society compounded with disease and illness, there has to be a sense of hope for the suffering people of that society.
The thing is, being forgotten is the Haitians greatest worry when it comes to trying to survive by relying on foreign aid... It’s a potential nightmare for them. It’s not a matter of Haitians asking for the world. It’s a matter of asking that the world not forget about them… simply because in being forgotten naturally comes the feeling of abandonment which leads to hopelessness.. When we feel abandoned it only goes to reason we feel hopeless.. It’s about having nothing or very little and trying to cope with the little you have with no light shining on the future.
Garbage was a common scene throughout the city of Port Au Prince.. It’s not as easy as summonsing garbage trucks right now. There simply are none. In most cases the local people are raking and seeping the garbage into piles along the streets and burning it which creates a horrible smell I can only describe as similar to burnt hair… But what else can they really do at the moment.
When we visited one of the tent cities in Jacmal, a population of 955 families, we were escorted around the grounds by one of several young Haitian men working as a security guard. He told me of how some other humanitarian aid workers had come through the tent promising help but they never heard from them again. One thing a humanitarian aid or group does not want to do is make a promise they cannot keep. Because of the dire needs Haitians are coping with even saying, “I’ll see what I can do.” is a promise to them. When you are down and out and struggling to survive all the help you can get is extremely vital to your very existence. There can be nothing worse than to be promised help and the promise be an empty one. So for reasons such as this it is extremely important to the Haitian people that they are not forgotten. And it is for this reason that for those of us who traveled to Haiti our mission did not end the last day of our trip. Our mission continues to be a mission that bears witness to the suffering we have seen and to bring what we have experienced to the rest of the world so that aid to this poor nation will continue as needed. It’s one step at a time... One task at a time… One effort at a time.
Chapter 4 -What Will I See
To see this chapter with full pictures please click here
Once plans began for myself and the others mid January towards preparations for this upcoming trip to Haiti I also continued to struggle with the horror and devastation of what I kept seeing over and over again on the television and internet news services. In many instances the pictures were very graphic and extremely difficult to look at… Not to mention just completely heart wrenching. Like the young mother searching frantically for her children only to discover they had perished in a toppled building as she cried out to the CNN reporter, “I don’t even have a photo of them to remember them!” My own heart crushed at the mere thought as tears began to swell… And often, I would have to get up from my seat and just walk away teary eyed… and I would turn in prayer wanting to grasp it all. The reality was so difficult to grasp even for us in our world.. But what these poor victims must have been going through was just completely incomprehensible!
As a believer I found my faith really being tested last January! I struggled so much with the “whys” of how God could actually allow such a horrible tragedy to befall this little peaceful 3rd world nation already struggling to survive in existence. I struggled because I couldn’t help in those moments but to see it as a lack of mercy from a God Who is supposed to be “all merciful”… No, I just couldn’t wrap my tiny mind around it all… It seemed so cruel.. These are our brothers and sisters. They are children of God no different than each and every one of us and they were already suffering tremendously as a result of a continual world crisis called poverty long before the earthquake. Where was God’s mercy in all of this?
And yet, when I arrived in Haiti I met some of the most faithful people I've ever met! It truly humbled me...
This was not the first of tragedies to befall the Haiti people… Only a couple of years have passed since torrential rains caused an unexpected mudslide catching suddenly nearly 2000 Haitians by total surprise during the night literally washing them into the ocean as they slept quietly in their beds. That horror was still fresh on my own mind when I learned of this sudden earthquake last month. Not to mention Haiti has certainly had its share of hurricanes as well.
I sat during Mass this past weekend and listened to the Gospel and the following words of Christ spoke very direct to me, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all the other Galileans? By no means!... Or those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them -do you think they were more guilty than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem? By no means!” Luke 13: 2-5 The Galileans in Scripture Jesus speaks of in this case are our Haitian brothers and sisters who are no more deserving of this horrible tragedy than any of us are. No one deserved this! Despite the extremely insulting and ludicrous remarks of Pat Robertson. Good hearted God fearing people suffering at the hands of labor pains as the earth went through more changes. A chastisement? Hard pill to swallow especially having just returned from there meeting not an evil people but a beautiful God loving peoples.
Some things in life are simply not able to be comprehended or understood. Tragedy is just one of those things. Whether it be a devastating earthquake that leaves almost a quarter million dead and millions homeless or a mother grieving over the sudden loss of her child. Personal tragedy is just a very horrible, undeserving and unwarranted experience to have to go through. We don’t know why… And naturally we are going to struggle especially to accept that somehow God is there through it all…
As a believer I feel that one thing that is for certain is that God gives us freewill and in that freewill we have responsibilities to live up to. Freewill does not mean do whatever you want. It means take responsibility to do what’s right without being made to do it. And it is not God who has divided this world into different rooms.. God has not separated one part of this world to remain in poverty and the other part to enjoy the benefits of wealth. This separation of peoples into separate rooms is the result of humanity and the course humanity has taken. Abundance vs. poverty..
In 2006 Pope Benedict while making the Stations of the Cross during Lent as the Holy Father traditionally always does spoke profoundly about the world poverty crisis. And during this one particular journey along the Way of the Cross the Holy Father made a plea to the world to help those in need and he beseeched God’s mercy upon all children of God. It was during the ninth Station, Jesus Falls a Third Time that the Holy Father stopped before that station and began,
"Where is Jesus in agony in our own time?
In the division of our world into belts of prosperity
and belts of poverty ... this is Christ’s agony today.
Our world is made of two rooms:
in one room, things go to waste,
in the other, people are wasting away;
in one room, people die from surfeit,
in the other, they die from indigence;
in one room, they are concerned about obesity,
in the other, they are begging for charity.
Why don’t we open a door?
Who don’t we sit at one table?
Why don’t we realize that the poor
can help the rich?
Why? Why? Why are we so blind?
Those words, words I remember well from way back then, once again struck my heart in a very profound way as we entered into 2010.. During the time Pope Benedict had said this in the spring of 2006 I was working on the streets of Windsor trying to help a homeless lady named Cathy to get her off the streets. So these words had a great impact on me personally then, just as they were grabbing my attention once again in this recent moment of agony…
During the first week after the Haiti earthquake I sat down at the piano and began to express my heart in a prayerful plea in song. I’m not much of a song writer but it didn’t matter. This wasn’t about winning a Grammy, it was about offering a heartfelt prayer for my brothers and sisters in a far away land in their own struggles and agony.. This was about calling out to the God of Mercy to have mercy upon these poor souls in their dire need and moment of great tribulation and peril… My heart ached tremendously at what I was seeing and the more I saw it the more I wanted to reach out and help. So one evening shortly after I had contacted Steve McDougal about volunteering with Hearts Together For Haiti I sat down at the piano and this song came to me literally in a matter of a few minutes. It was a prayer, a plea to God to help these poor suffering souls..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emO4EeaGXeM
I went to Haiti feeling as though God wanted to show me something.. I went to Haiti with the question What will I see? ………….. and now that I have been there I am left asking myself What can I now do to make a difference?”… This is what God is showing me.. what He is showing us… That His precious children, our dear brothers and sisters in a far away land truly need our help… The worlds help… Our help…
Once plans began for myself and the others mid January towards preparations for this upcoming trip to Haiti I also continued to struggle with the horror and devastation of what I kept seeing over and over again on the television and internet news services. In many instances the pictures were very graphic and extremely difficult to look at… Not to mention just completely heart wrenching. Like the young mother searching frantically for her children only to discover they had perished in a toppled building as she cried out to the CNN reporter, “I don’t even have a photo of them to remember them!” My own heart crushed at the mere thought as tears began to swell… And often, I would have to get up from my seat and just walk away teary eyed… and I would turn in prayer wanting to grasp it all. The reality was so difficult to grasp even for us in our world.. But what these poor victims must have been going through was just completely incomprehensible!
As a believer I found my faith really being tested last January! I struggled so much with the “whys” of how God could actually allow such a horrible tragedy to befall this little peaceful 3rd world nation already struggling to survive in existence. I struggled because I couldn’t help in those moments but to see it as a lack of mercy from a God Who is supposed to be “all merciful”… No, I just couldn’t wrap my tiny mind around it all… It seemed so cruel.. These are our brothers and sisters. They are children of God no different than each and every one of us and they were already suffering tremendously as a result of a continual world crisis called poverty long before the earthquake. Where was God’s mercy in all of this?
And yet, when I arrived in Haiti I met some of the most faithful people I've ever met! It truly humbled me...
This was not the first of tragedies to befall the Haiti people… Only a couple of years have passed since torrential rains caused an unexpected mudslide catching suddenly nearly 2000 Haitians by total surprise during the night literally washing them into the ocean as they slept quietly in their beds. That horror was still fresh on my own mind when I learned of this sudden earthquake last month. Not to mention Haiti has certainly had its share of hurricanes as well.
I sat during Mass this past weekend and listened to the Gospel and the following words of Christ spoke very direct to me, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all the other Galileans? By no means!... Or those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them -do you think they were more guilty than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem? By no means!” Luke 13: 2-5 The Galileans in Scripture Jesus speaks of in this case are our Haitian brothers and sisters who are no more deserving of this horrible tragedy than any of us are. No one deserved this! Despite the extremely insulting and ludicrous remarks of Pat Robertson. Good hearted God fearing people suffering at the hands of labor pains as the earth went through more changes. A chastisement? Hard pill to swallow especially having just returned from there meeting not an evil people but a beautiful God loving peoples.
Some things in life are simply not able to be comprehended or understood. Tragedy is just one of those things. Whether it be a devastating earthquake that leaves almost a quarter million dead and millions homeless or a mother grieving over the sudden loss of her child. Personal tragedy is just a very horrible, undeserving and unwarranted experience to have to go through. We don’t know why… And naturally we are going to struggle especially to accept that somehow God is there through it all…
As a believer I feel that one thing that is for certain is that God gives us freewill and in that freewill we have responsibilities to live up to. Freewill does not mean do whatever you want. It means take responsibility to do what’s right without being made to do it. And it is not God who has divided this world into different rooms.. God has not separated one part of this world to remain in poverty and the other part to enjoy the benefits of wealth. This separation of peoples into separate rooms is the result of humanity and the course humanity has taken. Abundance vs. poverty..
In 2006 Pope Benedict while making the Stations of the Cross during Lent as the Holy Father traditionally always does spoke profoundly about the world poverty crisis. And during this one particular journey along the Way of the Cross the Holy Father made a plea to the world to help those in need and he beseeched God’s mercy upon all children of God. It was during the ninth Station, Jesus Falls a Third Time that the Holy Father stopped before that station and began,
"Where is Jesus in agony in our own time?
In the division of our world into belts of prosperity
and belts of poverty ... this is Christ’s agony today.
Our world is made of two rooms:
in one room, things go to waste,
in the other, people are wasting away;
in one room, people die from surfeit,
in the other, they die from indigence;
in one room, they are concerned about obesity,
in the other, they are begging for charity.
Why don’t we open a door?
Who don’t we sit at one table?
Why don’t we realize that the poor
can help the rich?
Why? Why? Why are we so blind?
Those words, words I remember well from way back then, once again struck my heart in a very profound way as we entered into 2010.. During the time Pope Benedict had said this in the spring of 2006 I was working on the streets of Windsor trying to help a homeless lady named Cathy to get her off the streets. So these words had a great impact on me personally then, just as they were grabbing my attention once again in this recent moment of agony…
During the first week after the Haiti earthquake I sat down at the piano and began to express my heart in a prayerful plea in song. I’m not much of a song writer but it didn’t matter. This wasn’t about winning a Grammy, it was about offering a heartfelt prayer for my brothers and sisters in a far away land in their own struggles and agony.. This was about calling out to the God of Mercy to have mercy upon these poor souls in their dire need and moment of great tribulation and peril… My heart ached tremendously at what I was seeing and the more I saw it the more I wanted to reach out and help. So one evening shortly after I had contacted Steve McDougal about volunteering with Hearts Together For Haiti I sat down at the piano and this song came to me literally in a matter of a few minutes. It was a prayer, a plea to God to help these poor suffering souls..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emO4EeaGXeM
I went to Haiti feeling as though God wanted to show me something.. I went to Haiti with the question What will I see? ………….. and now that I have been there I am left asking myself What can I now do to make a difference?”… This is what God is showing me.. what He is showing us… That His precious children, our dear brothers and sisters in a far away land truly need our help… The worlds help… Our help…
Chapter 5 -But it’s a Fluid Situation…
To see this chapter with full pictures please click here
I apologize for not getting back to writing about Haiti lately. There is so much still to write about. To be honest, in these past 5 parts posted thus far I’ve only just begun.. I may hop, skip and jump a bit from time to time as I continue to write about our trip to Haiti.. I will try my best though to stay relatively on track according to how our trip went in terms of a time frame. That being said, I suppose my writing of this Haiti trip in itself is symbolic of a common cliché we shared during our stay in Haiti. That is, everything was a fluid situation. More on that in a moment….
We left Windsor at about 10:00am on Monday morning the 15th of February. Everyone arrived at a central location within the city at Devonshire Mall to board a Windsor Transit Bus to head over to Detroit Metro Airport in order to catch our departing flight which would leave for Florida around 2 in the afternoon. Once we landed in Florida around 5:30pm, we would prepare for our connecting flight to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic.
When we arrived on the island of Hispaniola which is shared by both Haiti and the DR, most of us didn’t know what to expect. Only a few had travelled on Humanitarian Aid trips as medical staff. The rest of us were in for a shock. Actually, I suppose in many ways even Denis, Ben & Amy who all had previous humanitarian aid experience in other 3rd world countries went through some shock seeing the devastation left by this horrible earthquake. The day’s travel duration went pretty smooth checking baggage, getting through customs and security checkpoints and all… We arrived a bit late in Santo Domingo. It was close to midnight by the time we departed the plane and met up with Joe who would be our guide for the duration of the 10 day humanitarian trip.
From the airport, we boarded into two extended vans that took us to another Dominican Republic city called Santiago where we would stay overnight in a guest house before departing early the next morning for Haiti.
Joe had us up pretty early. It was just after 6am when we heard his voice from outside our rooms calling out to wake up as he knocked on each door of the guest house. By the time we had reached the gust house in Santiago and settled into our rooms it was close to 2am for most of us before we fell asleep. So getting up at 6am, especially after being a bit jet lagged from travelling all day the day before our nights sleep felt like a mere cat nap.
As we all gathered for breakfast at a nice outdoor café not one of us was exempt from feeling sleep deprived. Some of our group had stayed in one guest house and a smaller group of about 4 of us stayed at another a few blocks away because there had not been enough rooms available at the one guest house. We all met for breakfast at a restaurant somewhere in between the two guest houses.
Mind you, we were also still adjusting to the nice weather conditions having just flown in leaving behind a bitter cold Canadian winter to land in a warm tropical paradise like the Dominican Republic was something we would all just have to try to quickly adjust to… Ummm, actually, it took all but about 5 minutes after un-boarding the plane the night before when we arrived. Seriously though, I think by this time though both our physical bodies and our mental mind states were in confusion as we tried to adjust to all the sudden changes in the last 24 hours.
After breakfast, everyone headed to their rooms to quickly pack up to be ready on time to leave for Haiti.. And then we waited… and we waited… lol… And we began to learn about Haiti time.. In essence, not sure if there really is any.. Things just move accordingly without dead lines or the stress of meeting certain time frames. And at least in part, that is where Steve McDougall’s little cliché “Everything is a fluid situation” originates from. We heard these words often. Several times a day! And every time a bus or tap tap would not show up, or we waited a few hours for our departing bus to travel a far distance, or a plan would change, and then that new plan would change 20 minutes later, only to have it changed again 10 minutes after that, we were reminded again and again, “This is a fluid situation”
There were no guarantees is what it meant. Everything we planned had to first be understood that we may actually be planning things in vain. Everything had to be played by ear, one step at a time for things change rather quickly in Haiti.
Next stop- Haiti…
I apologize for not getting back to writing about Haiti lately. There is so much still to write about. To be honest, in these past 5 parts posted thus far I’ve only just begun.. I may hop, skip and jump a bit from time to time as I continue to write about our trip to Haiti.. I will try my best though to stay relatively on track according to how our trip went in terms of a time frame. That being said, I suppose my writing of this Haiti trip in itself is symbolic of a common cliché we shared during our stay in Haiti. That is, everything was a fluid situation. More on that in a moment….
We left Windsor at about 10:00am on Monday morning the 15th of February. Everyone arrived at a central location within the city at Devonshire Mall to board a Windsor Transit Bus to head over to Detroit Metro Airport in order to catch our departing flight which would leave for Florida around 2 in the afternoon. Once we landed in Florida around 5:30pm, we would prepare for our connecting flight to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic.
When we arrived on the island of Hispaniola which is shared by both Haiti and the DR, most of us didn’t know what to expect. Only a few had travelled on Humanitarian Aid trips as medical staff. The rest of us were in for a shock. Actually, I suppose in many ways even Denis, Ben & Amy who all had previous humanitarian aid experience in other 3rd world countries went through some shock seeing the devastation left by this horrible earthquake. The day’s travel duration went pretty smooth checking baggage, getting through customs and security checkpoints and all… We arrived a bit late in Santo Domingo. It was close to midnight by the time we departed the plane and met up with Joe who would be our guide for the duration of the 10 day humanitarian trip.
From the airport, we boarded into two extended vans that took us to another Dominican Republic city called Santiago where we would stay overnight in a guest house before departing early the next morning for Haiti.
Joe had us up pretty early. It was just after 6am when we heard his voice from outside our rooms calling out to wake up as he knocked on each door of the guest house. By the time we had reached the gust house in Santiago and settled into our rooms it was close to 2am for most of us before we fell asleep. So getting up at 6am, especially after being a bit jet lagged from travelling all day the day before our nights sleep felt like a mere cat nap.
As we all gathered for breakfast at a nice outdoor café not one of us was exempt from feeling sleep deprived. Some of our group had stayed in one guest house and a smaller group of about 4 of us stayed at another a few blocks away because there had not been enough rooms available at the one guest house. We all met for breakfast at a restaurant somewhere in between the two guest houses.
Mind you, we were also still adjusting to the nice weather conditions having just flown in leaving behind a bitter cold Canadian winter to land in a warm tropical paradise like the Dominican Republic was something we would all just have to try to quickly adjust to… Ummm, actually, it took all but about 5 minutes after un-boarding the plane the night before when we arrived. Seriously though, I think by this time though both our physical bodies and our mental mind states were in confusion as we tried to adjust to all the sudden changes in the last 24 hours.
After breakfast, everyone headed to their rooms to quickly pack up to be ready on time to leave for Haiti.. And then we waited… and we waited… lol… And we began to learn about Haiti time.. In essence, not sure if there really is any.. Things just move accordingly without dead lines or the stress of meeting certain time frames. And at least in part, that is where Steve McDougall’s little cliché “Everything is a fluid situation” originates from. We heard these words often. Several times a day! And every time a bus or tap tap would not show up, or we waited a few hours for our departing bus to travel a far distance, or a plan would change, and then that new plan would change 20 minutes later, only to have it changed again 10 minutes after that, we were reminded again and again, “This is a fluid situation”
There were no guarantees is what it meant. Everything we planned had to first be understood that we may actually be planning things in vain. Everything had to be played by ear, one step at a time for things change rather quickly in Haiti.
Next stop- Haiti…
Chapter 6- We just around that mountain
We just around that mountain and you will see Port Au Prince
To see this chapter with full pictures please click here
Tuesday morning Joe had us all awake around 6am.. It was too early! We all felt that way... LOL!! We had arrived in Santa Domingo late and didn't make it to the guest houses and into bed until after 1am.. So after spending the entire day yesterday traveling through airports and being cramped into little airplane seats a few of us were just a tad cranky to start the day Tuesday morning.. Mind you, it would only be a few more hours before we would suddenly learn rather quickly in humility that we had nothing at all to be cranky about.. We were in for a real eye opener and even in our own struggles I think we all pretty much knew this in our own hearts.. It was just a matter of seeing it first hand that would make all the difference...
After breakfast at the nice outdoor cafe as I posted in the previous post, we returned to our rooms and gathered our belongings together. We rushed to make sure we were ready as Joe had asked us to and then we waited for about an hour before the mini-vans would finally arrive to take us to the Main Bus Terminal.. At the Bus Terminal we would board a Greyhound style bus to make our almost 10 hour non-stop journey to just outside Port Au Prince, Haiti where we would be staying for the night...
10 hours is a very long time to be couped up on a bus non-stop... It really is! It was actually about 8+ hours non-stop until we got to the Haiti border where we would pull in, stop and be able to all get out and stretch our legs.. But still, 8 hours without stopping is a very long time to be situated in a seat unable to really move. But that's how it's done there. No pit stops along the way. I slept on and off but not very well. None of us did. I found it difficult sleeping in a sitting up position. Even as I would doze off from moment to moment any sudden movement, a bump, a voice, conversations, sunlight suddenly upon the face, all of it would just wake me up again, and with the lack of sleep the night before I think most of us were experiencing the same thing... So by the time we reached the Haiti border several hours later and pulled in to finally stop and be able to stretch our legs most of us felt extremely lethargic...
I sat in my chair dozing in and out half listening to the various conversations going on around me. it's interesting when you have your eyes closed just sitting there listening to other people converse sometimes.. I could hear Amy telling I think Ryan how proud of her daughter she was, Steve McDougall in the seats ahead of us telling stories about previous trips to Haiti he had been on, and Dr. Denis explaining the benefits of naturalistic medicine to another in our group.. I just sat there with my eyes closed listening..
Jo-dee was sitting next to me dozing in and out as well.. Behind us were a young Haitian couple returning to Haiti. I think it was young Steve sitting further behind that first got chatting a bit with them.. Not sure if I mentioned, we had two Steves on the trip.. Steve McDougall was our organizer.. He is the Chairman of Hearts Togther for Haiti.. And then there was the younger Steve who is a Windsor Transit employee.. So to distinguish between the two I'll continue to refer to Steve McDougall either by his full name or 'the elder Steve' and Steve the Windsor Transit employee as the 'younger Steve' .. :)
When I realized this young Haitian couple were returning home I sat up and turned around to face them, "Are you returning home for the first time since the quake?" I asked.
"Yes" Said the Haitian man. "We had left a week before the quake to visit her family" He explained motioning to his wife. "We have not seen our home or even our country yet since the quake"
This young couple, like so many, lost their home, their personal possessions apart from what they had with them on their trip and saddest of all, like almost all Haitians they lost loved ones.. Every Haitian we met had a story to tell that included losing a loved one or several loved ones....
I sat back in my chair not wanting to further ask questions of this young Haitian couple hesitant I may ask an awkward or sensitive question. I sat back and just returned to listening to the conversations around me as I gazed out the window of the bus at the beautiful Dominican countryside. Rolling hills filled with banana trees stretching along for miles in all directions until they reached the mountains in the near distances all around us.. The skies were clear and it was a hot and humid but beautiful sunny day.. We had seemed to drive for hours seeing nothing but countryside except the odd little village here and there we would pass ever so often.
Suddenly, it was as if the narrow highway we were on had reached it's end and within an instant we were slowing down and maneuvering over gravel filled with lot's of pot holes as the bus driver began to shift gears down and bring the bus to a crawl.. Then the bus came to a complete stop and began to back up.. People walking all around everywhere. A few old buildings that looked to be small warehouses, a few U.N. security personnel gathered off to the left, a group of young Haitians unloading trucks, and barb and razor wire fencing everywhere you looked.. "Where are we?" I turned to the young Haitian man sitting behind me and asked.. "We are at the border now." He replied.. "We are in my country, Haiti."
This is where it began to hit me the most... "What will I see?" For the very first time I was beginning to see it before my very eyes.. Not so much the devastation.. But the signs of pain.. of struggle.. of strife.. The devastation was yet to come.. That lurked just around the corner, literally! But the scrambling to get food to the poor, to get aid shipments into the country as quick as possible, to get volunteers like ourselves in to devastated areas to get them working was what we first saw as we entered Haiti for the first time.. It was here at the D.R./ Haiti border that we were beginning to see the tell tale signs of everything horrifying and heart wrenching we had come to learn about through the news only a month earlier.. Everything that made out hearts ache and our eyes weep over the past month..
The bus parked, the doors opened and as we had all really hoped the bus driver informed us that we could step outside the bus and stretch our legs. "Thank God!' Was what went through all of our minds instantaneously! And so we did.. One by one we began to depart from the bus to stretch our legs.. To find relief.. Of course the heat and humidity hit us immediately as we stepped off the bus but that was okay.. It was just such a relief after 8 straight hours of being couped up in little seats to just get out and be able to stretch..
But the sight around us... We were immediately approached by local Haitians vending gum, candy bars, beer & pop.. "1 dollar" The young Haitian girl of about 12 years old said as she came up to me and the younger Steve.. and again she said the moment we made eye contact, "1 dollar, please.." Some of us bought a beer or a pop.. Something to snack on.. We were continually followed around everywhere we walked and everywhere we stood. in buying something they didn't necessarily walk away after wards but only for a moment and they were back wanting you to buy more.. They were persistent.. For these Haitians, it was their only hope to make a living.. And in many ways they were the lucky ones because at least they had a means to make some money.. Most Haitians didn't... Most Haitians don't..
After about an hour, we all boarded the bus again. We were told that we were cleared and could continue on now... So we all got back on the bus and took our seats anticipating yet another few hours before reaching Port Au Prince.. At least we thought.. As we took our seats I asked the young Haitian man who had been sitting behind me all along just how far are we from Port Au Prince.. "About 20 minutes" He replied, and I said, "Huh! I thought we still had about two hours!"
"Oh no," He replied.. "You'll see.. We just around that mountain and you will see Port Au Prince"
I sat back in my seat and continued to watch out the window of the bus as we slowly made our way out of the customs compound to begin our trek towards the capital city.. The road we took was long and winding and literally hugged the outer edge of a rather large mountain on our left with a shallow valley running along the right side of the road overlooking a low plateau.. As we looked out our windows we began to see these huge sections of the mountain had as if large chunks in many places were completely missing out of it's side.. I mean huge as in spanning 100 feet high or more and just as wide across.. Even the young Haitian fellow and his wife sitting behind us were amazed and spoke up saying, "That was never like that before!" It was the first signs of what an earthquake can actually do to the geographics of the earth... Whole sections of a mountain completely gives way and crumbles to the ground below within an instant.. nothing to stop it.. Nothing to prevent nature from taking it's course... It just does it's thing..
Minutes later as we began to move away from the mountain and into open plateau everything seemed fine looking out the window of the bus.. We were passing homes here and there along the road and saw no damage.. nothing out of the ordinary.. Various conversations on the bus continued.. Jo-dee sitting next to me took out her camera and began to take pictures.. Then, suddenly just as if leaving one room and entering into another it was as if we were in an entirely altogether different world! A world of utter chaos and destruction! We just passed a whole slew of homes standing and unaffected.. Now we were looking out our window at home after home, building after building made of concrete and totally collapsed upon itself.. and tent cities! Tucked in between all this mess anywhere it seemed there had been available vacant land were now tent cities.. Some quickly put together by the locals, tents basically made out of bed sheets and sticks.. and others, more organized and put together by the United Nations..
The conversations all suddenly stopped.. Everything went deathly quiet! Except for the periodic gasps of several you could have heard a pin drop on that bus.. The mood among all quickly became somber.. The bus continued along the road, everyone looking out the windows at the destruction.. no one saying a word.. I held my Rosary between my fingers and silently prayed, not really focusing so much on the decades but just praying one Hail Mary after another as I watched from inside the air conditioned bus the masses of Haitians walking around and along the streets yet as if no where to go.. Haitians sitting outside their collapsed homes watching us as we slowly drove by.. No one waving.. Just us looking out the bus window at them and they sitting by their demolished homes staring up at us as we drove by.. Somber is an understatement..
Soon, within minutes just as the young Haitian man said our bus pulled up to our final destination.. The guest house we would be staying at tonight.. We were now in Petionville, a suburb just up the hill over looking the city of Port Au Prince...
To see this chapter with full pictures please click here
Tuesday morning Joe had us all awake around 6am.. It was too early! We all felt that way... LOL!! We had arrived in Santa Domingo late and didn't make it to the guest houses and into bed until after 1am.. So after spending the entire day yesterday traveling through airports and being cramped into little airplane seats a few of us were just a tad cranky to start the day Tuesday morning.. Mind you, it would only be a few more hours before we would suddenly learn rather quickly in humility that we had nothing at all to be cranky about.. We were in for a real eye opener and even in our own struggles I think we all pretty much knew this in our own hearts.. It was just a matter of seeing it first hand that would make all the difference...
After breakfast at the nice outdoor cafe as I posted in the previous post, we returned to our rooms and gathered our belongings together. We rushed to make sure we were ready as Joe had asked us to and then we waited for about an hour before the mini-vans would finally arrive to take us to the Main Bus Terminal.. At the Bus Terminal we would board a Greyhound style bus to make our almost 10 hour non-stop journey to just outside Port Au Prince, Haiti where we would be staying for the night...
10 hours is a very long time to be couped up on a bus non-stop... It really is! It was actually about 8+ hours non-stop until we got to the Haiti border where we would pull in, stop and be able to all get out and stretch our legs.. But still, 8 hours without stopping is a very long time to be situated in a seat unable to really move. But that's how it's done there. No pit stops along the way. I slept on and off but not very well. None of us did. I found it difficult sleeping in a sitting up position. Even as I would doze off from moment to moment any sudden movement, a bump, a voice, conversations, sunlight suddenly upon the face, all of it would just wake me up again, and with the lack of sleep the night before I think most of us were experiencing the same thing... So by the time we reached the Haiti border several hours later and pulled in to finally stop and be able to stretch our legs most of us felt extremely lethargic...
I sat in my chair dozing in and out half listening to the various conversations going on around me. it's interesting when you have your eyes closed just sitting there listening to other people converse sometimes.. I could hear Amy telling I think Ryan how proud of her daughter she was, Steve McDougall in the seats ahead of us telling stories about previous trips to Haiti he had been on, and Dr. Denis explaining the benefits of naturalistic medicine to another in our group.. I just sat there with my eyes closed listening..
Jo-dee was sitting next to me dozing in and out as well.. Behind us were a young Haitian couple returning to Haiti. I think it was young Steve sitting further behind that first got chatting a bit with them.. Not sure if I mentioned, we had two Steves on the trip.. Steve McDougall was our organizer.. He is the Chairman of Hearts Togther for Haiti.. And then there was the younger Steve who is a Windsor Transit employee.. So to distinguish between the two I'll continue to refer to Steve McDougall either by his full name or 'the elder Steve' and Steve the Windsor Transit employee as the 'younger Steve' .. :)
When I realized this young Haitian couple were returning home I sat up and turned around to face them, "Are you returning home for the first time since the quake?" I asked.
"Yes" Said the Haitian man. "We had left a week before the quake to visit her family" He explained motioning to his wife. "We have not seen our home or even our country yet since the quake"
This young couple, like so many, lost their home, their personal possessions apart from what they had with them on their trip and saddest of all, like almost all Haitians they lost loved ones.. Every Haitian we met had a story to tell that included losing a loved one or several loved ones....
I sat back in my chair not wanting to further ask questions of this young Haitian couple hesitant I may ask an awkward or sensitive question. I sat back and just returned to listening to the conversations around me as I gazed out the window of the bus at the beautiful Dominican countryside. Rolling hills filled with banana trees stretching along for miles in all directions until they reached the mountains in the near distances all around us.. The skies were clear and it was a hot and humid but beautiful sunny day.. We had seemed to drive for hours seeing nothing but countryside except the odd little village here and there we would pass ever so often.
Suddenly, it was as if the narrow highway we were on had reached it's end and within an instant we were slowing down and maneuvering over gravel filled with lot's of pot holes as the bus driver began to shift gears down and bring the bus to a crawl.. Then the bus came to a complete stop and began to back up.. People walking all around everywhere. A few old buildings that looked to be small warehouses, a few U.N. security personnel gathered off to the left, a group of young Haitians unloading trucks, and barb and razor wire fencing everywhere you looked.. "Where are we?" I turned to the young Haitian man sitting behind me and asked.. "We are at the border now." He replied.. "We are in my country, Haiti."
This is where it began to hit me the most... "What will I see?" For the very first time I was beginning to see it before my very eyes.. Not so much the devastation.. But the signs of pain.. of struggle.. of strife.. The devastation was yet to come.. That lurked just around the corner, literally! But the scrambling to get food to the poor, to get aid shipments into the country as quick as possible, to get volunteers like ourselves in to devastated areas to get them working was what we first saw as we entered Haiti for the first time.. It was here at the D.R./ Haiti border that we were beginning to see the tell tale signs of everything horrifying and heart wrenching we had come to learn about through the news only a month earlier.. Everything that made out hearts ache and our eyes weep over the past month..
The bus parked, the doors opened and as we had all really hoped the bus driver informed us that we could step outside the bus and stretch our legs. "Thank God!' Was what went through all of our minds instantaneously! And so we did.. One by one we began to depart from the bus to stretch our legs.. To find relief.. Of course the heat and humidity hit us immediately as we stepped off the bus but that was okay.. It was just such a relief after 8 straight hours of being couped up in little seats to just get out and be able to stretch..
But the sight around us... We were immediately approached by local Haitians vending gum, candy bars, beer & pop.. "1 dollar" The young Haitian girl of about 12 years old said as she came up to me and the younger Steve.. and again she said the moment we made eye contact, "1 dollar, please.." Some of us bought a beer or a pop.. Something to snack on.. We were continually followed around everywhere we walked and everywhere we stood. in buying something they didn't necessarily walk away after wards but only for a moment and they were back wanting you to buy more.. They were persistent.. For these Haitians, it was their only hope to make a living.. And in many ways they were the lucky ones because at least they had a means to make some money.. Most Haitians didn't... Most Haitians don't..
After about an hour, we all boarded the bus again. We were told that we were cleared and could continue on now... So we all got back on the bus and took our seats anticipating yet another few hours before reaching Port Au Prince.. At least we thought.. As we took our seats I asked the young Haitian man who had been sitting behind me all along just how far are we from Port Au Prince.. "About 20 minutes" He replied, and I said, "Huh! I thought we still had about two hours!"
"Oh no," He replied.. "You'll see.. We just around that mountain and you will see Port Au Prince"
I sat back in my seat and continued to watch out the window of the bus as we slowly made our way out of the customs compound to begin our trek towards the capital city.. The road we took was long and winding and literally hugged the outer edge of a rather large mountain on our left with a shallow valley running along the right side of the road overlooking a low plateau.. As we looked out our windows we began to see these huge sections of the mountain had as if large chunks in many places were completely missing out of it's side.. I mean huge as in spanning 100 feet high or more and just as wide across.. Even the young Haitian fellow and his wife sitting behind us were amazed and spoke up saying, "That was never like that before!" It was the first signs of what an earthquake can actually do to the geographics of the earth... Whole sections of a mountain completely gives way and crumbles to the ground below within an instant.. nothing to stop it.. Nothing to prevent nature from taking it's course... It just does it's thing..
Minutes later as we began to move away from the mountain and into open plateau everything seemed fine looking out the window of the bus.. We were passing homes here and there along the road and saw no damage.. nothing out of the ordinary.. Various conversations on the bus continued.. Jo-dee sitting next to me took out her camera and began to take pictures.. Then, suddenly just as if leaving one room and entering into another it was as if we were in an entirely altogether different world! A world of utter chaos and destruction! We just passed a whole slew of homes standing and unaffected.. Now we were looking out our window at home after home, building after building made of concrete and totally collapsed upon itself.. and tent cities! Tucked in between all this mess anywhere it seemed there had been available vacant land were now tent cities.. Some quickly put together by the locals, tents basically made out of bed sheets and sticks.. and others, more organized and put together by the United Nations..
The conversations all suddenly stopped.. Everything went deathly quiet! Except for the periodic gasps of several you could have heard a pin drop on that bus.. The mood among all quickly became somber.. The bus continued along the road, everyone looking out the windows at the destruction.. no one saying a word.. I held my Rosary between my fingers and silently prayed, not really focusing so much on the decades but just praying one Hail Mary after another as I watched from inside the air conditioned bus the masses of Haitians walking around and along the streets yet as if no where to go.. Haitians sitting outside their collapsed homes watching us as we slowly drove by.. No one waving.. Just us looking out the bus window at them and they sitting by their demolished homes staring up at us as we drove by.. Somber is an understatement..
Soon, within minutes just as the young Haitian man said our bus pulled up to our final destination.. The guest house we would be staying at tonight.. We were now in Petionville, a suburb just up the hill over looking the city of Port Au Prince...
Chapter 7- Desperation
To see this chapter with full pictures please click here
By the second day of our trip our group was really beginning to bond together. Most of us had not known each other prior to our first meeting weeks earlier and even in the meetings we had little time to socialize and get to know each other. However, it took only a matter of a day’s travel for us to get comfortable and make new friendships. We shared many common bonds. Especially being that the majority of the group shared medical interests, and all of us shared a sense of compassion for the poor and dying, a deep desire to help those in need, and an even deeper desire to make a difference, which we all knew could only happen if we worked together as a team. We reached Port Au Prince in the early evening just after sunset. The town of Petionville where we would actually be staying overnight sits just outside of P au P on a hillside overlooking the city which could be likened to a sort of suburb blending in with the capital city and the rest of its neighboring towns.
Port Au Prince is the capital and largest city in Haiti. Close to 3 million people live there, or one third of the nations entire population. And most of it's inhabitants live in very cramped conditions fitting snugly into an area no larger than perhaps the inner realms of Lower Manhattan. The city is extremely cramped in comparison to how we live in North America. Many of the single houses are wood framed shacks reminiscent of the ghettos of New Orleans. Port Au Prince is a harbor and the major trading port on the shore. If you were to stand on it's shores looking west you would be facing the Island and nation of Cuba, though far enough away and not at all visible from Haiti. The capital city is the major trading post for both what little imports and exports that are exchanged within the nation’s infrastructure.
In the initial days and hours after the January 12th earthquake we all saw the horrible images on CNN and other news networks, and even more graphic if a person had internet access were the You Tube videos both shot from cell phones and cam-corders willing to hold nothing back. Pictures really do tell the story, yet, not even CNN with all it’s continual live coverage could truly captivate the magnitude of what was truly going on. In some ways, the media was getting the dire need for humanitarian help out to the rest of the world which in all honesty needed to be done quickly and could not have even come close to being sensationalized compared to the reality of what had just happened. But on the other hand, there were isolated situations that were indeed blown out of proportion in the sense that they were, again, as I said, “isolated” yet through the media made to appear as if rampant throughout the country.
There were reports of widespread violence and looting, and yes, make no mistake about it, these reports were real. There was no phoniness to what you might have seen on the news regarding the chaos that pursued this horrible and devastating earthquake. But at the same time, at least to the extent of what our group witnessed only weeks after, while the violence had certainly settled down and at least in terms of civil disorder things were much calmer, the reality was that these incidents had been isolated and over exaggerated. There are always bad apples no matter where you go in the world. And in the thick of sudden chaos like P Au P was enduring they certainly come out of the woodwork. But no, once you’ve actually been there, you quickly learn the true story is not exactly what we saw portrayed on the news. It was somewhere in between outright violence and justified desperation.
CNN in particular though not the only news network, had been reporting in the initial days about widespread looting and violence particularly in the city of Port Au Prince. The truth is, yes, there were certainly people rummaging through the debris and in rare instances willing to turn to violence believing it was their only means to survive. But in most cases Haitians are peaceful and not at all violent. They were looking for loved ones. They were looking for lost possessions. And yes, they were looking to survive. And when you’ve not eaten in three or four days and there’s a market left wide open and no one around, well, you need to eat. Your children need to eat. The authorities? Or At least what was left of the nations police state and their capacity to reign in the chaos went straight by the books when it came to theft during those crucial hours.
And so if you were caught stealing a bag of cookies or a loaf of moldy bread you happened to be able to salvage from the collapsed market, you were handcuffed and taken away to a temporary jail. There was no leniency… no compassion or understanding one might expect due to the rare and crucial circumstances. But these were truly isolated incidents. From speaking to a few locals while staying in Petionville this became clear. We were not talking thousands of looters. We were not talking about thousands of violent thugs. We were talking about the odd or rare situation. Our group drove right through P Au P literally at a crawl only weeks after the earthquake and saw absolutely no looting and no violence. Just a whole lot of desperate people begging and pleading for help walking the streets aimlessly.
However, having said that, what can not be overlooked is that when the earthquake occurred, the main prison in Port Au Prince, made up mostly of murderers and rapists during hard time, which held about 3000 inmates had collapsed. Many of the guards and prisoners alike were killed.. But of the guards who survived? They fled to check on and be with their families if in fact their families were still alive. As for the remaining prisoners? Naturally, they took the opportunity to escape. .. But not before setting fire to the prison offices burning all paper work and records that could otherwise help authorities later on catch up to them and round them up. To date, nearly 2000 still remain on the loose. So, while isolated incidents of looting and violence may have been somewhat sensationalized on the news and made to seem as if rampant throughout the city, other realities were just that.. Realities!
It was a reality that people were in shock. It was a reality that people were distraught. That they longed for loved ones, their parents, their children, their siblings but could not find them. It was a reality that many injured faced death if they did not allow someone to sever a limb, perhaps a foot, a leg or an arm in order that they might survive. It was a reality that they were given no anesthesia in the process but had to grin and bear what must have been an unfathomable excruciating pain to have a limb severed using a saw while being wide awake. It was a reality that people in the streets of P Au P were literally starving to death even though humanitarian aid had already arrived, including food, medical and other vital essentials yet sat untouched and unmoved on the run way at Toussaint International Airport under the watchful eye of U.N. Personnel..
These people were desperate. Within 45 seconds they had lost what little possessions they had to begin with… But the truly heartbreaking losses were the loss of life. That meant loved ones, friends, co-workers and neighbors. Earth shattering catastrophes like this make no distinction between man, woman and child, newborn infant, nursing or pregnant mothers. Buildings collapsed… And lot’s of them! In some cases whole families perished. And in others it was portions of one’s family. Those who survived had to accept that some of their loved ones or friends were now simply gone and not coming back.
It didn’t matter if you were a good person or a wicked person, young or old, healthy or frail, rich or poor… If you were in the wrong place at the wrong time you stood no chance of survival. If you were blessed enough to perhaps be on the top floor of a building you might have stood a chance because of a cocoon like air pocket that might have formed over you as the debris came crashing down. The main Cathedral went down. The presidential palace collapsed. The airport suffered major damage as did so many other institutions. The police stations, fire stations, hospitals, schools and even the main University in Port Au Prince were destroyed or severely damaged.
As we sat in the back of a tap tap and drove slowly past a toppled building now reduced to three thick slabs of cement one atop the other one day while in Jacmal a tear came to Gabby's eye. "What's wrong Gabby?" Someone asked. Gabby quietly mumbled something we couldn't make out. Asked again, he repeated it this time more audible, "There's 300 children in that building." How do you cope? How do you reconcile that literally within an instant everything that held the very fabric of your society, your nation, your daily life, your family, all just collapsed beyond recognition? Everything gone! loved ones gone! How do you cope?
Donal, the young Haitian man who helped us the night we stayed in Petionville was in a classroom at the University when the earthquake struck. His home destroyed and his family were killed. As well, he was the only classmate to survive. Almost all his friends and family perished within the blink of an eye. Again, how do you cope? How do you deal with it? How do you grasp it all? How do you possibly fathom moving on when literally everything was just taken from you? Yet, Haitians are extremely resilient people. Far from ever being "okay" they are slowly learning to cope. They are picking up the broken pieces of their shattered lives and are beginning to rebuild their homes, their cities, their nation.
When we arrived at the bus terminal in Port Au Prince it was sheer chaos. I mean in the sense that there were people everywhere! The streets were filled with people, many walking aimlessly as if no where to go. And swarms of people gathered around the bus as it attempted to park in the tiny stone walled compound. I had the impression life in Port Au Prince was normally chaotic to begin with despite the earthquake because of it’s population density. Yet, now with literally thousands left homeless and countless others choosing to live on the streets out of fear should there be another major tremor, this added greatly to the numbers. The streets were busy from early morning to late evening.
Our bus, a sort of Haitian equivalent to a Greyhound pulled to the front gate of the depot and proceeded to back into the narrow lot that gave barely enough room for one bus. There were hoards of people everywhere surrounding and moving in on the bus. As the bus came to a stop the driver jumped out and began opening all the side compartment doors exposing our luggage to the rather large crowd that was now enveloping the bus and all of us as everyone fought their way through the people to find their own. By the time everyone had scrambled to secure their belongings and we grouped together near the left rear of the bus to await smaller buses that would take us to our guest house Jo-dee had lost some of her luggage which in terms of clothing left her with only what she was wearing.
The guest house we stayed at in Petionville had a gravel floor in the bar room which also served as a smoking room. And in the corners of the room were holes where rats had burrowed in and out of the building. We stayed on the second floor but were not exempt from seeing a rat run across the floor in the main lounge there as well. We coped. After having traveled the last two days by plane and by bus, and knowing we still had another 4 hour trek to Jacmal through the mountains across the southern portion of Haiti before we would reach our final destination sometime during the day Wednesday it was now time to kick our feet back and relax so that we would be well rested and up to making the rest of the journey.
As we got settled into our rooms, took showers, settled in and began to rest, our guide Joe took off to get us dinner. He returned about an hour or so later with a quaint smorgasbord of chicken, veal or goat with salad and plantain. I wasn’t brave enough to try the goat but a few in the group seemed to like it. I kept to the familiar flavor of chicken. Joe took great care of us. Without his help our group would have been at great risk to a number of things; theft, scams, parasites, and getting lost just to name a few. And though at least Kelly was fluent in French and I could fake my way through light French conversation none of us knew Creole so without Joe we would have had a tremendous struggle in terms of communication.
Steve and I were bunking in the same room and during the evening he went to take a shower. I had attempted one earlier but quickly opted to skip it when I saw water dripping from a live light fixture right overhead our shower stall. There was a leak from the room above. And water was literally pouring into our washroom through the opening for the light. I let Steve know about it but he felt it was safe enough to jump in anyways. As much as I needed a shower too I wasn’t so confident. Everyone would just have to put up with stinky ole me at least another day.. However, I did wash by hand at the sink. The water fed through a pipe jaunting out of the wall with no shower head or nozzle of any kind was ice cold, as was the tap water in the sink. Those of us new to Haiti learned rather quickly that there just isn’t any warm or hot water in the entire country.
___________________________________________________________
note* The two pictures of the Cathedral & of the Presidential Palace are from Google images and were not taken by anyone in our group. All other photo's are courtesy of various members of our group..
By the second day of our trip our group was really beginning to bond together. Most of us had not known each other prior to our first meeting weeks earlier and even in the meetings we had little time to socialize and get to know each other. However, it took only a matter of a day’s travel for us to get comfortable and make new friendships. We shared many common bonds. Especially being that the majority of the group shared medical interests, and all of us shared a sense of compassion for the poor and dying, a deep desire to help those in need, and an even deeper desire to make a difference, which we all knew could only happen if we worked together as a team. We reached Port Au Prince in the early evening just after sunset. The town of Petionville where we would actually be staying overnight sits just outside of P au P on a hillside overlooking the city which could be likened to a sort of suburb blending in with the capital city and the rest of its neighboring towns.
Port Au Prince is the capital and largest city in Haiti. Close to 3 million people live there, or one third of the nations entire population. And most of it's inhabitants live in very cramped conditions fitting snugly into an area no larger than perhaps the inner realms of Lower Manhattan. The city is extremely cramped in comparison to how we live in North America. Many of the single houses are wood framed shacks reminiscent of the ghettos of New Orleans. Port Au Prince is a harbor and the major trading port on the shore. If you were to stand on it's shores looking west you would be facing the Island and nation of Cuba, though far enough away and not at all visible from Haiti. The capital city is the major trading post for both what little imports and exports that are exchanged within the nation’s infrastructure.
In the initial days and hours after the January 12th earthquake we all saw the horrible images on CNN and other news networks, and even more graphic if a person had internet access were the You Tube videos both shot from cell phones and cam-corders willing to hold nothing back. Pictures really do tell the story, yet, not even CNN with all it’s continual live coverage could truly captivate the magnitude of what was truly going on. In some ways, the media was getting the dire need for humanitarian help out to the rest of the world which in all honesty needed to be done quickly and could not have even come close to being sensationalized compared to the reality of what had just happened. But on the other hand, there were isolated situations that were indeed blown out of proportion in the sense that they were, again, as I said, “isolated” yet through the media made to appear as if rampant throughout the country.
There were reports of widespread violence and looting, and yes, make no mistake about it, these reports were real. There was no phoniness to what you might have seen on the news regarding the chaos that pursued this horrible and devastating earthquake. But at the same time, at least to the extent of what our group witnessed only weeks after, while the violence had certainly settled down and at least in terms of civil disorder things were much calmer, the reality was that these incidents had been isolated and over exaggerated. There are always bad apples no matter where you go in the world. And in the thick of sudden chaos like P Au P was enduring they certainly come out of the woodwork. But no, once you’ve actually been there, you quickly learn the true story is not exactly what we saw portrayed on the news. It was somewhere in between outright violence and justified desperation.
CNN in particular though not the only news network, had been reporting in the initial days about widespread looting and violence particularly in the city of Port Au Prince. The truth is, yes, there were certainly people rummaging through the debris and in rare instances willing to turn to violence believing it was their only means to survive. But in most cases Haitians are peaceful and not at all violent. They were looking for loved ones. They were looking for lost possessions. And yes, they were looking to survive. And when you’ve not eaten in three or four days and there’s a market left wide open and no one around, well, you need to eat. Your children need to eat. The authorities? Or At least what was left of the nations police state and their capacity to reign in the chaos went straight by the books when it came to theft during those crucial hours.
And so if you were caught stealing a bag of cookies or a loaf of moldy bread you happened to be able to salvage from the collapsed market, you were handcuffed and taken away to a temporary jail. There was no leniency… no compassion or understanding one might expect due to the rare and crucial circumstances. But these were truly isolated incidents. From speaking to a few locals while staying in Petionville this became clear. We were not talking thousands of looters. We were not talking about thousands of violent thugs. We were talking about the odd or rare situation. Our group drove right through P Au P literally at a crawl only weeks after the earthquake and saw absolutely no looting and no violence. Just a whole lot of desperate people begging and pleading for help walking the streets aimlessly.
However, having said that, what can not be overlooked is that when the earthquake occurred, the main prison in Port Au Prince, made up mostly of murderers and rapists during hard time, which held about 3000 inmates had collapsed. Many of the guards and prisoners alike were killed.. But of the guards who survived? They fled to check on and be with their families if in fact their families were still alive. As for the remaining prisoners? Naturally, they took the opportunity to escape. .. But not before setting fire to the prison offices burning all paper work and records that could otherwise help authorities later on catch up to them and round them up. To date, nearly 2000 still remain on the loose. So, while isolated incidents of looting and violence may have been somewhat sensationalized on the news and made to seem as if rampant throughout the city, other realities were just that.. Realities!
It was a reality that people were in shock. It was a reality that people were distraught. That they longed for loved ones, their parents, their children, their siblings but could not find them. It was a reality that many injured faced death if they did not allow someone to sever a limb, perhaps a foot, a leg or an arm in order that they might survive. It was a reality that they were given no anesthesia in the process but had to grin and bear what must have been an unfathomable excruciating pain to have a limb severed using a saw while being wide awake. It was a reality that people in the streets of P Au P were literally starving to death even though humanitarian aid had already arrived, including food, medical and other vital essentials yet sat untouched and unmoved on the run way at Toussaint International Airport under the watchful eye of U.N. Personnel..
These people were desperate. Within 45 seconds they had lost what little possessions they had to begin with… But the truly heartbreaking losses were the loss of life. That meant loved ones, friends, co-workers and neighbors. Earth shattering catastrophes like this make no distinction between man, woman and child, newborn infant, nursing or pregnant mothers. Buildings collapsed… And lot’s of them! In some cases whole families perished. And in others it was portions of one’s family. Those who survived had to accept that some of their loved ones or friends were now simply gone and not coming back.
It didn’t matter if you were a good person or a wicked person, young or old, healthy or frail, rich or poor… If you were in the wrong place at the wrong time you stood no chance of survival. If you were blessed enough to perhaps be on the top floor of a building you might have stood a chance because of a cocoon like air pocket that might have formed over you as the debris came crashing down. The main Cathedral went down. The presidential palace collapsed. The airport suffered major damage as did so many other institutions. The police stations, fire stations, hospitals, schools and even the main University in Port Au Prince were destroyed or severely damaged.
As we sat in the back of a tap tap and drove slowly past a toppled building now reduced to three thick slabs of cement one atop the other one day while in Jacmal a tear came to Gabby's eye. "What's wrong Gabby?" Someone asked. Gabby quietly mumbled something we couldn't make out. Asked again, he repeated it this time more audible, "There's 300 children in that building." How do you cope? How do you reconcile that literally within an instant everything that held the very fabric of your society, your nation, your daily life, your family, all just collapsed beyond recognition? Everything gone! loved ones gone! How do you cope?
Donal, the young Haitian man who helped us the night we stayed in Petionville was in a classroom at the University when the earthquake struck. His home destroyed and his family were killed. As well, he was the only classmate to survive. Almost all his friends and family perished within the blink of an eye. Again, how do you cope? How do you deal with it? How do you grasp it all? How do you possibly fathom moving on when literally everything was just taken from you? Yet, Haitians are extremely resilient people. Far from ever being "okay" they are slowly learning to cope. They are picking up the broken pieces of their shattered lives and are beginning to rebuild their homes, their cities, their nation.
When we arrived at the bus terminal in Port Au Prince it was sheer chaos. I mean in the sense that there were people everywhere! The streets were filled with people, many walking aimlessly as if no where to go. And swarms of people gathered around the bus as it attempted to park in the tiny stone walled compound. I had the impression life in Port Au Prince was normally chaotic to begin with despite the earthquake because of it’s population density. Yet, now with literally thousands left homeless and countless others choosing to live on the streets out of fear should there be another major tremor, this added greatly to the numbers. The streets were busy from early morning to late evening.
Our bus, a sort of Haitian equivalent to a Greyhound pulled to the front gate of the depot and proceeded to back into the narrow lot that gave barely enough room for one bus. There were hoards of people everywhere surrounding and moving in on the bus. As the bus came to a stop the driver jumped out and began opening all the side compartment doors exposing our luggage to the rather large crowd that was now enveloping the bus and all of us as everyone fought their way through the people to find their own. By the time everyone had scrambled to secure their belongings and we grouped together near the left rear of the bus to await smaller buses that would take us to our guest house Jo-dee had lost some of her luggage which in terms of clothing left her with only what she was wearing.
The guest house we stayed at in Petionville had a gravel floor in the bar room which also served as a smoking room. And in the corners of the room were holes where rats had burrowed in and out of the building. We stayed on the second floor but were not exempt from seeing a rat run across the floor in the main lounge there as well. We coped. After having traveled the last two days by plane and by bus, and knowing we still had another 4 hour trek to Jacmal through the mountains across the southern portion of Haiti before we would reach our final destination sometime during the day Wednesday it was now time to kick our feet back and relax so that we would be well rested and up to making the rest of the journey.
As we got settled into our rooms, took showers, settled in and began to rest, our guide Joe took off to get us dinner. He returned about an hour or so later with a quaint smorgasbord of chicken, veal or goat with salad and plantain. I wasn’t brave enough to try the goat but a few in the group seemed to like it. I kept to the familiar flavor of chicken. Joe took great care of us. Without his help our group would have been at great risk to a number of things; theft, scams, parasites, and getting lost just to name a few. And though at least Kelly was fluent in French and I could fake my way through light French conversation none of us knew Creole so without Joe we would have had a tremendous struggle in terms of communication.
Steve and I were bunking in the same room and during the evening he went to take a shower. I had attempted one earlier but quickly opted to skip it when I saw water dripping from a live light fixture right overhead our shower stall. There was a leak from the room above. And water was literally pouring into our washroom through the opening for the light. I let Steve know about it but he felt it was safe enough to jump in anyways. As much as I needed a shower too I wasn’t so confident. Everyone would just have to put up with stinky ole me at least another day.. However, I did wash by hand at the sink. The water fed through a pipe jaunting out of the wall with no shower head or nozzle of any kind was ice cold, as was the tap water in the sink. Those of us new to Haiti learned rather quickly that there just isn’t any warm or hot water in the entire country.
___________________________________________________________
note* The two pictures of the Cathedral & of the Presidential Palace are from Google images and were not taken by anyone in our group. All other photo's are courtesy of various members of our group..
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