Amazing!!!

Trip Start Jan 29, 2009
1
11
Trip End Feb 08, 2009


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Flag of Haiti  ,
Saturday, February 7, 2009

I woke up early this morning to take one last walk on the beach and watch the beautiful blue ocean waves come in. We ate breakfast consisting of eggs and bread toasted on one side???? We never really figured out why they only toasted the bread on one side but never the less it was still good. We packed up the trucks and the guys secured the PVC pipe one final time before we made the long drive back to Port Au Prince. We still had to stop and readjust the pipe but I actually looked forward to it this time because it gave us a chance to stand up and stretch. We invented a new syndrome on the drive called 'NBS' which by the end of the drive turned to NBD. So it went from numb butt syndrome to numb butt dead! The seats were hard and the bumpy roads didn't help any. The general route took us through many cities including Les Caiyes, Caucillon, Aquin, Miragoane, Petit Goave, Leogane, and to Port Au Prince.

We arrived in Port Au Prince and went around the city a different way. We saw several more UN vehicles and then we drove by the port. There were many guard towers and men with guns on lookout. The traffic was slow but not nearly as bad when we were trying to get out of the city. We drove by City Soleil which is one of the worst slums in Port Au Prince. I have never seen anything like it. There were very small shack houses stacked up against each other in the most confusing and winding maze I have ever seen. People were everywhere and a lot of visible trash in the streets. After passing City Soleil, we pulled into Laurent's soap making business which was secure. We got a quick tour on how to make Haitian soap which was really unresting and not what I expected. We repacked our bags into a secure truck for the rest of the drive through Port Au Prince and to the airport. We had to quickly say goodbye to Joseph because there wasn't enough room for him to go. We drove to the airport and there were people desperately trying to grab our bags and carry them into the airport for us.

Amongst the chaos, we quickly said goodbye to Junior and Laurent and we went through what would be the first of about five security checkpoints and metal detectors before arriving at our gate. I began to feel sad for many reasons. I felt honored to work with such an amazing team of people. We really got to know each other after spending so much together. Everyone on our team worked so well together and the addition of Joseph, Junior, and Laurent (Tout Bagay) just topped it all off. They took really good care of us and we couldn't have done it without them. 

It was hard to the leave the people of Les Anglais in general after spending some intimate time with them. I have traveled a lot but this was a whole different experience for me. We were so embedded in the community and we went to people's houses to interview them which provided an opportunity to really get to know them and their daily struggles. It was amazing to learn more about the Haitian culture. Haiti is a beautiful country and the people were amazing. I was touched by their ability to adapt to all of the challenges and adversity life brings on a daily basis. It always makes you think about how easy our lives are in the states and it is hard not to feel guilty or wonder why?? As we flew out of Port Au Prince, I realized that I wasn't ready to leave Haiti. I began to feel tears in my eyes...I couldn't believe how sad I was to leave. My only wish is that I left a fraction of the impression on the people of Les Anglais as they left on me. It was an amazing journey and I hope to return to Haiti sooner rather than later!!   

Brief Update:
We were able to get in touch with a medical team that was going down to the area a week later to share our experiences and some of our preliminary health findings. We also informed them of some of the health issues we saw in different areas. They just returned and we have a conference call set up with them next week to discuss our findings and what they saw. They plan to return again in the future. We have also learned that someone has donated enough money for us to drill another well north of town in-between Digue and Constant which was the areas where the people were getting water out of the irrigation canals. They chose this location based on our health survey information and recommendation. That alone made the trip worth it for me!!
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Comments

anniemarie
anniemarie on

So Proud to be Your Aunt!
Again, you have humbled and amazed me with your adventurous and altruistic spirit. Sounds like you had an amazing experience. I wish we could all do a little more to make this world a better place! Thank you for sharing your travels, love to you, Annie

lauraumthun
lauraumthun on

To My Daughter:
I have been riveted to your travel blog and have followed your adventure with the greatest of interest. Thank you for educating me and others about the plight in Haiti...its beauty and its challenges. You have followed your heart and indeed have ventured out to make the 'the world a better place.' I have no doubt that you will return to Haiti one day, and until then your experiences will stay near and dear in your heart. Proud of you, as always, Love, MOM

Fenelon on

My name is Fenelon. I am a community organizer living inCambridge, Massachusetts. I appreciate the way you are selling my hometown to the international community. I wonder if you could team up with other international organizations such as Habitat for Humanity to initiate housing projects as well. Les Anglais is a very resourceful community in the region.
Thank you for your support to my community.

paulmok
paulmok on

hello,

I am recently involved in an architectural project in which people discuss different strategies to re-construct Port-au-Prince. Our team is suggesting to develop a market somewhere so as to facilitate the sales in slums there. And therefore, hopefully, poor people can earn more to make a living as well as make a saving. Any suggestions for us?

Martin Jonsson on

Hi There,

My name is Martin and I am writing to you on behalf of a website that I am currently involved in starting up. We aim to provide prospect volunteers with all the information they need in order to feel confident in their choice of organisation, position and destination, as well as inspire people to make the jump and try out volunteering.

As a part of that, I was wondering whether you might be interested in answering a few questions and perhaps sharing any advice you may have for people who are considering to volunteer.

If you think you might have time to do this, I'd love to hear from you. You can reach me through info@volunteeringinfo.org, and you can view the website I'm representing at www.volunteeringinfo.org.

Thanks, and keep up your amazing work!

Martin Jonsson

minato-alvin on

It's been so many days since the disaster took place but the Haitians still bearing the horrible crisis created from that terrible moment.
It's really your superhuman determination. I thank you whole heartily for being besides Haiti on that horrible moment.
I think at this moment HAITI really needs help to be rebuild.Outgoing Haitian President René Préval has set the presidential elections for Nov. 28, 2010.
According to ma justification,
Charles Henri Baker(born June 3, 1955) should be under consideration as a deserving personality,
who can supply the best support to this contribution.
Thank you.

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