May and June: The Caribbean, Crutches and Celebrities

May and June were pretty busy months.  School was winding down and with review and exams and other end of the year festivities, this meant less work at Fon Ibo.  It also meant, however, that the camp season was beginning and preparations needed to switch into full gear.

Fon Ibo participated in Toms Shoes "One Day
Without Shoes" so our kids, despite the fact
that they are often barefoot, realized that there
are kids all over the world that do not have
shoes too.

Residents are Maison Bon Samaritan (the local assisted living
center) saying goodbye to Frankie.

These months brought several new changes.  The biggest (and saddest) one was that Frankie left.  She went home in mid-May to find a job and get settled before she started grad school for social work in September.  The same day she left brought Aileen, a year-long volunteer from two years ago who was coming for two months to help with camp.

Aileen

Final days of school party!

The Caribbean

Not long after Frankie left and Aileen arrived we were able to go on one final vacation before the craziness of the summer started.  It's an unofficial rule that after being a Quest volunteer for 6 months, you receive the privilege of the ability to ask to go to Môle-Saint-Nicolas, a beautiful beach on the north-western tip of Haiti.  The town of Môle-Saint-Nicolas is a small town, with only a few thousand people living directly in town and about 20,000 more in the surrounding area.  Most of the people are fisherman.  It's a pretty quiet and simple town, but one can see the remains of colonial forts from days gone by.  

We had talked about it when Beth and Frankie were still in the country, but we never had time.  Flag Day, in Haiti, is the 18th of May.  No one had school or work and our house was shut down, so we took advantage of the long weekend, headed north and got ready to enjoy the sun, the sand and some much needed rest and relaxation.  It's a long drive on horrible roads, but boy, was the drive worth it.  Not only was the beach beautiful and we got to sleep in tents practically in the water, but there was awesome snorkeling and the fresh seafood was to die for.

One of the colonial forts with our baby
flag.

Before I go any further, here's a little history about the Haitian flag.  Haitian lore says that Jean-Jacques Dessalines, leader of the Haitian Revolution and first ruler of the independent nation, created the first flag by ripping apart of the French flag, removing the white (symbolic of removing white authority from Haitian society) and then asking his god-daughter, Catherine Flon to sew the new bands together.  The blue symbolizing the black citizens and the red for the mulattoes.  After changing from blue to black, President Alexandre Pétion returned it to blue, changed the orientation to horizontal stripes and added the coat of arms.  Under the coat of arms reads "there is strength in unity."  A fun fact about the flag is that only national and military flags can have the coat of arms.  All over civil flags are only the blue and red stripe.

First view of the ocean!

The beach!

A shipwreck off the coast.

A beautiful sunset.

Hello Mr. Crab

Downtown Môle-Saint-Nicolas

The Atlantic!

It's kind of hard to see, but on top of this already loaded truck are a bunch of goats.  Have to take advantage of all available space!!

Luckily the rain held off until we were almost back to Gros Morne.  And then it came down in buckets.  The road literally turned into a river. 

One of the perks of being by the ocean - we get to bring back fresh fish to freeze for later!!

Crutches:

These months also brought an increase in visitors passing through our house - several old volunteers (one was the very first Quest volunteer from 15 years ago) and two Irish lads that were doing pre-organizational work for the two camps volunteers from the University College of Dublin do.  It also brought around my first severe(ish) injury since arriving in Haiti.  Considering my clumsiness, the quality of the roads that I was running and walking on and my usual lack of paying attention to where I was going, I’m surprised that it took me almost 9 months to hurt myself.

Right after I got back to the house...looks pretty bad.

One morning at the end of May, I was running up the mountain behind our house and was just about to turn around and meet up with the 2 other volunteers.  I knew that the terrain I was heading toward wasn’t good, but continued anyway and about two seconds later, stepping on a rock and felt a crack.  I got myself down the mountain, told Sr. Jackie and within the hour Aileen and I were in the car with Barak on our way to the hospital in Gonaives because the x-ray machine at the local hospital is broken.  We were at the hospital for a long time (several hours) to get an x-ray and then see the doctor.  When the doctor finally was ready, he said that he didn't see a break and that I should just keep ice on it.

After talking with my second mother at home, who happens to be a doctor, she suggested crutches and some way of immobilizing it, just to be on the safe side, in case it was actually broken or something was torn.  Luckily we had two previous volunteers coming down a few days later and they were able to bring me one of the big boots.

Looking to a pair of crutches to go to the hospital
with.  Couldn't find a pair, but found a cool cane
instead.

This was the first time I had ever been on crutches and let me tell you, it was quite a challenge.  The terrain and quantity of people in public spaces is not conducive to easy crutching.  It made me very thankful for my two legs and made me appreciate the amount of work and effort Haitians that have lost limbs or have other handicaps that mean they have to use crutches or a wheelchair must do in order to get around.  It was also a nice reminder of just how lucky I was it was only a broken ankle.  I had my fair share of times where I was feeling real sorry for myself for various (stupid) reasons.  But, all I had to do was look around me a see about a hundred other people who were hungry or had more severe ailments or wouldn't be able to see a doctor or get the proper attention that they needed and that shut me up real quick.

My x-ray. 

I've been doing minor wound care for this boy's foot throughout the year after he had been in a
moto accident.  He thought it was so funny
that we both had crutches!!

Celebrities:

(Sr. Pat's photo)

Towards the end of June we had the pleasure of hosting two famous Irishmen in Gros Morne.  One was Leslie Buckley, the Vice Chairman of Digicel and an important Irish businessman.  Digicel started in Jamaica in 2001 and has quickly expanded around the Caribbean, Pacific and Central and South America.  They started with cell phone service and have expanded to internet, business solutions and other technologies.  They started in Haiti in 2006.  In 2007, the Digicel Foundation was introduced in Haiti.  The Digicel Foundation supports mostly educational community-based projects.  They have built schools, provided teaching trainings and has also given small grants.  Mr. Buckley has supported the Alma Mater Hospital in Gros Morne and has contributed to the construction of new out-patient facilities that is currently going on.

(Sr. Pat's photo)

(Sr. Pat's photo)

The second celebrity that came was Ronan O'Gara.  He is a famous retired rugby player.  Since I don't fully understand the game, you can Google him and read all the stats.  All you really need to know is that he's incredibly well known in Ireland and a pretty big deal in the world of Irish rugby.  In 2009, the final minutes of the match, Ronan O'Gara's drop goal helped Ireland with the Grand Slam - their first one in 61 years.  We had two Irish guys staying with us at the time he came and he had big-time celebrity status in their books.





Mr. Buckley and Mr. O'Gara had only a short visit to Gros Morne, but were able to squeeze in a visit to the hospital and Fon Ibo School.  It was fun to watch them interact with the kids and learn about the hospital construction.  They were incredibly nice and enthusiastic people and it was a pleasure to be able to meet them.

(Sr. Pat's photo)

March: BEST SURPRISE EVER!!!!!

The rest of March and the beginning of April passed with business as usual.  I continued to do various work at Fon Ibo School and had more ladies working through the microloan program.  By this time we had a few ladies that were nearly done with the 6 months of loans.  They had started with loans of about $10 and ended with a loan of about $40.  They received a small monthly stipend for food and a generous final payment at the end to help them continue their business after the 6 months were up.  It was based on a program started by Fonkoze, a local microfinance/bank institution.  They began with group loans to peasants but have expanded to include most other people.  They began a program to “high-risk” people that provided loans in addition to help and access to health care and education.  A few years the sisters gathered a list of several Gros Morne residents that they thought could benefit from this program but could not participate in the group loans because they were thought to be too poor and too risky and no one wanted them to be part of their group.  Fonkoze interviewed them but deemed them able to participate in the regular loan program.  So, the sisters decided to find funds to give this people loans as well as help a little bit with other expenses (the stipend and the end payment).  I worked with ladies every month when they came to repay their loans and helped coordinate the second part of the program which was after attending a workshop on how to properly take care of and raise a goat, giving money to buy one to diversify income. 

I'm so excited!!!!

The most exciting part of April was that my parents were going to visit for a week while they had break from school.  I was really looking forward to them coming.  I was most happy for all the stuff they were supposed to be bringing (girl scout cookies and more shampoo!!), but I was also really looking forward to showing them where I had been living and what I had been doing for the past few months.  Although I talk with them pretty frequently and share plenty of pictures, it's still not the same.  With fellow Quest volunteers, we always talk about how we can tell stories and show pictures to people back home, but you don't really understand what Haiti is really like until you experience it for yourself.  I was happy that my parents would have the opportunity to experience Haiti for themselves and understand.

Mama and Papa W painting the playground.

I went down to PAP with our driver Tiden, ran some errands for the house and then headed to the airport.  Tiden was asking questions about if I was happy to see my parents and what not.  He asked how many people were flying in.  I said that it was just two, my mom and my dad and then he said something about thinking there was a third person flying in too, a friend or something.  I told him no, that I was pretty sure it was just two people.  After waiting at the airport for a long time, I finally saw my dad come through the doors.  He immediately got swarmed by people trying to carry his bags for him.  As I ran to the end of the path new arrivals have to take, yelling that he was fine and could carry his bags, I never saw my mom come out of the doors.  When I got to the end of the path, I did see my mom, but I also I saw someone else walking with them.  It didn't really register who it was at first, and then I started to cry - which was a little strange because I never cry.  My best friend from school was there – I had no idea!!  We had been talking about it for a while about how great it would be if she could come down and especially do some nursing work.  But I never really thought it was going to happen because she was working so much.  But, there she was.  I couldn't believe that they had kept such a big secret from me!  Everyone knew.  Everyone at the house here, Tiden (who had actually blown the secret and I never picked up on it), literally everyone back home.  And I had no idea.

Takin' names -- registration to see the eye doctors.

I took them to the usual attractions of Gros Morne - Tiden's bar, the village, the river, the market.  But they actually did a ton of work while they were here.  The same week, Beth was going home (for good) for various personal reasons and she really wanted to get her playground project finished before she left.  About a week before my parents came, Beth, myself and various other young men from Fon Ibo began constructing a recycled tire playground in the school yard.  We had most of the big work done – all the digging, pouring cement into the base for extra stability and screwing tires together – before my parents and my friend showed up.  But with three more pairs of hands, we were able to finish the last details, paint everything and then open it up for playing before Beth left.  They also helped us set up and run a clinic for eye doctors who were coming to give eye exams to kids at Fon Ibo school and one other school.  The team saw 1200 patients in two days, handing out prescription glasses on the spot to kids and teachers in need of them.

It was great to be able to share everything with them, the good and the bad.  They got a pretty good taste of having "blan" shouted after them, being harassed by young men, the tarantulas, having people ask you for money or things, getting caught in the rain and the heat.  But they also got to experience the joy (and craziness) of all the children at school, watching kids learn in the classrooms and continue to grow their skills on the computer, watching children and adults being able to see clearly for the first time, and the natural beauty of Haiti and her people.  My mom, the math teacher, even got to teach multi-digit addition to second graders!

Not that I’m an expert on Haiti or anything, but it was a little challenging to have to answer so many questions and try to explain why certain things are the way the are here.  While we were able to do some of this when we first showed up and the sisters have definitely answered a million of my questions, it was interesting to be on the receiving end instead of being the one asking all of the questions.  They were good and valid questions and put some new perspectives and ideas in my mind about how things around our house and in the community could be done differently.

I couldn’t have asked for a better week.  It was such a wonderful surprise and I’m glad that I could share Haiti with my parents and Hilary.  They were so helpful and it’s nice that, even though they were here for such a short time, they have a better understanding of the challenges as well as wonders of living and working in Haiti.

This guy...so glad my parents and Hilary got to experience all the
wonder of our furry arachnid friends.  In this picture, my dad is daring
me to get as close as possible to it.

Dad took this.

New glasses!!

Twins!!

March: Born to Run

Thanks Google Earth.

Our next big adventure was much more relaxing and brings us into March.  Before Beth and I went to Cap-Haïtien, a previous volunteer sent me the link for an organization called "Run Haiti" that was sponsoring a 20K race though a town in the south of Haiti called Jacmel.  "Run Haiti" is a non-profit that was founded in 2012 that works to encourage "health, wellness and adventure" while promoting "exercise and healthy lifestyles" and "respecting and honoring the beauty of Haiti."  (http://www.runhaiti.com/foyer/).  The founders work at a medical clinic outside of PAP and have been working to implement preventative activities that promote health and well being.  Activities include the sponsoring of a series of community 2K "races" in which people of all ages and of all abilities get together to run/walk/have fun.  I hemmed and hawed for a while as to whether or not I wanted to or was physically able to do the race and I finally decided to go for it.  It's a pretty cool organization and I was thrilled to be able to support their efforts as well as see a new part of Haiti.

Carnaval props.  Beth and I wanted to go
to pre-Carnaval in Jacmel but it didn't
work out.  But we did see some of the
props that were used throughout the city and in
this gallery.

For me, I run for several reasons.  One is because it's a great excuse for me to eat even more than I already do and not feel bad about it.  Another is because, I have had wonderful people to run with and it was a great way for us to spend time together.  It also provides me with some "me time."  My mind won't focus on anything else except the path in front of me or maybe whatever tune just came on in my playlist.  And most of all, it's a great way to see and experience the place that I am currently inhabiting.

An art gallery.  Jacmel was much more artsy than other
towns I had been to.  There was so much vibrancy
 and color in the art that we saw.

While I run for the same reasons here, the act of running is a completely different experience.  I take more precautions of where and when I run because who knows what could happen.  I only run on main roads and I always have my phone and a swiss army knife.  Despite the fact that they are "main" dirt roads, they are in pretty rough shape and one must step carefully.  You also have to compete for "sidewalk" space with tons of other people and donkeys while motos and tap-taps whiz by.  You have to be on your guard at all times to make sure you don't get hit by something or trip on the gazillions of rocks and hurt yourself.  In addition to all of this, 90% of the people you run by shout "blan, blan" after you and you get the occasional slightly disrespectful or vulgar phrase muttered as you pass by.  So, it's not the most relaxing and enjoyable way to run.  But, every once and a while it is.  One time, I was doing hill repeats up the mountain behind our house, and one girl would run the last 40 feet or so with me every time I passed by her.  Her father offered me a glass of water and would cheer me on as I passed by their house.  After a little while, there were 10 other kids running around after me having a grand old time.  It's moments like this that make you forget about all of the not so nice interactions and make you love Haiti and its people even more.

The race trail.  There were about three miles of pretty steady
uphill to about 1000 feet.  The races that I ran in South Africa
were a little more intense than this, but my lack of
training as well as the heat, made me a little nervous
about the strenuousness of the course.

The two long races that I’ve done in the past, I ran consistently for months before hand.  I never really got to this point for this on.  I hadn’t been running consistently before hand and I only found out it about a month before hand and about a week of this was spent in Cap Haitian with Beth.  Even though I still wasn’t sure I was physically ready to run 20K when the longest I had really run was about 40 minutes on flat ground, I signed up and Beth, Frankie and I made our way to Jacmel.  Here's how we got there:  1) motos from Gros Morne to Gonaives (50 minutes); 2) van from Gonaives to PAP (3+ hours); 3) van breaks down (an hour on the side of the road waiting for them to get the necessary parts to fix it); 4) find new tap-tap to take us the rest of the way (1 hour); 5) motos from one station to get to the station for Jacmel (20 minutes); 6) get mobbed by bus drivers and wait for bus to fill up (35 minutes); 7) road to Jacmel up and over at least one mountain range (2 hours); 8) get dropped off in the middle of nowhere outside of Jacmel; 9) have to find motos to take us to where we need to be (20 minutes); 10) arrive safely at Donna and Dick's house.

This was one of the only public trash cans I've
seen in all of Haiti.  Usually it just gets thrown
on the ground.  Obviously, I had to use it.

All in all, it took us 6 different vehicles to get us to where we needed to be and it took us all day to get there.  And we only traveled around 160 miles.  Needless to say, travel here is definitely not the most efficient.  But we were all excited to be there and to be able to spend some time together.  Donna and Dick live in the same town as me back home in Maine and they split their time between Haiti and the States.  Donna has been doing this for years and has a beautiful house in Jacmel that is in the middle of renovations after being partly destroyed in the earthquake.  It just so happened that they were going to be in Jacmel during the race and were so gracious as to open their home up to us.

Jacmel itself had a very different feel than other cities I've been to here (ok - so just really PAP and Cap Haitian).  It seemed a little less populated, had a slower pace and was more artsy.  All of the buildings seemed older and there are beautiful murals and mosaics all around.  It is right on the ocean, with a beautiful boardwalk winding its way along the coast.  The government has been working for a long time to make it more of a tourist destination, but the progress is moving at a snail's speed.  Anyway, we spent three days in Jacmel, exploring the town, running (only I did that) and hearing Donna's wonderful stories from Jacmel 20 years ago and about all of the crazy people that have passed through her house.  It was a great weekend, a great race and great people to share it with.

A mosaic.

The race started at 6:30am so we could be done before the sun got too hot.  There were 18 people registered for the run, but only 16 actually ran.  I came in 7th with a time of 1:55:18.  My goal time was about 2 hours 30 minutes because I really was not prepared for the 12 miles (20K).  But, considering the amount of time I trained, and the fact that I essentially took a week off of running during that time when Beth and I were in Cap-Haïtien, I like to think that I pretty much crushed it!

Pictures of the run:

The runners!  (Donna's photo.)

The beginning.  That face.  Trying to look my best for the camera.
Clearly making nice smiles at 6:30am is a challenge for me.
(Donna's photo)

The starting line!!  (Beth's photo)

And we're off!  (Beth's photo)

The early morning sun!  (Run Haiti's photo)

(Run Haiti's photo.)

The first river crossing.

(Run Haiti's photo.)

The climbing begins.  I thought I was going to have a much
harder time with the uphill. 

The first view of the ocean.  This was one of the most
beautiful and exciting runs I've ever done.

Just a casual, knee deep, river crossing/traffic jam.

Please don't hit me!!!

And the photo finish!!!  (Run Haiti's photo.)

My first gold medal!!!  (Donna's photo.)

In the afternoon after the race, we traveled to Bassin-Bleu, a local tourist attraction and swimming hole.  It's a series of three pools connected by waterfalls that make for beautiful scenery and lovely swimming.  I was really excited about seeing the pools and swimming, but it was actually a little crowded.  Regardless, the water was refreshing on my already sore muscles and the scenery was beautiful.

Killin' it Katie.  Frankie and Beth look so cute, and then there's me.

This one looks good from a distance.  My face kills it...again.

Heading home to Gros Morne.  (Donna's photo.)

Check out Run Haiti's promo video.  It's pretty cool - http://www.runhaiti.com/promo