Bout Kòd Rete Voyaj
While I typically use a Haitian Proverb to describe our mission trips to Pendus,
Haiti, this year the proverb actually applies more to the legs of the trip in the USA going
to and coming from Haiti. Literally, “Bout Kòd Rete Voyaj” means “A short cord can
stop travel.” The Haitian wisdom behind this proverb is that even a little thing can cause
big problems. Fortunately for this 16th Team from St Mary Cathedral, none of those
problems arose while in Haiti – they all occurred while still in America!
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Our group did not meet each other for the first time until our packing party for
this year’s trip. With the encouragement of Deacon John Jezierski – a St Mary
parishioner and head of the nursing school – there were six people from the St. Elizabeth
School of Nursing joining Team 16. Instructor and nurse practitioner Tamara Shields
brought five of her students for their first trip to Haiti – Breanne Evans, Kyle
Laszczewski, Michael Brenner, Shelby Hare and Shirley Barnard. Tamara has been to
Haiti five previous times – but each time she went south (Pendus is located in the
northwest mountains of Haiti.)
They will be joining Jeff, Sharon and Kyle Newell – who are making their
twelfth, eleventh and twelfth trips to Pendus. The Newells actually will be going to Haiti
a week before the rest of the group arrives. Fellow parishioner Andre Angrand will be
joining them and showing them aspects of Haiti previously unseen by them on visits to
Pendus. Unfortunately Andre will not be able to stay past December 27 as he needs to
return for work (Eli Lilly was bought out by Evanic and the transfer officially take place
on January 1st.)
St. Elizabeth Hospital generously provides a storage area for the many items we
collect throughout the year. As usual, we are taking various items for a children’s
benediction – such as underwear, match box cars, hair barrettes, small toiletry items,
toothbrushes and a piece of candy. We packed enough for 700 children. While there are
many more children than that in the six schools in the Pendus area, many will not be
around during our visit due to it occurring during Christmas break. Each of the classes at
St. Mary School helped collect many of these items for this trip. In fact, one fourth grader
had a birthday party where she had everyone bring items for Haiti in lieu of presents! She
collected an entire laundry basket full!
We also had many medical supplies to take. Dr Don Clayton, Tamara and John
Jezierski helped assemble a number of prescriptive meds. We also collected many overthe-counter meds and supplies – including over 15,000 children’s vitamins.
Sandy Doyle of Evangelical Covenant Church – and an avid supporter of Haiti –
donated 2,000 new pairs of croc shoes to our Haiti mission. She actually received 10,000
pairs of new crocs and distributed them among five local churches doing mission work in
Haiti. It took two vehicles and one fully-loaded trailer – thanks to Doug Granlund and
Mike Godby’s help – to transport that many shoes to our warehouse. With all that we had
to pack, we were only able to take about 75 pairs on this trip.
One last item we are taking is a new laptop computer for Jacson Amilcar. He is
the son of the sacristan at St Joseph Church and is a seminarian studying in Port-auPrince. The Brotherhood of St Ignatius – a Tuesday morning men’s Bible Study group at
St Mary Cathedral for the past 13 years – donated the money, purchased the laptop (along
with carrying case) and set up the Microsoft software for this gift. Jacson will be
surprised.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
The “send-off” blessing for this year’s group was at 4:30 Mass today.
Unfortunately only Jeff and Sharon were able to attend as Kyle is leaving from Boston,
Andre had already left for Miami and the nursing school group was unable to attend.
Father Eric Underwood celebrated Mass but Deacon John Jezierski performed the
blessing at the end of Mass.
A winter storm was predicted for today. It did not hit Indiana but did bombard the
east coast, especially Washington, DC and New York City. This would greatly affect
Kyle tomorrow!
Doug Granlund will be our point person for this trip. When we reach PAP at both
ends of the trip, we contact him and he calls the families to let them know that we are
OK. He would be a busy man this week!
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Thom Reed and Art Taylor arrived at our house at 3 am to drive us to the
Indianapolis Airport. It was 25 degrees and a moon-lit night.
The start of our group’s many airline problems began at the Delta counter upon
our arrival. With only one other person in line at 4:15 am, we were still instructed to use
the kiosk to get our boarding passes (and not in person at the counter). The kiosk wanted
to charge us $25 for each of our four checked-in suitcases. I questioned the lady at the
counter as our travel agent had assured us that there still was no such charge for
international travel. She quickly (and rather rudely) told me that the rule was changed in
September and we had to pay. I swiped by credit card (I figured I could argue later if I
needed to do so.) When the tags for the checked-in bags were printed, they only went to
Miami and not through to Port-au-Prince. Back to the counter I went. Now we had to get
in another line (and there were about a dozen in line now) to address this.
Thirty minutes later, a different lady waited on us here. She said we didn’t tell
them that we had an international flight – but I did! (and the kiosk did not ask if Miami
was a final destination or not!) She said we should have only been charged $30 for the
bags (and not $25 apiece) but agreed to void the $100 charge. She said she could check
our bags all the way to PAP for us but she could only get us our boarding passes for the
two legs of the trip on Delta (Indy to Atlanta and Atlanta to Miami). She directed us to
the American Air counter to get the boarding pass for the final leg to PAP.
At the American counter, the lady there discovered our bags were NOT checked
through to PAP but instead to Port-o-Plaza in Dominican Republic!! Back to Delta’s
counter I went. This time I did not stand in line but went directly to the lady that had mistagged the bags. She did apologize and said “she probably could get this corrected.”
“Probably” wasn’t the word I wanted to hear as getting late delivered suitcases in Haiti
can be a major headache – and stuff can disappear!
Thom and Art stayed with us to make sure everything got settled. At last we were
on our way. Delta flight #5960 took off at 6:15 and landed in Atlanta at 7:30
However, Kyle emailed and his ordeal was just beginning. He had previously
taken a bus from Boston to New York City to spend a couple days with a friend. It had
snowed 10 inches yesterday. He arrived early at JFK this morning only to find his nonstop flight to PAP had been CANCELLED (not merely postponed!) This flight is a
destination flight – with over 300 folks going to Haiti . . . and most of them are Haitian
going home for the holidays. Not only was his flight cancelled, but Delta had re-booked
him for DECEMBER 28 to fly to PAP. How could anyone assume that EIGHT days later
would be even remotely satisfactory travel arrangements!
Upon our arrival in Atlanta, I called both Doug Granlund to have him warn next
week’s group from duplicating our Delta “kiosk” fiasco! I also called Annette Crane. Her
agency is called Adventure Travel and she does a tremendous job for us – especially
when we are having problems. Once again she stepped up to help Kyle (and did so again
next week when the rest of the group was traveling). Both Kyle at the Delta counter in
New York and Annette online tried every conceivable way to get Kyle out of New York
and on some route – any route – to Haiti.
We took off for Miami at 9:12 and nothing was resolved yet. Sharon and I were in
the last row (with no window). This leg was bumpy – especially at the start and end of it.
To make matters worse, the bathroom immediately behind us was not flushing properly,
leaving an awful odor. All of this combined to make Sharon very nauseous. When I
mentioned this to one of the stewardesses, she rudely stated, “What do you want me to do
about it?”
Upon our arrival in Miami at 10:50, Kyle was so frustrated with Delta – they
would not fly him anywhere at any time before Dec 28. Kyle said by 10 am (his original
departure time) the tarmac was cleared and planes were taking off and landing. He
decided to rent a car and head toward Miami – he could catch a flight tomorrow from
there to PAP. While trying to rent his car, he helped three Haitian nuns (who didn’t speak
any English) get a car rental too.
An hour after he took off, Annette found a 9 am flight in Atlanta for tomorrow
(actually the same flight we took today!) to Miami with a subsequent connection to PAP.
He then changed his destination to Atlanta (with an enhanced drop-off fee from the rental
company.) This would shave at least 8-10 hours off his driving time – which is good as at
this point in time he had been up nearly 30 consecutive hours already.
In the meantime, Kyle’s cell phone was about out of charge. He had his regular
charger with him but not a car-charger. Therefore, he had to stop at truck plaza to buy an
AC-DC converter so he could keep his phone operative so we could stay in touch. By
now, Andre had already landed in PAP and was at Matthew 25 waiting for the rest of us
to arrive. By text and email, all of us were able to stay in communication with each other.
Andre was able to tell Matthew 25 not to pick Kyle up in PAP today!
As we were ready to board our American flight to PAP, we ran into Anne
Hastings – the executive director of Fonkoze – taking this same flight. We hadn’t seen
each other for several years. It was good to see her again. She asked about Kyle and
learned of his ordeal!
We boarded America flight #625 on time. However, as we started to taxi, the
stewardesses realized one of the seats was empty (that should not have been). A young
lady (traveling with her mother) was locked in the bathroom and refused to come out.
The pilot made both of them get off – which only took about 30 minutes. However, it
took over another hour to get their checked-in luggage off as well. It was a long wait
sitting on the tarmac. Again I was able to email Andre and warn them we would be late
arriving in PAP. Thank goodness for modern technology as this communication would
not have been possible not that long ago.
Sharon and I practiced speaking Creole and playing Casino on this leg of the trip.
We landed in PAP at 5:48 pm (almost two hours late). The first improvement we noticed
was the jetway at the airport. Previously, we could not walk from the plane into the
airport without first going down and across the tarmac. There now actually were two of
them at the airport.
Now we would find out if our bags made it with us or not! After getting through
immigration, Sharon watched the carry-ons and backpacks while I searched for our
checked-in luggage. Many folks had already found their bags and left before our four
suitcases finally came down the conveyor!! What a wonderful site to see!
We got through customs without any problems and headed outside the airport into
the onslaught. We did not get too far when we saw Domond (from Matthew 25) who was
there to pick us up. At last things seemed to be going right!
Sister Mary Finnick had Sharon and me staying in one of the roof-top rooms at
Matthew 25 and Kyle and Andre in another. These rooms had electric fans in them this
year – which is good since the temperature was in the 80’s and it was humid. This was
Andre’s first time to stay at Matthew 25 as he and Josee always previously stayed with
family when in PAP.
Our first meal in Haiti was rice and beans, lettuce and tomatoes, plantains and a
meatloaf “log”. It was very good.
Sister Mary gave me a phone that Fritzner (one of our interpreters) had delivered
for me. In Haiti, if you do not use your cell phone for three months, your number gets
cancelled – and you have to buy a new one (which is a major pain for those of us visiting
only once a year.) Fritzner had kept my phone last year and used it periodically for me to
avoid this problem. However, he said he went swimming late in 2009 and ruined that
phone. He did replace it but I still had a new phone number (which Doug and Tamara did
not yet have) and a new phone without any of my Haiti cell numbers in it. I would have
to get these numbers again and re-enter them. Fritzner did call once this evening. It was
good to talk with him.
I put our passports and other items not needed until the end of our visit in Sister
Mary’s safe at Matthew 25 (such as pay for the interpreters etc) so I wouldn’t have to
carry so much money unnecessarily with me.
Andre had the international package on his Blackberry so we were able to email
and text with Kyle to monitor his progress to getting to Atlanta. He was in North Carolina
when we went to bed at 10 pm. What a day. Hopefully all goes well for Kyle tomorrow.
Monday, December 21, 2009
It was a good night’s sleep. I didn’t hear any noises until after 4 am. I was up at 6
and took a shower. It was cold but still felt good. A shower in Haiti is not like one in the
USA. It starts with much less water pressure and no warm or hot water. You typically get
wet, shut the water off, lather up and then rinse off. Many times you can take a shower
and use less than 2 gallons of water!
Andre got a text from Kyle. He had made it to his friend Willie’s in the Atlanta
area by 3 am to take a shower and then head on to the airport.
At breakfast, we met three folks from the Green Bay area (who also were friends
of Jackie Kucera) – Tom LaPointe, John Malcheski and Mary Vanheuvel. It was good to
share our experiences in Haiti with each other. Breakfast consisted of scrambled eggs,
bread, jelly, peanut butter and juice.
I exchanged some US dollars for Haitian goudes. The exchange rate is 8.2 Haitian
dollars for each US dollar – which makes this the highest exchange rate in my 12 visits to
Haiti. This exchange was 8-to-1 last December and 4-to-1 on my first visit in 2000. Each
Haitian dollar is worth five goudes, meaning each US dollar is worth 42 goudes.
Basically a goudes is worth about 2 ½ cents. Both ratios are important as some prices are
in goudes and some in Haitian dollars. These math calculations will become very
common over the next two weeks – and not easy to do in your head!
Andre arranged for a car rental for us to use this week – along with a driver,
named Leonce. He had been chief of security for Gabriel Bien-Aime when he was
Minister of Education a couple years ago. He really knew his way around everywhere
(including many shortcuts and back-roads that avoided traffic snarls). We would spend
quite a bit of time with him over the next several days.
Among the many things Andre wanted to do was show us around parts of PAP
that we typically would never get to see. We headed up Delmas (the main road that goes
uphill to Petionville) to visit Fort Jacques – named for General Jean Jacques Dessalines.
He was the leader of the Haitian fight for independence and the first president of Haiti in
1804. This fort is located past Petionville in Kenskof overlooking PAP in the valley
below.
At 1300 meters above sea level, it was strategically located to protect that harbor
and surrounding area. The four of us (Andre, Leonce, Sharon and I) were the only ones
there and got a private tour from two young Haitian boys. It was very foggy this morning
atop this mountain so visibility was very limited. Typically you could see all of PAP as
well as clear to the island of La Gonaive – but not today. It felt like I was in the Smokey
Mountains.
Built in the early 1800’s by Alexander Petion, there were several original cannons
remaining on premises. There was a 16-foot deep cistern to hold water as well as an
escape tunnel. Ft Alexander was located a short distance away – but it never was
completed after the death of Petion. We did not visit it.
We drove back to Petionville to have lunch. We stopped at a place called Henry’s
and had a typical Haitian meal of grio (pork), plantains and a fruit juice call gernadia.
Sharon tried a cheeseburger, but found they made it with jalapenos and did not finish it.
We next drove downtown and stopped at College Canado Haitian – the school
where Andre taught when he was 21. There actually was a teacher in the computer lab
there that was a year ahead of Andre. We then drove to several other places such as the
National Palace, the National History Museum, the Legislative Palace, Champ-De-Mars
Park, the Bicentennial Tower (a monument built by Aristide for the 2004 celebration) and
the wharf area. We also drove along Harry Truman Boulevard and saw some of the
poorest sections of housing in Haiti (outside of City Solei). The many “homes” were not
much more than 10-ft by 10-ft lean-to structures stacked right next to each other for
several blocks.
We then drove by the US Embassy and new St. Dameon’s Children’s hospital as
we anticipated Kyle’s arrival on the 4 pm American flight – which we saw overhead
approaching its landing at PAP Toussaint International Airport. Since the Embassy and
hospital were close to the airport, we were there and parked before Kyle emerged with his
luggage. It was good to see him. By the end of the day, he would have been up over 55
consecutive hours! What an ordeal.
Dinner back at Matthew 25 was at 6 pm which consisted of rice and beans,
chicken, lettuce and tomatoes, eggplant, plantains and bread. There was a family of four –
the Fish family – from Immaculate Conception Church in Memphis, Tenn. winding up
there visit to Haiti. We shared a meal and much conversation.
Afterwards Leonce and Andre took us (and Rose, one of Josee’s sister-in-laws) to
a place in Petionville called the Oasis. It will be a five-star hotel and restaurant when
completed. As of now only the restaurant and bar area was finished. We each had a drink
but the food seemed pretty pricey. Kyle was hungry so we left and returned to nearby
Harry’s for chicken, plantains and even some ice cream.
We were back at Matthew 25 and in bed by 11:30.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Once again we had another quiet night. I suppose the noise of the fan running all
night helps to drown out many otherwise unusual night noises. I was up at 6:00 and took
a shower.
Breakfast was not until 7:30. We had scrambled eggs, oranges, bread, jelly,
peanut butter, juice and water.
We all packed up and left with Leonce at 8:20. We made three stops before
leaving town. First was to exchange more US money into goudes. This was done in the
parking lot (I am not sure where we were!) without ever having to get out of our vehicle.
Second was to a Delimart – a grocery store. One of the items Kyle wanted was a jar of
Ragu (so we would have some sauce for spaghetti in Pendus and not just ketchup). Last,
we stopped at a National gas station. Diesel fuel was 130 goudes per gallon (or a little
over $3.00 per gallon). We bought 10.7 gallons for 1500 goudes – or just under $36.
Finally we were on the road by 9:30. Our Nissan Patrol started to have some
trouble accelerating shortly outside PAP. We pulled to the side of the road in Titanyan
and called Avis. They promised to immediately send a replacement vehicle for us.
Unfortunately, it took two hours to do so. While we waited, we befriended some children
as well as a man named Flevrisme Anderson. He was the principal of the Baptist school
located there. He said there were actually two schools there – a regular one and separate
one for those who could not afford the other school. He showed us all around the
grounds. He told us; “Maybe your misfortune (having car trouble) will be a blessing for
us!” I know he was hoping we could somehow help his school out financially. I know I
will not forget this stop!
Once the replacement Patrol arrived we quickly switched all of our luggage and
took off. However this vehicle did not have a full tank of gas so we had to stop and put in
another 9 gallons – or 1160 goudes – or about $28 US dollars worth of fuel. At least we
were on our way!
In St Marc, we were stopped at an inspection point. Leonce had to show the rental
papers and his driver’s license to the police. He said that they were checking both for
proper ownership paperwork and for other things (such as kidnappings etc).
We made good time driving . . . arriving at Lake Jean just outside of Gonaive (the
remnant lake after Hurricane Jean several years ago) about 2:20. We passed the turn-off
to Gros Morne (that I call the “Highway to Heaven”) at 2:40 and at Ennerri at 2:50. It
was here that Leonce had to get out. He needed to return to PAP for Christmas with his
family. We were running late due to the rental car needing replaced. He was afraid he
would miss the last tap tap south if he went any further with us today. This meant that
Andre would be driving the rest of the way.
Ever since we left PAP this morning we have traveled on Haiti Highway #1 –
which connects Haiti’s two biggest and most important cities – Port-au-Prince and Cap
Haitian. Beginning outside Gonaives, the route leaves the level, coastal portion of the
road and begins an ascent up through the central mountains of Haiti. The road often is not
paved or eroded away by a nearby river. It is very snaky as it switch-backs its way up the
mountain and then back down again on the other side. It often had a steep drop off to our
right (with no guard rails!) To make matters worse for us, the horn on our rental was not
working – and it was beginning to rain and it was getting foggy and dark. Andre could
not warn on-coming traffic at any of the many hair-pin turns we had to make. We got
behind a yellow school bus converted into a Haitian tap tap – which had a horn and used
it! We followed them all the way through the worst sections of the rest of the mountain
road. I am sure the bus driver wondered why we never passed him over that distance we
followed behind him.
We made it to Pleasance at 4:15, Limbe at 5:00 and Cap Haitian at 5:50. Needless
to say, we were all tired from this adventure! We arrived at Andre’s Dad’s house just
before 6 pm. It was 135 miles from Titanyan (where we switched rental cars) and it took
us 6 hours to travel that far – on Highway #1 (the country’s most important road!)
Andre’s Dad is named Curdy Angrand. He and Andre’s mom live in New York
City but he does not like the winters there so he spends 4-5 months here in Cap Haitian. I
guess we can call him a snow-bird! Andre’s mom will come for about a month about a
week after we leave. His house is a two-level concrete home – with the lower level rented
to a C.A.M. (Caribbean Air Mail) money transfer business. It had 24-hour armed guards
since it dealt with lots of money – which helped in the security of the home . . . but also
made it more difficult to get in and out each time we came or left.
We originally had a reservation for two nights at Norm’s Place in Labadee –
starting with tonight. We had tried to call several times as we were driving to Cap Haitian
but could never get through to anyone. Even though it was only another 30 minutes to
Labadee, it was already dark, it was raining, and the rest of the road was dirt (or now
mud). Also the last leg of the trip to Norm’s Place was by water taxi and we were not
sure if it would be running this late in this weather. Curdy was concerned about us trying
to get there. He had a friend come over to help drive us there if we wanted. After some
discussion we decided not to go tonight but instead go in the morning. We again tried to
call Norm’s Place but could not get anyone to answer there.
Andre wanted to take us out to eat tonight so we drove through town first and
wound up at a bakery along the water’s edge. Kyle got a piece of cake to tide him over.
We then drove along the shore and found a place called Deco Plage. It was its first night
open as a business. Both owners – brothers named Benji and Gerby – welcomed us
warmly. It had a patio area overlooking the shore – but it was still misty and too wet to sit
there so we went inside. There was a small bar area, a dance area with music playing
loudly and room for about 15 tables. We ordered both grio (pork) and chicken plates . . .
and each came with French fries and plantains. It was good. Sharon and Andre even got
one dance in to that distinctive Haitian beat.
Andre drove us past several landmarks – including the Notre Dame de
Assumption Cathedral – before returning to his Dad’s house for the night. We were in
bed by 10:45. It was still raining!
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
It was easy to sleep to the sound of the rain all night – and the temperature was
comfortable. However, the traffic outside on Highway #1 began in earnest about 5 am
and continued to increase as the morning grew lighter.
We were up at 7 am. Curdy gave us a tour of his house. Much of the design and
detail was his handiwork. He was proud of the huge mango tree behind the house (it
almost came in the back door to the house!) If you went up on the roof – which you could
do to hang laundry etc – you could pick fruit when in season.
Breakfast consisted of scramble eggs, bread, peanut butter, jelly, orange juice and
grapefruit juice.
A young man – Sainte Nopha – stopped by to see Andre. Andre and Josee had
been sponsoring his education the past several years and he was to get married tomorrow
in Terrier Rouge. Andre would be walking the bride down the aisle and acting as best
man at that ceremony!
We had a few errands to do before heading to Labadee. Andre needed to stop at
the bank and Kyle needed to find a cyber café. He had stuff for school to keep up with (as
he was trying to make arrangements for work next semester as well as help several from
Tufts University make plans to visit Haiti in early January to work on several projects.)
While Kyle was at the cyber café, Curdy, Sharon and I got some photos of the Cathedral.
Curdy also got some poul pate (chicken pies) for us. They were very good –
especially when they were warm.
It was only about 5 miles from Curdy’s house to the water taxi in Labadee. Even
in the daylight – and the mud – it still took us 45 minutes to get there. We were all
thankful that we had waited until this morning to come – especially with the narrow,
muddy road with some very steep drop-offs (again all without any guardrails!) The
scenery of the water, however, was magnificent.
Once we saw the water taxis – we decided to consolidate our luggage for the one
night to what we could fit in our backpacks. The parking area was next to some of the
beach owned by the cruise lines. These areas were all fenced off and available only to
those with shore excursions purchased with Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines on days they
were here.
The wedding tomorrow was at 10 am so Andre said he’d be back to pick us up
here at 2:30 pm. We waved good-bye to Andre and Curdy and hired our own taxi for 375
goudes one way (about $9 US). The ride took about 10 minutes as it took us around a
point and curved back into a natural bay area. This area of Haiti was more lush and green
than anywhere else I had ever seen in Haiti. The water taxi driver promised to pick us up
tomorrow at 2 pm.
Norm’s Place was once an old French outpost. It had five separate rooms and had
sleeping capacity for 15 people. We did not sign in; no one took our name or checked a
“reservation” or asked for any form of pre-payment; in fact no one there actually spoke
English. However, it seemed as if we were expected – even if we were a day late getting
there! – as we were given a key and shown which room would be ours.
It was a very cute bed and breakfast atmosphere. The “lobby” was an open stone
structure and also served as our dining area and a reading area over-looking the water.
The grounds were nicely kept and there were several hammocks and picnic tables behind
the lobby to use beneath the shade of the many trees. It was a charming place (and one
that Kyle had been to back in 2002). We were the only ones staying there that night.
Our room had three beds in it – each with a mosquito net hanging above it. The
room had a very high ceiling and there were spaces up high for ventilation that were not
closed off (meaning bugs could come and go as they pleased) – so the netting was a
necessity (especially since we are at sea level). There was also a corner of the room
walled off for a small bathroom (with a toilet, sink and shower).
We decided to take a walk and see what the “town” looked like. There obviously
was power here as there were electrical lines and lights that were visible. All of the
homes were concrete block with nice tin roofs. Many were painted various typical
Haitian colors. It seemed to me that all the homes were very close to each other with
hardly any space around them. One house actually had a jet ski on a trailer sitting next to
it. I wanted to take a picture of that but there were too many people around us for me to
feel comfortable doing so.
There was a door with a sign “restaurant” on it in the middle of town but it was
closed. However, we were able to buy some cookies and drinks from a vendor along the
path before walking back to Norm’s Place. We were told we had to put our order in for
dinner by 3 pm if we wanted to eat here – I have no idea where else there would be to eat
if we didn’t eat here! There was no menu . . . we simply were told our choices were fish,
pork and beef. I picked fish and Sharon and Kyle picked beef. We’ll see what that winds
up being!
Kyle decided to take a nap while Sharon and I sat on the beach. While it wasn’t
threatening to rain, the sky was still fairly cloudy. I decided I was not coming this far and
not get in the water – I know that surprised Sharon. Who knows tomorrow could be
worse. The water was not warm, but wasn’t cold either. I eventually got all the way in as
I walked my way out about 50 yards. There was no one else swimming anywhere close to
us.
However, a man and his young wife and daughter came up in a small boat. He
was from Belize and she from Nicaragua. They had a sail boat anchored out about 100
yards and have spent over a year sailing around the many ports in the Caribbean. He let
us know which places around the Caribbean were better for purchasing food, fuel and
other necessities (as if that information would be helpful to us.) We would see them
several times rowing to shore and back over the next 24 hours.
We each took turns taking a shower and getting ready for dinner (which was
announced to be at 7 pm). Each of us found a book to read in the lobby area while we
waited for the food to be fixed. It was as peaceful and laid-back as any place could be –
all the while there was the constant sound of the lapping of the waves lingering in the
background. Dinner was actually served a little early since we were already there and
waiting. My fish was a “Sad” and was bigger than my plate. It was very tasty. Sharon and
Kyle’s beef were not steaks as we would expect but a plate with several bite-sized pieces
of beef. Served family style along with the meat were bowls of rice, sauce, lettuce and
tomatoes and plantains. Water and pop were also served. While we ate, the sun was
setting – not over the water since we were facing north – but the sky was still very pretty.
Again, no one here spoke any English so Kyle, Sharon and I tried our best with
our Creole. We asked if the water was “Culligan.” The answer was no, but they used
“aqua tabs” which made it safe to drink.
We sat in the lobby and played several games of casino. At some point, a man
named Frank arrived from Cap Haitian. He is a manager for Norm’s Place and he did
speak English. It was his cell phone that we had been trying to reach yesterday when we
knew we were not going to make it.
Sharon and I got our mosquito nets down and tucked in all around our beds. Once
all set, you did not want to be getting up during the night. Kyle finished reading one of
his text books before retiring about 10:30. We all slept well with the sound of the waves
to lull us to sleep. The temperature was also very comfortable for sleeping as the sheet
and quilt on the bed both felt good by morning.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
We were in no hurry to get going in the morning. I woke up to the sound of
someone sweeping the sand outside our room. They did take very good care of the
grounds here at Norm’s Place! Kyle was already up and out by 7 am. He said he went
exploring, hiking a trail clear back to the point we came around on the water taxi
yesterday. He said this trail involved actual rock climbing in parts of it.
The newest addition to our “neighborhood” this morning was the Royal
Caribbean cruise ship named Jewel of the Seas anchored about a half-mile north and east
from Norm’s Place. All the beaches belonging to the cruise ship were back over close to
where the water taxis picked us up. However, throughout the day there were folks parasailing, jet-skiing, and kayaking out in the bay area in front of Norm’s Place.
I tried out one of the hammocks behind our bedroom. I could get used to this! I
tried to read some but found my mind simply wandering. Kyle was back from his walk
and was reading.
Breakfast was not until 8:45. Today we had omelets for Sharon and I (I am not
sure what all the ingredients were in it!) and scrambled eggs for Kyle – remember we
ordered yesterday in Creole! There also was toast, apricot jelly, peanut butter and
gernadia juice. There was enough of the juice leftover that I nearly filled my spare water
bottle. It would be good to have later this morning.
It was a beautiful, sunny day. Sharon and I decided to sit on the small segment of
beach – a strip of sand about six feet wide between the sea wall and the stone fence
around Norm’s Place. There was one lounger and one seat that I found and carried out for
us to use. Through the course of the morning, several young men and women walked by.
The men (probably age 20-25) wanted to talk in English. The others only spoke Creole.
At one point there were five 6-9 year old boys skinny dipping in the water by us. They
were splashing and having a great time.
Today all three of us got in the water. Sharon actually went out further than I did
yesterday. While out there, some of the kayakers came by and talked with her. I am sure
they were very surprised to find someone from Indiana here on the island of Hispaniola
(that is the name of this entire island with the west one-third being Haiti and the east twothirds being the Dominican Republic.) It is also how the cruise line refers to this stop
(and not calling it Haiti!) When asked, one of them replied to her that they came “from
that big boat over there!” I guess that wasn’t obvious!
About 1 pm we all went in to get cleaned up and ready to take the water taxi back.
I was done first and was sitting in the lobby area. The young Haitian girl named Silencia
got us “checked out.” It cost us $40 per person for the room and breakfast plus $12 apiece
for the dinner last night for a total bill of $156.
She then tried to teach me to play a new Haitian card game called Twa-set. Of
course she was teaching me in Creole. We played several hands . . . I got the general
sense that the game was like “war” with the largest card played winning the trick. What I
did not understand about the game was the priority of the cards. It took a few more hands
and some attempted Creole to realize the order of cards was Ace high, followed by 10, 9,
King, Queen, Jack, 8 and 7. The rest of the deck is not used in this game. By the time I
figured the game out, I won the last three games in a row before we had to go.
As promised the water taxi driver showed up at 2 pm and had us back at the drop
off area by 2:15. I called Andre and found out everything at the wedding ran extremely
late and that he was still a half hour away. We waited. About thirty minutes later, he
called and was stuck in traffic and still 30 minutes away. Sharon, Kyle and I decided to
take the water taxi back to Norm’s Place and wait for Andre to call when he got there. A
different taxi pre-arranged a price of 500 goudes for a round-trip . . . much better than I
previously paid. He also promised to come back for us in 45 minutes. Kyle commented
that on an island that is not known for promptness or time keeping, the most accurate
time keeping came in our most remote area!
Back at Norm’s Place we were greeted with the return of a water bottle that
Sharon had forgotten. Sharon read while I played several more games of Twa-set. I then
showed Kyle how to play (in English, not Creole).
Again as promised and on time, the water taxi arrived and took us back to the
drop off area. This time Andre and his dad were there! The road back to Cap Haitian gave
us some great views of both the sea as well as Cap Haitian.
On the way home, Andre took us by his old school College Notre Dame. We got
out for several photos. Kyle even found a basketball game to get involved with for a few
minutes.
We had dinner at Curdy’s when we got there. It was wonderful. We ate chicken,
rice and beans, lettuce, tomatoes, avocados, soup, plantains and cake (for Kyle!) I learned
a new Creole word – gede or “to spoil” – such as “Curdy ap gede Kyle” – or Curdy is
spoiling Kyle! Kyle responded by calling him the “King of Cake!” Curdy kept referring
to Kyle as his new grandson! I think they both really like each other!
After supper, we all got showered and ready to go to midnight Mass in Terrier
Rouge. Located roughly 20 miles east of Cap Haitian, it would only take about 30
minutes to get there. How is that possible? It has the best stretch of road I have ever seen
in Haiti in 10 years of coming. I said if I had closed my eyes I would have thought I was
driving through Benton County. The road was completely straight and level; there were
yellow lines down the middle (both dotted and straight where there was no passing); there
were white lines on both sides of the road; and there were street signs for “Animal
crossing” and “Children crossing” as well as speed signs. It was amazing! Andre said the
government had hired a Dominican company to construct this road. I did not realize just
how close we were to the Dominican when we were in Terrier Rouge (maybe less than 10
miles). I think it was done to promote both commerce and tourism (it would make it
easier for Dominicans to get to the Citadel and to Cap Haitian.)
We arrived about 10 pm. Andre introduced us to his good friend (and one time
fellow seminarian) Father Leclerc Eyma. The church – which is celebrating its 300th
anniversary – was already full and the children were already singing. Apparently they
were waiting for just for us to arrive to start Mass as it began about 10:45 pm.
The whole atmosphere was spectacular. The music was great – there were two
tambou (a goat skinned drum) players, plus an entire drum set, an electric keyboard and a
bass guitar. Every song was sung through every verse (and no one was using a song book
for the words!) The celebratory atmosphere was obvious and contagious. In fact it took
12 minutes just for the three servers, nine young girl dancers and the priest to process into
church to the altar at the beginning. They would dance forward and back and simply take
their time. No one was in a hurry. Music even broke out during Father’s homily as he’d
break out into “Gloria” several times to emphasize his points!
When Mass was over, Father Eyma introduced Andre to the group. Andre had
been to Terrier Rouge several times in the last couple years to help in various ways.
Father then introduced Sharon, Kyle and I and had each of us speak to the congregation.
Father then took us back to his rectory for cake and drinks. He really tried to get
us to spend the night too (but we had not brought anything with us to do so.)
The ride back on the wonderful road was interesting. Not only were there speed
bumps about every mile or so to keep the speed of traffic down, but there were animals of
all kinds sleeping on the road – cattle, with little calves, donkeys, dogs, goats! We’d have
to stop and watch as they’d slowly get up, give us a look of inconvenience, and then
mosey out of our way so we could proceed.
It was a star-filled sky tonight. It also was muggy tonight.
We finally got back to Curdy’s house at 3 am and promptly got to bed.
Friday, December 25, 2009
Joyeux Noel! Merry Christmas!
Even though it was Christmas Day, the outside traffic noises again began by 5 am.
However, I did not get up until 8:30.
This was a lazy day for us all. We ate a late breakfast that Andre cooked of hard
boiled eggs, spam with sauce, toast with grape jelly, fruit juice, avocados and bananas. It
was very good. As you can tell I really like all the various foods we eat here in Haiti.
Kyle actually slept until past noon. When he woke, he found his Christmas
stocking from home full of little treats and presents for him! Obviously Mom took good
care of him.
I played several games of Casino with Curdy. Finally we went into town again.
We were going to try to use the Laundromat and Kyle the cyber café. However, when we
got to the Laundromat the power was down and nothing was working. I decided it was
not worth the time it was going to take so we went on the cyber café.
When we got back to Curdy’s house, Leonce had arrived from PAP (so he could
drive us back there tomorrow). He then took Sharon, Kyle and I to visit Vertieres. This
was the battleground where the Haitians defeated the French in their last battle for
independence on November 18, 1803. The French formally surrendered later in Gonaives
and Independence Day was officially recognized as being January 1, 1804.
The monument here had statutes of Desaline, Tousasaint, Petion and the general
Clareiz. He has his horse shot out from under him in this battle yet got up and let the
charge against the French on foot. History says that the French general was so impressed
with him that he stopped and saluted him right then and there.
We then filled up the car for the ride home – 2422 goudes or $57.22 for 18.6
gallons.
Back at home we got ready to go out to eat. We wound up back at the Deco Plage
again. Four of us had the chicken plate while one had the goat and one the pork plates.
Andre and I even had a Prestige beer as a celebration of our time together this week.
We were back at home by 10:30 and soon in bed. It would be an early start
tomorrow to assure we don’t have any problems getting back to PAP. However, it was
difficult to go to sleep as there was loud music playing as the town celebrated both Friday
night and Christmas!
Saturday, December 26, 2009
We were up by 5 am . . . and Leonce was already here (he stayed with a relative
last night). We knew we had to get an early start to make sure we were at the airport to
pick up the other 6 from the nursing school today. They were to land in PAP about 4:15
pm and we had a minimum 6 hour drive ahead of us.
It was a beautiful sunny day and we were on the road by 6:30 am. Leonce was
driving, we were ahead of most of the day’s traffic and the weather was perfect – so we
were able to make great time traveling. The vistas were magnificent as we headed south.
Since it was dark, foggy, and raining when we came to Cap Haitian we had not been able
to see this scenery very well.
We got an email to Andre’s phone shortly after 7 am. Doug Granlund said all six
of our group met him and Dan and Betty Korty at the Central Catholic parking lot at 3 am
this morning. The weather in Lafayette had changed from 45 degrees yesterday to rain
overnight followed by snow and temperatures in the 20s. Still they made it to the
Indianapolis airport before 4:30 am.
Despite our prior warnings and Doug’s persistence, Delta made them use the
kiosks for boarding passes and luggage tags. Again it got messed up . . . and only
checked the luggage to Miami instead of PAP. Again Delta counter agents said we should
have told them it was an international flight (which Doug said was only mentioned
several times!) Four suitcases had already gone through before this was caught. Again
they promised to catch those bags and get them changed. At least there was no charge for
each of these bags! Tamara was also able to get the boarding passes for the American leg
at the American counter too. Things seemed to be going well.
Meanwhile, we were making great time heading south on Highway #1. Our
progress was as follows:
Location
Time
Mileage
Leave Curdy’s
La Coupe a Limbe
Limbe
Pleasance
Top of mountain
Ennerie
Gonaive
6:30
7:08
7:16
7:53
8:27
8:40
9:20
41,877
41,887
41,892
41,904
41,912
41,918
41,934
It was an amazing view from the top of the mountain. We were able to see the
Citadel as we reached the peak. It is located about 20 miles or more away, yet I was able
to get a good photo with my telephoto lens! The Citadel was built by Herni Christophe in
the early 1800’s to protect the northern coast from France and other possible invaders.
We arrived in Gonaives and made a quick stop at the Bishop’s house. Bishop
Pean was there and greeted us for a few minutes. He had remembered us stopping by in
prior years and asked about our twinning with St Joseph in Pendus. It was good to see
him again.
We soon got another email from Doug about the progress of our group – or
should I say lack of progress. He said their plane was late getting out of Indianapolis and
missed the connecting flight in Atlanta. At this point they were on standby to get to
Miami in an attempt to be able to fly to PAP tomorrow!! A few (but not all) were now
scheduled on the flight to reach PAP at noon Sunday. What a disappointment for
everyone. I know Tamara, Annette and Doug (who was keeping the families informed of
any developments) worked exceedingly hard to get things worked out the rest of the day.
As it turned out, they would be stuck in Atlanta for the night. At one point Delta agreed
to give them a hotel at the Red Roof Inn but when they arrived the rooms, especially the
bedding, was filthy so they went elsewhere to stay (at their own expense!)
I had to call Sister Jackie as she had a bus from Gros Morne rented for us to take
our group north on Sunday. A group arriving from Ireland had it rented for Monday. She
would have to scramble to get us all transported to Pendus. Sister Jackie said if they
could get the early flight from Miami to PAP, the bus could still get us to Gros Morne on
Sunday and return for the Irish crew. It is not just the people that need transported but all
the luggage that we bring with us as well.
I also contacted Sister Mary at Matthew 25. We changed our arrangements to stay
at Matthew 25 for tonight (instead of the Monfortan House) and now we were going to
need two nights lodging there. Thankfully there would be room. All of the
communication for this was being done as we drove through the mountains of Haiti.
What a remarkable achievement that proved to be!
We kept driving – now all we had left was the flat terrain, going along the many
rice patties of the L’estere region and then the coastal roads south of St Marc. We
reached the outskirts of PAP just before 1 pm (the mileage on the car was 42,021). We
had traveled 154 miles from Cap Haitian in 6 ½ hours including the stop in Gonaives.
Since we knew Matthew 25 did not serve lunch, we headed to Petionville to find
something to eat. We went to Dominos! Three large pizzas and five drinks only cost
about $50 US – or about the same as in the USA! It was great . . . and we had enough left
over for Kyle to have for supper or a late night snack.
We got another email from Doug. It was good news for us (but bad for Sister
Jackie). All six were now confirmed for the Atlanta to Miami then Miami to PAP flights
on Sunday . . . but not arriving in PAP until 4:15 (and not the noon flight). I called Jackie
– she would have to come up with a new plan to get everyone to Pendus. We will see
what she comes up with.
Doug later emailed us that the group’s luggage had made it to PAP on the 4:15
flight. Could we go pick it up for them? We knew that without the baggage claim slips
that we would not be able to do so. We’d have to wait until tomorrow. The big
unanswered question is how in the world did the luggage make it to PAP on time when
the rest of the group did not?
Back at Matthew 25 we met two students from Santa Clara Law School – Daniel
Zazueta and Catlin Robinett. They just arrived today in Haiti. They are here to write a
law journal article about some prior case in Gonaive. They promised to send me a copy
when it is finished. We taught them some beginning Creole and how to play Casino.
Dinner was at 6:00. We ate rice and beans, stew, lettuce and tomatoes, plantains,
bread, water, pop and Prestige beer.
Sister Jackie called. She would have Tidan drive to PAP tomorrow morning. He
would have room for 8 of our group of 12 (the nine from St Mary plus the three
interpreters going with us) and their carryon and backpacks only. He would pick up the 8
at 8:30 in the morning and drive them all to Pendus on Monday. The four that remained
would get picked up by the bus getting the Irish at noon. They – and all the checked-in
luggage – would get to Gros Morne and spend the night at Kay Se (Sister Jackie and
Sister Pat’s house). They would then be driven to Pendus early on Tuesday. We decided
we did not want separate the group of six, so Fritzner and I would go with them in
Tidan’s vehicle. Sharon, Kyle, Octa and Serge would come with the Irish group.
Andre had planned to take our entire group out tonight – but now there were only
the four of us. We invited Dan and Catlin to come with us. Andre also invited a couple of
Josee’s sisters-in-law (Myrielle and Mama) and a family friend Marie Rose to come too.
We weren’t sure what Andre had planned for us. Andre had a friend that was having
party for their young daughters. They invited Kyle to attend if he wanted.
Andre said we would not leave until 9 pm – so we cleared it with Sister Mary for
us to be out late tonight. Leonce arrived to drive us at 9. By the time we all were ready
and picked up the Josee’s relatives and took Kyle to see if he would stay at the party
(which he did not as it was more a teenage party than his age group), it was nearly
midnight. Andre’s friends Yves Beauborus and his wife Gertrude (Andre was in their
wedding years ago!) also met us for this evening
Andre then took us to a nightclub called Djoumbala – and featured the group
called Tropicana. When we arrived the warm up band was just finishing and Tropicana
was getting ready to start. They are a group of 10 men (many from the Cap Haitian area
that Andre knew) and have been extremely popular in Haiti for over 40 years. I described
them at the Beach Boys of Haiti!
They played compa and everyone attending seemed to dance every dance. It was
packed and the music was very good. We all danced as well. They played until 3 am and
we stayed until the end. It was a wonderful evening . . . and a far different experience
than we had ever had before. It was exactly what Andre wanted us to experience.
We were very careful to quietly sneak back into our rooms at Matthew 25. It is
going to be a short night as the city will wake up at its normal time in a few hours.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
I slept in for Haiti . . . until 7 am!
We met Amy Wolfson this morning. She too stayed last night at Matthew 25. She
is doing a study about the Terrier Rouge area – what a coincidence with Andre! He
promised to help if needed.
Sister Mary had church to attend and many errands to do this morning so
breakfast was only cereal, milk and bread.
Gabriel Bien-Aime came about 8:30. He wanted to see all of us. Not only is he
Andre’s best friend, but we had met him a couple times on visits to Lafayette. Kyle is
designing his website for his Haiti presidential campaign in 2010 so they worked on that
for a little while. He also wanted to see Andre since Andre would be leaving on the 6 pm
flight to Miami later today. (Remember he had to get home for his work.)
Leonce came to drive us to church. Sharon and I didn’t know where we were
going . . . we wound up at St Louis, king of France, Church (which is where the
Montfortan house is located.) Andre didn’t tell us until we got back home, but this was
the church where he and Josee were married!
We arrived right at the end of the 9 am Mass so we were right on time for the
10:30 Mass. It was said in French by a young, exuberant priest. I could not understand his
homily but his passion for what he was doing was obvious and contagious.
Back at Matthew 25, Kyle pumped up a basketball he had brought for our New
Year’s Day game in Gros Morne. He shots baskets on the court and played several games
as we waited for the 4:15 plan to arrive.
Andre called his friend Gertrude (as she works in the VIP section at the airport) to
see if she could help us get the already arrived luggage and our group through customs
without incident. She agreed to help. He and I picked her up on our way to the airport.
Sharon and Kyle did not go as we thought we’d need all available space for the group and
all the luggage (between our vehicle and Domonds) to be transported back to Matthew
25. Andre had me wear long pants and dress shoes (not sandals) in case we would be
allowed in restricted areas (which do not allow shorts or sandals.) Even though I am not
used to wearing such clothes in Haiti (and it was hot and muggy today), it was a good
thing I did as she walked us through several such areas.
We arrived about 30 minutes before the plane landed. Gertrude easily got us into
the baggage claim area. With the orange and yellow stands of yarn we put on each bag, it
was easy to spy them sitting to the side of the carousel. All 12 bags were there (and had
been since yesterday)! I got three carts rented and had the 12 bags already loaded for our
upcoming exit from the airport. Gertrude told a couple guards to watch them for us as she
then took us to the incoming side of the immigration booths. Today we would be able to
meet them BEFORE they went through immigration. With all the problems they had just
getting here that should be one big worry they won’t have to face (finding the luggage,
finding us and getting themselves through customs as we always have to do ourselves).
While standing, there the thought crossed my mind that I am on the wrong side of
immigration WITHOUT my passport (which is still in the safe at Matthew 25). I guess
some things are the same in Haiti as elsewhere – it is WHO you know not WHAT you
know that counts!
Finally we saw Tamara . . . then quickly each of the others! Andre and I got hugs
from everyone! Almost lost in the excitement was the fact that Andre was leaving to go
home. It seemed we parted without a satisfactory “good-bye” for each other. He later said
he felt the same way!
Gertrude then collected each of their passports and got them through the short line
of immigration (that one reserved for VIP and handicapped). It was here that Andre left
to go board his plane (the same one that had just landed would be immediately returning
to Miami.) Once through that line we met Domond inside the baggage claim area. He was
surprised we already had the luggage collected. In all it only took 30 minutes from the
time the plane landed until we all were walking outside the airport to our vehicle. That is
a record time for all of that to occur!
As we exited I saw Tidan and Barak – our drivers from Gros Morne. In all the
planning during the every-changing itinerary yesterday, we forgot to tell them we
wouldn’t need help getting picked up at the airport (as we would have needed if still
staying at the Monfortan House). Oh well, it was still good to see their friendly faces –
and get hugs. Tamara also saw Martin – one of her friends from her prior trips to southern
Haiti. She was happy! How quickly our problems disappear once we are in Haiti!
We all rode in Domond’s vehicle to Matthew 25. Leonce took Gertrude home and
then returned the rental for Andre. For the five new nursing students, this was their first
exposure to Haiti – the onslaught as we exit the airport building as well as the drive
through traffic and seemingly chaos of PAP. Everyone was excited and smiling!
Room assignments were made back at Matthew 25 – Kyle, Kyle, Mike and I were
in the lizard room, Sharon and Shirley on the parrot room and Tamara, Shelby and Bre in
the fish room. With two “Kyles” on this trip, we decided to call Kyle Laszczewski “Gwo
Kyle” – meaning Big Kyle – since he is much bigger than Kyle Newell. Both Kyles were
happy with this arrangement!
As usual, dinner was at 6 pm. Sister taught the new comers to Matthew 25 a
Haitian prayer before meal. It is sung and goes as follows:
Manje sa-a ou voye ban nou an papa
Manje ki bay lavi.
This food you send for us our Father
It is the food of life.
We would sing this prayer each time we ate this trip. By the end of the week, the words
came easily as we prayed! Tonight, we ate rice and beans, white rice, meatloaf log,
lettuce and tomatoes, bread and water.
After dinner our group met. Sharon opened with a reading of Is 40:31 (“those who
wait on the Lord will renew their strength . . .”) She reflected that this group clearly had
been waiting on the Lord through all the problems each of us encountered getting here.
(“. . . They will run and not grow weary . . .”) Hopefully, now we will be lifted up by the
experiences awaiting us.
We talked about what to expect the rest of the week here and of some of our
experiences in the past. We also decided that Tamara would stay with Kyle and the two
interpreters so Sharon could go with the rest of the early group tomorrow. Sharon and I
will have to evaluate the group – and the travel time together is a wonderful bonding
experience! I also shared my definition of a “successful” trip – as one where you leave
knowing at least 10 people’s names and 10 people know your name. This perspective
clearly focuses on relationships and not activity as the main thrust of the week.
I closed with 1 Peter 4:10 which says; “As each of us has received a gift, use it to
serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace.” Our gifts are different and all
useful in some way. I shared that many times I feel like the most un-useful person when I
am here . . . as I can’t treat patients, I can’t fix a generator or a vehicle, and I do not have
any building skills. But my “gift” is to walk and talk with our Haitian brothers, to share a
meal, to try to learn their language and to passionately share my stories back home with
anyone willing to listen to me. We simply have to find what each of our gift will be!
Afterward, Sharon and I gave a 20 minute beginning Creole lesson. Everyone was
tired and worn out from a very long day so we broke up. Back upstairs on the roof (under
a near full moon), we taught Mike and Gwo Kyle how to play the Haitian card game
called Casino. This skill would come in very handy for them the rest of the trip.
We were all in bed by 10 pm. Maybe now all our setbacks are behind us.
Monday, December 28, 2009
While I thought it was another fairly quiet night, Mike woke up and said he
couldn’t sleep due to all the noises! Gwo Kyle agreed with me, saying he slept well and
didn’t hear anything either. It is amazing how different everyone’s perspective can be.
We were up by 6:15 and began the procession of showers. Mike and Kyle were on
the roof top watching PAP wake up on the street in front of Matthew 25 for their first
time – while also taking lots of photos. Their enthusiasm and excitement was great to see!
Breakfast was at 8 this morning (so we could sleep in a little!) We had scrambled
eggs, cereal, bread, jelly, peanut butter and juice.
Tidan and Barak arrived with their vehicle about 9 am. He had it loaded with lots
of vegetables he had purchased for his Beach House night club in Gros Morne. They
unloaded all of it to make room for all of us. It would have to come with Irish bus later
today.
The group’s first real Haitian experience will be this ride to Pendus – especially
since there were now 10 of us in one vehicle (our 8 plus Tidan and Barak) with eight
suitcases and eight backpacks. It looked and felt like a typically packed Haitian tap tap!
Fritzner and Shelby sat in the front seat with Tidan. Shelby had been sick on Christmas as
was prone to motion sickness so the front seat was best for her! Since the vehicle was a
stick shift, that row was still tight. Sharon, Shirley and Bre sat in the second row of seats
with their backpacks too.
The back end has two seats that face each other. It was really crowded with the
suitcases piled high behind the second seat. Gwo Kyle and Barak squeezed on one side
facing Mike and I on the other. It was a tight fit just to close the back doors. The suitcases
wound up lying in Kyle and Mike’s laps for most of the way. We had a great time (and
we rode that way for over 6 hours)!! Of course, each bump was magnified at our end of
the vehicle. Our several breaks along the way were very welcomed by each of us.
We said our good-byes to Kyle, Tamara, Octa and Serge and took off by 9:30.
Our most memorable stop along the way was to get something to eat in Mouri. Tidan as
usual knows the best place to eat and gets the best service and food (since he is such a
regular driving back and forth from Gros Morne to PAP). As we got out the backend, we
were surrounded by both women wanting to sell us something to eat and others begging
for food. We all saw two older ladies … both very thin and frail and obviously in need of
food. We bought a plate of grio and plantains for them too.
While we were waiting on the grio to be cooked, Barak bought us a watermelon,
some bananas and some mangos. We paid for it but had him get it as he would get a
better price than we would have! Mouri is known for having good fruits and vegetables
all year long so it was a good place to get these items.
A second stop was in St Marc. Tidan pulled over to a store in town . . . and bought
two mattresses. Where was that going to fit!! Luckily I had some rope (that Von Tobel’s
had donated) in my backpack. Tidan quickly rigged the mattresses on top of the vehicle.
We noticed that just since we had passed along Highway #1 between PAP and
Gonaives on December 26 that there had been many improvements made to the road in
anticipation of President Preval speaking in Gonaive on Jan 1st – Haiti’s Independence
Day.
We made a quick stop in Gros Morne at the rectory. The first to greet us was
Benedict – our son we sponsor – and Fessen. We also saw that Our Lady of the Light
Church was getting a face life and new chapel area in front of it. Scaffolding and
construction was everywhere. Father Wilner was there to as well as the other priests
living there including Father Nesley and Father Joseph. Barak stayed in Gros Morne,
which meant there now was room for Benedict to ride the rest of the way to Pendus with
us. Of course he brought his saxophone with him (in a tennis racquet case as that way it
could still fit into a backpack and be easier to carry).
There were five more rivers to cross between Gros Morne and Pendus – and there
would be no more bridges. You simply drive down the bank on one side of the water and
then up the bank on the other side . . . all the while hoping the water level will not be too
high. We should be fine as there has not been much rain in this area lately.
We left Gros Morne at 3:45 and made the 10-mile trip to Pendus in 45 minutes.
That is a record for me in a four-wheeled vehicle. One reason we made it so quickly is
that the area near Berard where the natural spring constantly created a mud-bog had been
fixed since last year. There was a concrete trench to the right side of the road for about
150 feet. This allowed the water to be diverted from the drivable portion of the road.
Over the years, we had been stuck here many times. It was great to see this improvement.
I can’t wait to show a photo of this to Dave Schmidt and Frank Donaldson!
Madam Marcel – or Mama Pendus as we lovingly call her – had our rooms ready
for us upon our arrival. Sharon and I had the back 2-person bedroom with Kyle and
Benedict in the front adjacent room. The next four-person bedroom had Tamara, Bre,
Shelby and Shirley while the last room was for Mike, Gwo Kyle, Octa and Fritzner. That
left Serge to sleep in the spare bedroom above the dining area – they were out of beds so
he had to sleep on the floor on a mat. I had an extra sheet and blanket for him to use.
One thing different this year was the fact we had to provide sleeping
arrangements for both Benedict and Serge. In the past, Benedict used to stay at his
grandmother’s house nearby. However, she passed away in 2009 so that house was all
closed up and unavailable for him. Serge’s family used to live next to the church
compound . . . but they are elderly and have now moved to PAP to be with family there.
These are just a few things we have seen evolve over the past 10 years in Pendus.
Andre had given me a suitcase that Josee had packed especially for Madam
Marcel. I am sure it had many things in it for Stanley – the young boy the Angrands had
been sponsoring the past several years. It also had things Josee (a nurse) knew Madam
Marcel could use in the dispensary as well! I had a photo taken of me handing that
suitcase to her. Josee was here in spirit even if she couldn’t make it in person!
Dinner was at 5:30. Madam Marcel had a wonderful meal for us . . . pasta salad
with peas, corn, carrots and onion, chicken, French fries, rice and beans, lettuce and
tomatoes, plantains and bread. Everyone enjoyed it.
By the time we were done eating, it was too dark to do much outside. We did
walk down to the dispensary (with flashlights!) and showed the nursing students that
facility. The biggest surprise was the spider they found in the bathroom. It was as big as
my hand when fully stretched out! I know Gwo Kyle didn’t like it at all!
Benedict and Jean Claude got the two church tambous out and began playing for
us. With the generator running, there were lights in the church courtyard area for
everyone to see. I tried to get Benedict to play the saxophone but he wanted to wait until
tomorrow so Serge could play the second tambou. Everyone enjoyed the beat and the
music . . . and Gwo Kyle, Shelby, Sharon, Shirley and I danced with several folks!
Gwo Kyle and Michael even got to play some casino under a beautiful full moon.
It was so bright that you did not even need a flashlight to get around.
Everyone was in bed by 10 pm.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
For a rural setting, the night was very quiet. I did not hear roosters or other
animals until 4:30 or so and did not get up until 6:20. Today is market day in Pendus so
there were many more people and animals congregating in the middle of the village.
I took Gwo Kyle, Shirley and Mike up the hill overlooking St Joseph Church and
the Pendus area. It always makes for a photo opportunity. On the walk back down,
Fritzner showed us a cactus that he said was called “penguin.” Of course be instantly
teased him that there are no penguins in Haiti – especially when he asked Stanley what it
was called and he did not answer “penguin!” Fritzner persisted and asked two others
passing by and this time they agreed with him. It was a fun exchange.
Barak arrived at 8 am with a truck load of our luggage. We got it unloaded and
carried into the church for later. Tidan arrived about 15 minutes later with Kyle, Tamara,
Octa and Serge. We waited for them to arrive to eat breakfast but they had already eaten
in Gros Morne.
We had spaghetti for breakfast today – which is rather common in Haiti (I guess
to carb-up for the day!) Madam Marcel did not use the Ragu we brought . . . maybe she
was saving it for another day’s breakfast. We also had boiled eggs, hot dogs, tomatoes,
bananas, oranges, grapefruit and bread.
Afterwards, we walked everyone through the village to experience market day. It
was packed with vendors – mostly women – with their various wares to sell. You could
find many foods, vegetables and fruits . . . along with fresh meat that had been
slaughtered there that morning. In fact, a lady with a big machete would gladly carve out
whatever size piece of meat you wanted. In addition there were many other items such as
shoes, bolts of cloth, soaps, shampoos, spices, cooking oil etc. There was a remarkable
feeling of being at the Feast of the Hunter’s moon on a very crowded day! Market day
would last at least until the middle of the afternoon before tapering off.
We all returned to the church and opened all the luggage we had brought with us.
We needed to separate stuff needed for the dispensary and for clinic and have it carried
down there. We also separated the children’s benediction items to have them ready when
needed.
Sharon joined the nursing students and interpreters at the clinic. Everyone took
turns rotating from intake (asking pertinent info and getting weight and blood pressure
info), to pharmacy to actually being with Madam Marcel and Tamara for actual clinic
examinations. Kyle started to help with interpreting but wasn’t really needed with Sister
Jackie there (in addition to Fritzner, Octa and Serge).
There was a young girl brought in this morning that had been burned the night
before when the kerosene lamp had spilled on her. The wound covered a good portion of
her body. She laid on the gurney in the waiting area for a while. It was very painful when
Madam Marcel had to clean the wound out as no pain-killer was used to help ease the
pain.
Later on another patient had to have a finger sewed back on after a machete
accident. In all they saw between 40 and 50 patients today . . . the exact number is hard to
say as often a mother and several children would come in together. Not all would fill out
the information sheet but all would want to be seen when with Madam Marcel or Tamara.
During part of this time, I talked with Father Wilner in the courtyard outside the
dispensary. Kyle tried to make me do this entirely in Creole (which I couldn’t do). This
area immediately outside the dispensary doubles as additional waiting area for patients
and family waiting on patients. There is a huge mango tree out there . . . its canopy of
branches and leaves shade the entire courtyard area. You can also hear the sound of the
Pendus River (about 75-100 yards further downhill) in the background . . . making this a
very soothing place to sit and wait!
Benedict did some laundry early this afternoon, washing some of his stuff plus a
couple things of mine. It is all done by hand in a large bowl and then hung out to dry in
the sun.
Elionel, a young man about Kyle’s age and one we have known since our first
visit in 2000, brought two roosters to us this afternoon for us to eat this week. He was
thankful for some help we gave him last year and wanted to show his appreciation.
Clinic went until mid-afternoon so we ate a very late lunch about 3 pm. We ate
pork, rice and beans, white rice and sauce, bananas, bread and cake! Yesterday was
Father Wilner’s birthday so Madam Marcel had this for him to celebrate today. Sharon
and I brought a birthday card that everyone signed along with two musical CDs for him.
After we ate, the seminarian Jacson Amilcar came by to visit. I had Sister Jackie
help with translation in giving him a laptop and carrying case. As I mentioned, the St
Ignatius Bible study group at St Mary bought this to help him in is studies to become a
priest. His smile was priceless when he saw what we had for him. Hopefully one day he
will be ordained – gras a Bondye! He said that he is attending Grand Seminary Notre
Dame of Haiti near downtown PAP. He currently is taking a Christology class.
Both Bre and Shelby (and Tamara later) had some of the young girls braid their
hair during this time. They each sat patiently while the girls meticulously worked their
hair. Obviously this provided us with another Kodak moment!
Gwo Kyle played more casino on a team against Stanley – and did not win a game
against him. It was really fun to see little Stanley grin and tease Gwo Kyle – usually by
making a slicing hand motion across his throat and then holding up the number of fingers
representing the number of wins he now owned over Gwo Kyle.
Earlier this afternoon, Gwo Kyle asked me to interpret what a young boy was
saying to him. I couldn’t understand what he was saying. Later, Kyle brought this boy
(probably age 10-12) to me and asked if there was anything we could do with him . . .
since he was both deaf and mute. I began to play “O O Ski Wat An Tani.” This is a singalong game – like musical chairs – where each round one person is eliminated until there
is a winner. Many of the children remember this game from prior years. This boy – I later
learned his name was Isaac – wanted to play. Some of the kids pushed him back, thinking
there was no way for him to understand how to play. I pulled him next to me and had him
play anyway. He could easily see our hand motions and mimic them . . . but could not
know how each round would end. He still made it through half of the game before being
eliminated. We played a second time and he actually made the final two! His smile was
priceless!
Afterward, I gave him a hat . . . and asked Shelby if she had a shirt we could give
to him (she was the smallest in our group and he would need a small shirt). She did. I put
them both in a plastic bag so he could carry them without them being out in the open.
About 30 minutes later I noticed another boy now carrying that bag. My first thought was
he took it from Isaac. I asked him “Eske ou konnen li? (Do you know him?)” He
answered, yes, he was his brother! Over the next couple days, it became obvious that he
took very good care of his brother and watched after him! We got him a shirt too.
Sharon was getting some very sharp pains down her leg. Not only was it very
uncomfortable, but she was afraid of a possible blood clot. Tamara was watching her
carefully and having her keep the leg elevated as much as possible. Probably weighing
even more on her was the fact that we were planning to hike to Massacre tomorrow . . .
and she really wants to go. She has always made that hike . . . even the year before and
after her double knee surgery!
Dinner was at 8 pm. In Haiti the final meal of the day (if you are lucky enough to
have more than one meal in a day) is a light one. Tonight was no exception as we had
labwee – a warm, cream of wheat meal with cinnamon. I actually like it very much.
After we ate, we had a sharing session – referred to as the “Good, bad and ugly”
of the day. We could talk about anything that happened. Tamara said “this is a great
group so far!” and was impressed how interactive they all were, especially with the
children. Gwo Kyle was impressed with the children . . . how they would constantly
come up to him and grab his hand – even as he walked through the market. He even said
he loved all the different foods.
Sister Jackie said “it is great to have all these young people here” and that they
were really getting to see Haiti. Bre added that it would be difficult to describe to others
back home what she has experienced so far! “There are no words to describe what we
have seen so far!”
Octa said that while he was busy with his new business “when Jeff called, I would
always come to help.” Octa had previously told us that he now has a small shop in the
Petionville area. He sells such items as rice, Coke, Tompico (a fruit drink), beer and other
such items. He had some photos on his camera that he shared with us too.
Fritzner then retold his story about how he first met Father Bob Klemme (over 12
years ago) – who would sponsor him through his education. He actually broke down in
tears as he said that Father Bob, Adel and Lulu (Yaacoub) and all St Mary parishioners
“have made me what I am today.” He added: “They saved my life!” There were many
teary eyes around the table by the time he was finished.
Father Wilner wound up the session by saying; “Every year it is an experience of
faith for him to see Christ in all of us . . . and all the caring and sharing that you do.” He
said that this is a great example of the “universal church” in action.
We continued to talk in the courtyard area. There was a game of casino and
dominos going on too. The sky was not as beautiful tonight as there were more clouds.
By 11 pm everyone was in bed.
Wednesday, December 30. 2009
I really like to sleep here when it rains . . . listening to the gentle sound of it
falling outside our window and through the palm trees. It did rain too. It also cooled
things off enough that I wished I had my blanket out of my suitcase . . . but not cold
enough for me to get up in the middle of the night to find it!
We were up early to eat and get hiking to Massacre before the heat of the
morning. Unfortunately, it did rain most of the night and early morning, causing us to
alter our plan to go to Massacre today. We figured they would know we weren’t coming.
They didn’t send anyone down to help carry benediction and medical stuff up.
For breakfast we ate spam, potatoes, yams, bananas, oranges, mangos, bread and
tang. Father Wilner’s prayer (in Creole and later translated by Sister Jackie) was “God.
We planned to go to Massacre today but you have other plans for us today!” I wonder
what those plans are for us!
Jacson came by this morning. He said he could not get the computer started. “Did
it have a password?” I knew right away that I had not told him that Dan DeLaurentis had
set up a password. Thank goodness I remembered it and was able to tell him. (It did
work!)
The rain was not constant this morning so there was a slight lingering hope that
we could still go to Massacre. However, the sky looked worse in the direction of
Massacre so I am sure they were getting worse than we were in the valley.
While Sharon’s leg was a little better this morning, I think she was relieved we
were not going to Massacre today . . . maybe it would feel good enough to go tomorrow
and she could still go with us.
Sharon brought a gift for Jean Claude’s mother so we took several of the students
to visit their home. It is located downhill just past the dispensary and on the way to the
river. They were happy to show everyone through their house and yard area. While there
we met Jean Claude’s girlfriend – named Mika Marie Marte. This was the first time in all
our visits that he has had a girlfriend.
One friend we have not yet seen is Ives Vernet, the principal of St Joseph School.
We learned that he has been sick for several months and was at home in bed. CC senior
Coltin Austerman had sent 10 crucifixes (bought by the Knights of the Holy Temple
servers at St Mary) to be hung in each classroom at St Joseph. We gave them to Jacson to
give to Ives for us. I also gave him some masonry nails and a small hammer so they could
be hung easily.
Jean Claude got the keys to the school from Ives’ house so Sharon could to a craft
(make bracelets with rope and beads) and color a nativity scene with the children in one
of the classrooms. We were in the courtyard and I was trying to use my Creole to get
everyone to go to the classroom to “fe bagay” – thinking I was saying to “make
something.” All of a sudden Sister Jackie broke out laughing (but none of the interpreters
did!) She said I should have said “Fe yon bagay.” Instead she said I used a slang phrase
for “having sex!” I won’t make that mistake again!
During the coloring portion, Isaac (the deaf boy) was there. I asked Shelby to sit
next to him to help encourage him. He would look up to her and point to a portion to
color next. She would nod and he would then diligently color that part. He did a very
good job – looking up to her each time and smiling broadly. Watching him made my day.
The nursing students made a couple trips to the dispensary this morning. The girl
with the burns was doing a little better today.
There were several games going on around the courtyard area . . . including
soccer in the school yard. Kyle had brought a soccer ball and placed one specific boy in
charge of it – hoping that he would get it back that way. He did!
We also played “O O Ski Wat An Tani” again as well as the “Dum Dum” game.
Throughout this time there was a slight mist in the air. I kept looking in the sky for a
rainbow but so far have not seen one.
Lunch was served at 2 pm. Madam Marcel made us goat (cabrit), macaroni
casserole, rice and beans with sauce and French fries.
Finally someone yelled that they saw a rainbow. I grabbed by camera and walked
up the hill overlooking the Pendus valley. The view of the rainbow was spectacular. It
eventually arced 180 degrees from ground to ground! I did not have enough wide-angle
on my camera to capture it all in one shot! Of course Sharon and I told everyone our story
about Justin and the rainbow and why it was so special to us.
One of the young boys that has been hanging out with Gwo Kyle is named
Dastirode Silien. He is 11 years old. Father Wilner said his mother named him after an
American wrestler named Dusty Road! Of course we all got a big kick out of that! Kyle
even teased him by calling him “Dirty Road” but in Creole!
I asked Madam Marcel to get the kids to do one of their singing/dancing games
for us. She gathered them all around and got them singing a tune – taking turns dancing
in the middle. I had not heard this one before. While they sang and clapped, the tambous
were being played. All of us joined in on the fun. Even the older boys – such as Serge
and Johnny – joined in with the dancing. Each one of us also had a turn dancing in the
middle! It was very spontaneous and great fun!
Dinner was at 7:30. Tonight we had bouyon soup, cabrit (goat), potatoes and
bread.
At our reflection, Tamara said the Gwo Kyle now “has a new BFF (Dusty
Road)!” I mentioned how touched I was with Shelby helping Isaac color today. Sharon
was happy to see the rainbow. Of course, Fritzner recounted my “fe yon bagay” story for
everyone!
I also asked everyone, “Do you even remember Atlanta now?” It was amazing
that the seemingly horrendous episode getting here was no longer of any real concern.
The clouds of the day have finally disappeared and another beautiful full moon
was out. That is a great sign for good weather tomorrow. Maybe we can get to Massacre.
Benedict got his saxophone and Jean Claude and Serge the tambous out again.
They played for two hours – a great warm-up for tomorrow (New Year’s Eve). Everyone
enjoyed their performance.
Despite the disappointment of not going to Massacre today, it was a good day for
all. God did have a plan for us . . . we just had to wait for it to unfold.
We were all in bed by 10:30.
Thursday, December 31. 2009
Again the temperature was chilly last night – but still very comfortable for
sleeping. I was up at 6:30 and Tamara and Bre were already up. Mike and Gwo Kyle
helped Jean Claude with the water again as they have several times so far this week.
Breakfast was at 7:30. Today we ate scrambled eggs with spam, water melon,
bread, bananas, oranges, tang and coffee.
Since no one had come from Massacre to help carry things up – as there was no
good way for them to know our altered plans for today – we emptied some backpacks and
divided the stuff up among several of us. We even had Serge and Johnny help carry stuff.
Sharon decided not to chance the hike today so Benedict stayed behind with her to
help with interpreting and keeping her from being alone.
The hike to Massacre starts by walking through Pendus, crossing the Pendus
River and going left. The path follows the water for a while – as we wind up crossing the
river five times before we begin our ascent in earnest. This stretch of the hike is very
green and lush . . . much like you would expect a tropical rain forest to be. It is also shady
and comfortable for walking. When we finally begin the climb up, there are many more
stretches in the open as you switch back your way up the mountain. The vistas are
spectacular all along the way . . . and better the higher up you go.
Unbeknownst to those of us at the back of the pack, Dusty Rode was leading the
way at the front with the younger half of our group! He took a “short-cut” UP a steep hill
at one point. Each of those following him said this route was not as I had described how
the hike would be. They literally were going up rock at a 75-80-degree angle. Of course
Dusty scampered right up without hardly any effort at all. We found out about this
“detour” when we got back to Pendus later.
As usual, it took about two hours for the last of the group to finish the ascent to
Massacre. When we arrived, the pharmacy was already set up and ready for us to get
started. The first class room outside the chapel would be the pharmacy, with consultation
in the walk-way between it and the next classroom – which would then be the
examination room. Traffic would get a little tight getting back and forth as there was a
huge pile of re-bar for construction of the school addition that blocked the rest of the
outer walk-way.
While everyone was setting up for the clinic, Kyle, Father Wilner and I inspected
the school addition that started since our last visit last year. The chapel and four-room
school at Massacre was the very first project St Mary Cathedral took on in 2000 – with its
competition in early 2001. The school has grown enough that they wanted to build a four
room addition along with a room for the principal and for storage.
When we were here last December, they were beginning to collect rock and pile
them in the courtyard area in anticipation of the start of construction. This year nearly all
the walls of the circumference of the addition were done to a height of 6-8 feet. None of
the ceiling or roof was started yet as none of the floors was poured either. The addition is
at the top of the hill within the compound – but facing the original four classrooms.
Because this is located high up the mountain there is not any level ground within the
compound. The new addition sits on ground at least 8-10 feet higher than the original
building.
Father Wilner also wanted to show us the water captage about 15 minutes further
up the mountain. Led by Amotess, the founder of the school in Massacre, Kyle and I
joined the hike there. The water source was already capped and contained within a small
concrete container (about 3 feet high by four feet wide and four feet long.) However the
PVC pipe leading out of it was broken off – keeping it from being functional at this time.
Father Wilner wants to replace it with metal pipe to make it much sturdier. There already
was a second reservoir a couple hundred feet from the source to collect water there (when
the pipe is finally completed) before sending it downhill from there.
One of the benefits of this hike was the opportunity to view Massacre from higher
ground. Typically when we visit we have no need to climb higher . . . so this provided a
vantage point we had not previously seen. A second benefit was the opportunity to walk
back past Amotess’ house . . . and meet his wife, two daughters and a grandchild. He
also proudly showed me some of his garden area . . . sending his wife to gather some
fresh grapefruit and coconuts for our group to share in a few moments.
The clinic was going very smoothly when we returned. Each of the nursing
students was busy in an assigned area – each working with such joy and enthusiasm.
They will all make great nurses after graduation! As promised, the grapefruit and coconut
soon arrived and were distributed to each of us as the opportunity arose. I know I really
enjoyed both of them. I think the grapefruit were a pleasant surprise to all – as they are a
lot sweeter than those we get back in the states.
While they were seeing the last several patients, I began to set up the children’s
benediction. We brought enough for 200 children at Massacre. Each child would receive
a pair of underwear, a toothbrush, a toiletry item (either a hotel sized bar of soap or
shampoo) and a sucker. Each boy would also get a match-box car and each girl a small
baggie with hair barrettes in it.
Roger, the principal of Massacre, began to lead the children in song. The children
all sing with such passion that I am sure it was difficult to hear in the adjoining rooms
where clinic was wrapping up. One of my favorite songs they sing starts each verse out
with “Fre Jeff pa te la . . .” which means “Brother Jeff was not here . . .” It goes on to say
they are happy we are coming. They then begin another verse with the name of another
member of our group . . . including a verse for Father Wilner, Sister Jackie, and Sharon
(who was still back in Pendus!)
When the benediction finally started, Father Wilner opened with a prayer . . . and
he mentioned Sharon and her desire to be there. He then had one young boy and one
young girl say a prayer as well. We had the boys sit on one side of the chapel and the
girls on the other . . . which made it easier for each side to walk by desks with boy’s
underwear and match box cars laid out to choose from or the other side with the girl’s
underwear and barrettes.
Father Wilner had told us that he had planned to have folks from Mayombe,
Berard and Kayimit meet and talk with us in Pendus at 3 pm today. However, no one
wanted to cut the clinic short while there were still people in line to be seen. By the time
the benediction was over it was already 3 pm . . . and we had one stop to make at the
house of Seraphin. His uncle is paralyzed and this is his only chance to be seen by
medical personnel
The hike down always goes much easier and quicker than the climb up . . . and
this was no exception. Because it is easier cardiovascularly, it is much easier to pay
attention to the scenery too. About 75% of the way down, we cut off to Seraphin’s house.
Tamara, Bre, Shelby, Mike and Gwo Kyle got to do this home visit. Although they were
not able to do much to help him, it was a good experience for them. And it was good for
the family to know someone cared about him.
It was after 4:30 when we reached Pendus. Sharon had been very busy . . . and
said that it was a good thing she had been there today. First off, shortly after we took off
for Massacre, Mike Ritter showed up. He is president of Deep Springs International, an
organization dedicated to providing clean water in people’s homes. It is a one-bucket
system – which is different than the two bucket system we had with Gift of Water.
Because Gift of Water has now folded, we are in need of someone to replace it. Mike
agreed to come sometime while we were here so he could meet critical people such as
Madam Marcel and the two GOW technicians. She made sure to introduce him around.
He also spent some time playing soccer with the children. He would spend two days with
us!
She was also there to meet and talk with Martial of Kayimit and the others from
Berard and Mayombe. It is always a pleasure to spend time will all of them. As always,
Martial had a huge smile on his face when I got there. Each year the teachers at St Mary
donate $5 for each teacher in the Pendus area (there are 34 in all at the schools of St
Joseph, Mayombe, Kayimit, Massacre, Savanne Carre and Montbayard.) I had given
Roger the Massacre envelops earlier today and gave Martial the five for the teachers at
Kayimit.
We tried to get them to stay longer, but each had a good walk back and it would
be dark soon.
Meanwhile, there was a good game of soccer being played in the school yard . . .
and Mike Ritter was playing quite well!
Dinner was at 6 pm. Madam Marcel made us grio (pork), plantains, French fries,
pickles (pronounced “pick – lees” it is a spicy cole slaw), rice and beans, bread, bananas,
water and pop.
During our reflection afterwards, Tamara commented on the beautiful scenery she
had seen today, while Gwo Kyle mentioned the children (which always seemed to be all
around him!) “They are so loving . . . it makes you feel really good!” Mike and Kyle also
talked about the Creole they were learning. They had mastered at least 50 words so far!
Shelby thanked all the interpreters saying “they have done a really good job for us!”
Sharon added that Benedict and Romeo were “really sweet” to her all day as she stayed
behind.
It was dark by the time we finished out reflections. The “band” – Benedict, Serge,
Jean Claude and Fr Wilner – said they would start playing about 8:30. I had brought 4 D
batteries with me but Jean Claude needed six to play his keyboard. It took a while to
gather an extension cord and get set up.
Once the music began, everyone got into the dancing mode! We even got Madam
Marcel dancing with us as well as our guest Mike Ritter. Mike and Gwo Kyle even tried
to get the young cooks involved . . . much to their delight. I know our interpreters all
enjoyed the fact that Bre and Shelby were here . . . giving them someone close to their
age to dance with! At one point, Kyle, Shelby and Bre broke out into line dancing.
Despite her leg still hurting some, Sharon even danced a couple times including dancing
with Kyle. It was a joyous evening. Before midnight, Madam Marcel brought out some
snacks for everyone . . . pork, plantains and popcorn!
Of course Benedict played “Auld Lang Syne” at the appropriate time before the
stroke of midnight. It is hard to believe but this was the 10th straight year that Sharon and
I have ushered in the New Year here in Pendus. You could tell we had a younger group
this year. In years past we’d all be in bed within 10 minutes! This year was not so quick .
. . with everyone not settled until closer to 1 pm.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Bon Ane!! Happy New Year!!
It was a short night. I got up at 6:15 and Tamara and Shelby were already up!
Today not only is New Years Day but also Independence Day for Haiti. The last
battle with the French was on November 18, 1803 with independence officially
recognized on January 1, 1804. It is celebrated in Haiti more like Thanksgiving Day in
the USA as families gather to share a meal today. The special food for the day – the same
as turkey is for Thanksgiving in the US – is Soup Joumou. It is a squash soup with other
vegetables and meat in it. The meat is the critical part. Before their independence, the
slaves never got meat in their soup – only the masters did. So to celebrate their new
freedom, they added meat to their soup and have done so every year since.
Despite being a family day we had several visitors this morning! Amotess (the
sacristan from Massacre) showed up bringing grapefruit and plantains for us to eat. I
asked him to stay for Mass later this morning . . . but he politely refused because he
wasn’t dressed well enough to attend Mass (and there wasn’t enough time to hike back to
Massacre to change.) The sacristan from Berard – Hubert Jeannot – was also here along
with his son Brunot. We got photos with everyone.
Breakfast this morning was not until after 8 am. Obviously we had Soup Joumou!
We also had bread, peanut butter, grapefruit (from Amotess), bananas, tang and coffee.
As we ate, we could hear people already singing in church!
Afterwards, we all got ready for 9 am Mass. New Years Day is a holy day in the
Catholic Church. Typically the church bells ring in advance of Mass to alert the
community of its pending start. However, the bell has not worked since last year and still
has not been fixed. I asked Father Wilner to see that it gets some attention and let us
know what the repair cost would be.
We started a tradition several years ago at each Mass to have someone from our
group read one of the readings in English after it first being read in Creole. We did so
again today with Shirley doing the first reading of Numbers 6:22-27, followed by Gwo
Kyle reading Galatians 4:4-7. Sharon then did the Gospel reading of Luke 2:16-21.
At the end of Mass the singing and tambou playing carried on for well over five
minutes. What joy there is in the celebration! At this time I also saw the sacristan from
Mayombe – Saint Juste Fortunat – sitting a few pews behind me. We greeted each other
with a smile and a hug! It was too bad we were not going to get to go to Mayombe this
trip. It simply was not possible as we lost two days from our original schedule – one in
Atlanta coming down and one due to the rain while in Pendus. I really wanted to see the
completion of the water project we had started before last year’s trip.
After Mass we began setting up a children’s benediction for St Joseph Church. It
took a while to arrange the many items to be given away. Several hundred eager eyes
closely watched us with great anticipation. By the time we were ready, there were over
100 boys on one side and 100 girls on the other. Benedict and Fritzner got the children to
sing for us . . . and as always with great enthusiasm.
We had enough stuff left over when we were done to pack a suitcase of stuff to
give to Kayimit and to Berard for the children in those communities. We would drop
them off (but not have time to distribute them unfortunately) as we drove past them on
the way to Gros Morne later today.
Mike Ritter met with Benedict Vernet, one of our Gift of Water techs, to discuss
the transition to DSI in the coming weeks. Mike was impressed with Benedict and his
command of his job. He said it will make the transition very smooth.
When he was done, I asked Mike Ritter for a special favor and he agreed. He had
the ability to make international calls on his smart phone (at a reasonable rate). So I had
Stanley take us up the hill overlooking Pendus to find a signal. He always wants to help
us so he happily led the way. When we reached the top, I had Mike dial Josee Angrand’s
cell phone number and hand the phone to Stanley. He had no idea what we were doing
but the look on his face was priceless when Josee actually answered the phone! He
actually got to talk to Andre as well. It really surprised me that we would reach them both
together on a weekday – then it dawned on me that this was a holiday! The days of the
week and the dates of the month become blurry once you are here very long!
Back in the compound, folks knew we would be leaving soon so there were more
people hanging around than normal. Isaac, the deaf boy, came up to me and gave me a
great big hug. No words were necessary. That alone made the whole trip worthwhile for
me! I hope I see him again when I come back “lot fwa” (next time!).
Just before we ate, Barak showed up with a pickup truck. We got most of our
suitcases out so he could finish loading them while we went in to eat. Tidan would arrive
with another vehicle before we were done.
Our celebration meal – a traditional big final meal in Pendus – began at 2 pm. We
ate chicken, macaroni casserole, French fries, rice and beans, and a potato and pea
casserole. It was all wonderful. I think our group was amazed at the variety of foods we
had while here as well as how much they really liked it all.
We had to say all our good-byes after we finished eating. This is the toughest part
for everyone . . . although Benedict, Serge, Octa and Fritzner were going with us to Gros
Morne (meaning the toughest good-byes were still to come – especially since our Kyle
would also be staying behind in Gros Morne too!)
There was room for a few to ride on the back of Barak’s pickup along with the
luggage that he now had securely tied down. Tamara, Mike Ritter, Serge, Gwo Kyle and
Mike Brenner all squeezed in for a fantastic ride! I wanted to join them but wanted the
newcomers to have this rare opportunity so I sat in back of Tidan’s vehicle.
Tidan’s vehicle was in the lead. Father Wilner told him to go on past the chapel at
Berard to the house of the sacristan (figuring no one would actually be at the chapel on
this holiday.) Barak’s vehicle however stopped at the chapel. Without good cell phone
signal it was impossible to tell them what we did, so we waited for them to come on
ahead. While we waited, we got to meet all of the sacristan’s family and a few cute (and
shy) young girls. Sharon got suckers out for everyone.
Soon Barak came by and learned what we were doing. He took off with the stuff
to leave at Kayimit. We would have been right behind but we had our first – and
thankfully only – flat tire of the trip. It took Tidan about 10 minutes to get it changed.
This is not an unusual event on these mountain roads in Haiti.
By the time we got to Kayimit, Barak had already dropped off the suitcase and
went on. However, Martial was still standing by the road and greeted us. He was having
trouble opening that suitcase so I hopped out to help get it open for him. He had already
given Serge two thank you letters for me – one for the gift of $5 for each of the teachers
and one for the $500 gift for lunches for the children at Kayimit. I would get them from
Serge later in Gros Morne. One more good-bye and we were on our way.
I had also packed a soccer ball for Kayimit in Barak’s vehicle but it was separate
from the suitcase. It did not get left so I wound up leaving it with Sister Pat to get back to
Martial for me.
We made a quick stop at Kay Pe (the rectory) in Gros Morne and dropped Father
Wilner and Benedict off. We would see them later tonight. We then went to Kay Se (the
Sisters House) where we would be spending the night. It is located next to Jean XXIII,
the Catholic High School – where the basketball court is located and where we will be
playing tonight. As he did last year, Kyle set up a game between our group and the local
high school team. Since we were a little short on numbers, a few of the Irish group Kyle
drove from PAP with last week said they would join us. We didn’t want a repeat of last
year where we only had five players and no subs to give anyone a rest! Even Mike Ritter
said he would play for us too!
Sister Pat and Jackie had a light dinner for us knowing we were about to play a
game. We had macaroni and cheese and bread. We also meet the year-round volunteer
Brittany Galvin from Green Bay, Wisconsin. She let us see the selection of art work and
crafts (lots of beautiful hand woven baskets etc) that they had for sale for many local
merchants. They were different than the items offered at Matthew 25 so it was good to
see the new selections. Nearly everyone bought something. Sharon and I got a hand
woven basket and place mat to take back as a gift for the Dan and Betty Korty (for their
efforts in driving our group to and from Lafayette and the Indianapolis airport.)
We took a quick walk through part of Gros Morne since the game was not to start
for over another hour. Along the way, one of the high school players recognized me from
last year and greeted me. I think he also told me they would win again this year . . . and
then grinned really big! We also ran into Marcel Garcon, Madam’s husband. He was
riding a four-wheeler past us. He stopped to say hello. One final person we ran into was
Carmen Vernet, a young lady that John and Joanne Willis have sponsored for many
years. She gave us a Christmas card she had made to take back to them.
When we finally dressed for the game and walked down there, the entire Irish
contingent was there . . . and all there on the court trying to shoot with us. They are
always happy and in a party mode! What a fun group to be around! It did make it difficult
for us to try and get ready to play . . . and we (well at least Kyle, Bre, Mike Ritter and I)
wanted to at least play well . . . if not win too! Bre had played college basketball at St
Joseph College in Rennselaer, Indiana. There was a girl named Alex from Quincy –
another school in her conference – that was with the Irish group somehow. That would
give us five starters that knew how to play the game – Kyle, Mike Ritter, Bre, Alex and I.
With Mike, Gwo Kyle and Serge from our group and a whole host of eager Irish guys, we
at least had a team.
There was a live hip-hop concert somewhere in Gros Morne tonight. You could
hear it all over town! That kept the crowd down for our game. Last year there were at
least 500 people in attendance. This year maybe 100 or so came. With the numbers
attending down, and with the vocal Irish on our side, the crowd actually favored our
team!
Father Joseph coached Jean XXIII this year (Father Nesley coached last year).
They did not do team introductions this year (probably since we didn’t even know all the
names on our team). We started the game off quite well . . . we actually led 14-6 very
early but Jean XXIII actually shot very well from the three-point line tonight. And we
didn’t! It started to rain early in the first quarter (we played 15 minute running quarters)
which made the cement playing surface very slick for a while. Thankfully it did not rain
much and it did dry up.
As last year, there was very loud music playing during the entire game, making it
difficult to even talk to each other on the floor. One of the Irish players – who later told
me this was his first basketball game – actually played defense and rebounded pretty well
Unfortunately his shooting looked like he had not played before. Serge and Mike got to
play some early . . . but with the competitiveness of the game did not go back in. At one
point late in the game there was a big dispute between our bench (meaning Fritzner and
Serge since they were the only ones on the bench that spoke Creole) and the scorekeeper.
He had not put up a basket that we scored (and they said it was not the first that he
missed). By then we were so far behind it wasn’t going to make any difference. Father
Joseph had someone else finish the game as score-keeper.
Jean XXIII won the second annual New Year’s Day game 86-59. I know
everyone on our team was tired.
However, Kyle said he would take anyone to Tidan’s Beach House that wanted to
go. I think Bre, Tamara and Mike went him. They did not wind up staying long, coming
home by 12:30.
Before they left, Sharon and I talked a while with Sister Pat and Sister Jackie. I
wish we would have had more time to do so. However, they left to drive our group to
Tidan’s and then go to where the Irish group was gathered tonight. We did not see them
any more before we showered and went to bed at 11:30. You could still hear the music
from the local concert playing loudly. I was so tired, however, that I fell asleep well
before the music stopped.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
I woke up to a chorus of roosters about 5 am. There were so many crowing at the
same time that there literally was no quiet time! There was always several singing at the
same time. I am not sure I have ever heard anything like it. By the time I actually got up
at 6:20, there were other noises such as dogs barking and cars passing by. I don’t think
Haiti is designed for anyone to ever be able to sleep in!
We had a big drive today so we were trying to get an early start. Breakfast was t
7:20. We ate scramble eggs, bread, peanut butter, and fresh grapefruit as well as freshly
squeezed and chilled grapefruit juice. It was wonderful!
Once again our driver was Tichou (Marc Henre Chery) with his painted school
bus. We originally were going straight to PAP. However, we thought it would be a good
idea to show the nursing students the local hospital so they could get an idea of what a
hospital in rural Haiti would be like. Sister Jackie and Father Wilner are now on the
board controlling the operation of the Hopital Alma Mater so we drove there for about 30
minutes. This meant we did not have to say good-bye to Kyle just yet.
However, once we got there, Gwo Kyle realized he left his camera back at Kay Se
so Kyle took off to retrieve it for him. It only seemed like minutes later and Kyle was
back.
Finally we were ready to leave Gros Morne about 8:25. It is hard to leave Kyle at
any time – but was even more difficult to leave him behind here today. We didn’t have to
say good bye to both our sons at the same time however. Benedict decided to ride with us
to Gonaives to visit his aunt for the day so he would be riding with us for at least another
hour or so.
Along the ride back, I asked two questions to several of the first timers: “What do
you remember the most?” and “What surprised you the most?” Gwo Kyle answered the
food to both questions and quickly added the children and Dusty Road. Mike said the
food and trying to learn Creole. Bre answered the people and how they lived. I did not get
to ask Shelby these questions as she was riding in the front with the driver to minimize
her motion sickness.
I also asked them if they had their 10 names and if at least 10 people knew their
names. I think Gwo Kyle got to about 30 names!!
It was a beautiful sunny day for the ride back. We made one stop at a gas station
for a bathroom break. I bought drinks and popcorn for everyone.
We made very good time, arriving at Matthew 25 at 1:30 (just five hours even
with one stop!) Tamara said she typically takes her group out to eat on the last day –
which was good since Matthew 25 does not serve lunch. They also did not have a vehicle
we could rent to go anywhere in. So Octa grabbed a “moto” (a motorcycle taxi) and went
to his sister’s house to borrow her car. It was a brand new Terios (with only 2082 miles
on it). Unfortunately it was only designed for about 5 passengers with a small cargo area
in the back. We successfully fit 10 people into it, squeezing three in the front seat, four in
the middle row (with Tamara actually laying on the laps of the other three) and then Gwo
Kyle, Mike and I pried into the small back hatch area. Thankfully we only had to ride
about 15-20 minutes this way to the Dominos in Petionville. There wasn’t going to be
room and Serge needed to do some things so he left to go home at this time. He would
come back later to have supper with us.
Everyone enjoyed the sausage, cheese, and pepperoni pizzas and bread sticks.
To alleviate the crowding on the way back, Fritzner and Tamara rented “motos”
(for $5 apiece) and rode just ahead of Octa the whole way back to Matthew 25.
Matthew 25 was going to be full tonight as a delegation of folks from all over
were staying here while doing research and report on social justice topics. They had
Tamara, Bre, Shelby and Shirley in one room on the lower lever with Gwo Kyle, Mike
and I in another. There was one extra bed there that Sharon could have used but when she
learned that the air conditioners in those back two rooms no longer worked she decided to
stay on a bed in the chapel room area. She knew the privacy there would be non-existent
but there at least seemed to be a small breeze.
I got all of our passports and other items out of the safe and disturbed them to
everyone. We also called Kyle. I had to use Fritzner’s phone as I left my phone with Kyle
to use during the rest of his trip. I knew with the hustle of leaving tomorrow and with me
not having my own phone any longer that this would probably be our last chat with him
until after he returned to the USA on January 18th. He had planned to spend some time
back in Pendus where no one left spoke English, forcing him to improve his Creole. He
also might be helping some of the folks coming from Tufts University for their research
projects next week.
As usual at Matthew 25, dinner was at 6 pm. Serge showed back up in time to eat
with us, but both Octa and Fritzer left by then. Octa was not coming back in the morning
but Fritzner was going to bring Little Fritz for us all to see. Dinner consisted of casserole,
potatoes, lettuce and tomatoes and bread.
Afterward we met in the dining area to do a trip wrap up (since we did not get a
chance to do so back in Pendus or Gros Morne.) Again I asked the two questions I had
asked on the bus this afternoon. After having had more time to reflect on it, some of the
answers were a little different
Mike said the food surprised him – both in how good it was and in how well we
were fed on the trip. He said his favorite part was how well we were always welcomed.
Shirley said that she was surprised that she never felt threatened at all . . . that she
had not ever felt scared. She most liked the hospitality and the generosity of the people.
She added that she has a lot of respect for Madam Marcel . . . for her sense of duty and
commitment to the people of Pendus.
Bre was most surprised by the house visits and how little space each had to live
in. Her favorite part was how nice the people were and how “they made us feel
important.”
Serge said that he wanted to thank all of us for “all the help you give” to Haiti.
Tamara was surprised by the difference from the north to the south. “It was like
night and day!” In the north the ground was more fertile and the animals fatter. In the
south the land was more arid and the animals very skinny. She was also surprised not to
see much UN presence on this trip. As for her favorite part she said “it was all good!”
Gwo Kyle said he was surprised by the clinicals . . . “it was the best clinical ever .
. . and you do not rely on technology!” His favorite part was the people, especially the
kids. “They were always giving you a hug or trying to take care of you.” He added; “I
always felt protected.”
Shirley added something else that surprised her was the difference in approach
from America. At home it seems you are more concerned about the patient’s chart and
the computer that the patient. Here you are concerned more about the care of the patient!
Shelby said she was surprised the most by the chaos . . . there seemed to be no
order in the market. Her favorite also was the people . . . they were all so helpful and
always smiling. Madam Marcel also impressed her . . . and how quickly word could get
to her if she was needed at the dispensary.
I added my favorite parts were: 1) being able to introduce new people to Haiti and
watch them immerse themselves with such joy and passion and 2) Isaac, the deaf boy. . .
seeing his relationship with his brother and his getting to be part of all we were doing.
Sharon went last. She said this was her hardest trip to Haiti since she was hurting.
Not getting to go to Massacre was difficult mostly because she said she didn’t think she
would get to see her friends from Massacre otherwise! She said one sad part she noticed
was changes she saw . . . such as kids growing up and moving away.
I closed with a quote from Deuteronomy 4:9: “. . . be on your guard not to forget
the things which your own eyes have seen, nor let them slip from your memory as long as
you live.” What perfect words to wind up our evening and our trip!
We were all in bed by 9:30 pm.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
It was a warm night . . . no breeze. We did have one oscillating fan in the room
but power did go out for a portion of the night. Sharon said at one point during the night,
the dog came in the room she slept in and jumped up on another couch, knocking
something down. She said it really scared her!
We all showered and were ready for breakfast by 8 am. Pat made us all French
toast with maple syrup. It tasted really good. I had one last grapefruit from Amotess too.
They had two types of juice as well . . . mango and orange juice. Both were good too.
Everyone made their final purchases from the Matthew 25 gift shop. Even though
out flight was not scheduled to leave until 1 pm, I asked to be taken to the airport by 10. I
knew we had a short layover in both Miami and Atlanta and was afraid we would not get
to eat once we left Haiti. This way we could eat at the PAP airport . . . and make final
purchases of such items as five-star Haitian rum, musical CDs etc.
Fritzner never did show up. I did not have my phone to try and call him either.
We did not get to properly say good-bye! (nor did we get to see Little Fritz.)
Just before we left, Mike and I walked down to purchase some more Casino
cookies at a nearby street market. When we returned, Shelby wanted some so Mike took
her back by himself and used his Creole to make the purchase! What a milestone.
It took a little time to get us all checked in at the airport. We were worried with all
the problems we had coming down that we’d have problems here today. However, it all
worked out . . . we got nine bags checked all the way through to Indianapolis (several of
us checked in our carry-ons plus I had two suitcases I had to take back so we could use
again.)
Once through security we went upstairs to the lounge area with the several duty
free shops. Since they were out of hot-dogs, the ham and cheese sandwiches were a
popular choice for our group. I found a CD by Tropicana (the group we saw in PAP
almost two weeks ago) and a case of Haitian rum (some of which will go to Art, Thom
and Doug for all they did to help with this trip!)
There have been continual improvements at the airport over the years. Another
one was our boarding area was now upstairs . . . so we could walk down the enclosed
walkway to get on the plane (instead of walking outside across the tarmac and then up the
stairs to the plane.)
Our flight left PAP at 1:15 with a threat of rain lingering in the air. It was only 57
degrees when we landed at Miami at 3 pm. We have heard that we lose at least 20
degrees at each of our next two stops too! Quite a difference from the 85-90 degree
weather of the past two weeks!
We reclaimed out luggage and walked right through customs . . . no problems . . .
until we tried to turn them back into Delta airlines for the rest of the ride home. We were
told to take them to a different area than in the past. Hopefully it was correct.
I called Doug (and my Dad) to tell them we made it back so far and that our flight
out of Miami is running about 20 minutes behind schedule. That is not a problem on this
end but will make it more difficult making the connection in Atlanta.
Our group split up just before we went through security to get to the gate for this
next leg. Sharon, Shirley and I went on ahead and simply found a sandwich and drink.
Eventually Tamara and Gwo Kyle showed up and began playing one more game of
Casino with Shirley and Sharon. We all were anxious as our delayed boarding and take
off turned out to be 40 minutes later than originally scheduled.
We finally took off at 7:45 and landed at Atlanta at 9:05 (but sat waiting on a gate
for another 10 minutes). Sharon and I were near the back of the plane while the rest of
them were closer to the front. All but Tamara took off on a dead run to the next gate.
Tamara had a wheelchair waiting for Sharon as soon we got off. This would keep her leg
from hurting anymore and help us get there much quicker. The only bad thing at Atlanta
is it that you catch a below ground train to change gates . . . and then have steps or
escalator to go back up to ground level. To speed things up, Sharon rode the escalator
while I carried the wheelchair up-side down on my head (the elevator would have taken
way too long.) We got to the gate and they were waiting for us . . . courtesy of the first
group that ran ahead of us!
Finally we could relax . . . we would make the last leg. I made one last call to
Doug with the good news. He and Dan Korty could now take off for Indianapolis to come
pick us up.
We landed at Indy at 11:30. It was now 10 degrees with snow on the ground! It
was great to see Doug and Betty at the baggage claim area. I guess this trip would not be
complete without one more snag. None of our nine bags made it to Indianapolis. We got
our claim forms filled out – they were promised to be at our house by 4 pm tomorrow.
We figured the problem was the short turn-around in Atlanta. It turns out none of the
bags made the exchange of airlines (from American to Delta) in Miami – and they had
over 3 hours to accomplish that there!
Oh well! The ride home was fun with everyone chiming in with stories for Doug,
Betty and Dan to hear. We passed three temperature signs along 350 South as we arrived
home – and they ranged from 11 to 5 degrees! I still had my sandals on.
At last we were home by 1:30. What a trip. What wonderful memories.
Monday, January 11, 2010
I got an email from Kyle last night that he was back in the Port-au-Prince area,
spending the night with a Tufts University graduate in Petionville.
Kyle currently is studying international development and finance at Tufts
University and must pass a fluency test in a foreign language. His language choice was
Creole. That is one reason that he wanted to stay longer in Haiti so he could work on his
proficiency in Creole. Originally Kyle was scheduled to return from Haiti on January 18
but he emailed me about a week ago to have Annette try to get him home a week earlier
than planned (which she accomplished for us.)
Therefore, he will fly from PAP to JFK in New York City this afternoon and
spend the night with a friend . . . eventually taking the bus the rest of the way to Boston.
He called about 8 and said he made it back to JFK. He also told us that he had
level one malaria during the week after we left (and had not told us about it until this
call!) but is better now.
Guess what. Our luggage still has not arrived. Again it was promised “tomorrow.”
We shall see.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Tragedy struck today in Haiti. Just before 5 pm today, a 7.0 earthquake centered
10 miles west of Port-au-Prince devastated Haiti. By midnight there were 17 aftershocks
of at least a 4.5 magnitude (and 7 of them over 5.0). The extent of the devastation is yet
to be determined . . . although I have heard of reports that every major landmark in PAP
has been damaged. Many of them were places we visited just two weeks ago. Some, such
as the National Palace, the cathedral in PAP and many of the government buildings as
well as Andre’s school Canado Haitian, were all destroyed.
I did get an email from Sister Jackie saying they could feel the quake in Gros
Morne (over 100 miles north of PAP) but that everyone was OK there. One wall of the
public school collapsed injuring a couple students but no fatalities. However, no one has
heard from anyone that happened to be in PAP yet – including Father Wilner (who is
there for an annual retreat), Fritzner, Octa, Serge and everyone at Matthew 25.
Subsequent days in January
CNN provided almost non-stop coverage of the rescue efforts in Haiti. We were
glued to it, trying to learn all we could about a country and a people we love.
There was a constant barrage of emails and phone calls from many who have
traveled to Pendus on prior trips . . . as well as among many other local and state-wide
churches involved in Haiti ministry.
On Wednesday January 13, about a dozen of us met in Indianapolis. This group
included Andre and Josee Angrand, Sharon and me, and Helen Hession from St Mary
Cathedral. We all wanted to help but did not know how best to start. We came up with a
name – Indiana HERO, Haiti Earthquake Relief Organization. Our goals are to raise
funds to help with the rescue/humanitarian effort, to gather medical supplies that are so
dearly needed and to try to assemble a medical team or teams to go to Haiti. We shall see
how this all plays out.
Aid from all over the world came to Haiti in the days that ensued after the
earthquake. Slowly news trickled in. First, we got word that Father Wilner and all the
other Monfortan priests on retreat in PAP were safe but 10 seminarians had died (news
received on Jan 13). Also on Jan 13 we learned that Matthew 25 had some damage on the
roof top rooms where we stayed but the rest of the building withstood the quake. In fact,
they opened up the soccer field behind the guest house and used it for a triage area. Three
PAP doctors learned of this and came to help Sister Mary, Pat, Vivian (who had some
medicines on hand) and the six guests that were there that night.
Kyle also emailed January 13 to say that the house he spent the night in on
Sunday January 10 was destroyed in the quake. It was not until later that he learned the
Tufts grad that he stayed with was ok.
It was not until lunch time on Friday, January 15 that I got news that brought tears
to my eyes. Serge called. He was alive! He said he was injured as a wall fell on his
shoulder as he ran from his room on Jan 12. We couldn’t talk long but I did ask him to try
to make contact with Fritzner and Octa to see if they are OK. He said the phones were
mostly not working but he would try.
On Saturday January 16, Sister Pat emailed me that Jacson and one other
seminarian from Gros Morne had been in PAP during the quake but were both safe and
unharmed.
I got my first email from Father Wilner on Sunday evening January 17. Even
through all that has happened his sense of humor was evident as he wrote on the “re”
line: “Mwen pa mouri” which translates to “I am not dead!”
News doesn’t always come directly. Sharon called early on Jan 18 (she was not
working due to it being Martin Luther King holiday). Jerry Tyrie (from St Mary Team 3)
called her with the news that Fritzner had called Karen Sullivan (from St Mary Teams 1
and 3). His call, too, was very short but he did say he was on a tap tap heading to the UN
when the quake hit. He was ok and he has since found his girlfriend and two children ok
as well. He also indicated that rice was now very expensive.
Finally at dinner on Tuesday, January 19, I got a call from Mike Brenner. He just
got a call from Octa!!! He is ok but six of his cousins and one uncle were killed in the
earthquake. He said he lost is phone (and therefore his phone numbers) and couldn’t call
until now. He said all he had was a blanket and that he is sleeping on the ground outside
and that is new store was destroyed. At least he was safe.
Later that same night I got an email from Sister Pat. The Fonkoze in Gros Morne
was badly damaged and not functional now. She said Jacson (the seminarian) was on top
of his school studying when the quake hit but was able to get to safety. She also said she
heard from Madam Marcel and she too is OK. I know there are many with relatives
missing or dead . . . but those closest to the twinning relationship between St Mary
Cathedral and St Joseph Church in Pendus have survived. Gras a Bondye!
That is the best ending I can think of at this time!