It was still a little wet Tuesday morning, although it was clearing up, so we held off on building the foundations for the toilets until the afternoon. So we went to meet the mayor of Cap Haitien. His building was nice and he came out and met each of us individually. He talked a lot about politics and history. He thanked us for coming to his country despite the unfair representation of Haiti in the U.S. and international media as a dangerous place. The only thing he asked us in return was to tell people about our experiences here, which is what we all are going to do. Emma also did a great job translating.
It was hot and sunny after that, so half of the group went to Shada to start on the toilet. Brian,
Erica, Emma, Sasha and I went to meet an awesome man who works at one of Cap Haitien’s main radio stations. He was very intelligent and answered all of our questions about the relationship of the Haitian government with the plethora of NGOs here. It’s a pretty complex situation, but I learned a lot from him. He also described Haiti as a beautiful woman; everyone wants her, but they want to do whatever they want to her. They don’t care about her or what’s in the best interest of her or her children. I thought that was a wonderful analogy.
We then headed to Shada to catch up with the other group. The foundation was just about done and there were lots of people around watching and helping. In that extremely desperate situation, there’s lot of hope and a lot of strong, inspiring people, more than I’ll ever know. In many ways, they are stronger than any of us.
Today, Wednesday, we pretty much just worked on the toilets in Shada and at the Village. We (the interns) didn’t really do much, just hauling and mixing sand and laying a few blocks. The masons taught us how to do it. Nevertheless I was tired at the end of the day. It doesn’t take many trips of carrying bucket s full of sand over your head to wear you out. There were little girls working circles around me. And there was this one little guy who was crazily driving the wheelbarrow around, and working harder than anyone. He was great. We also talked with the government official representing Shada about some of the issues and problems in dealing with NGO projects in Shada.
Our group got a little smaller today as Wes, Matt, and Collin flew to Port-Au-Prince to stay there for about a week before heading back to Minnesota.
Tomorrow we’ll continue working on the toilets at Shada and the Village.
It was hot and sunny after that, so half of the group went to Shada to start on the toilet. Brian,
Erica, Emma, Sasha and I went to meet an awesome man who works at one of Cap Haitien’s main radio stations. He was very intelligent and answered all of our questions about the relationship of the Haitian government with the plethora of NGOs here. It’s a pretty complex situation, but I learned a lot from him. He also described Haiti as a beautiful woman; everyone wants her, but they want to do whatever they want to her. They don’t care about her or what’s in the best interest of her or her children. I thought that was a wonderful analogy.We then headed to Shada to catch up with the other group. The foundation was just about done and there were lots of people around watching and helping. In that extremely desperate situation, there’s lot of hope and a lot of strong, inspiring people, more than I’ll ever know. In many ways, they are stronger than any of us.
Today, Wednesday, we pretty much just worked on the toilets in Shada and at the Village. We (the interns) didn’t really do much, just hauling and mixing sand and laying a few blocks. The masons taught us how to do it. Nevertheless I was tired at the end of the day. It doesn’t take many trips of carrying bucket s full of sand over your head to wear you out. There were little girls working circles around me. And there was this one little guy who was crazily driving the wheelbarrow around, and working harder than anyone. He was great. We also talked with the government official representing Shada about some of the issues and problems in dealing with NGO projects in Shada.
Our group got a little smaller today as Wes, Matt, and Collin flew to Port-Au-Prince to stay there for about a week before heading back to Minnesota.Tomorrow we’ll continue working on the toilets at Shada and the Village.
1 comment:
Hey Woody!! I will be endlessly thankful that you have shown me how the media distorts things so much. Just like so many other countries think badly of the US, so do WE get these images of other countries that are just WRONG.
My idea of Haiti is has so changed since I have been reading your blogs. I just hope someday I can come there and start the junkyard band!
I love you so much - MOM
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