I don’t know why I thought I would be able to have a blog in Haiti. My time here has been a whirlwind of activity and if can barely find the time to shower, I certainly don’t have the time to journal.

I do, however, want to record some of my thoughts before this period of time in Haiti is over.  Today is Wednesday March 9^th, and I am writing this in Fond-de-Neg where there is no access to internet. It won’t be posted until I have returned to Port-au-Prince on March 16^th.

Warning: there will be graphic language.

I am no longer able to apply mosquito repellent because it burns the blisters in my palms, I am drained of money and am seriously dehydrated—but I can assure you that I have never been so fulfilled in my life. I find the most encouraging sign for Haiti’s future is the spirit of the people and the most discouraging sign to be the minimal impact that the clusterfuck of NGO’s have actually implemented. It seems like there is a humanitarian logo stuck to every filthy slum or broken building which I don’t find to be very good publicity. How there could be such an enormous NGO presence and so little aid actually being implemented will always remain a mystery to me.

Yesterday I needed to call my bank to alert them that I would finally need to use my credit card in Haiti. The phone representative asked me, “You’re in Haiti now?” I answered in the affirmative to which he replied, “Is it like…all messed up over there and stuff?” I didn’t know what else to say to him besides, “Yeah.” That’s the most honest answer that I could provide because it is really messed up over here. 

About a week ago, Chelsea and I stood on a street corner of what was once a city block of downtown Port-au-Prince. We could see across the entire block because every single building within it was flattened in the earthquake. The pile of rubble was overwhelming. I asked our friend Jhonson how the bodies could have possibly been removed if the rubble remained. He replied that the bodies had not been removed.

The buildings that crumbled, flattened or hunched from the earthquake look sad. They seem to remember a slightly better time for Haiti and they frown over the bustling life that carries on below their dangling power lines and teetering concrete slabs. I bought some fried plantains from a women who cooked below a severely bowing wood roof and the graffiti on the wall next to her read, “Vive Jean-Claude Devalier por future Ayiti.”

I know that this blog post isn’t bringing uplifting news, but it reminds me of the first thing that EDV’s Volunteer Coordinator said to us upon arrival: “If you aren’t crying then you aren’t paying attention.”

And yet, there are beacons of hope everywhere within the people of Haiti. From Carlo who manages an orphanage in Port-au-Prince simply because his mother opened it to Jhonson who coordinates bi-weekly English classes because he believes that he Holy Trinity is “education, knowledge and understanding.” Every person who wishes me “Bonjou” in the morning and “Bonswa” in the afternoon reminds me that there is hope for Haiti because as long as there is another day, there is another chance.

Tonight, I’m listening to a group of men argue with Madeleine about politics on the porch. Since the conversation is in French, I can barely understand but I’m fairly certain that she is trying to inspire optimism in a group of people who have simply been lied to too many times by politicians. However, there are more stars in the sky of Fond-de-Neg than I ever knew existed, and if the universe shines so beautifully over Haiti then I believe that this country has a beautiful future.

-Amanda

City of Rubble, People of Strength

Hello friends and family!

It's been a whirlwind here in Haiti- we have been very busy!  Although Emily just posted an excellent summary of the past 10 days, I’ll give you my version of a few significant moments.

On our second day in Haiti, we went to the Hands Together to Defend the Children orphanage, where 35 kids make their home and receive basic education.  At this orphanage EDV has been doing some much needed reparations as well as supporting the children with health education.  There we got down and dirty to finish building the wall in the back of their lot.  This wall provides security for the kids from the back alley.  We mixed cement and applied it to the top of the wall where we placed shards of broken glass to act as a barrier for possible intruders.  Now that’s what I call recycling.

The next day was an emotional day for me- for everyone.  A group of us went to a new orphanage that EDV is assessing for future projects.  At the orphanage, our resident RN and resident pharmacist lead dental health classes while two EDV volunteers performed basic check-ups with the kids to address any immediate health concerns.  Meanwhile, Leah, Amanda and I lead art and jewelry making classes.
To wrap up the day we passed out de-worming medication to all the kids- very important to maintain their health.

Although we had a wonderful time with the kids, it was very hard to be there and experience the reality of these orphans.  The condition of this orphanage is remedial and sub-standard.  There are piles of trash, no sanitary toilet, no roof on their classroom, and not much room to sleep.  At Haitian orphanages, in general, the children don’t receive much attention; there simply aren't enough hands or energy to go around for all of them.  The few staff members are on duty 24/7 and it would be impossible to give the proper attention to every single child.  The older ones take care of the younger ones, but it still does not fill the void of an adult’s nurturing touch.  Desperate for any form of attention, the children were constantly fighting to sit in our laps. All the little ones wanted to be picked up and many of them started calling us mommy.  

Seeing their desperation for basic love was heartbreaking for me.  I fought back tears at some points during the day.  Every single child there was absolutely beautiful and it is so sad to think that none of them get to have a normal childhood.  On the surface the children seem happy, but look a little closer, and you can clearly see a deep sadness lurking inside of them.  I would not want to wish that upon any child in the world, but the reality is that there are many orphans, especially in Haiti. (On a side note, some Haitian parents give up their children to orphanages because they think their children will receive better care than they can provide.  80% of Haitians are unemployed and after the earthquake many parents just can’t afford to support a family any more).  I wanted to take every one of those sweet children home with me.  All I wanted to do was sit there and give those kids love and hugs all day.  I sat down and let them take turns sitting on my lap.  Those kids and I speak different languages, come from entirely different worlds, but there was something very peaceful and beautiful about sharing a non-judgmental hug between total strangers.

Overall, emotionally packed moments like my experience at the orphanage are a daily occurrence as an outsider experiencing the real Haiti.  Even something as simple as walking down the street to buy bread stirs the emotions.  Everywhere you look there are crumbling buildings, piles of rubble, people plagued by illness.  Despite these conditions, the spiritual strength of the Haitian people is not broken.  In fact, it is quite the contrary.  Never before have I met people so hopeful and determined to bring about a better future.  The resilience the Haitians have is powerful and no matter what tragedy comes there way, they know will become stronger because of it.  As my Haitian friend Jhonson explains, who donated what little money he had to an orphanage:  "God did not let me die in the earthquake because I was not meant to die.  My destiny is to make my country a better place for the future."

May we all be as wise as Jhonson...until the next post,

Chelsea

Scratching the Surface...

"Tap-tap" ride from the airport

It’s been quite the couple of weeks since leaving San Francisco and embarking on our journey. It has been emotionally overwhelming in ways I could never have prepared myself for, and there has been so much to process that it’s been tough to get to the blogging. We’ve been busy since our arrival in Port au Prince and have had so many amazing opportunities to get to know the area around where we are staying and connect with the community members. I am grateful to be involved with EDV, as they are well respected by the locals and their projects often begin from direct requests and ideas from people in the community.  

Around the corner from our place

Typical Haitian Bus

We’ve been involved in a wide array of EDV’s projects, which have included two rebuilding projects. Early on in the trip, we helped finish the construction of security walls at a nearby orphanage and school. We mixed our own cement and fixed discarded broken bottles from the street to the top of the walls for protection. It was an awesome learning experience not only in minimal-resource construction, but also Creole! A handful of Haitian men pitched in and assisted us until we finished up at the end of the day. It was really neat to make some friends and learn some helpful phrases right off the bat.

Note the lovely security wall behind us

The most recent rebuilding effort has been a project for Rebuild Globally constructing a new workshop that will employ 40 Haitian women who make beautiful sandals out of scrap tires, which are then sold internationally. Take a look at the EDV facebook page to check out pics of us workin’! Tra and Leah are the true heroes though—they were out there EVERY DAY last week in the heat working their butts off. Chelsea and I have been put to work on helping with volunteer coordination and restructuring EDV’s volunteer management procedures (putting my VISTA skills to good use :) back at the base, so I've spent less time on site.

Walk to the work site

We’ve also had the opportunity to spend time at a few different orphanages in the community, which has been very emotional. Many of the children either have no parents/caretakers or their families do not have the means to support them. The children come to the orphanage in varying ways—some are found on the streets fending for themselves. It is so fun and joyful to hug, tickle and laugh with them, but incredibly heart-breaking to witness such a deeply unfair reality, see their awful living conditions and wave good-bye when it's time to leave. It is impossible for me to try to find words for this type of tragedy and all of my reactions to it.

La Main Tendre Orphanage

Yesterday, Tra, Leah and I met with three leaders of a local women’s group to start planning an event for International Women’s Day (March 8). They identified the theme to be ending violence against women in Haiti. It will also include a sexual health education workshop, music, storytelling and performances. I couldn’t have imagined a more perfect opportunity, and I am beyond grateful to be working with these strong and powerful Haitian women. Excited to get busy on the details this week!
 

Experiencing Port au Prince has been overwhelming. Never in my life have I witnessed human resilience to this degree. The Haitian people have endured such extreme and profound pain, but are carrying on, working to improve the lives of their families and communities. EDV has a number of Haitian staff and volunteers whose commitment to the recovery is incredibly inspiring. I have learned so much from them and all of the Haitian people I’ve met so far, and I look forward to what more is to come.

I hope all is going well on the homefront! Love to you all!

Emily

Arrival in Port-au-Prince

After a long and anxiety filled journey to Haiti, the five of us have arrived safely to EDV’s base in Port-au-Prince (PAP).  Let me try to give you an idea about what it’s like here:

Once we went through customs and immigration in the airport, we met Rebecca, EDV’s Volunteer Resource and Support Coordinator, to take us to our new home by tap tap.  Tap tap’s are Haiti’s form of public transportation and they are basically colorfully painted pick-up trucks.  How many people does a tap tap hold?  The answer is always “one more.”  The ride from the airport to EDV’s base is short, but we were able to get an idea of what  PAP is like. 

In some respect, PAP is like any other city in a developing country: lots of pollution, trash, and poverty.  PAP is different, though, because it has the added rubble and dilapidation caused by the earthquake.  What I have seen is not as bad as I had imagined, although our neighborhood did not crumble in the earthquake as much as other parts of the city.  Now of course this is not to say PAP is not as destroyed as we think.  It is shocking to see the sight of this city, even though a full year has now passed since the earthquake hit.  I think I had just pieced together a horrible image in my mind from what others had described to me about PAP. 

Now that I’ve been in PAP for four days, the condition of this city has begun to settle in.  At most times it is hard to even process what you see- my mind sometimes gets paralyzed by my surroundings.  It almost feels like a different planet or a dream…how can it be that so many people live in such heart-breaking conditions when there has been so much “aid” poured into this country?  The poverty is mind-blowing compared to our luxurious lives in the U.S.  There are plies of debris and rubble every few feet.  Trash is literally everywhere, in all shapes and sizes, and massive potholes filled with festering, dirty water.  It's not uncommon to see smashed cars that were left in haste when the earthquake hit.  Not to mention the half built/half destroyed buildings where the crumbling walls and ceilings are barely standing up by a single piece of rebar. It is hard to describe this city much further because it seems past expression (photos to come soon). 

But PAP is not all one sad picture.  There is loud, catchy music roaring from the speakers into the street.  There are beautiful tropical plants that are growing interspersed in the decay.   Most of all, there are the Haitians themselves.  Upon arrival here, I immediately fell in love with the Haitians.  They are an amazing people that I deeply respect.  Although have they been dealt bad cards for their whole history, they are still some of the most kind, friendly, fun, and resilient people I have ever met.  They take what little they have and they make it work. I hope you get the chance to meet one yourself, someday.  I can't wait to get to know them more over the next month.  More to come soon...

Chelsea 

Here's what you donated...

EDV would like to say thank you again to all those who generously made donations to us.  Here’s what your generosity got for EDV and the earthquake survivors that they help:

1 Dell desktop computer with monitor and keyboard

1 Dell laptop

72 Kit Kat bars

30 Assorted chocolate bars

2 bottles of children’s vitamins (300 count each)

2 HP ink cartridges

1 Drill bit set (21 piece)

2 soccer balls

32 boxes of crayons

5 boxes of colored pencils

2 jump ropes

250 Wood screws (various sizes)

2 Lbs. of drywall screws

9 bottles of hand sanitizer

10 safety glasses

18 white board markers

7 sets of work gloves

150 ft. of rope

1 ball pump

500 index cards

30 plastic paper protectors

2 jars of learning tiles

5 notebooks

6 sets of Tupperware

43 Triaminic children’s cold and fever reducer medicine

412 condoms

50 blank CDs

4 rolls of duct tape

1 roll masking tape

8 decks of cards

26 feminine wipes

122 pencils

1 French/English dictionary

10 pocket folders

2 grinding disks

7 pairs of children’s shoes

1 packet of sidewalk chalk (5 ct.)

1 Ryobi battery (18v)

1 Ryobi battery charger

18 bottles of bubbles

4 sets of flashcards

1 pair of scissors

115 black & blue ballpoint pens

3 large boxes of markers

1 USB memory stick

And the costs to check these supplies on the airplane

All these supplies will make a tremendous difference for all of EDV’s many projects including: IT education, construction work, education and school supplies, Defend the Children Orphanage, Le Main Tendre Orphanage, health education and outreach, and administrative support.

If you still would like to donate, it's not too late!  We can buy more supplies here in Haiti, or we can give the money directly to EDV management, and they can purchase supplies themselves.  And we've already seen many of the supplies go to good use!

To donate money:
 We have been collecting money to Amanda's personal PayPal account, and from that big pot we buy supplies.  Go to PayPal.com and send any amount to ajkeating@usfca.edu.  Anything is greatly appreciated and all of the funds go directly to buy supplies for EDV's projects.

Or if you prefer, you can ship supplies to Haiti yourself!  One of our fellow EDV volunteers, PJ, has coordinated a way to get supplies to Haiti.  Please read PJ's Facebook note here for more information.

Di ou mèsi

For those of you who are following our travels, this is a collective blog about our month long volunteer experience with European Disaster Volunteers in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

After a great deal of debate, we settled upon the name “Chasing Paul Farmer” for our joint blog. We came to this decision because, although we will not literally be chasing Paul Farmer, we will be chasing after what he represents: the spirit of service and human rights for all.

We want to extend a special “thank you” to everyone who helped us make our bags of donations particularly heavy,

Out & Equal Workplace Advocates

Keating Law Office
Auction Masters

Boor Bridges Architecture

Kevin Jones

Phil Seltenrich

Hartmut Fischer

Rich Sievers

Marcos Ballesteros

Sherrie Holmes
Eric Gordon

Jessica Liu

Debbie Yee

Carlie Kralj

Vicki Matthews

Paige Kensil

Meagan Kensil
Nam Pham & Tho Vo

Marian Wilson-Sylvestre

Cecile Aubert

Joanne Kim

Katy Gill
Dani Siragusa

Betsy Cox

Scott & Jayne Keating

Arielle Siegel

Aysha Hidayatullah

Sarah Graves

Pamela Berkowitz

Beatriz Rincon
Tryphena Mlay

Susan Liu

Justin Tanis

Leslie Lewis

Patricia Baillie

Casey Kloehn

Andrew Rissler

Catherine Tran

Davis Tang

Tina Chou

Lisa Mar

Song and Linda Hong

Megan Matthews

Ruthellen Harris

Charles Telehala

Olga Crowe

Amy Westermann

Helen Yu

Jodi Behrens
Rose Tai

In particular, we want to thank European Disaster Volunteers for hosting us. In addition to their commitment to their Haitian community, these individuals are providing us with an irreplaceable experience.

And, thanks to the staff at Polk St Good Vibrations store in San Francisco for providing expertise and assistance for the bulk condom purchases.

Follow our blog for updates, anecdotes, individual reflections and probably some amazing photos.