I'm considering this Haiti's goodbye to me...
Last night we were watching The Holiday before bed and all of a sudden we heard a ton of gunshots. There was probably about 20 or so. This happens about every month, so Bridget and I just laughed. It freaked Rachel out a bit (as it should) and we joked about gunshots being Haitian fireworks. Then, about a minute later we heard this horrible moaning/crying noise that was clearly coming from the cows in the field by FWAL. Never been so happy to be a vegetarian. Listening to the dying cows definitely killed the romance of The Holiday.
This morning, Bridget went out to get coffee for us. She came back with a nice big cup of coffee for me but told me "there were more bugs than sugar in the can, so I only got you a little bit of sugar."
Monday, December 19, 2011
Sunday, December 18, 2011
hi ho, hi ho, back to the US i go!
Tomorrow I leave to go home for the holidays!!!
As much as my mind is already back in Issaquah, I'm trying to focus on finishing things up here.
The Financial Times wrote a great article on Father Rick and the work were doing. The link is http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/a5aadbee-226c-11e1-923d-00144feabdc0.html. Makes me happy to see some publicity! Undoubtedly one of my biggest frustrations working here is that I know that people in the US would love to hear the stories and experiences, but there isn't enough media. You don't have to play up any stories being here... you walk around our campus for five minutes and you could write pages and pages. Then you're here for months and you get to know your coworkers, friends, kids at our homes and the hospital and you're changed forever. But you're too involved... I want to respect people's privacy and I know that my writing could in no way do justice to the incredible people who I spend my time with every day. Not everyone of course, but the people I consider my friends come from such different backgrounds than me, I'm so impressed with their stories and most of all, their view of the world. To grow up in such difficult circumstances and have constant exposure to the way people with money live, but to remain positive and hopeful and dedicated to change is really remarkable.
This week, Bridget and I have had a guest staying with us! Rachel is here visiting NPFS for the third time. Her first visit was in January 2010 when she spent a little over a week staying at our previous volunteer house in Petionville when the earthquake hit and the six story building she was in fell. She writes about her experiences on her blog here- http://helloagainhaiti.blogspot.com. She's working as a physical therapist at St. Luke, but after work she's been coming with me to go play with the babies in the abandoned room!
As much as 90 degree, sunny days make it feel like Christmas is still another six months away, our organization has put up some Christmas trees and lights. Last night driving around Port-au-Prince, it made me sad that Haiti doesn't get to have all the decorations and celebrations that are in the US. There is only a few lights up and only in the wealthy parts of the city. Even those lights are wrapped around the telephone poles because that's where there's access to electricity. Many people don't give or get presents because they aren' t working. Those who have jobs buy small gifts for their families. But even those who are working, and not making much believe me, donate some of their money to a church or those in need.
This morning we're having a girl's Christmas brunch at a hotel nearby. Then I'm spending the rest of the day packing and cleaning and getting ready to go!!! US here I come!
As much as my mind is already back in Issaquah, I'm trying to focus on finishing things up here.
The Financial Times wrote a great article on Father Rick and the work were doing. The link is http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/a5aadbee-226c-11e1-923d-00144feabdc0.html. Makes me happy to see some publicity! Undoubtedly one of my biggest frustrations working here is that I know that people in the US would love to hear the stories and experiences, but there isn't enough media. You don't have to play up any stories being here... you walk around our campus for five minutes and you could write pages and pages. Then you're here for months and you get to know your coworkers, friends, kids at our homes and the hospital and you're changed forever. But you're too involved... I want to respect people's privacy and I know that my writing could in no way do justice to the incredible people who I spend my time with every day. Not everyone of course, but the people I consider my friends come from such different backgrounds than me, I'm so impressed with their stories and most of all, their view of the world. To grow up in such difficult circumstances and have constant exposure to the way people with money live, but to remain positive and hopeful and dedicated to change is really remarkable.
This week, Bridget and I have had a guest staying with us! Rachel is here visiting NPFS for the third time. Her first visit was in January 2010 when she spent a little over a week staying at our previous volunteer house in Petionville when the earthquake hit and the six story building she was in fell. She writes about her experiences on her blog here- http://helloagainhaiti.blogspot.com. She's working as a physical therapist at St. Luke, but after work she's been coming with me to go play with the babies in the abandoned room!
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| practicing walking with Marvens |
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| Rachel with baby Nadine |
As much as 90 degree, sunny days make it feel like Christmas is still another six months away, our organization has put up some Christmas trees and lights. Last night driving around Port-au-Prince, it made me sad that Haiti doesn't get to have all the decorations and celebrations that are in the US. There is only a few lights up and only in the wealthy parts of the city. Even those lights are wrapped around the telephone poles because that's where there's access to electricity. Many people don't give or get presents because they aren' t working. Those who have jobs buy small gifts for their families. But even those who are working, and not making much believe me, donate some of their money to a church or those in need.
This morning we're having a girl's Christmas brunch at a hotel nearby. Then I'm spending the rest of the day packing and cleaning and getting ready to go!!! US here I come!
Saturday, December 10, 2011
long week, with an interesting ending
This week was stressful. Miscommunications, misunderstandings, new responsibilities, changing procedure and a heap of short term volunteers made this week absolutely exhausting. Not to mention it's still as hot and dusty as ever. The thing about being here for a year is that the big stuff, the important stuff, is so meaningful and so rewarding that it makes living here fun and exciting and everything I hoped it would be. It's the little stuff, the things that really aren't important in the big picture, that are tough to deal with.
And since I've been here for five months, I'm about to go home in a week, that little stuff is driving me nuts. Like last Saturday... it was Family Day at FWAL and all I wanted to do was go over and play with the kids who's families don't come. But of course I got a phone call that I had to go to the warehouse before I went over. So I go to meet the driver at the hospital, and we have to make a pit stop... at the morgue. So they load the body into the back of the pickup and we head to the refridgerated containers we use as the morgue. (I swear, Haiti could use a container for ANYthing.) Then we go to the warehouse and of course the Cholera Treatment Center needs a bunch of materials they forgot to ask for the day before. Then we go drop everything off... and on and on and on.
The point of all of this was that yesterday, I was VERY excited that it was Friday. I had lots of coffee and no breakfast which is not the best combination. I walked outside to fill up my waterbottle for work and ran into KIM KARDASHIAN. I totally freaked out. I came back to my house, literally running, to tell Bridget that Kim Kardashian was outside. I'm totally embarassed by how completely ridiculous I was. By the time I had calmed down enough to go back outside, they had already left for their tour. She (and the rest of the celebrities that were here) were only here for the morning, before they went to another organization, and left Haiti later that day. I have to say I'm very impressed that she came to Haiti and even used our Port-a-Potty bathrooms (which are made out of... you guessed it, a container!)
And since I've been here for five months, I'm about to go home in a week, that little stuff is driving me nuts. Like last Saturday... it was Family Day at FWAL and all I wanted to do was go over and play with the kids who's families don't come. But of course I got a phone call that I had to go to the warehouse before I went over. So I go to meet the driver at the hospital, and we have to make a pit stop... at the morgue. So they load the body into the back of the pickup and we head to the refridgerated containers we use as the morgue. (I swear, Haiti could use a container for ANYthing.) Then we go to the warehouse and of course the Cholera Treatment Center needs a bunch of materials they forgot to ask for the day before. Then we go drop everything off... and on and on and on.
The point of all of this was that yesterday, I was VERY excited that it was Friday. I had lots of coffee and no breakfast which is not the best combination. I walked outside to fill up my waterbottle for work and ran into KIM KARDASHIAN. I totally freaked out. I came back to my house, literally running, to tell Bridget that Kim Kardashian was outside. I'm totally embarassed by how completely ridiculous I was. By the time I had calmed down enough to go back outside, they had already left for their tour. She (and the rest of the celebrities that were here) were only here for the morning, before they went to another organization, and left Haiti later that day. I have to say I'm very impressed that she came to Haiti and even used our Port-a-Potty bathrooms (which are made out of... you guessed it, a container!)
Thursday, December 1, 2011
weird things that happen in Haiti
As my Dad likes to say, "weird" is a compliment. So here goes. Some of this stuff occurs on a regular basis, and others have only happened once... but they were memorable enough to put here. I'll let you guess which is which :)
- taking a shower out of a bucket
- a rat in the warehouse drinking an entire bottle of ciprofloxacin for injection
- taking half hour motorcycle rides to get to and from the store
- rearranging gauze for 6 hours
- evening chats about how Bill Clinton's assistant and celebrities are coming to visit tomorrow
- carrying dead bodies before I've had my coffee
- eating, well in my case watching other's eat, the goat that was running around at work earlier that day
- listening to the call to prayer in Arabic at 4am
- sharing a water bottle with a kid and later finding out he has TB
- turning to hear who is calling "cherie" (my dear) to me and having a nice little chat with a man carrying an enormous machete and no teeth
- seeing a Lexus SUV and BMW convertible at the grocery store and having a really good time trying to guess which people those cars belong to
- getting my $20 bill rejected because it has a pen mark on it
- driving a forklift
- drinking beer at church
- needing to have at least three items you want from a menu, because they might not have what you want
- getting a new assortment of cereals each time you go to the grocery store
- watching all the food stands of the women who sit outside the hospital being burned in the middle of our street in an enormous bonfire
- keeping cholera tests in my living room
- learning Italian
- sorting through neuro and open-heart surgery kits to get to the alcohol pads and ibuprofen
Alright, that’s my list for now. I know I’m forgetting tons… I’ll post this list again in a couple months.
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