Two Days of Adventure

Weekends are weekends.  I didn’t have any scheduled meetings, so I took advantage and had some fun.  Dom picked me up yesterday and brought me back to see the temporary mission house.  After touring the house (it’s nice, but fairly empty), we walked down the street for ice cream.

The Haitian Ministries folks came back just before dinner.  We ate Jean Baptiste’s pizza, relaxed, and let the art therapists experiment on us.  Jen and Josie had us each draw a person picking fruit from a tree.  Then they explained that it’s one of the best standardized assessment tools in their repertoire.  We each got to chat about our drawings, but they spared us the analysis.  (Phew.)  The told us about the projects they planned to do with the kids, and we were in awe.  Then they invited the mission house staff to draw.  Suzette, Jean Baptiste’s wife, probably had the most fun.  She admitted that she has never drawn/colored in her life!  Just another example of how different life is here.

I spent the night at the mission house, went to church with them in the morning, and then we went out to visit Sacred Heart’s twin parish in Gran Boulage.  While the art therapists traced the kids hands and let them color, Chuck, Emily, Greg, Dom and I sat down to meet with the parish’s representatives.  They told us about the damage from the earthquake.  About 1500 homes were damaged in their region, some are reparable, while others are rubbish.  253 people died, mostly in landslides.  We also talked about the schools, the health situation, and the water problems. 

I can’t help but reflect on how different life is here… and I’m talking about pre-earthquake life.  At least three kids die in Gran Boulage every year of “broken necks” from carrying water up steep treacherous paths.  Their parents are too worn down, so this dangerous job is designated for children… Life isn’t easy here, and I don’t think it ever was.

Cute kids in a tent city

Amazing how life goes on

A little blurry, but he's a famous graffiti artist now

One of the UN relocation sites, on the way to Gran Boulage

Typical house in Gran Boulage with earthquake damage

A newer home in Gran Boulage

Kids

Our Lady of Seven Sorrows

Art Therapy

Me & Chuck Dietsch

Me & Dom

Leaving for Haiti

Hi all!
    My trip to Haiti is fast approaching.  I can't believe I fly out in 2 days!!!  This trip I'll be working on a partnership with a really cool Canadian-based organization named FIDA and their Haitian counterpart PCH.
    Here's my understanding of their organization... supporting schools, building orphanages and adopting kids (often kids with living parents) are all really temporary fixes focusing on child poverty.  As Betsy puts it, "I don't believe in child poverty, I believe in adult poverty."
    By whatever mechanism, a community can be referred to FIDA-PCH.  They have an assessment team that goes door to door and asks families about their strengths, their cultural background, and their past work experience.  Then they synthesize all of their findings and make some recommendations to the community.  After the village chooses their own path, they can apply for grant money and make it happen.  For example, a farming community who had ceased to farm because of problems with the irrigation system applied for a grant to fix the irrigation system.  They got a grant, and FIDA hired local villagers to work on their own project (not outside volunteers, Haitians are fully capable of manual labor). FIDA helped them toward an agricultural cooperative.
     And then what happened?  Men started coming back from the cities where they were living in slums and looking for work.  Families started saving.  The community invested in their own schools.  Nutrition in the community improved.  Families didn't have to leave their kids in orphanages for them to get 3 meals a day.  And the community owned their success.  They did it.  By fixing the adult poverty, the child poverty disappeared.
   I spent a month at Walls Guest House last fall taking Creole classes and meeting with various NGOs to see who I might work with in the future.  But I never thought to work with FIDA-PCH.  Two days before I left, I met Betsy Wall.  (Her parents formed FIDA as their retirement project.  Her dad would work out in the fields with the cooperatives, while her mom ran the guest house as a fundraiser.  Now FIDA is a massive Canadian nonprofit and very effective.)
    As I was telling Betsy about my goals, she mentioned that their communities have health promoters and trained birth attendants who have been begging her to start a medical program.  I helped advise them on a really simple door-to-door health survey, which they've started incorporating with their field.   assessment.  And here I am packing to go down and do who-knows-what with them.  We'll start with an orientation, hopefully outline some goals and objectives, and then I'll get to meet the health promoters.  I'm hoping to help coordinate education and programming.  Maybe I'll teach on some topics.  They've also requested that I assist in developing a prenatal-care program.  (Haitian Ministries and Emily Smack were kind enough to pack me a HUGE bag of handmade baby blankets and other baby-related items for the midwives to hand out at their prenatal classes.)

(myself, my mom, & Enoch when we were in Haiti, 10/09)

  Anyhoo... I'll keep you posted as to my adventures.  Here's my tentative itinerary for anyone who's interested.  :-)
Peace, Becky

Leave Tuesday, May 4, 2010 American Airlines 837

Depart: 9:05am New York, NY (JFK), Arrive: 12:50pm Port Au Prince, Haiti (PAP)

Return Friday, May 28, 2010 American Airlines 896

Depart: 2:05pm Port Au Prince, Haiti (PAP), Arrive: 7:25pm New York, NY New York (JFK)

You will be working with our team here in Haiti, productive cooperatives Haiti. Pierre Richard is the coordinator and Jean Elto Vincent is the administrator.

1. They propose that you spend May 5 and 6 at the pcH office for orientation and planning.
2. You can spend May 7, 8, 9, 10 in Kenscoff.
3. May 11-14 you will be in Delis which is in the Chaine de Mathieau mountain range. Transportation will be provided and you will be returned to the guest house each night. There is no physical clinic building in this community.
4. You have a free weekend.
5. May 17 you will be at pcH office for planning.
6. May 18 is a holiday (Flag Day)
7. May 19-21 and May 24-27 you will be in Fon Batis which is in the Chaine de Mathieau mountain range as well. You will be accommodated there for the week days and will return for the weekend to the guest house. There is a building that was intended to serve as a clinic but there is limited supplies or equipment. There is no doctor or nurse but there are some health agents and trained midwives.
8. May 28 is debriefing at the office.
9. You will be provided a translator with medical knowledge.
10. Transportation will be provided to and from the field and to and from the guest house as well as accommodation and food in the field.
11. Supplies can be purchased in Haiti. As to what to bring, I have asked of the field can provide some advice.
12. You can fly directly into Port au Prince. You can arrange directly with Veniel for airport pick up and accommodation as per the above schedule. I unfortunately will not be around.