Turning Back Time- In Haiti

Daylight Savings Time started this morning- as I was reminded in a 6 am text message. My opportunity to take advantage of the extra hour of lost to the chime on my phone.  The darkness that was there yesterday morning suddenly replaced by light making further slumber impossible.
I laid in bed thinking about the passage of time, turning back time.
Passage of time- Jean Claude Duvalier, mostly better known as Baby Doc died recently and as a private funeral was held, the passage of an era known only to those of age before 1986 and by those since in the stories of their families.
Turning back time this morning, would I change anything other than to get that extra hour of sleep? Its a tough question that indicates regrets. Having regrets is non-productive.  Certainly, I have traded some  precious time with my family and friends, but in knowing they were developing and living their own lives, its not necessarily quantity of time spent but he quality- the time you do have with those you love and miss you give your full attention.
We choose the road we take (or its chosen for us) in life based on many factors. Our experiences in life, our growth through those experiences, our sense of adventure, the people we meet and those that have influenced us in some way through their lifes' experiences.
I remember my dad's aunt once telling me that I should seek to travel and that working for the United Nations was a way to do that.  As a 12 year old farm girl, I had no idea what that meant. but I never forgot it.  She herself was passionate about travel and did so often, even well into her 80's.
Did that have any influence in the direction I've taken years later? May there is some parallel universe that nudges us to veer off the 'normal' path or take that right turn at the crossroads.
 However I got here, it has taken me on another path. I have a new job and am 6 weeks into managing the HHH Klinik.  My title is Coordinator of Programs for Education.  A change and a challenge and a way to use the 20 plus years of working in rehab and along side of some pretty awesome people in Portland and now 5 years in Port au Prince.  I don't have time to turn back more than an hour on this road from 'Port au Port'.

Politics and Play

Egads! Its been ages since I've updated my blog...A lot has happened since that last post. What inspires me to write is pretty random at best. It is usually something unexpected or a situation I am grappling with that leads a million different thoughts floating in my head in those hours of dark that I should be sleeping. Concrete solutions don't necessarily follow however- at least not last night.

The big news this week has been the prison break with 329 prisoners escaping, the most notorious, an alleged and confessed kidnapper was caught along with about 19 others over the past few days. The Haiti National Police force are said to be working hard searching for the rest while questions swirl about how this could happen in the newest and most secure prison in Haiti.  I think it is all about politics. This is supposed to be the year of elections- which were scheduled for October 26 but have been postponed...
Politics in US, especially in a major election year is mostly annoying to me. Campaign sound bites, constant ads, negative speechifying and the amounts of money spent are ridiculous. For some reason, here in Haiti, I find it fascinating. Of course, what I understand is that I will never understand it. There are so many levels - not the least of them is the history. I read a list of the parties that have registered- well over a hundred and those don't include some of the major parties. Campaign speeches are limited to a few months before the actual election is to take place. I've been told that a candidate must have $300,000 to register and campaign. That means a candidate must be rich to fund his own or more likely someone funding his campaign. If however, if you are not in a majority, where do you get the funds?  So I will follow, listen and try to understand all of the complexities knowing as I do so, I never will. Everyone has an opinion, everyone has a story- or memory, of past elections or the dictatorship of Papa Doc and his son that pretty much dictates how they feel about voting. I think only one President (Preval)  has full-filled his full term of election, twice.  Although many did not vote in the last election, most all were quite happy that Martelly was elected as he promised people that change would come, that the country was open for business (his campaign slogan).  However, as this year progresses, there are usual signs of discontent- manifestations being just one indicator. If you ask people if they are satisfied with the progress made- and there has been progress over the last 4 years, unless it directly impact their life, they aren't really satisfied. Itswa or tripotai- stories and gossip- are more readily spread and believed. On a personal level they don't believe their vote matters. But this is no different anywhere else, is it?

On a more fun note, last Sunday a group of us went to Jacmel for the day- a walk along the board walk, a little shopping and lunch on the beach, mostly just a relaxing getaway from the big city. Returning to Port au Prince- and home, was not as relaxing as once we reached the outskirts of the city, we got into traffic. Literally, 2 and 1/2 hours of sitting or inching was spent people watching, speculating about the traffic problem- and solving the countries problems. Once we got moving, it took no time at all to get to the guesthouse with the driver finding streets and short cuts to avoid anymore traffic. As patient as he was, he was definitely tired of it.

Tomorrow is a holiday, so we have a 3 day weekend to fill with activities or not. Maybe some time at the pool, maybe a day trip to the beach. It will be a topic of discussion at the dinner table tonight.

Variety of photos from Jacmel

Stained Glass Windows

Sitting on the hard bench, watching the sun shine through the blue, red, yellow, green and white plastic roofing that resembles stained glass for the congregation I reflected on  all that I am thankful for...it was my first visit to attend a church service in a number of years. My staff have all but given up asking me. To be honest the first church service I’ve attended in Haiti many years ago left me feeling less than reverent. 

I did not grow up in a family that was religious. Maybe my folks fulfilled their spiritual needs living in the country through hard work on the family farm. This I don’t know as it was never discussed. Through friends and neighbors, I did attend Bible studies, Sunday school, summer bible school and even summer Bible camp. Whether this was my mom’s attempt at offering me the choice or to get me out of her hair so she could do her work (more likely) really makes no difference at this point. 

The service this morning was mainly in Kreyol, and while I could catch a few words, I didn’t have enough comprehension to follow the sermon. The peacefulness - spiritualness I felt was no different than when I sit gazing at the trees and birds, listening  to the little river rippling below. Its simply a different setting.  

Whatever setting, it is good to have that time to reflect on the wonders of our lives...who knew that little country girl would end up at the other end of life in a far and away different life as lived by my mother. 

I guess I should thank Jill, Kate and Nancy for asking me if I ever thought of taking a mission trip and Matt too for that matter. They took this country bumpkin into a bigger world. It’s been my life adventure. I know many people that have traveled to many parts of the world and have seen and experienced much more than I - even my kids have seen far more places. I’m grateful for their bravery and sense of adventure and hope they will continue to explore outside their boundaries. For me, it seems Haiti suits me.  Maybe I am just looking through stained glass windows this morning, but am content and happy. 

I’m sure its given me much more, taught me much more than I have given in return. 

Its all about learning and living each day isn’t it?  Good to have a weekend such as this one to remind me. 

The array of photos are not exactly in order of story that follows but I hope you will enjoy seeing them.New Jerry art

Happy Flag Day, celebration 211 years of Haitian Flag, May 18th 

I passed on this veve, and kind of regret it. 

Montana pool 

Playing Casino at the Iron Market

at the beach

Mini manifestation

Driving to Jacmel

Welcome to Jacmel

Refreshment

Boardwalk

Our guides and security- The Brothers Dade

Frandy, Jean Jean, Ti Wes

a little birthday celebration..

The top of the National Museum- no photos allowed inside.

arriving at Basin Bleu

Car wash and spa

My friend Beth whom I will miss very much and Karol

my mom

my brother

my baby boy

Be safe, I love you! 

Five months into 2014- time to write an update to my blog site. I just returned from vacation in Portland where I celebrated the birthdays of 2 of my now grown up kids, celebrated the life of my mother in law, visited my mom, caught up with friends (though not enough of them- sorry Jody and Linda)  and said see you in a year to my son being deployed to the middle east as security for cargo ships ala Captain Phillips-style.  A bitter sweet time to say the least. 

Back now for a few days, I’ve nearly caught up with work missed while away which sort of takes away from the fun of vacation doesn’t it? Upon arrival I found that Chikungunya fever has turned into an epidemic - many of our staff have had or are coming down with this nasty viral mosquito borne disease causing headache and joint pain lasting 2-3 days generally. I’ll try to protect myself and hope that I don’t get bit but I’m guessing they aren’t very discriminate as to who those stealth buggers bite. 

In the past 5 months since writing an update to my blog, I’ve had the good fortune to have many old friends / teams visit and made some new friends from far away places. I’ve said good bye to others as they have left, knowing their presence will be missed. One of my favorite things to do is show people the ‘other’ side of Haiti, to experience the cultural side of Haiti. The National Museum is interesting and beautiful, the Iron Market is a crazy fun place to find ‘bargain’ artisan crafts if you are a strong barterer and Champ Mas is full of statues that represent the country’s history. And of course there are the beaches!

We had a four day Easter holiday weekend and decided to head out of the city. We first visited one of my favorite places, Jacmel, a southern coastal city about a 2 hours drive on wind-y roads through a couple of mountain ranges. Jacmel is the sleepy, but charming little sister to Port au Prince. But she is waking up- the new ‘boardwalk’ along the sea is beautiful with its wide mosaic path beautiful in the glow of street lamps. The town square is being renovated to provide a hang out for friends. My friends and I stayed with the family of my driver and also visited their home in the mountains of Jacmel. Our gracious host, Lucienne fed us spaghetti for breakfast and kreyol chicken for dinner; we received fruit fresh off the trees to more than satisfy our thirst- the sweet tang of grapefruit called chadduk, juicy little mandarins, the creamy white flesh of corosol and coconut milk- after the hike up the mountain trail.

To wash off the heat of the hike, we bathed in the cooling waters of Basin Bleu.  Basin Bleu is actually a series of 3 fresh water ponds reflecting a true aqua from the sky. A guide takes you along the 15 minute trail to the final pond filled by the rushing waterfall cascading over the rock walls surrounding the grotto. My first visit to Bassin Bleu years ago, I was too afraid to jump from the rocks; apparently, I’ve become more adventurous because I jumped (not from the top of course) but it seemed high enough. 

The next day we went to the river to wash the van and bathe in the river- a totally Haitian experience. The river thought relatively small was just warm enough and fast enough to lay in and feel as if you were receiving a relaxing massage. We did block out the fact that there were probably more cars being cleaned, laundry and bodies being washed up river from us and just reveled in the moment.  The afternoon was spent at a beach with the local crowd, sellers of jewelry, and wooden carvings wanting us to bargain for a good price as we dined on the fresh fish, piklis and banane washed down with Prestige and Barbincourt. Later we shopped downtown for some of the paper mache masks that Jacmel is famous for. 

The third day of our road trip took us to Aquin for the annual Jazz Music Festival. We rented a couple of tents, relaxed on the beach before exploring the city square in search of dinner and then spent the evening enjoying some great music including Boukman Eksperyans.  Although the tents were not on the beach as they were the first time I came to Aquin, the sleeping mats were much better, a slightly more comfortable but less romantic than sleeping on the beach 20 feet from the sea. 

The next day we returned to Port au Prince, early enough to avoid the Rara bands in Leogane and to spend the late afternoon relaxing and reminiscing about our fun experience. 

Christmas time

December 2013

December: 

I moved back into the guesthouse November 30- No electricity - except the very long extension cord that connects a lamp from the clinic. No appliances connected in the kitchen, I have a small refrigerator in the clinic. I woke up early to prepare breakfast of cereal and tea before the clinic came alive at 7 am. Once everyone left for the day, I made dinner- salad or sandwich. Kind of like camping really. The guesthouse wasn’t  quite finished but as we were expecting board members and guests to arrive December 4th, the pressure was on. The staff came back to help clean- unfortunately for them, each time they cleaned something, the workers came back to create another ‘mess’. It had to be very frustrating for them but they were in good spirits and excited to prepare the new house for guests!  We did it with no time to spare- electricity connected on the 4th along with the gas line for the appliances. A trip to the store to buy food, unpacking furniture, beds made.  I don’t believe our guests really comprehended the amount of energy and work that took place in those 9 days prior to their arrival. Our staff rocked it. Our guests were surprised and pleased despite no art work on the walls. 

From the 9th, when everyone left, I was alone again. I discovered I don’t need a big kitchen to prepare meals.  Also, I’m a bit spoiled having someone to cook for me most of the time and I need to learn how to use a gas stove which I’ve always wanted. 

I met the owner of a little restaurant that was planning a Christmas party for children. He invited some of our ‘patients’ to participate if I would purchase the appropriate gifts. Since I had been given a donation for this purpose, I went Christmas shopping. The first place we went to was ‘out of my league’ price wise but at the second place, we went to I was able to purchase 10 gifts for the 10 children chosen by our staff. Our hope was that our children with some disability would participate with the other children in the games however I heard afterwards that only 3 of the children came with their parents but they did not integrate well.  I don’t know the age of the children that came or their disability but perhaps that was the reason. Integration is a key issue here for children and adults of all ages. Since the earthquake, everyone is related to, friends with or knows someone that survived an amputation of some degree. This type of handicap has certainly become less stigmatizing and with the number of persons with spinal cord injuries surviving, even as difficult as it can possibly be, most are finding they can be somewhat independent and continue to return to their communities with less fear. 

Its clear that we must continue to bring awareness and integration as well as accessibility so that all may participate in community activities and feel comfortable in doing so. 

When that happens, it will be a Merry Christmas to all.