The wintry scene looking out at my river from my warm & lazy perch inside
Things seem to be firming up for my arrival in Haiti. I'll work with Andy on the Builders without Borders Ti Kay Pay project, hopefully with some plastering & eventually the earthen floor, before heading out with Ospri to Deslandes & Verrettes, to do some plastering on the compressed earth block school. I hope to spend a lot of time within these communities being immersed in the culture, and planning the curriculum for their building school. My friend Ian is planning on joining me in March sometime, at which point in time we'll build an outdoor composting toilet facility, hopefully working in conjunction with the humanure experts I met at Grassroots.
If I find myself with nothing to do, I can either volunteer with Grassroots, or spend some time in one of the village schools teaching. Apparently there is a guitar in the house in the Deslandes area, so I hope to be able to play music while there. I didn't see any live music, or hear much spontaneous music last time, apart from a couple of days when Annio or Jean-Louis would sing traditional songs.
I have had a generous offer of the loan of a digital mini camcorder, from my former colleague and owner of Power House Digital Video, but need to really look at my luggage (oh yes, should pack- hmmm, work clothes, tent, tool belt, rain gear, first aid kit, meds, trowels, tools...yikes, not sure I'll have room) to see if I can squeeze it in. It sure would be fabulous to be able to get some video footage of the natural builds, in addition to some interviews with the folks I'll be staying with.
I feel pretty fortunate in terms of the connections I have in the natural building world in Haiti- from BWB (Martin Hammer & Andy Mueller) to EBNetwork (Bruce King and Tim Owen-Kennedy), Kleiworks (Kevin Rowell & Valerie), and the Natural Building Engineers Group (Anthony Spick, Kenny Cryer, Tim Krahn). There is a lot to be learned and shared about building with locally available materials, such as clay, straw, bamboo, plastic bottles and rubble. I hope that collectively, we can work with the Haitian people to enable them to build more sustainable, durable and affordable dwellings. The plywood & vinyl clad buildings being built with imported materials won't be accessible to the Haitian population once the international financial aid is done, given the high cost of imported lumber ($33USD for a sheet of plywood...for the unemployed, or someone who only makes a couple of dollars an hour, this isn't really feasible!), but if the tools can be passed on for building properly reinforced buildings with available materials, this could be more sustainable.
I ordered a creole phrase & grammar book which I've been reading at night before sleep, which is really well organised and helpful for the stage I'm at with my creole. I really look forward to putting it into practise! I'm hoping to learn some songs while I'm there.
In the meantime I do have a long list of correspendence and business to attend to before flying away, tweet tweet. I generally have a hard time asking for help, but this trip has allowed me to open up in that way and to allow others to help me- for which I am truly thankful. Karen Soltan (from the Peterborough area) has been hugely helpful in offerring to spearhead sending out press releases and aid in the collection of musical instruments and donations of tools for these communities in the Artibonite Valley, and Ainslie Kennedy has also generously offerred to help with collection closer to the Ottawa area. I have had offers of personal financial support from friends and family, which will really help me during the time I am in Haiti. I have started a page on Facebook (Instruments for Change for Haiti) which I will update to include information on how people can donate instruments or tools.
I am learning that by sharing the load, first of all, it is way easier on oneself, but also, it's so much easier to have something grow quickly. In the past, I have tried to do everything on my own, which works, but in a much more insular and isolated way. I've had really helpful suggestions for where to send press releases, and I'm honoured that so many people seem excited about the idea of spreading the word. Music has always been an integral part of my life, so being able to have other people as enthused as me about contributing instruments (or money for instruments) for a music school in Haiti is truly exciting. The arts are such an important expressive vehicle for humans, and I know that the lives of both the children and the adults in these communities will be forever enriched by the musical experiences they will have.
I feel really fortunate to be able to return to Haiti and be able to combine my love of natural building, music, teaching, and learning a language, all in one go. This will surely be an enriching experience for me, one which I hope will be symbiotic for the communites I will be involved with. I am also thankful to Janet for putting Ospri & I in touch with one another- Ospri, with the vision who has been working hard in these communities in the Artinbonite Valley for several years now, who has been assembling the right 'team' of people to help fulfill these tangible dreams.
And so, from the comfort of my most beautiful hundred ++ year old home, off I go to attack my list of things to do with gusto. I'm safe, warm, and quite content. Am feeling quite blessed, actually!
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