Deslandes

Hiking down the trail towards the river. This photo can't quite capture the beauty!

Waiting for the boat to come get us

Jean Baptiste, Mike, and Ospri being ferried across the Artibonite to Deslandes

Being in Deslandes was such a contrast to my time here in PAP. There is constant radio noise, plastic burning in the garbage, traffic noise, dogs barking, and roosters crowing all day and all night long. Oh, and I live in a concrete compound. Deslandes is set near the mountains, a short walk away from the Artibonite River, with lots of lush growth, and no burning garbage smells. Actually, in one of my walks, I saw a pit where they were making charcoal for cooking.

There isn't hydro onsite ( but two houses have solar panels for charging computers, etc.),nor is there any indoor plumbing, but there are pipes bringing source water into the village, and two taps from which to draw, one of which is in my backyard, which means I meet a lot of villagers as they come and go on the water trek. It's amazing how much time and effort go into simply getting water for the household...and when we got to the other side of the Artibonite River, it was astounding how many people were drawing what you can only assume to be drinking water from the river. Just downstream from that point is where the cholera outbreak occurred. I can only hope they are taking it home to filter and or boil it?!

Some kids in the backyard collecting l'eau de source to take home

Laden down with goods for market. She said I could take her photo. The kids I was with wanted me to take this photo.

When we were leaving Deslandes, I helped a woman and her mother unload the boat with their market purchases, and load up the donkey- no easy feat! The tubs are really heavy, and you have to hold the rope to keep the donkey from taking off. The young boy from the boat helped too- everyone is so strong. The women told another group of people who came by the river that the 'blanc' had helped them unload their wares, and everyone was so pleased with the blanc! Imagine!

The school kids are just delightful- especially the really young ones. They love touching the white person's skin, and are so darned cute! The older ones are quite intested in being photographed, so I am taking tons of photos. I've arranged to do presentations in each of the classrooms about Canada, about natural building, and maybe I'll do music too. I'm going to prepare a slide show that we can project, so the students can see themselves on screen. It's hard to imagine in our daily lives, but most of these people have never seen themselves in photo, digital or not. I always ask permission before taking a photo, and am many times, I choose not to ask, but rather, carry those images in my mind.

Some of the cute little tykes I was mentioning. Note the blackboard with holes in it...

I am going back to Deslandes, likely Saturday, and will stay for an extended period of time. I have offerred to do team building with the construction crew. Their young site supervisor isn't really supervising effectively, and the guys are often just standing around. With broken creole, mime, and by making jokes, I was able to make fun of the fact that only two guys were working on the wall one day, while 8 people sat watching.




One of my favourite nights to date was in Deslandes. Jeff & I were sitting on the porch of the house we're staying at (it's just a block of bedrooms) and I heard choral singing- there is a music teacher who was working with some of the villagers on some choral pieces. They sang an amazing version of Amazing Grace in creole. After dinner, we invited them over, and there was music for the next couple of hours. I look forward to more music when I return.

Although some folks understand French, I will make a great effort to speak in Creole when I return. How else will I learn?!

I look forward to meeting more of the villagers, and to being immersed, hopefully in a meaningful way, into the community.

The back of my humble abode. Clobard lives here. My room is around the corner. Home, sweet home!