Toilets? Or lack thereof...

Deslandes, Haiti

February 24, 2011

I keep forgetting to talk about the dust, the grit, the dirt. I can’t seem to keep my fingernails clean- it’s embarrassing, really, in a culture that is so concerned with hygiene and appearance. You have to accept that everything- your clothes, hair, skin, computer, camera, knapsack- everything will be really dusty most of the time! Most of the roads are dirt roads, or trails, some with gravel or round boulders/stones on the them- one motorcycle ride, or tap tap ride, and you’re full of dust, for sure. I gave up feeling sorry for my computer, and occasionally wipe a layer of dust from it before using it again.

Yesterday after the long and complicated excursion trying to figure out where the composting toilets were to go, I felt a bit discouraged…given that for either the school or the community toilets, there isn’t running water nearby, so to have a handwashing station that is maintained is questionable. 

A school washroom facility in Verrettes. They had sheet metal over the holes. It's questionable whether the students even use these 'toilets'...they may just squat by the fence and do their business. 

In the community setting, the discussion got a bit heated, as the fellow there explained that at election time, the politicians always come by and promise running water for them- it’s a matter of tapping into a plumbed water system about 500 or so meters away, downhill. Apparently there’s enough pressure to do so, but alas! after the elections, every time the project is abandoned. Hmm, this must be a universal political ploy! So, of course, as I look at that project, knowing that no one in that area has a toilet, I get pumped up, and try to figure out how I can help fundraise both to bring water in, and to build toilets. We have funding for composting toilets, actually, but would also need maintenance assistance (someone has to buy toilet paper, which they don’t currently use, make sure there is soap & clean water to wash hands, and someone has to empty the buckets and put them into the compost bin, layering them properly. It remains to be seen how effective they will be. So far, follow through on projects in general that I’ve seen in Haiti seems to be pretty weak. Maybe the old fashioned latrine is the best idea for here.

Ospri's brothers have both dug the pits for traditional latrines at their homes, but haven't got the funds to build the traditional block walls. (Cement block outhouses are incredibly hot inside). So, light clay straw walls? Rammed earth? Less expensive in the end...

 When we were driving around looking at the various building sites yesterday, we drove through quite an exciting local market- oh, if only I dared pull out my camera! The colours, the sounds, the smells! Fresh produce, and big trucks unloading sacks of grain, and then we got to the potential toilet site, and had to drive through the section where women were selling charcoal. They were really dirty, looked quite poor, and pretty unhappy. Not a glamorous job, I would think. At these markets, most vendors are sitting on the ground with their produce or wares- I really don’t know how people survive, with the competition of commerce. Commerce must be the most common job in Haiti, but I wouldn’t imagine you make much money at it.

On the plus side, the construction crew are making progress with work habits, being on time, and they observe the little things I do and pick them up (like, cleaning the plaster off the floor at the base of the wall, using a hawk, etc.). These are things that Jeff would have shown them too, but you really have to work hard to break old habits. I think it’s better not to ‘tell’ them what to do, but rather, have them see a new technique and then try it out themselves.

Our motorcycle ride back here today was uneventful- most of the 1.5 hour journey is on the aforementioned dusty dirt roads, gravel trails, and footpaths. The biggest hazards are the chickens, goats, donkeys, cows, and other free range animals roaming around.

I keep forgetting to mention the clever thing they’ve done to keep goats out of gardens, and from coming onto other people’s propertly, Most people here have living cactus fences, and the goats wear a triangular wooden ‘necklace’ to keep them from going through the fences. It works well. The goats with their kids frolicking along behind them make me giggle every time I see them.

Today I went and helped Benitta (who makes all of our meals) do the dishes, and I realized that there wasn’t any drinking water nor water for hand washing for the kids at the school, so Benitta showed me where the filter for the water is, and where to get the handwashing water- I spent about an hour there- the filter is incredibly slow, and as soon as I would put the filtered water into the jug for drinking, it would almost instantly be drunk. And to get replacement water for filtering, or for washing up with, I had to wait in line- so much time is spent getting water, and for those who are lucky enough, filtering it for drinking. I’m going back into Verrettes tomorrow- at Hotel Tifa, we met up with a group of medical students who are in Haiti, and they have filters they are giving away to schools, so I’ll see if they can donate one to this school. Of course, then we have to figure out bringing it back here on the motorcycle! (I’m learning to travel very very lightly when I come back & forth on the moto, as it’s tricky to bring big loads.)

As with so many other Haitian women, I find Benitta beautiful!

The choir director is here tonight, and the choir is just about to start singing. I asked if I can sit in and he said yes- last Thursday, it was so lovely to sit on the porch of the house listening to the beautiful music.

So, off I go, to listen, and maybe even sing a tune or two.

Three of these wee ones live in the room next to mine; this is my regular 'gang of girls' who come and cling to me. I just love them!