My musings: quiet weekends, traveller's diarrhea and lifers

Well, it's Sunday, and I was awakened by several loudspeaker church services- lots of singing, and then that kind of 'yelling-preaching' thing that drives me crazy. That was at 6:00am- not as bad as last year on Christmas day when it started about 4:30am. As Annio said the other day, pastors in Haiti never get tired- which I found comical. There are services all day long, or at random times, anyway- Jean-Louis & Annio said they don't actually post the times, the pastor just shows up and makes noise, and people go to church. I'm sure it's more organised than that, but then again...maybe not!

These containers have been reconfigured to provide nice sleeping quarters with some office space. 

Containers, containers and more containers. 

 I'm sitting here at an almost deserted base camp- it's the weekend, and people tend to go off and have adventures, especially the long term volunteers who get close to burn out without such outings. We worked yesterday, so didn't join in on any of the fun, but a group of folks (including Chad & Emma from last year) went to Jacmel for a get-away. Today another group of folks went to the beach, and I was invited to go, but alas, traveller's illness has struck. It's nothing serious- the expected diarrhea and a nauseous stomach, but easier to lay low and let the immodium do its thing. So, once again, I missed a trip to the beach. I'm not much of one for swimming or for beaches either, but when you're on base camp (which is quite a concrete compound), any outing is usually interesting.

A snapshot of an excavation for an experimental type of building, Ubuntu blocks, which is essentially taking plastic garbage and making bales from it. Note Corinne the goat hanging around. Haiti Communitére is surrounded by the block wall that you see here, with barbed wire & broken glass on top of the walls. You see this everywhere in cities here.


 I'm told that one of the tent camps near the airport has been evacuated (Jean-Louis told us that the government paid each family a sum of between 2,000-4,000 Haitian dollars. Conversion rates- multiply by 5 to get gourdes, which makes 10,000-20,000 gourdes; convert to American dollars, and you get between $247-495 USD. I am now questioning whether that is the real sum he told us- if so, it's nothing! Jean Louis pays 5000 Haitian dollars (about $619 USD) for rent for a year...so if this is the sum that was given to families in tents, I wonder how many of them have gone out to rent a place elsewhere, when they also have to buy the basics to survive...it doesn't seem like enough money, nor like a solution to a housing crisis.  Also, apparently the rubble collection has improved as well. I'll see when we drive to Deslandes, as we will go by a few of the former tent communities.

I haven't even left the base camp since arriving, apart from going to the little money exchange kiosk down the laneway. I'm to go to Deslandes, likely tomorrow, to get the lay of the land before my group from Endeavour arrives. I want to ensure that we actually have tools, see what stage things are at, make sure we have accommodation ready for us, etc. I'm sure all is well, but I feel like I need to see it for myself before the gang comes.

Here's a shot of the workroom at HC- there are trusses up in between two shipping containers, and a pad that was poured last year when I was here. They are better equipped with tools here than in Deslandes (note chop saw, table saw), and there is electricity here too. In Deslandes there is a generator, but not always fuel...so hand tools are best. I look forward to seeing all of the donated tools we sent over in a shipping crate last year in Deslandes. 

Things are really different here at the base- for many reasons. The administration has changed, with some Haitian community members as part of the board, plus two of the key international workers who have been here since the beginning. The name change from Grassroots United to Haiti Communitère reflects that this is now an organisation working for Haitians, by Haitians- the country is no longer in a post disaster state (although the disorganisation is still quite similar to where it was prior to the earthquake, I'm sure). This way Grassroots United will continue to operate as a separate entity, to be ready to deploy a team of people to another country in need, post disaster.

I assumed that some folks, the ones I like to think of as the 'lifers' would be here forever, but as Sam (director) mentioned yesterday, the volunteers who are here now are doing different things, and those who were here right after the earthquake are necessarily of a different ilk. That makes good sense to me now- the ones who can jump in amidst chaos and help make order, who are creative and resourceful, who can prioritise jobs that need doing, are critical when a country is in a state of emergency, but afterwards, other volunteers can step in to carry the torch.

There are far less projects happening here on the base than in the past- might be the time of year...the bus hasn't been on the road lately (they're working out some paperwork issues), so once that is operational again, I imagine groups of volunteers will be able to continue doing projects in the city and outlying areas, if needed.

The bus is looking real swank now with the paintings on it. I need to find out more about it!

Ian, one of the volunteers who comes & goes from Haiti, is back again for a stretch of time. He invited a few of us to dinner last night, which was a real treat- Delph made a tasty salad, and Ian sauteed chilies, onions & garlic with potatoes, pan seared steaks, and this was topped with 3 bottles of very nice red wine- oh, what more could one want! It was nice to hang out with this small group of the 'older guard' for a private dinner at the café.

Delphine & Ton live in these dwellings on top of a container- with the Café in between them. This is where we ate our delicious dinner last night.