We arrived in Shada at about noon yesterday and spent most of the day there. The children painted the inside of their new community center. There were at least 35 children there and they did a fantastic job of sharing the brushes. The children’s center is a collaboration between Madame Bwa, the unofficial matriarch of Shada, an SOIL/SOL. (I will describe the difference and connection between these two organizations at a later date or please see www.oursoil.org). Madam Bwa is incredible! She created a women’s development organization and a children’s organization with over 100 youngsters involved. The community center consists of a single second floor room that is about 12’ by 12’. The steps to the room are narrow, steep and there is no railing (and that’s a generous description). Next to the steps and doorway into the center is a rooftop used as overflow. The rooftop is concrete (most things in Shada are made of concrete or an amalgamation of cast-off materials) and it has no railing, no walls around its edges. I know many parents in the States who would send their young child across a busy street alone before sending them up these stairs to this small room and its rooftop patio. But this is how everyone in Shada lives. People’s homes are literally smashed up against each other (and I don’t mean like in New Orleans, San Francisco, Philadelphia), most families live in one or two rooms. No one has electricity or running water- no one. Shada is near what used to be a mangrove swamp; now the water is filled with garbage. And still I saw boys fishing from the shore.
I met a 14 year old girl who speaks some Spanish. How excited I was to speak to someone beyond Hello! Happy New Year! How are you? What is your name? How old are you? Thank you! She is learning Spanish in school, she told me. I believe this really changed the course of my day. One thing she said, however, hurt me very badly. She said, “Yo quiero agua,” as I hold a cold water in my hand. I tell her I can not give her water and not the other children and that there is not enough for everyone. I hate this. I hate this more than I have ever hated anything. I want to give her my water. Of course, I do. But I don’t. I can’t.
In fact, I want to give everything and anything to these children. But I know that small things and a little money will not drastically change things for the people of Shada. I am glad that Shada is the worst slum in Cap Haitien… because I can not imagine a more distressing place. I heard a Haitian saying yesterday: There are two flowers in Haiti, the flower of misery and the flower of dust.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Day 1
At 4:18am, I was the first to arrive at the Lynx Air counter. I was twelve minutes early for my 4:30am check-in and there was not a soul in sight. Just then, a cab pulled up outside and many bags were unloaded. A woman walks in and reads my confusion and says happily, “Cap Haitien?” Yes, I say.
Her name is Debbie and I immediately like her. Her husband is Rick. They are missionaries and have lived in Haiti for 8 years. We talk until our 6:30 departure and a bit on the plane. It is a tiny plane, the smallest I’ve ever been on, perhaps. And it’s loud. The plane ride itself, from Fort Lauderdale to Cap Haitian was amazing. Flying low over the ocean at sunrise was like a very slow movie of color and texture.
We arrive early and my new friends insist on delivering me to the SOIL office. The Haitian pastor who picks them up knows SOIL and Sasha. We arrive at SOIL as Sasha is leaving to pick me up. She is thrilled that I found my way, though I feel I did no such thing. In the SOIL house/office, the talk is about the power going out the night before. Without fans to move the air, it is brutally hot inside and most folks slept on the balcony or the roof.
What happened next is sort of a blur due to lack of sleep, too much caffeine and serious over-stimulation. Cap Haitian is full of movement, people everywhere, walking, riding a bike, a “moto” or driving. There are no street signs, traffic signs, stop lights and navigating the streets is an experience itself. Similar though to other places I have been in Latin America. I was told that if your horn and your brakes are broken and you can only afford to fix one, you fix the horn.
Four of us traveled across town on moto taxis, two passengers per moto, to meet the Jolissaint family. We talk for a while, already I see that everyone loves Sasha (SOIL’s co-counder). After a search for the keys and a few adjustments under the hood, six of us leave for Milot, a town not far from Cap. There we meet most of the SOIL/SOL staff, Josepha, Bobo, Chantal. We sit in a circle and introduce ourselves. The staff talks about their role in the organizations and answers questions. They also thank us for coming to Haiti and tell us that we are not foreigners in Haiti, we are Haitians. They are terrific, intelligent and truly revolutionary people and I look forward to working with them over the next ten days.
We get a tour of the new SOIL garden, which is really more of a food forest- so cool! We eat grapefruit and sweet oranges off trees and suck the fruit of cocoa beans. The seed or bean is red and surrounded by a bit of fleshy white fruit. Children follow us everywhere and we pick up more and lose some along the way. We visit the Mystic Tree of Milot, a tree over 200 years old. This means that tree existed during the Haitian Revolution and as it has historically been a community meeting site, perhaps plans for the revolt were laid there.
Next we meet with one of Milot’s Mayors, a woman named Nica. She has a nine month old son who weighs 25 pounds; he is sleeping when we arrive. Nica traveled to the U.S. at the end of her pregnancy and was able to enter the country unnoticed- apparently very pregnant Haitian woman are not allowed entry to the U.S. But Nica did it and her fat and handsome son is a U.S. citizen.
We leave to return to Cap Haitian and come to a road block along the way. We have no license plates. Some things in Haiti take a very, very- even impossibly long time it seems. Sasha has told us she has been pulled over many times and always been allowed to leave but she doesn’t want to push her luck. Our papers and Sasha’s license are in order but the policeman sees we have no plates. He asks why. A second officer approaches and recognizes one of our two Haitian passengers, Rosemond Jollisaint. He is a seventeen year old musican and somewhat of a Haitian celebrity (look for his videos on YouTube!). The second officer says in Kreyol, “Are you a Jollisaint? Rosemond Jollisaint?” Yes, yes, says Rosemond. The officers looks at him suspiciously and says, “I heard your last school grades were not so good. What’s the trouble?” Rosemond blushes, Sasha and the officers and Rosemond’s brother, Wisnel all laugh and we are allowed to pass. Traveling with local celebrities in any town or country is always a good thing. Bon bagay!
We relax and talk upon our return to the house. I spend forty-five minutes on a blog post only to lose it. After dinner we watch Cry Freedom which I have not seen since it was made in 1987. It is about Steve Biko who is a hero of mine. He was a black South African journalist, writer and activist who was murdered by South African police in 1977 for his rejection of the apartheid system. I cry at the final scene like I have not cried in some time. It depicts the 1976 rally in Soweto where tens of thousands of black school children marched through the streets; they were refusing to learn Afrikaans, the language of their oppressors. 700 children died and thousands were injured. After the movie, I brush my teeth and go to my shared bedroom.
It took some work to rig a fan up to the middle of three bunks where I am sleeping. Just as we get fans directed as the three of us sleeping in the room, the power goes out and we all laugh. It is after eleven and I woke at 2:30am. I don’t even care about the fans, I am glad to be in bed.
I will likely wait until I return home before adding photos but we’ll see. The electrical and internet issues are ongoing, so we’ll see. Today we will visit Shada, the poorest of Cap Haitian’s slums. There we will start our tomato project, paint the SOIL technology center there and plant seeds with children.
Mwen renmen Ayiti!
Peace.
Her name is Debbie and I immediately like her. Her husband is Rick. They are missionaries and have lived in Haiti for 8 years. We talk until our 6:30 departure and a bit on the plane. It is a tiny plane, the smallest I’ve ever been on, perhaps. And it’s loud. The plane ride itself, from Fort Lauderdale to Cap Haitian was amazing. Flying low over the ocean at sunrise was like a very slow movie of color and texture.
We arrive early and my new friends insist on delivering me to the SOIL office. The Haitian pastor who picks them up knows SOIL and Sasha. We arrive at SOIL as Sasha is leaving to pick me up. She is thrilled that I found my way, though I feel I did no such thing. In the SOIL house/office, the talk is about the power going out the night before. Without fans to move the air, it is brutally hot inside and most folks slept on the balcony or the roof.
What happened next is sort of a blur due to lack of sleep, too much caffeine and serious over-stimulation. Cap Haitian is full of movement, people everywhere, walking, riding a bike, a “moto” or driving. There are no street signs, traffic signs, stop lights and navigating the streets is an experience itself. Similar though to other places I have been in Latin America. I was told that if your horn and your brakes are broken and you can only afford to fix one, you fix the horn.
Four of us traveled across town on moto taxis, two passengers per moto, to meet the Jolissaint family. We talk for a while, already I see that everyone loves Sasha (SOIL’s co-counder). After a search for the keys and a few adjustments under the hood, six of us leave for Milot, a town not far from Cap. There we meet most of the SOIL/SOL staff, Josepha, Bobo, Chantal. We sit in a circle and introduce ourselves. The staff talks about their role in the organizations and answers questions. They also thank us for coming to Haiti and tell us that we are not foreigners in Haiti, we are Haitians. They are terrific, intelligent and truly revolutionary people and I look forward to working with them over the next ten days.
We get a tour of the new SOIL garden, which is really more of a food forest- so cool! We eat grapefruit and sweet oranges off trees and suck the fruit of cocoa beans. The seed or bean is red and surrounded by a bit of fleshy white fruit. Children follow us everywhere and we pick up more and lose some along the way. We visit the Mystic Tree of Milot, a tree over 200 years old. This means that tree existed during the Haitian Revolution and as it has historically been a community meeting site, perhaps plans for the revolt were laid there.
Next we meet with one of Milot’s Mayors, a woman named Nica. She has a nine month old son who weighs 25 pounds; he is sleeping when we arrive. Nica traveled to the U.S. at the end of her pregnancy and was able to enter the country unnoticed- apparently very pregnant Haitian woman are not allowed entry to the U.S. But Nica did it and her fat and handsome son is a U.S. citizen.
We leave to return to Cap Haitian and come to a road block along the way. We have no license plates. Some things in Haiti take a very, very- even impossibly long time it seems. Sasha has told us she has been pulled over many times and always been allowed to leave but she doesn’t want to push her luck. Our papers and Sasha’s license are in order but the policeman sees we have no plates. He asks why. A second officer approaches and recognizes one of our two Haitian passengers, Rosemond Jollisaint. He is a seventeen year old musican and somewhat of a Haitian celebrity (look for his videos on YouTube!). The second officer says in Kreyol, “Are you a Jollisaint? Rosemond Jollisaint?” Yes, yes, says Rosemond. The officers looks at him suspiciously and says, “I heard your last school grades were not so good. What’s the trouble?” Rosemond blushes, Sasha and the officers and Rosemond’s brother, Wisnel all laugh and we are allowed to pass. Traveling with local celebrities in any town or country is always a good thing. Bon bagay!
We relax and talk upon our return to the house. I spend forty-five minutes on a blog post only to lose it. After dinner we watch Cry Freedom which I have not seen since it was made in 1987. It is about Steve Biko who is a hero of mine. He was a black South African journalist, writer and activist who was murdered by South African police in 1977 for his rejection of the apartheid system. I cry at the final scene like I have not cried in some time. It depicts the 1976 rally in Soweto where tens of thousands of black school children marched through the streets; they were refusing to learn Afrikaans, the language of their oppressors. 700 children died and thousands were injured. After the movie, I brush my teeth and go to my shared bedroom.
It took some work to rig a fan up to the middle of three bunks where I am sleeping. Just as we get fans directed as the three of us sleeping in the room, the power goes out and we all laugh. It is after eleven and I woke at 2:30am. I don’t even care about the fans, I am glad to be in bed.
I will likely wait until I return home before adding photos but we’ll see. The electrical and internet issues are ongoing, so we’ll see. Today we will visit Shada, the poorest of Cap Haitian’s slums. There we will start our tomato project, paint the SOIL technology center there and plant seeds with children.
Mwen renmen Ayiti!
Peace.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Two weeks out.
Two weeks from my departure date and I have raised $1,280 for SOIL! Donations have arrived from Hartford, Connecticut, Napa, California, New Orleans, Louisiana, St. Simon's Island, Georgia, Orangeburg, South Carolina and Brooklyn, New York!
I am stunned at folks' generosity especially when I consider the economy and the time of year. Thank you to everyone, friends and family and friends of friends and family, who donated. This money should go far in helping with the urban tomato project and household garden installation.
Thanks, too, to all of you who took the time to write to offer emotional/spiritual/political support. Your kind words are definitely appreciated. It started with my husband, Michael, who was the first person I spoke to about the trip. He said, "You should go". How many people want their partners to go to a dangerous, impoverished island country alone? If everyone thought this was a crazy idea, I might have decided against it but encouragement from near and far has made this trip happen.
I have all my plane tickets in order, my new passport arrived, I am on schedule with Typhoid and Malaria pills. I admit I am a little behind in my reading. I spent this past weekend wrapping gifts for Christmas. Michael and I made Meyer Lemon Marmalade and sent out six or so jars to points south and east. It felt really good to send homemade gifts.
I am looking for seed donations for my garden projects in Haiti; I'd love to find seeds for tomatoes that don't mind heat. Garden for the Environment, an incredible organization here in San Francisco (www.gardenfortheenvironment.org) has offered some seeds but I won't pick them up until January 2nd.
Also, I have purchased a ton of crayons, markers, hi-bounce balls and hair bands (each for $1 or less). These items will be gifts for the children I meet in Haiti. If you would like to send small toys or school supplies to children in Haiti- let me know!
Peace. Merry Christmas. Happy Solstice. Happy Hanukah. Happy New Year.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Preparations & Vaccinations.
This morning I visited the San Francisco Department of Public Health's Travel Clinic. I have a fairly high tolerance for pain but I really hate getting shots. Needles freak me out. The clinic has a three-foot long plastic needle behind the reception desk, which didn't help my uneasiness, along with a sign that says, "Do something good for your country: LEAVE", which did.
The women at reception and the nurse who administered my shots were all very helpful, friendly and kind. I had heard good things about the clinic- and they are all true. The nurse talked me through all of the necessary and recommended vaccinations, inquired about the work I will be doing in Haiti and was altogether fantastically pleasant and smart. I promised to send her a link to this blog.
Tomorrow I start Typhoid pills and I need to pick up Malaria pills this week. My new passport should arrive early next week. I still need to purchase a ticket from San Francisco to Ft. Lauderdale and expect to do so this week. Otherwise, I think I'm on schedule.
Here's what I am reading right now:
The White Man's Burden: Why the West's efforts to aid the rest have done so much ill and so little good -William Easterly
The Uses of Haiti -Paul Farmer
The End of Poverty -Jeffrey D. Sachs
Creole Made Easy -Wally R. Turnbull
A Small Place (fiction) -Jamaica Kincaid (I read this 6+ years ago and am rereading it now)
Krik? Krak! (short stories) -Edwidge Danticat (I have read this book as well, but some time ago. If you haven't heard of Edwidge Danticat, I highly recommend her books especially The Farming of Bones. She is a brilliant Haitian-American writer).
The Black Diaspora: Five centuries of the Black experience outside Africa -Ronald Segal
I better get back to it! More soon.
Peace.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Three weeks out.
I leave San Francisco in exactly three weeks. I'll spend an evening in Florida before my 4:30am check-in at the Ft. Lauderdale airport. I bought my plane ticket to Haiti last Sunday and sent my first email about the trip on Monday. I have so far received phenomenal emotional support from friends and family near and far.
I have also raised $400 for S.O.I.L. and expect more donations in the coming days. I could say that I am floored by the generous donations I have received but, honestly, I'm not. The people whose names are on those checks are some of the kindest and most generous people I have the pleasure of knowing. I hope I am as grateful as they are giving.
I met a woman today who has twice traveled to Haiti and has made several short documentaries about Haiti and a short film about S.O.I.L. She is in the process of making another film and will visit Haiti again in March. Her name is Jennifer and I felt that we could have talked for hours and hours about Haiti and many, many things. Our meeting was serious and heartfelt but easy and certainly not our last.
I have a ton of preparation for my trip. So, until then.
I wish you peace and joy.
My letter.
Dear friends,
Recently, I read a short article in National Geographic about Haiti that stuck with me, and that has lead me to write this letter to you. The article was called, "Dirt Poor" and spoke of the heavy deforestation and erosion that has left the impoverished island nation without a way to feed its people. A modern staple in the typical Haitian diet consists of a cake made from clay, salt and shortening. The 2008 hurricane season left an already infrastructure-poor country utterly devastated; footage from Haiti in September left me speechless, unsettled, angry.
I am writing to ask for your help. I will be traveling to Haiti for eleven days in January 2009. I will be working as a volunteer with the organization S.O.I.L. (Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods). SOIL is a non-profit run entirely by volunteers dedicated to protecting soil resources, empowering communities and transforming waste into resources in Haiti. SOIL was co-founded by Sasha Kramer, ecologist and human rights advocate. Sasha received her Ph.D. in Ecology from Stanford University and is currently an adjunct professor at the University of Miami, though she spends most of her time in Haiti.
I will be traveling with a group of students from the University of Miami while in Haiti. The trip's focus is Sustainability Science and we will work on a number of projects including the construction of an ecological sanitation system. We will visit the rural town of Milot, Shada, an overcrowded slum in the city of Cap-Haitien and the Village of Labadi, where Royal Caribbean Cruiselines has a private beach but the people live, out of the view of tourists, in abject poverty.
Because of my particular skills and interests, Sasha has asked me to help with an urban tomato cultivation project in Shada and to work with individual families to construct household gardens. I am passionate about gardening and have been gardening for more than 12 years. To be able to use my knowledge to help families gain some small bit of independence through local food production is extraordinary and I am thankful that I have the skills and experience to do so.
I am paying for all of my own expenses relating to traveling to, from and within Haiti, with the generous support of my husband, Michael, and my family. However, SOIL operates entirely from individual donations and the organization's needs are many. I am hoping to raise $2,500 for materials for the urban tomato and household garden projects. I leave for Haiti on January 5th- less than a month away. A donation to S.O.I.L. in support of these projects would be appreciated more than words can express. Would you please consider making a gift of $50 to $100, if that is within your budget, or any amount that you are able to contribute? 80% of Haitians live on less than $1 a day.
Below are links to information about Haiti, SOIL and the University of Miami's Sustainable Science in Haiti Program.
Donations should be sent to me at the address below, but, please, make your check payable to SOIL.
I thank you and wish you and yours a peaceful and joyous holiday season!
Sincerely,
Corinne
True joy comes from knowing what you are doing, why you are doing it, and doing it wholeheartedly. -Sakyong Mipham
S.O.I.L. website:
Inside a Failed State - Haiti, 23 minute video:
Short National Geographic article:
U. of Miami, Sustainable Science in Haiti Program:
Wikipedia:
Haiti Food Crisis, 8 minute video:
Strange Things, 3 minute video:
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