I decided to blog about my first trip to Haiti while I was there. Only two problems - I didn't have a computer and the power was sporadic (I thought that was pretty cool!). So I did it the old fashioned way, I journaled. Notebook and pen. Scribbling furiously whenever I wasn't mopping sweat from my face, bouncing around on the roads, taking pictures, trying to speak French and learn some Haitian Creole, eat some of the best Carribean food or lounging in the pool for hours (yes, hours!) on end.
But what to call my blog? A friend came up with the best title, "Seeds for Life." After all, this first trip was about teaching the Haitians the principles of composting and Square Foot Gardening.
I happened to see the phrase "A flower grows through the dirt before it blooms" on a church sign. Perfect subtitle for the blog! And boy does that ever fit the situation in Haiti to a "T." Those poor people are pushing their way through the dirt and dung of life trying to survive.
My hope is they bloom one day.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Contrasts
My bags are packed, I'm ready to go.... I can't help but think of all the contrasts I'll encounter on the trip:
- weather Currently it is 2 degrees F. above zero with a -11 degree wind chill; in Haiti the high is 78 degrees with a low of 69. There is about 5" of powder snow on the ground, none in Haiti.
- food Well-stocked shelves at the grocery store, tons of variety of just about anything you'd want to eat. Haiti? Rice and beans. Maybe your only meal of the day. If you are lucky.
- dogs I gave my pampered pooch a pat on the head today; she all snuggled in her blanket. Dogs in Haiti are left to scavenge for food, and from the looks of their protruding ribs, they don't appear to find much to eat. We hit a dog once, it cried out in pain and limped off to the side of the road. I only saw two dogs that I would consider to be lucky. They were being led around by a piece of chain link, the kind you hang a swing from on a swingset. At least the guys on the other end of the "leash" were keeping them out of the way of our truck. Oh, and I saw sacks of dog food at the American store. Which lucky dogs would get to eat that? Not the scrawny dead dog I saw lying in the street, most likely hit by a car.
- clothes I buy clothes for my Haiti trips at thrift stores. I'm picky - it'd better fit, zippers working and all buttons in place. No suspicious odors or stains. In Haiti, the clothes may or may not fit, might be missing one or all buttons and zippers, boys sometimes wear dresses because that's all they have. All body parts are covered. Sometimes.
- medical care Call ahead, make an appt., pull up in front of a shiny, clean, modern building. Then I have 15 minutes with the doctor and access to whatever care I need. Flashback to the hospital in Haiti I visited: empty medicine vials strewn on the ground, crowded clinics and not everyone was seen, people begging for funds from us to pay for medical care, animals roaming the hospital wards. Sanitary? Hardly.
- roads The only ruts and bumps and bounces I experienced while driving today were from the snow and ice. Stay in the tracks made by the cars in front of you and you weren't likely to get stuck in the snow. In Haiti, you constantly zig and zag all over the place dodging pot holes that would make a car parts salesman squeal with delight, if the holes didn't outright total your truck first.
- water Anytime I want it, cold fresh tap water. I can even drink from my garden hose. Not so in Haiti. Better make sure you are drinking the filtered, bottled water from the Coca-Cola plant. Or if you are feeling chancey, go ahead and buy one of those little bags of water. It's only been handled by a billion dirty hands before landing in yours.
- weather Currently it is 2 degrees F. above zero with a -11 degree wind chill; in Haiti the high is 78 degrees with a low of 69. There is about 5" of powder snow on the ground, none in Haiti.
- food Well-stocked shelves at the grocery store, tons of variety of just about anything you'd want to eat. Haiti? Rice and beans. Maybe your only meal of the day. If you are lucky.
- dogs I gave my pampered pooch a pat on the head today; she all snuggled in her blanket. Dogs in Haiti are left to scavenge for food, and from the looks of their protruding ribs, they don't appear to find much to eat. We hit a dog once, it cried out in pain and limped off to the side of the road. I only saw two dogs that I would consider to be lucky. They were being led around by a piece of chain link, the kind you hang a swing from on a swingset. At least the guys on the other end of the "leash" were keeping them out of the way of our truck. Oh, and I saw sacks of dog food at the American store. Which lucky dogs would get to eat that? Not the scrawny dead dog I saw lying in the street, most likely hit by a car.
- clothes I buy clothes for my Haiti trips at thrift stores. I'm picky - it'd better fit, zippers working and all buttons in place. No suspicious odors or stains. In Haiti, the clothes may or may not fit, might be missing one or all buttons and zippers, boys sometimes wear dresses because that's all they have. All body parts are covered. Sometimes.
- medical care Call ahead, make an appt., pull up in front of a shiny, clean, modern building. Then I have 15 minutes with the doctor and access to whatever care I need. Flashback to the hospital in Haiti I visited: empty medicine vials strewn on the ground, crowded clinics and not everyone was seen, people begging for funds from us to pay for medical care, animals roaming the hospital wards. Sanitary? Hardly.
- roads The only ruts and bumps and bounces I experienced while driving today were from the snow and ice. Stay in the tracks made by the cars in front of you and you weren't likely to get stuck in the snow. In Haiti, you constantly zig and zag all over the place dodging pot holes that would make a car parts salesman squeal with delight, if the holes didn't outright total your truck first.
- water Anytime I want it, cold fresh tap water. I can even drink from my garden hose. Not so in Haiti. Better make sure you are drinking the filtered, bottled water from the Coca-Cola plant. Or if you are feeling chancey, go ahead and buy one of those little bags of water. It's only been handled by a billion dirty hands before landing in yours.
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