01.25.09
Posted in BRCC SIFE Goes to LaGonave
at 9:10 pm
Looking into the hopeful, longing eyes of a young Haitian child as he pleads to come home with you- knowing that you will never fully comprehend the amount of pain and hardship he will endure when you must leave him behind.
Meeting Mr. Froto, a blind, elderly Haitian and seeing the 1/2 mile of uphill, downhill rocky terrain that he managed to climb to make it to the rectory to see his dear friend Dr. Linda during one of her few trips to the island.
Working side by side with the villagers in Zabricot while not being able to communicate a single sentence.
Riding around Port-au-Raquette on a motorcycle and seeing the villagers smiles and laughs as they shout “blanc! blanc!” seeing a site they had never seen before- 2 white people riding one of their motorcycles around their village.
The joy on Gail’s face when Rosemene took her for a donkey ride through Zabricot!
Being peed on by Beedja and laughing about it with the village women.
Reticulum in my soup.
Turning around and realizing that 50 children are following you…
The sunset over the Carribean Sea.
The poorhouse.
Hearing the last cries of the goat being slaughtered to feed you.
Walking from house to house, meeting families with the Cuban Doctor.
Watching women and children walk miles for one pale of water.
Heidi
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01.24.09
Posted in BRCC SIFE Goes to LaGonave
at 3:46 am
As all good things do we have come to the end and I now sit waiting for our 4 am push off on the trek back home that will most likely put us back in VA at our homes around 1-2 am tomorrow. It is a bitter sweet thing as I will miss all my friends here and the many small things that we don’t appreciate that are so vital to the lives of everyone here. More of it is I realize it will probably be some time before the opportunity for me to come again may not be for another many months if not years. I thought it would be easier to leave this year having done it all before and come back but it is still hard when they don’t really understand why I don’t know when the next time I’ll be back is. I have many friends I’ll miss and one especially attached little boy, Isaac, who just as last year followed my every step no matter what it was. He really wanted to take me by to meet his mom last night and after we ate I went walking around town through the dark past his and everyones house he knew trying to find her… it was sort of a fun little walk as we went all around town in the dark by myself and got to communicate with others passing by in the complete dark so that I was not seen as being a strange white American who is speaking their language 
I’ll miss it all, time seemed to stand still so that we accomplished lots every day yet our week flew by at the same time. I do look forward to our arrival home but only because I left loved ones behind that I wish to see and hope to bring along with me in future trips. I feel very grateful for the wonderful life I have and for the opportunities I have such as leaving home to come help those here in La Gonave have a better more full life. Anyways, back home we go… ~ Tommy
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01.23.09
Posted in BRCC SIFE Goes to LaGonave
at 10:53 pm
This morning at the school I realized that several of the some dozen or so kids thatwere tugging and pawing me were trying to find my belly button. I believe they were put up to it. It turns out that there is great fascination with the fact that ours generally go inward while theirs stick out. This means that what Itook for affection may have been nothing more than initial research. If you really like to hug babies then this is decidedly baby-hugging heaven. That’s all very well indeed but you.ve got to brace yourself for the likelihood that the babies may have alterior motives, and isn’t that just real life anyway?
Today at composting demonstration I was part of child distraction detail—it wasn’t planned, it just happened. I had perhaps 5 or 6. Lacey had ten or twelve and I honestly believe that Nicole had as many as fifteen. If we hadn’t been there they’d have no doubt been all over the composting demonstration, and it would have been spoiled. They were poking me and pinching me and testing the fat on my arms. Isn’t there a horror movie where lovely small children devour perfecly respectible people of a certain age? I couldn’t even enjoy the composting demonstration. Throughout the trip home to the rectory they were hanging back and I was pulling forward. At one point there was a brutal altercation when one of the tiny creatures decided that another tiny creature had encroached upon his claim of my upper arm. At that very moment it struck me that this “National Geographic/great white father” thing had run its course. When I got home I hid in my room until the crowd subsided.
Yes, it’s time for me to pack my traps and move on out of here . The caravan leaves at 4 this morning and on it I plan to be. I’m told the trip home takes 3 weeks if we are not waylaid by pirates and sold into slavery. Randy
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Posted in BRCC SIFE Goes to LaGonave
at 7:51 pm
I GOT MY DONKEY RIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Yeah! I really wanted to ride a donkey last year but never got the chance. Today while we where at the co-op Rosemene (one of the ladies in the co-op) came up with her mule. She had used him to gather feed for the rabbits and was delivering the feed to the co-op. She had left some feed on the ground for him and I walked over and started hand feeding him. Rosemene saw me and asked if I would like a ride. I was delighted and all the Haitians laughed. They must think we are the strangest humans on the planet. Rosemene led the donkey through the center of town so ALL the Haitians could have a good laugh. It was GREAT!
I can not believe that our time here is over. It will be great to be back home, but hard to leave LoGanove at the same time. I would love to travel on with Myriam to other places in Haiti to check other rabbit co-ops. Myriam has been great to work with. She has been coming to Haiti since 2006 (2 trips a year) and really knows her stuff. I did not realize that she has her own rabbitry in California.
Heidi, Myriam, Anderson and myself are the only ones who have had to travel the road of death every day to get to our post. I am soooooo glad I made my chiropractic appointment before I left town. I learned that from last year.
Heidi seems to have had a really good time and has been such a pleasure to be with. She learned the joys of riding in the back of the truck standing up and hanging onto the roll bar. The Haitians keep trying to get us to ride inside the cab and can not understand why we would want to ride in the bed. Myriam told them that we think this is a lot of fun because it is illegal for us to do this in the states. Eddiesons face was priceless when he said “No way! That can’t be true!”
Another laughable moment was at dinner Wednesday night when Heidi was eating her soup. She looked at me with a quizzical look and them turned over something in her soup. I took a look and shook my head yes that is what you think it is and we both just busted out laughing. She had a small piece of reticulum (stomach) on her spoon. So not only did she get lessons on how to tie knots on this trip she also had an anotomy review because the next time we had soup she found a piece of abomasum. Myriam also found a tooth on the beach and quizzzed her on it. It turned out to be a cows molar. The three of us had great veterinary medicine talks that usually cleared the room.
Well we are getting ready to eat our last dinner here, I wonder what we will find in the soup tonight.
Until tomorrow,
Gail
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Posted in BRCC SIFE Goes to LaGonave
at 7:11 pm
As Thursday winds down we are all scattered packing and prepping for our journey back over the ocean to the USA. Randy looks like if we were to stay on the island one more day he would not make it….the students are all sad to leave – they have become celebrities on the island and everywhere they go at least fifty children follow. They actually played soccer with the children this evening and for the first time the girls in Port A Raquette played as well …not jump rope as is their normal role….but soccer.
One of the most striking things I learned this trip was that the children do not know what they look like…. I took pictures of the children and then showed them the photos in the display screen….all but one pointed to the wrong child as themself….it actually startled me the first couple of times.
Today I rode shot gun up to Zabricot with Gail and Heidi….what a blast and we held more training sessions for the women and discussed strategies for possible future hurriances. We are considering giving the coop a microloan to build a more sturdy structure but are awaiting a price for them…last night we gave a micro loan to a gentleman to start his own cell phone DVD battery recharging station – powered by solar panels…on an island with no electricty but lots of people with cell phones we thought it was an incredible idea to fund. We also may be funding another gentleman who wants to broadcast sporting events in his “theater” which is in his home. He currently is showing movies played from a DVD player with the use of a gas generator. He charges $2 for the movies and his home is full – e wants to expand his viewing capabilties and install a satellite system to get sporting events. There is an accountant we may also fund for his start up in public practice.
Rabbits, children, entrepeneurs….wet, dirt, and tons of laughs. Its been productive and crazy but I know we leave many ventures in the works and have created opportunity for hundreds of people while we were here….I think our trip has been successful. See you soon!
Rebecca
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01.22.09
Posted in BRCC SIFE Goes to LaGonave
at 10:44 pm
Oddly enough it turns out that the only way to ride a pickup over nearly impassable roads is to stand straight as an arrow back in the bed and hold onto the roll bar–what’s left of it– with the sort of blue-knuckled grip that scorns paltry death while screaming like a girl as I duck to avoid tree branches and electrical wires which there aren’t many of after all. Careening as we were at what seemed like a very high rate of speedover pot holes, stopping suddenly to avooid an emaciated cow or a peasant woman with a large bundle ballanced onthe top of her head offered no particular terror poised as I was on my lofty perch like spartacus at the helm of his chariot with my hair blowing in the wind far above the clattering fenders, the crashing springs and the smell of motor oil. It was me and the mountains cutting a wide swath through a cloud of chalk dust and watching the great herd of humanity scurrying out of my path.
We were on our way to visit several old friends of Linda’s who were each extraordinary to a great degree. One was old to a vast degree and blind as well. His relations had constructed for him a wonderfully tiny bungalow nearly the size of a large wardrobe inside of which was a broom, a bucket and a bed, all of which were very tidy indeed. We climbed into the bed of the truck and once again I tell you candidly that I was as giddy and out of control as a very small child who runs dripping wet, naked and sqeeling out of the tub to provide hurridly curtailed entertainment for shocked relatives in the livingroom.
Then we went to see a woman who had been chained to a log for 14 years as a mad woman until they realized that all she needed were anti-psychotic drugs. She was very fine and carried herself with great dignity. In fact she didn’t seem at all like a woman who had been tied to a log for 14 years, although I’m not entirely sure I know how one ought to seem under those circumstancees.
It was growing dark, but from the top of the truck I could still see the ocean so close at hand and the mountains of the mainland. We were too soon home again to the rectory with the sound of the great ocean beyond
Randy
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Posted in BRCC SIFE Goes to LaGonave
at 4:32 pm
What a beautiful day with wonderful people. Throughout this trip I have seen a many interesting things. From a starving man in dire need of medical attention to a beautiful choir with electric guitars, steel drums, and congo drums. The children are wonderful and abundant. Every time I turn around there are 50 children looking, giggling, singing, trying to hold your hand, and intrigued. They are wonderful and full of life, despite the hardships they endure. I am amazed with the extreme differences between our culture and there’s, yet there are many similarities. We all enjoy many of the same things in life, we just have different ways of getting those things. This experience has truly made me rethink the way I live. Maybe we should all reconsider what we think our needs are. On that thought- off to rent a donkey…
Heidi
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Posted in BRCC SIFE Goes to LaGonave
at 3:46 pm
“Give me a dollar”….a phase whispered in my ear by a smiling little boy whose voice could have sent a chill down your spin. We had just finished with one of our drawing seminars this morning with a group of third graders when I was approached by this little boy with the most angelic smile….until he demanded a dollar. Of course no dollar changed hands but it reminded me that no matter who these children are…they are Haitians and live in a constant state of survival mode.
News from our rabbit cooperative was very interesting today – they have 15 rabbitsnoe but reported to us that 30 rabbits were lost during the last hurricane. What we learned today proved that the cooperative is actually worknig and producing but they have been challenged by issues of weather that none of us could ever imagine. Their structure was destroyed during the hurricane but are committed to make the cooperative work. They convinced us that they are not just going through the motions but the hurricanes and tropical storms of the past year have really set them back. We are having a brainstorming session to iron this out and will meet with the cooperative again tomorrow. We are encouraged by what we have learned and will try to work out a way to create a more concrete structure.
We now are about to go out and offer to purchase some donkey time …we want to ride donkeys like the locals…. am sure ifwe flash a Gourge (Haitiam money) we will have donkeys lined down the street. Tomorrow is another fast paced day of trips to Zabricot….to teach locals how to compose….and meet with the children BRCC sponsors! So tomorrow is our last day on the island to work and we have our work cut out for us. Then its back to the USA with its hot water, traffic, TV (what is going on in the world???) and stores full of stuff. Being in Haiti is striking….people here seem happy but us being American it just doesn’t make sense to us how they can be happy. We went to a choir practice last night…stell drums and electric guitars….they rehearsed for 2.5 hours and it was the most amazing sounds I ever heard. We are amazed by life on this island…but feel priviledged to have been accepted into their world and accepted by them! Its an incredible experience for both our students and ourselves.
Rebecca
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Posted in BRCC SIFE Goes to LaGonave
at 2:10 pm
I dreamt about my bed last night—not the one I’m in, but the one I intend to crawl into late Saturday night with the downey comforter and big pillows and the lamps and piles of books I never get around to reading. There’s no lamp here. There’s a bare bulb above my bed that crackles and sizzles as though it might explode a nd shower sparks upon me in the night when I’m least able to endure such encounters and more likely inclined, in my reduced state to succumb.
The nights here are far from silent. There’s always a general chatter until very late. Believe me when I tell you that I am considerably acquainted with all hours of the night. As midnight passes and the chattering dies down it is replaced by the scwabble of dogs and the screaming of goats–all of whom seem to bear more than their fair share of the local torment. As morning starts to break over the ocean there is the frequent sort of calypso ring tone of the cell ring tone belonging to the man who sleeps on a matress outside our window. There are very few bird noises but for sea birds and chickens. Long about 4 in the morning the roosters begin their cacophany. At precisely 6 the church bells ring directly above us and all the dogs in the surrounding countryside begin to howl—brutally. This is all by way of announcing impending mass every morning of the week. It rings again half an hour later to raise the alarm that mass is just about to happen and then again in ten minutes to let us know that Father is crossing the threshold. Only Satan himself could manage to sleep past the first bell. My eyeballs are always as big as china saucers by 6:02 in the morning. Don’t get me wrong; I love this place. Randy
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01.21.09
Posted in BRCC SIFE Goes to LaGonave
at 9:58 pm
Today Heidi and I got to do what we came to do, handle rabbits. There are currently 15 rabbits at the co-op. We health checked each one and got to meet with three of the women. The rabbits are currently in good flesh and we only encounted a few problems.
Heidi is a lot of fun to watch as she adjust to the culture shock. It is great fun to watch someone else go through what we all experienced last year. You can talk to people all you want and show hundreds of pictures but there is nothing quite like experiencing it for yourself.
I am experiencing new things for myself this time too. We just come back from a “concert”. The church choir was practicing for a festival. They have an electric guitar, steel drums, congo drums, and of course lots of very talented vocalist. Haiti is such a paradox. There are people who have cell phones but their children die from drinking unclean water. People who play electic guitars and have no electricity in their homes.
The children here are just as precious as last time. The follow us around holding our hands, even singing songs for us. There is a 7 year old girl who just lost her mother to aids. I can not imagine what the future holds for this sweet child. I wish I could do more for them.
I am not sure I will ever fully understand the Haitian crisis but it is great to be a part of this teams efforts here in LaGonave.
Gail
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