02 May 2012

Haiti, Day 2


Well, last night was not too bad.  I fell asleep pretty much immediately but then woke up at about 1am.  I was pretty warm at that point and had trouble falling back asleep.  This morning I got up at about 7am, got ready (which consists of getting dressed and brushing out my hair), and went to breakfast.  There was this warm creamy substance that I was told was kind of like cream of wheat.  It was pretty good.  There was also fruit, juice, and toast.  After breakfast we all hung around until 9am when we had a guest lecture. 
A man came to the compound, Jalokie (spelling?), and spoke to us about Haiti’s history, culture, and religion.  He was great and I learned a lot.  A few students got emotional at one point (long story…) and he told us about libation, which is basically offering water to the Gods.  So when you cry, you are offering your own water to the Gods.  I really liked that idea.  Anyways, afterwards we ate lunch (cheese omelet on toast… delicious!), and boarded the bus.  We were headed to UNICEF to meet with a few people from that organization. 
It was nice to leave the compound and look around.  We are pretty closed off here, which is nice for safety, but it leaves me disoriented.  I don’t really know where we are and it’s been bothering me a little bit.  The roads were insane again.  What would have taken fifteen minutes took nearly an hour because of the traffic.  I don’t know if I will ever get used to how people drive!  It honestly blows my mind.  We arrived at UNICEF which is on a UN Compound, which is home to several other organizations such as the World Food Programme.  In the compound is just a ton of trailers that house these organizations and lots of people and cars.

We met with several people from UNICEF that spoke about what their organization does and how things are going in Haiti.  UNICEF is mainly focused on assisting children, and has several departments such as child endangerment, nutrition, sanitation, and health.  We learned about the Cholera outbreak that happened last year and the horrible sanitation in the country.  They spoke about the legal situation and nutrition issues.  It was really interesting to learn about an organization that is trying to help out and see what they are actually doing.  They even gave us a report that was recently published that explains how things have improved over the last two years.

After UNICEF we headed back to the compound.  Driving through Port-au-Prince is an intense experience.  It’s not just the crazy drivers, it’s everything.  There are people everywhere.  They line the streets, whether under umbrellas selling fruit, or just leaning against a wall.  People sell all sorts of stuff on the street.  Corn on the cob, bread, medicine, movies, body wash, canned food…  Where do they get all this stuff?  People walk through the lines of traffic and try and wash your windows or sell you plantain chips or bags of water. 
And that doesn’t even cover the structural damage.  The roads are terrible, and the buildings even worse.   There are metal wires and bars sticking out everywhere.  There is rubble and trash as far as you can see.  I can’t imagine living somewhere like this.  And how do you fix it?  Where do you even begin?  It is so overwhelming.  Anyways, I’m off.  The internet hasn’t been good enough to load pictures yet but hopefully soon.

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