Snippets of Haiti

Haitian Haircut: Monide is the best hairdresser! I have wanted to get my haircut since we arrived. Monide did a great job at her salon called, “Nice Change.” Certainly a nice change for me!

Boat ride on Magdala's man-made lake

Cholera tents

Cholera tents on Magdala’s property: We took a tour of Magdala’s incredible property where she lives. They are already running a school for 600 children. They want to build an orphanage, a guest house and maybe even a birth center with American help. Susan thinks that this is the answer to more humane birth here—Haitian-run, out of hospital birth centers. I am sure you will hear more about this. Magdala and her husband have allowed an acre of their land to be used for cholera tents. They have 7 patients living there.

 

Children at Gampson's church

Gampson’s church: Gampson is the young man that we met last year with his mother. They were both peddling their goods in front of Maison Fortune. I took a really nice picture of him and his mom, so this year I gave him the photos. They were thrilled and invited us to come down to see the children at their church. The church is a small, one room shack with benches for the small congregation. There were 4 chairs set up in the front. To our surprise, the chairs were for us. We shared with them some baby clothes and thanked them for sharing with us their beautiful country.

A visit from Marie Denise: Marie Denise, one of the midwife students from last year, showed up at Maison Fortune around lunch time. She brought us a liter of fresh cow’s milk, fresh eggs, mangos and corn from her farm. I was surprised and thrilled by her tokens of appreciation. We invited her to stay for lunch, chatting and sharing photos from last year.

Professor Kennel

Charles and Barry: Charles is a young man who teaches French, Spanish, English and Creole in the local high school. His uncle is building a high school called the Mahatma Gandhi School. We are meeting people everywhere we go. I now have two “Haitian sons” and many Haitian friends. Our Creole is getting better everyday, especially with the help of Kennel, a young man at the orphanage who gives us Creole classes almost everyday.

Tobacco lady

Tobacco lady and the Salt lady: My favorite ladies from the market last year were two women selling tobacco and salt. Of course we wanted to see them again, but the market has changed around some with the majority of the vendors now under a large pavilion. We walked around for a while and stopped to buy pineapples. While we were there, a woman said she could take us to where the tobacco sellers were. Before long, we found the tobacco lady who was thrilled to see us once we explained that we were here last year and gave her her photos. The salt lady was right behind her and we agreed to meet up next market day to chat with her.