Our Accomodations in Haiti

The story of my trip to Haiti really isn't complete without telling you about where we stayed while we were there.  I have to admit, though, a little hesitation because I have mixed feelings about it.  The first feeling is guilt.  Why am I so privileged in this life to have a safe and secure home in the US, and be able to stay in a beautiful hotel in Haiti while so many Haitians (and other poor people around the world) don't have even decent basic housing?  I have no answer for that other than to remember to thank God for what I have, and do what I can to help those who don't. 

The other feeling, actually, a thought-- that I have about staying where we did was that at least the place provided quite a few jobs.  I'm sure with the high unemployment in Haiti, everyone who worked there was thankful for the work.... from the front desk clerks, to the dining room staff, to the men who cleaned the pool and raked the grounds, to the room maids.  They were all doing a wonderful job.

It was truly a beautiful place.  We were told that 20 or so years ago it was actually a Club Med. 

This was my room...

Which may not look like much, but the best part was outside!  This was the view out my front window...

and this was the view out my door early in the morning.

Here's the lovely sunset from my window one evening.

My room was on the top floor of this section of rooms.

 It was in the "old section" of the hotel.  We were told after our first night that there had been a mistake and they had "double-booked" our group.  So, if we wanted to, we could move into the newer, nicer section where the rooms had TVs.  I was happy with my room (and didn't care about having a TV) and didn't want to bother packing and unpacking again, so I stayed where I was.

The beach was lovely and I went for a walk in the morning before breakfast.
I love to look for seashells whenever I'm at a beach and was happy to find these in Haiti.

The pool area was gorgeous!

Everywhere the grounds were lovely and well kept.
The dining room was very nice, with a large buffet and a variety of foods.

Still, after our visit with Mary on our first home visit, it was very emotional to think of her living with her little twin boys in her shack while we were staying in luxury.  The night after we visited her, there was a storm.  "Just" a storm, not a hurricane.  But the winds were whipping outside my room and the waves were crashing furiously on the beach.  I lay awake in my bed and thought of her.  In my journal I wrote:

Stormy Night
Waves are crashing outside
A single bolt of lightening lights up the night
Like a child's smile in Haiti.
As I sit on my bed, with pillow to my back
And sturdy roof over my head
I think of Mary, in the middle of the night.

She sleeps (or is she wakened by the storm, too?)
On a dirty mat on the ground, not in a safe shelter
But in a hovel.
With two small hungry but cuddly boys
Only God's love to shelter them from the storm.
Who is more protected?

The Family on the Hill

On our first home visit, you may remember we went to see a woman named Mary.  Unlike Mary's family, the next home we visited was to an intact family - father, mother, and four children all living together.  

What was not intact was their home.

 I say it was not intact, not because the walls are only partly built (most buildings in Haiti seem to be in some state of construction) but because their roof blew away in Hurricane Issac in August of 2012.  Papa told us, "After the storm, I could not find our roof".  I shudder to imagine what it was like for that family during the hurricane -- to have the roof blown off from over their heads.  Then after it was over, going out to hunt for pieces of metal?  They had a small pile of short pieces of metal roofing which you can see in the corner above.  They were probably pieces that no one else wanted.  You can also see they had built a smaller, temporary roof inside the one room of their home that actually had 4 walls.  By the way, this was described as a "2 room house".  All six family members lived here, along with 2 chicks that were running around inside!

When we arrived, the papa brought the few chairs and stools they had out into the sunshine (into room #2) and brushed the dust off them so some of us could sit down.

Here is Jeannot, in the light-colored tee-shirt in the background, translating for us.

This home visit was not quite as heart breaking as our visit to Mary, because at least the family was together.  Two of the children are in the Compassion Child Sponsor Program.  Typically, Compassion registers only one child per family unless the need is great.  We asked if the children get letters from their sponsors.  The answer was "yes, but they got ruined in the hurricane".  

Papa obviously loved his children and wanted to provide for the family.  When asked what we should pray for them, he said, "Pray that he could get work, and to be able to get a new roof."

When I pray for this family, I pray for "the family on the hill" because they truly were.  Their house is perched high above most of the other houses in the neighborhood.  It was a beautiful view from up there.

But a long way to go to the river for water - you can see it in the distance in the next photo.

And it's probably not a great place to be in a hurricane.  Although some of the homes in the village below them also did not have roofs.

Several things surprised me about Haiti.  One was the number of trees.  In many places, hill sides were rather bare of trees, but in this community there were quite a few nice green trees.

Another thing that surprised me about Haiti was, for the most part, the cleanliness.  Along the roads there would be trash, but in most places it was obvious that the people tried to keep their homes clean.  The people kept their clothes and themselves clean, too, mostly without indoor plumbing or an easy way to wash their clothes.  There were no bad odors at either of our home visits.  At least not that I noticed and I think I probably would have!

When we were done our visit, it was time to climb back down the hill to our bus.  You can get an idea of how steep it was from the next photo.  If you look closely, you can see their house at the top of the hill, behind the man in the red shirt.

I pray often for this family on the hill in Haiti.  I pray that the father has found work and been able to get a new roof and that the sponsors of the children have written letters to encourage them.  

Look again at the second photo above.  In case you did not notice it before.... scroll back up and look for the tall shadow on the ground of the young boy who is standing on the right side.  I pray that when that boy becomes a man, as tall as his shadow in the photo, he will have a brighter future, as Compassion's mission statement says as "a responsible and fulfilled Christian adult".  His sponsors will have a part in that, thru their giving and their letters.  Here's a link if you'd like to learn more about how you, too, can sponsor a child.

The Facilities at HA-778

Compassion works in conjunction with local churches.  The project center in Montrouis specifically works with the First Baptist Church of Montrouis.   Compassion says "Compassion partners with local bodies of believers that are recognized by the community as organized centers of worship and outreach."

This is the 2nd floor hallway that I took the photos of the playground from in my last post.

 
 On our tour of the facilities, we were shown thru the classrooms.  The first part we saw was in the building that they told us Compassion had helped build.

 

 

 

Then we saw some of the elementary classrooms.  Disney characters are very popular in Haiti!

There isn't much in most of the classrooms besides tables and benches...

Though this one had some nice art work!

Most classrooms had a chalk board, but the windows were just openings... which these girls used for seating.  I don't think that would be considered safe in schools here!

This was the front of the high school math class room...

and turning around, this is looking toward the back.  Our guide told us 50 students would crowd into this room for one class.

As we left that upstairs classroom, one of the Haitian men wanted me to see the beautiful view from the hallway window.  I was a little shocked to see the view he was obviously proud of, since my eyes were drawn to the roof next to us, which was strewn with trash.  I tried not to let that show and instead praised the beautiful scene.

After our tour of the school, we went into the project center office, which had this sign over the door.

Inside was another sign with all the information about the children and the activities.

There was a bulletin board with photos of other sponsors who have visited the project center.

Just outside the office, the playground was in better shape than the one we visited the day before at HA-336.

But there were still things in need of improvement - construction in Haiti seems to always be a work-in-progress, as shown by the tarps on this wall in the room where we had lunch. 

Fun Time on the Playground

After the amazing service they had to welcome us to HA-778, we had lunch, then we split into two groups.  One group played with the kids outside, while the other group went on a tour of the project center, then we switched.  I was in the first tour group, but while we were checking out the school rooms, we also were able to spend some time watching the other group from the balcony.  Talk about high energy!  The kids, that is.  I think most of the sponsors were quite hot, tired, and full from just having eaten lunch.  But they were also troopers and having a great time playing with the kids.  There were so many kids that it could be a little overwhelming!  If you were giving out stickers, you would have a swarm of kids around you!

Here is the view from the school balcony.  That's our bus in the background.

Jumping rope

Mary and Jean giving out stickers.  And how about that "Cars" backpack?

It helped if you were taller than the kids, like Kevin in this photo!

George was good at swinging the jump rope!

When anyone started giving out stickers, they quickly had a crowd. 

I'm not sure what was going on here, but I love that one of the kids has their arm on George's back.

Lynn did some bubbles...

while her daughter Shelby mingled with some of the older girls.

Stephen took photos while his wife, Jennifer, and their kids drew a crowd of Haitian kids! It could get overwhelming, and we were able to get in the bus to take a little break from time to time and cool off.

It was almost time to leave.  No one wanted to part... the kids or us!