International Day of Handwashing

I will post a longer entry soon, I promise, but for now I just wanted to wish everyone a happy (belated) International Handwashing Day (was October 15).  Perhaps I am out of the loop but I had no idea that this even existed.  Obviously not something we talk about in the developed world - but is quite a big event here in Haiti (as well as many other countries around the globe) especially given the devastating impact the cholera outbreak had on the community over the past year.

I love the logo - appeals to the adults and the kids which is so important.

 The  IDHW slogan written in Haitian Kreyol. 

Translation to French:

Laver les mains avec de l'eau propre et du savon pour éviter le choléra.

Translation to English:

Wash hands with soap and water to prevent cholera.

Giving Thanks...

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving to everyone.  We bought some frozen turkey pieces for the cook to make today but she made the ground beef instead...I guess we'll have turkey another day!  


As I went through my notes from the past week, I came across something from the 1st day that I want to share with you.  The fellow who will soon be the head of both the National Office in Haiti and the Emergency Response Office is M. Jean Claude Mukadi.  At the event I attended on the first day, he spoke to all the WV staff in attendance.  He noted that World Vision has three goals in Haiti...

1 - Resist Suffering

2 - Bring Hope

3 - Bring Justice


What I especially liked was that he described hope as "the ability to hear the music of the future" .... "etre capable d'entendre la musique du futur"...

....beautiful.

Below are some photos from the past week...

Concrete staircase

One of many, many feral dogs (also many goats, chickens, pigs, etc. wander the city streets)

Boy painting a sign/mural for a reconstructed school (look closely for the penciled-in sketch he is painting)

Mid-level housing

One of the many, many IDP (Internally Displaced People) Camps housing the over 1M people that lost their homes

The two engineers and driver that work with me.

Two forms of "public transit" in PaP - the Tap Tap in the foreground is a pickup with benches in the back and people filled to the brim.  In the background is a truck loaded with charcoal and men hitching a ride on top.

Absolutely beautiful, vibrant paintings lining a rock wall at a market near one of the IDPs.  The Tap Tap's and stores are also very colorfully painted.

Flower at the Montagne Noire Teamhouse

Day 2

Today was interesting....awoken at 2:55am by a rooster with a time issue - no it was not light out yet....had a transition meeting with mountains of documents and history (I think I wrote 10 pages of notes!)....went down to Security to get my badge and had the security guard point her machine gun my way as I could not enter Security without a badge (?!)....had a plan to go see the site but that was cancelled by Security due to a funeral happening in Cite Soleil for the 2nd highest voodoo priest who was shot last week (have to go through Cite Soleil to get to the site)....ok change plans...decide to meet site superintendant for lunch...almost cancelled due to a flat tire (absolutely insane roads..way worse than any backcountry road I have ever been on).....drove past the Canadian embassy on the way back....closed out day with a good chat with the two engineers working for me and my driver....picked up some supplies at the store (which also has machine gun toting guards)...then came home (through the closed gate guarded by...yes...machine gun toting guards) to a beautiful dinner made by the ladies who look after the team house....all in all a successful day!

Some photos below.  They do not show what the conditions in PaP are really like - will upload some of those soon.

Engineers and driver changing tire

Team house view

Canadian Embassy

En route

Well I am probably the worst Facebook'er ever but with all the requests to keep in touch I am already grateful that Tameeza and Senja 'encouraged' me to set this page up (ok Senja set it up for me!)

First funny experience was at the Vancouver airport. After all the meticulous chaos of checking in, dropping off luggage, saying goodbye and going through security, it was time to be interrogated by the border guard. I walked up trying to be as calm as possible - if something goes sideways here I'll be missing my flight.

- "Where are you travelling to?"
- "Haiti"
Raised eyebrows...."What is the purpose of your trip?"
- "I am going there to do some relief work with World Vision"
- "Are you an optometrist?"
(ok, so as I write this, I am just realizing why he asked! Guess I really was nervous)
- "No, I am an engineer - I work in water treatment"
- "So that's what you'll be doing down there?"
- "Yes, well actually wastewater"
- "Right...to help with the syphilis outbreak?"
(?!? STD vs. waterborne disease - really? ... Should I correct a Border Guard?...)
- "Actually it was a cholera outbreak"
Pause.....
(please, please don't have a big ego....)
"hmmm...all right ma'am have a safe trip"
:)