Ke Kontan

Ke Kontan

Saturday 20 August 2011

Everything in-between

                                                                        RIP Baby Boy
Well, I guess there is a lot of catching up to do.  I apologize for not blogging recently. 
I spent August 1st- 5th with a group of thirteen volunteers from Chico, California, running a day camp at HC Orphanage for the children.  We had a blast.  Everyday we did different activities from sports (such as soccer and basketball), to crafts, to dancing and singing, and we even hosted a carnival where the kids recieved toys and candy.  All of the thirteen volunteers worked hard and were all very kind.  I have definitely made a few new friends !  Every morning I would get a ride to the hospital with Dr. Gousse and spend an hour there and then take the hospital bus to the guest house to pick up the other volunteers then we would head to the orphanage.  One morning on our way to the hospital the Dr. and I got stuck in the middle of a street fight/riot.  Huge rocks were being thrown at women and men, fruit stands were being destroyed, the street was literally going crazy.  I am not exactly sure what caused it, but yes we were stuck in the dead middle of it.  Thank God we were in a vehicle and not walking.  Dr. Gousse was freaking out because these huge rocks were now heading towards her beautiful car ! A man stopped and guided us through the street.  We were able to get out without a mark.  I must say it was a scary experience.  I was just waiting for someone to smash the windows. 
I also met a girl named Kayla from Alberta during my time at HC Orphanage.  She was visiting Haiti for ten days and was actually adopted from Haiti.  I met her on her second last day and we talked quite a bit about Haiti and our experiences.  She hadn't been able to do much sight seeing so I promised her that the next day I would somehow arrange for us to go up to the mountains for lunch and to do some shopping (locals have huts set up along the road where they sell Haitian art, including paintings and woodcarvings, and anything else you could possibly think of).  I asked around to see if anyone knew of a driver that we could hire.  No one did.  Luckily that night I was driving with Dr. Gousse and she stopped to give her Salsa dancer a ride.  He overheard us talking about finding a driver to the mountains so he called up one of his friends.  He couldn't get a hold of him so he offered to tag along and come to the mountains with us, that way we could just take tap taps since he knew the way and it would be cheaper than hiring a driver.  Kayla and I went to the day camp in the morning and left around noon to meet the dance teacher at the Hospital.  We did a lot of walking and took many tap taps to get up to the mountains.  Finally we arrived !!! We both bought a book that teaches English people to speak Creole from the gift shop.  Its a life saver !  We all ate lunch and it was gorgeous, the restraunt overlooks the mountain.  We did some shopping and then headed back around 4pm.  While we were in the mountains is started to get windy and began to rain.  Hurricane "Emily" was on her way.  We were hoping we would get home in time before she hit.  We took another tap tap down the mountain and by the time we got to the bottom it was raining pretty hard.  In Haiti when it rains the streets become crazy, everyone is trying to get into tap taps or on motos.  We were soaked and I, of course, was covered in mud.  We came to the Tap Tap station and it was absolute chaos.  People were literally stamepeding over one another to get into the tap taps.  One lady was trampeled and no one stopped to help her up.  Another man was robbed while trying to get onto the tap tap and a fight broke out in the streets.  I imagine we looked like deer in the headlights when all of this was occuring.  I had no idea what to do or how the heck we were going to find a tap tap.  We decided to keep walking and hopefully find a tap tap down the road.  Thankfully we did.  Although Kayla had to sit on my lap for most of the ride.  Our adventure wasn't over yet though, not only were we tired, soaking wet, covered in mud, and sore from sitting in the tap tap for so long, but then the driver decides to stop for gas.  The gas station is full so we sat and waited for twenty minutes.  The driver finally becomes impatient and leaves.  We are nearing the hospital and of course our tap tap runs out of gas.  Well.. we did eventually make it to the hospital where Kayla's ride was waiting.  We had a great day, but I was definitely glad to be home.  Hurricane "Emily" was estimated to hit around 2am that morning.  We had quite the storm but it was definitely not as bad asth they were expecting.  However, we have had storms almost every night since, which probably makes up for the big storm. 
After working at the orphanage one day, I was at the hospital and sitting in Rigan's office.  He brought in a young girl (12 years old) who had just had surgery on her knee and was having her staples removed that day.  She was a funny girl and had lots of questions for me so we spoke back and forth and Rigan was our translator.  She asked my what I was doing in Haiti and I told her volunteering.  She then asked a very unexpected question.  She said "Do your friends and family beat you back home?" I was shocked by her question.  I told her no and that it is illegal in Canada for people to beat up other people. She then asked why I would come to Haiti then.  She said "they will beat you here".  We continued our conversation and that little girl honestly broke my heart.  I wish I could take her home with me.  I stayed with her while she got her stitches removed and held her hand.  She was scared but by the time the staples were out she hadn't even realized that Rigan had begun removing them.  I will never forget that girl. 
I spent August 5th in Leogange, and 6th-7th in Jacmel with Mark (Hospital Espoir volunteer from Conneticut) and Rigan.  When we got to Leogane Friday evening, we took motos and went out for dinner.  It was Mark's first time being on a moto.  Dinner was great and we had a lot of laughs.  When we got back to Rigans we played a few games of yahtzee and UNO then headed to bed.  We were planning on only spending Sunday in Jacmel but Mark has asked us if we would like to go up Saturday instead and rent a hotel.  We decided to do that.  Saturday morning we began packing our things.  We had no idea how we were going to get to Jacmel or where we were going to stay.  I recommended that we take motos.  Rigan wasn't so fond on the idea as most people in Haiti only take a moto as a last resort since they are known to be somewhat dangerous.   But of course we took them.   I also didn't know that it would be a two hour ride.  Although my butt and back were killing me by the time we got there I was sure glad we took them.  It was a hot day so it was nice to feel a breeze and we drove 2 hours through mountains and small villages, it was breath taking.  The scenery is literally indescripable, pictures wouldn't even do it justice.  We rented two motos.  Mark had one moto + his driver and on the other moto there was the driver, Rigan, myself + our two backpacks.  We arrived in Jacmel around 2pm and drove down one of the main roads until we came to a sign advertising a hotel.  We drove down the sidestreet and arrived at large white gates.  Mark and I were skeptical at first because the place looked deserted.  However, we toured around and the hotel was absolutely gorgeous !! The hotel is located in a cove with a private beach, restraunt, swimming pool, and bar.  Our room was simple but it had running water, electrcity and even air conditioning.  Also our room came with a cute little baby lizard who I named and fed (however he didn't last long, Rigan "accidently" killed him and I found a nice present underneath my pillow, the boys thought it was pretty funny.. I on the other hand did not :( )We could not believe we were still in Haiti.  It was like paradise.  We had a very relaxing afternoon.  We spent most of the day on the beach and in the pool.  We had dinner and some drinks and then decided to go out on the town and tour Jacmel.  We left the hotel around 9:30 and found two motos.  We got dropped off in the middle of town and did some walking.  We had no idea where we were going or where the nightlife hung out.  We ended up asking a group of girls and they told us to just walk towards the beach and follow the sound of the music.  It was neat walking through Jacmel.  A man stopped us on the street and wanted us to take a look at his drawings.  He spoke Engish very well.  I took a quick look just to be nice, but was not interested.  He kept persisting that I keep looking, Rigan became annoyed and him and the man got into a heated arguement.  Which was actually quite entertaining because instead of arguing in Creole they argued in Enlgish, but both only knew a few bad things to say to each other.  We kept walking and finally came to the nightclub.  The beach was completely covered in garbage, which is a shame, because if it wasn't for all the trash it would be a beautiful beach.  The nightclub was pretty busy, there were quite a few couples, and salsa dancing was the main attraction.  I could not believe the amount of people up dancing, and they were all very good! We were having a great night until Rigan recieved a phone call from the hospital.  The premie baby boy, which I had fallen in love with, passed away.  It hit me really hard.  The last time I saw him he seemed to be improving and gaining weight.  It broke my heart.  I felt horrible for spending the weeked at a nice hotel when he passed away.
We headed back to the hotel.  In the morning we receieved free breakfast and lounged around until eleven.  We went to the Tap Tap station and found a Tap Tap to take us back to Leogane.  We had lunch there and I grabbed the rest of my things from Rigans house then took a bus back to Port Au Prince.  When we arrived in Port Au Prince we went straight to the hospital. We stayed there for a few hours and then went to the guest house.  I was staying at the guest house that night since I was leaving for the Dominican in the morning and Rigan was going to arrange a ride to the bus station for me.  We had dinner and then hung out with the volunteers from California since it was there last night as well as Mark's.  In the morning I got up and got ready.  We all said our goodbyes and then I headed to the bus station on a Moto, I was almost late for my bus.  The bus ride was long and the border was absolutely crazy.  I can't even describe it to you, but it is not like any normal border.  We were running behind scheduel and didn't make it to Santo Domingo until about 7pm (we were supposed to arrive at four).  It is amazing to believe that Haiti and the Dominican Republic are on the same Island.  They are complete opposites.  Santo Domingo had shopping centers, McDonalds, Burger king, and speed limits !!! There were quite a few nice resorts.  I spent 6 days in the Dominican and relaxed.  I was glad I went, I caught up on some much needed sleep and beaches were beautiful.  I left the Dominican on the 13th and headed back to Haiti.  The bus was not as nice as the last one I rode in but we did make it for better timing.  I had no idea how I was going to get home from the bus station in Tabare though.  I had not made arrangements for a ride.  Luckily there was a man on the bus that could speak English and he helped me find a moto and told the moto where I needed to go.  However, there must have been some miscommunication because the driver tried to drop me off in the middle of nowhere.  I refused to get off the moto and became frustrated because I could not speak Creole and he could not understand English.  Once again I got lucky and right in front of where he dropped me off I noticed an organization for Scientology volunteers.  I knocked on the door and and spoke with one of the employees who could understand English.  I told him that I need to go to Hospital Espoir.  He knew where it was and explained to the driver how to get there.  It took us awhile and we got lost once but I finally arrived safely.  I was hoping that Dr. Gousse would be at the hospital or atleast I could call her from there.  It was my lucky day.  She was still there.  I was glad to be back at her house after a long day of traveling.  The next day we did not go to work.  Dr. Gousse had to go to Jacmel and plan the funeral for her Aunt who had just passed away.  I spent the day reading, and relaxing and then came to the conclusion that I would come home early and go back to University.  I miss school, and I never thought I would say that. I have been homesick for the first time as well.  And there have also been some complications/issues with one of the employees at the hospital so I arranged for me to leave the next day and return to OREA Orphanage (where I volunteered on my previous trip).  The same day I registered for classes and paid the tuition and also booked my flight home.  I will be returning on September 2nd.  Tuesday morning I packed up luggage and got a ride to the hospital with Dr. Gousse.  Jean picked me up from the hospital at eleven thirty.  It was such a relief to see him.  The orphanage had moved buildings since the last time I volunteered so I was unsure what the conditions would be like.  I could not believe it when I got there.  They now have a huge Orphanage with lots of rooms, kitchen, running water, and an area for the kids to play outside.  I was so happy to see all of the kids again, I couldn't believe how much I missed them.  Jean and his wife are fabulous.  I felt like I was at home when I arrived.  I have noticed some of the kids have lost quite a bit of weight but their living conditions have definitely improved.  We have spent the last few days making crafts (such as paper airplanes which was a blast!), colouring, playing sports (soccer & basketball- we made a makeshift net), blowing bubbles, and watching movies on the lap top.  I already am dreading the day tha I have to say goodbye to them again.  I will be spending my next two weeks here.  The kids are definitely keeping me busy.  I have been sick for the last couple of days, but the worst was last night.  I could not stop vomitting and spent the night with my head in a bucket and on the toilet and did not sleep at all.  I have thrown up 13 times since last night.  I am supposed to go to the airport at one today to pick up Lindsay but I am unsure if I will be able to go.  I have not been able to keep any food down and I am also running a fever.  If I am not better by tomorrow I will have to go to the hospital.  I am really hoping it is just from something I ate.  I am looking forward to seeing Lindsay and as well as returning home and going back to school.  I will miss Haiti and the kids but I think it is what I need to do.  I have been thinking about Caleb a lot lately and missing him like crazy. Always & forever in my heart.  RIP big guy. 

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