June 15, 2011
I’ve had three Creole lessons since I’ve been in Haiti. I’ve learned how to greet people, ask their name, tell them I’m tired (a near constant here), tell them I need coffee please. I can count, list the months of the year, and say the days of the week. Our Creole teacher actually has typhoid so I’ve been learning from a fluent French speaking volunteer. He’s been super helpful and necessarily patient with me.
My body has finally adapted to my decrease in coffee intake. At home, I drink 5 or 6 cups a day. Here, I drink 1 1/2. For the first three days, I had a constant headache. Today, though, my head doesn’t hurt at all; thank goodness.
Yesterday, Dan (another volunteer) and I went for a run. We had set out to get our blood flowing, but ended up getting a titch lost, which made for a long(er) run. It was so fun, though. People seemed so happy to see two blans running by them waving and chirping “bonswa, bonswa.” As we got further and further away from the compound, we had a perfect view of the beautiful Haitian mountains. They look like clouds on the ground. We arrived back at the compound just as the others were starting to worry about our safety. I felt a little bad coming back happy and sweaty as they were starting to sweat with worry over us. It was, though, one of the best runs I have ever been on.
We spent last night on a small rooftop balcony discussing Haitian development and human rights issue in Haiti and all over the world. Sometimes I feel like I am so far from home, but other times I feel so close to home. I think it’s because at home and here I am surrounded by beautiful caring people. We (people) share many commonalities; it’s so easy to snuggle into a new community because people here and people at home are internally the same, beautiful.
Today, I wrote a letter for HAC that we are hoping to send to organizations in hope of getting a mini mobile computer lab for Ecole Shalom school here. I loved writing the letter and later editing it with two other volunteers. This work is so fun for me. Soon, we are going to go on goat visits. HAC gifts Haitian families with a female goat. The families are taught how to take care of the goat and make a profit from it and then are expected to give one goat back to HAC and give another goat to another family in need. So, when we go on our goat visit in a minute, we’ll check up on the goat and the family to make sure that they are honoring their end of the bargain. Every service HAC provides is accompanied by educational services as well. It cultivates the inherent hardworking spirit of Haitians as well as encourages their eventual independence.
We still don’t have internet at the compound so I am writing updates on Word that I will later upload to my blog (hence, multiple posts in a day).
Sa sife pou jodi-a (This is all for today). Much love, dear friends!
No comments:
Post a Comment