Ve’ahavta in Haiti: Day 3, a Report From the Ground

Another incredible day.

With each day, with each hour, I find my perspective shifting. I am realizing, for example, that while during my first few days here it seemed as though very little has happened here in terms of cleanup since the earthquake, I have been noticing a lot of activity on the streets revolving around the clearing of rubble. The challenge, I suppose, is where to take the tremendous amounts of rubble that have accumulated as a result of the earthquake.

This morning we met with the mayor of Gressier, the municipality in which the House of Hope is located. He shared with us his perspectives on the greatest areas of need in Gressier, which mostly center around the needs of the many children who have been rendered homeless and/or orphans since January. As you can imagine, many are going without basic necessities of life, including food and healthcare, as well as education, and, of course, supervision and structure.

We then met at the home of a local Catholic priest who is very much engaged with the grassroots activities currently in place to assist the residents of Gressier. A few other representatives of small, grassroots initiatives joined us for the purpose of sharing information about local needs (again, the needs of children were described as the highest and most urgent priority).

We then drove to Leogane, an area that was completely devastated by the earthquake. Strangely, after driving around Port Au Prince and to and from Gressier numerous times over the past few days, it is strange but truthful to report that at a certain point, the presence of endless scenes of collapsed buildings and rubble almost seem to become part of the natural landscape. The images are so pervasive and so frequently observed that it becomes less shocking. However, Leogane once again invoked a sense of shock as we contemplated the level of destruction and spoke with local survivors who described the aftermath of the earthquake – the bodies in the streets, the mass burials, the horrible smells that hung in the air as bodies decayed in buildings, as no one could extricate them from the rubble. Again, there were so many tents, massive new tent cities that will undoubtedly be there for a long, long time, necessitating intentional planning and support to help create communities in these areas that function and thrive, at least until the residents can be rehoused. No one seems to be able to predict when that might be.

Alison and I had the opportunity to sit with Alice Barthole, the founder of the House of Hope, to get a clear sense of the structure of the orphanage and its day to day activities. As we spoke inside a sheltered area that serves as a temporary church and school as the former structures were demolished, we noticed a group of teenagers assembling who began to sing. Their voices rose in the most beautiful harmony and we couldn’t help but watch them and taker pictures and video of their beautiful voices which I will post soon. They are excited to see themselves on you tube once I get a chance to upload the videos.

Eventually, we drove back to the House of Hope, where we were greeted with such joy from the kids. There was a real difference between their response to us yesterday and today. Yesterday, it took them a long time to warm up, they were quiet and watchful and serious until we had been there for several hours. Today, they were boisterous and joyful and smiling and full of hugs. We gratefully accepted cuddles and obligingly took many photos of them which they loved seeing on our digital camera.

When I first arrived at the House of Hope yesterday, I had felt a lot of sadness. It was so painful to contemplate the fact that many of these children are in need. By the end of today, my perspective had once again transformed as I realized that the children of the House of Hope are amongst the more fortunate ones. They are housed and clothed and fed, and they are being raised in an environment that is contained within the warm and loving heart of a very special woman named Alice. They are loved, and that is apparent and beautiful to see.

We said goodbye to the children and they sung us out of the gate.

On the way home we watched the activities of the market, peppering Gachette with questions about what we were seeing and what we had observed. Gachette bought us some sugar cane to try and we all munched on it thoughtfully; sweet mouthfuls of cane juice as we drove away from the water and began climbing the streets once more to our hotel.

I hope to upload some photos tonight so my posts can be accompanied by some images. It is so important for Ve’ahavta’s supporters to know that we have been able to so closely monitor the incredible projects that we have supported in Haiti since January. There is still tremendous potential here for us to continue doing meaningful work and to affect positive change in many lives.

Until tomorrow…
Sarah

Posted by Vanessa |