Day 18: Last Day in Haiti

Of course we couldn't leave without one last taste of Haiti. We were all almost out of the country when the Haitian Officials stopped Paul. Paul is Korean and he had not renewed his visa to work and get education in the States and although Northwest University had filed the appropriate forms, the Haitian officials wouldn't have it. For hours we waited at the airport waiting for them to clear Paul. It seemed like any possible excuse they could find they used against Paul until finally they accepted Paul's papers and we were on our way.

I'm really glad for the experience of going to Haiti, but I don't know if I'd go again. If I did, I would hope to live in a more integrated environment -maybe even in a Haitian home. That way I'd get a better look at what Haitian life is really like instead of the Mission of Hope filter. Although I enjoyed the benefits of living on a compound ( the constant water, food, and almost constant electricity), I feel that if I truly wanted to live in Haitian culture, I would have to live among them and not on a compound.

Day 17: Checking out the Beans for the last time

Haiti is interesting. I will miss Manansse, Delmonte, and Macles, but I will say I'm glad that this is my last full day in Haiti. I enjoy the sunshine and the green in the mountains, but Haiti has a lot of struggles. Among those struggles are learning how to manage their natural resources so that they neither become dependent on them or run out. I miss my family and my friends from home and I'm looking forward to seeing them again.

Today we checked on all the beans again and collected data on them. I hope that the work we helped Dr. Dirt do will help the Haitians. There's a lot more emphasis on community in Haiti than in America, at least from what I can see. This is something I would like to work at and something I think is lacking in America. For the most part I'm just happy to be heading home.

Day 16: Party up in Part-au-Prince!

Today was a good day of chilln' with the NU team. Also, today was probably the firs day that I really appreciated Haitian culture. We went to Port-au-Prince for church, lunch, and fun.

Part of what made me appreciate Haitian culture was going to church -an American church. We went to an Non-integrated almost Baptist church in the middle of Port-au-Prince, which made me really miss the Haitian church we had gone to the past few days. They spoke English, which was refreshing and strange as over half the people there were Haitian. I felt the Pastor was really disconnected from the people as he biggest concern was the amount of trash in the bay. Haitians don't really care about trash as they have no garbage system or proper way of disposing of trash. His sermon was on Joshua 1:1-5, which is where God promises Joshua success if he follows Him.

We ate lunch at a Haitian pizza place (which was also very American themed), but the cool part was when we went to a lookout spot where we could see most of Port-au-Prince. If I had any money left I could have haggled with the vendors up there, which were a lot more high-pressure sellers than Mama-cheap-cheap (the vendor Mission of Hope allows to sell on their property).  It was a good day to realize how different Haiti is from America. 

Day 15: Staying Behind

The sickness did not evaporate overnight, but that's okay because it gave me a chance to think. Along the stories of King David, there's a passage that describes when some of David's men stayed behind to guard the supplies while the rest went with David to battle the Philistines. After the battle, those who fought wanted to keep the spoils for themselves while David commanded that the spoils be split evenly.

Today I stayed behind by less voluntary means. I had serious diarrhea (like 95% water diarrhea). With the counsel of the MOH RN and a few other students I elected to stay back to finish my battle with the foreign microbes in my intestines. Thus today went from a peaceful cross-cultural relations to an inter-species war. 

I also got the chance to reflect and pray today. I used a few minutes to check Facebook and my emails, but I got a lot of time with God in. I think God's been using this trip, specifically this sickness, to humble me. Throughout the trip I hadn't really been acknowledging God enough and when  I did it was a struggle. I was constantly tempted to think that I was something apart from God. Even though I didn't get to help the team put up goat fencing today, God used it to help mature me and that's equal to/ better than going out into the field. 

Day 14: It's Friday Friday gotta get down on Friday

Today was our vacation day, but apparently my immune system took a vacation as well. The day started out fun with great weather and an awesome beach resort. I enjoyed the sun, sand, and waves. However I got sick. I had a slight fever and an uneasy stomach. I thought it might go away, but it got worse as the day went on and I even missed the good meal they set out because of how sick I felt. Delmonte prayed for me and I took a few tums and I felt a little better.

It was really strange seeing how segregated the beach was as the only Haitians there were those trying  sell us stuff. The only Haitians there to enjoy themselves were Delmonte and Macles. Haiti is one of the poorest nations in the western hemisphere, so it made sense that they wouldn't be able to afford a day or week off to relax, which got me to thinking about the best way to help -if there is a way to help. Since Haiti is in the natural resource trap, the bad government trap and occasionally the civil war trap, Paul Collier's The Bottom Billion maintains that sending more aid will only worsen the problem or give minimal assistance at best. It seems Haiti is in a bit of a rut and needs leaders from its own community to help it out. 

Day 13: A day out in the fields/ A visit from St. Nicholas

Remember that scene from The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe? The one where Peter, Edmond, Susan, and Lucy were walking through Narnia and they think they here the sleigh bells of the Witch, but it was actually Saint Nicholas coming to give them gifts that they desperately needed? That was how today was -except that we didn't run away from a witch.

We went to Thomaseau to inspect the fields and give suggestions on how they can fix certain problems. The funny part came when they would ask us to repeat the presentation to those who had missed it. Every time the first presenter would go and they would ask a question totally unrelated. Actually, all of their questions revolved around instant solutions to pest control and soil improvements. Mission of Hope's Haitian staff answered a lot of the specific questions.

During the trip here I've been questioning where God wants we to go with my career, specifically if He wants me on the Pre-Med path. God sent Dr. Steve Smith like Santa to the Peter, Edmond, Susan, and Lucy. He told us a lot about his Pre-Med school experiences and his medical school experiences. Apparently it's only 6 years of academics (including undergrad) and the rest is on the job training. It was good to get a glimpse of what medical school holds for me.

Day 11: Delmonte Shapes Up

Previously on the NU Haiti trip...

Delmonte had not worked at all. He passively stood while the team and Macles (the other translator worked their butts off. However, when word reached his supervisors about his work ethic, he had but one choice: shape up or shape out...

After the some one had a conversation with Delmonte's supervisors, his behaviour drastically changed. He worked a lot harder and even broke a sweat. Clearly hard work is in Haitian culture, just Delmonte needed some gentle reminders. Delmonte is actually a very talented young man and demonstrates what Paul Colliers in The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What Can Be Done About It, calls the "brain drain" or that when a country falls behind and all the talent leaves to more prosperous areas. Also, we worked on fixing up a small field and planting 4 different types of wheat seeds in it. 

Despite the focus being on work today, one of the interns still managed to annoy me. I don't know if he would normally annoy me, but it was just the right amount of me being tired, him being both arrogant and overly talkative, or that he didn't work very hard.  I later observed that what I perceived to be arrogance may have just been his nervous reaction. That is, that he may have talked arrogantly about himself and his family and everything he's ever done because he was nervous. I hope it was a nervous reaction. 

Day 9: What will heaven be like?

We went to church today and it was wonderful. Normally I would tune out to a service in an entirely different language, but today was different. Even though more than half of the songs were in Creole, there was a great peace and I felt like God was there. 

I let a couple of kids use my Tablet even though it had my Bible on it. It felt good to let them use it for a bit and I got to use the time to just talk to God. The pastor only seemed to reference the scriptures anyways. The Haitian Pastor is pretty animated and I couldn't tell if it was one of those "Fire and Brimstone" services or he was just excited. I'm glad I couldn't because it would have ruined the whole experience if it was a fire and brimstone service. 

Also their churches are a lot more open, literally. Most of the "walls" are metal bars placed to  in such a way that they don't give you the impression that you're in a prison, which is quite a feat for metal bar windows. 

Even though it was in a different language it was beautiful and made me think of what Heaven will be like. Since I knew the songs it wasn't to hard to follow. I figure Heaven will have people of every culture so it'll have a bit of this feeling we had today where there were Haitians and American Christians coming together to worship God.

Day 6: Banishing the Bad Beans

Today we presented i n a different mountain village to present and the canter couldn't make it up a hill. So we walked the rest of the way. A whole forty yards. This village also accepted us quickly and surprisingly all the kids of the village really liked Delmonte as he led them through a few spontaneous games and songs. The guy definitely has a way with children.

One of the strange quirks of Haitian culture is when it is appropriate to be naked. Apparently as long as you are either bathing or washing clothes it doesn't matter where you are. even swimming counts. A lot of the time they bath or wash clothes right next to the road or village and don't really care if who's watching.

While we gave our presentations we received a little visit from the local witch doctor. He was polite and didn't cause a scene, which apparently he did last year.

After we got back we started sorting beans for an experiment that Dr. Dirt is doing. Mostly we just threw out the bad beans.

Also, a few of our crew probably need a "strategic withdrawal" as their snapping a little easier at each other. Duane Elmer calls a "strategic withdrawal" a temporary withdrawal from the foreign culture to give yourself a break and then to re-enter. I'm hoping our problems will be fixed by some sleep and a little break from the new culture.

Day 4: Voyage into the Village (Feelin' like a monkey)

In Duane Elmer's Book, he brings up a short illustration about a monkey and a fish. The monkey notices a fish, struggling in the river. The monkey decides that he wants to help this struggling fish. At great risk to himself he goes out on a limb and after a few tries he successfully grabs the fish. After his valiant rescue the monkey notices the fish struggles at first, but finally it attains a great peace and "rests". Feeling a new burst of confidence the monkey walks off, having saved another life. 

Today I felt like that monkey. From the start, the day was set up to achieve this; neither of our professors accompanied us and even the Mission of Hope intern/guide failed to show. With just our two translators, Delmonte and Macles (Marco), we started our trek into some smaller village near Leveque... or Bercy... I forget.

We marched right into the village like the tourists we were. Our translators attempted to start up random conversations with the locals for us, while I was keenly aware of how awkward the situation was. It was like going to a zoo, but you also got to insult a bunch of people you're to trying to build a relationship with by the very way you visited. 

A lot of the adults didn't trust us at first...or at all. I completely got that. I wouldn't trust a bunch of strange rich foreigners waltzing right into a village uninvited and unwelcome. The kids seemed happy to see us and an elderly woman asked us to pray for her. After a few of the locals started asking us for money we/our translators decided it was time to head back. I hope to never visit a town in such an awkward manner again. 

Day 3: Bob Ross would be proud

Today marked the first day of actual work. Everybody was ready to work as we already had two days of just chilling. We painting the inside of two cement buildings and a few of the local Haitians joined in with us as we worked. During the quake in 2010, the deaf community in Haiti realized they need to band together to survive. Afterwards a lot of them moved to Berci and the villagers that helped us just so happened to be deaf.

Dr. "Dirt" (Dr. Jason Streubel) has a PhD in Soil and is leading to effort in educating the Haitian farmers about how soil affects their crops. His son Macquin turned out to help us paint. He's only twelve.  After most of the work had been done he decided that my shirt would also make a great canvas. He failed to enlighten me as to his plans, which I think was his intention. It kinda annoyed me so I took away his paint roller, so he wouldn't use it against anyone else. I still wonder it my reaction was too much. It stopped the little Haitian kids from following emulating his behaviour, but it may have been a little too quick of a reaction. I was also annoyed because I hadn't gotten any paint on my shirt yet. oh well 

Day 1: Arrival

Last minute packing is my specialty. I successfully packed everything I needed for Haiti in less than two hours. Those were also the last two hours I had before I had to leave for Haiti. My team consisted of twelve total members: Our two professors, Dr. Steinkamp and Dr. Tomandl; nine other biology majors, Andee Callaghan, Angela Naa-Dei Martey, Bethany Zilger, Carly Moeller, Cristina De Anda, Devan Pascarella,  Hannah Jacob, Joy Mukiri, and Paul Lee D; and me. We left later on the seventeenth from Seattle with next to no idea what we would be doing for the next eighteen days and arrived in Port-au-Prince on Saturday Morning.

Haiti has made some vast improvements on it's airport, or so I have been told. This year we only suffered minor hustling by the fake airport staff. According to the great Steinkamp, last year was a lot worse. They pseudo Haitian airport staff dress in red polo shirts and wear almost legit name tags. Almost meaning almost complete, or not so real-looking, or yeah-I'm-a-guy-trying-to-hustle-you-into-paying-me-to-do-something shades of phony. They proceeded to accost Steinkamp and tell him we were not allowed to claim our own luggage and needed to give them our baggage claim tickets and they would get our stuff for us. It's a very smart business idea, but definitely something I'm glad doesn't happen in the States.

Once we got to the Mission of Hope Compound, we played some basketball with a few of the Haitian children who live on the compound.