Life in Hitia as an American

Life for an American in Haiti March 4th 2016 Haiti is a beautiful country, especially in the Northern area where we work and there are some trees. Then there are the beaches with the white sand and beautiful blue water of the Caribbean. Unfortunately many of the beaches have trash floating in the water so developing a tourist trade could prove to be difficult. Trash is a major problem here. They dont have any plan for the disposal of waste so it is all over the streets. Up here where we live in the mountains the people buy very little that comes in containers, so you dont see as much trash, but you can smell the plastics burning on a daily basis.
The village we live in would be hard to explain or to tell the population. There are small kyes (houses) everywhere. I once said to a visitor that it is like living in a camp ground and he corrected me that it was more like a refugee camp. We are the only people in the area that has indoor plumbing, and electricity. Although our solar electric is a very small system and we have very limited electricity, we still have lights and can charge our cell phones.
It is also very noisy here in Haiti. There are the roosters, the children playing ,crying , adults talking, people arguing, voodoo drums, soccer games on radios, school children reciting, and when someone dies the keening, My friend who is also working here, said the Haitian people do not have TV , movies or books so they have to have the drama in their lives. I think this is very true.
Since last fall, water has been very limited in our village. There is an organization, OXFAM, that is working on rebuilding the cistern that holds the water for the village. Hopefully when they are finished there will be more water available. We have to be very aware of the water we use and try to be conservative as possible.
I use wash tubs to do laundry and have a wonderful hand crank wringer. This is considered a washing machine. I cook using small pieces of wood on a small rocket stove, which is equivalent to only having high, on one burner.
I also have a small solar oven. I love the solar oven but you have to have sun. Here on the island, you have to use it in the morning, most afternoons are cloudy.
I only cook on the weekends usually so this is all ok. We dont have enough solar electricity to have a refrigerator so we have an ice box. We buy a large block of ice about every four days.
It is very hot here, although we have had a few days when the temperature dropped into the low 70s. Then everyone was in sweatshirts and jackets. Mostly it is in the 90s and very humid. Because it is an island there is a breeze most of the time.
There are political problems here like in most countries. The difference here is the only voice the people feel they have, is to stage protests. These can become violent and people can be killed. We have a website we check were other Americans that are working here report on the area where they live, or are traveling through if there are any problems in that particular area..
Haiti does not have reliable media; there is no local news station, or even a national news station. There are no daily news papers. They dont even have a mail system. There are two cell phone companies and they send out weather alerts if there is a hurricane threatening an area. It is not safe for people to travel by themselves. There are highway robbers, untreated mentally ill people, and disparate people that kidnap other people hoping for a ransom. This is difficult for me as I have always been independent.
Shopping is another challenge. Since the earthquake in 2010, there are a lot more foreign people here so Port au Prince now has some stores like we would be used to, but they are very expensive.
The other parts of the country have market places. Some of the bigger towns have a grocery store, but you cannot go to the store expecting you will find what you need. Just because you saw it there the last time does not mean they will have it this time. Buying simple things we would consider staples in the US can prove to be a challenge, you could walk the whole market trying to find a battery and then there would be a very special price because you are white or you may not find them at all. The markets are streets filled with venders, our local market has a back section that we recently visited for the first time, and it was like something out of the dark ages. They were slaughtering goats and the mud was mixed with blood. They had goat heads for sale along with the other parts. We have a friend who has problems with his neighbors goats in his garden and we suggested he buy a few heads and mount them on his gate as a warning to his neighbors. He found this to be very funny.
This area also had stalls for your voodoo needs. I found it all to be very interesting. The ladies that work for us do most of our shopping but occasionally we do go to the market to buy a few things.
The people accepting foreigners are probably like in most places, especially in third world countries. When we go to town there are always people begging, this can get very tire some. Some of the people you can tell really have no choice, but most just look at you as an opportunity. After the three year of living in our village we no longer have people coming to our door asking for money for food, they all know I will only offer them seeds. We help with medical problems and I am the school nurse. As anywhere it takes a while to develop true friendships which we are blessed with many.
Now we are blessed with a truck we are much more mobile. The roads for the most part are very bad and my neck suffers from the constant jostling. To get to the main mission we drive thru the river and across beds of rocks (large rocks). It is only about 8 kilometers to the main mission but this trip takes about an hour. Many parts of the mission are not reachable by road and you have to walk. These areas have become difficult for us to visit.
I guess it is the same everywhere, to become a part of the community you have to laugh with the people, dance with the people and attend the funerals. I feel that Bob and I are now a part of this community. I am always sad to leave and excited to go home. As I am sad to leave my family but excited to return to our community here where we are so needed. Thank you for your prayers and your interest,
Denise s.d.s.