Arrving in Haiti - warm welcome
Nov 18, 2011
Arriving in Haiti yesterday after eight months absence was a little surreal, but the glorious sunshine, backdrop of mountains, noisy bustle of the people and traffic of Port-au-Prince, were welcoming and familiar. The city seems less broken, the streets and buildings healing and no doubt the people, too, somewhat – if only to where it all was pre-earthquake. I saw one large tent encampment as a reminder of the catastrophic ‘tremblement’ on January 10, 2010 and of the widening cholera epidemic fuelled by lack of sanitation in these ‘temporary’ camps.
Also welcoming were my friends Gail Buck from Healing Hands for Haiti and one of the best drivers in the country, Jorel, who met me at the airport to kindly chauffeur me back to the HHH headquarters for a tour of the construction site of the new HHH rehab centre. Met Riché Zamour, the new Executive Director of HHH, and my old friend the Operations Manager, Antonio Kebreau, who proudly showed off the progress made since breaking ground in the spring. The building is much larger and grander than I had pictured from the plans and well designed around an open concept centre courtyard that allows for light and air to flow up and through the three stories. The grand opening is expected on schedule in March; something the organization can be very proud of.
Jorel raced me back to the domestic airport via short cuts few others would know and almost impassable back streets to catch up my Haiti Village Health friends for the short Tortug’ Air flight over the mountains to Cap Haitien. Strangely and beautifully, a Haitian woman in the airport sang ‘O Danny boy’ in Creole! Later, while climbing enormous billowy mountains in the sky we looked down over the sad brown, worn mountain ranges that comprise over 80% of Haitian geography.
In Cap Haitien, the country’s second largest city, the staff of HVH and an advance volunteer team that had been working for two days at the local HVH clinic met us. We were surprised by the unexpected and unusual luxury of a large, new air-conditioned bus that took on our dozen volunteers, half a dozen staff and picked up several more local translators along the way.
The headquarters of HVH is in the seaside village of Bod Me Limbe on a bay on the north coast about an hour and a half away, over back cracking roads. The Haitians were jovial all the way and preferred a breeze from open windows to the harsh ac. The outside air was heavy with humidity and smoke from charcoal fires and burning garbage. The sun had set as we drove past isolated clusters of simple houses, almost every one with a balcony on which stood or sat silent groups of families watching from their darkness for approaching head lights and following the tail lights of the few vehicles that passed them by. Eventually we could smell the sea and were very close to the village when the bus got stuck in muddy ground water ponds. By flashlight we disembarked, unloaded luggage and cheered the driver and some muscular volunteers as they managed to free the behemouth for the return trip. It is the end of the road.
We were obviously expected by the villagers who appeared out of houses and from under trees to excitedly greet our crew. The children swarmed Docteur Tiffany and she soon had one in arms and others clinging. The staff had powered the generator for light and internet, chilled the beer and pop and prepared a warm meal of rice, stew and chicken. Music cheered the scene and just down the beach the soothing surf roared until bedtime and through the night.
In bright morning sun light the scene looks as idyllic as it felt on arrival. The freshly painted guesthouse and patio are just off the beach and next to the small fishing village of maybe 100 families. A picturesque island with sandy beach sits just beyond the breakers; mountains surround one side of the bay, the rest is sky and clouds. After a small breakfast, teams of pediatricians and family physicians head out in the truck and jam into a ‘tap-tap’ to do clinics in nearby communities. They returned late in the afternoon having treated 161 children who had been enrolled in the clinic to get medical attention for a variety of ailments including malnutrition, GI disorders, infections and skin conditions.
Today is a holiday, Flag Day in Haiti and so… celebrations tonight.
