School Strike, Frostbike, Another Mountain

While the macrocosm of the country continues to bubble and steam like a volcano threatening to erupt, the microcosm of Lakay Fondasyon chugs along, the little engine that could. School supplies are non existent - we have scoured the marketplace and stores weekly since early December.With schools opening (supposedly) this week, we increased the hunt.



Marie-Vonette unpacks notebooks

We can't find scientific calculators, back packs, pens, pencil cases,  notebooks.  We are out of and cannot replenish protein powder, multi vitamins and Allimax. We did find hygiene products in quantity.

Prior to the quake, notebooks were assembled in Port-au-Prince.  We found the last 4 packages of 96 page notebooks in Cap-Haitien at $ 12.US per pack.

We have more than 100 students in secondary - each one needs 8 notebooks, can get along with 5.  The 48 we found won't go far and upon inspection, the advertised 96 pages proved an exaggeration - each had 80 pages. Yes, we actually sit and count (kontwole) the number of pages in a notebook.  Then Satuday  (his day off) Auguste phoned from the market - he had found a marchand with kaye Miami (notebooks which came from the states) for $1.50 USD per notebook ($15. US per pkg.). She only had 23 packages but it gets everyone started.



Paudeline in school uniform.

Or so I thought.  Tuesday Paudeline arrived bright and early  for one of her little visits. The quality of  sewing on school uniforms is to be admired - - all hand made in very cramped, poorly lit spaces. She brought news that her school Lycee Boukman was on strike again (gen grev) as the teachers' have not been paid by the state for many months.

Unfortunately this is a regular occurance.


Which brings us to the announcement of new industry coming to Cap-Haitien. The answer to our problems is not more sweat shops which  keep the poor trapped in the entrenched vicious poverty cycle - a recently passed, fought over minimum wage  increase to $3. USD  PER DAY which does not feed a family, nor pay for schooling or put a roof over anyone's head. The industry needed would provide a just living wage in safe, sanitary conditions. This country is filled with talented, motivated, passionate individuals, languishing. I was hoping for universal health care, access to education and safe housing. Perhaps a  support program for post-secondary education. Seems quite doable given the largesse targeted for the country. Mr. Clinton, please come to visit us.

Of the 4 we sent to L'hôpital Justinien last week with eye infections, Mona and Mackdalene  need corrective lenses.  While we provide the money for eye exams, hospital consults and tap-taps for travel, these young people still must get up and arrive at the hospital before 4:30 am as the limited daily number of places (usually 15)  go quickly. We keep all cards on file here. There are  so many with eye problems we have a separate folder for the Opthalmology Department.  Students must come in for a referral form, consult fees and the original card. This expedites the process of finding their dossier at the hospital.   If no previous dossier, the process takes more time. Then they sit until the doctor arrives, usually 10 or 11 am. Thanks to you, the Starthrowers who support us, they will have glasses next week.

We're paying trimeste fees at each school in Cap  this week, setting up home visits (both here and in the Dominican Republic) In addition we're gathering supplies, revising lists and contracts  and filling salary envelopes as well as school envelopes with 2nd and 3rd trimeste fees. as we travel up  Morn Granjil to-morrow to meet with staff and students in Sen Rafayel. So I'm keeping it brief today.

Andreas on his mount, dressed for the occasion.

In closing I want to introduce you to a Starthrower who lives in Toronto, Canada. His name is Andreas Kloppenborg, a 4th year student in International Relations at the University of Toronto.

On Saturday, January 29th he will ride his bike from Kingston to Toronto (hence Frostbike) in frigid Ontario temperatures to raise awareness and funds for Starthrowers' secondary school program. Please visit his website and support this fundraiser. Tell one more person.

I'm in awe of the generosity and creativity exhibited by Starthrowers. I don't have the creative gene.  Andreas, you are one of my heroes.

As a final thought, if you have seen news reports, you know of the drama surrounding the return  this week of former dictator Jean Claude Duvalier, which continues to unfold. Where it will end and what impact it will have is anyone's guess. Auguste arrived for work Monday very subdued. I asked if he was ill. He replied "It's worse than that. It's another earthquake - Duvalier's here"  (Se pi mal ke sa-a. Yon lot trembleman te-a. Jean Claude te rive.).  Last week I quoted a Haitian proverb -  Deye mon gen mon. It's yet another mountain.

Plis pi ta (more later)

Beni-w (blessings)

Sharon

Jan. 12 - One Year After the Heartquake

There is unutterable sadness and weariness to life lived in absolute poverty. This was true before  the tranbleman te (earthquake) of Jan. 12, 2010.  How, I ask myself,  can something already so profound be deepened? There is also inspiring joy, delight and humour in the simple things those with privilege miss.

We are the privileged - I am - and perhaps you are as well. We've been to school - we can read . We have access to a computer, running water, a toilet which can be flushed, electricity for the dark times, and socks to wear to church and zip lock bags.

I have lived with these privileges and never thought to stop and thank the universe or wonder "Why me?"

That was before my Haitian transfusion, figuratively and literally after life saving surgery, strengthening me, reminding me of the sense of wonder and gratitude I once had but lost for a time.

Carmene

Joy and pain are tangible here and so closely related.  Carmene, our cook/housekeeper, arrives for work every day with a smile on her face and a greeting for everyone.  Haitians do that - acknowledge every day and the people who pass through it. Her smile is gentle and genuine - concealing a sadness we can never enter. She is the face of Haiti: courage, wisdom, patience, and in her smile, teeth, blackened with cavities, which will never see the inside of a dentists' office.



Traditionally, the New Year is a time to remember those lost in the past year. There were many lost in Haiti last Jan.12 who will never be remembered publicly. The only newspaper we receive, Le Nouvelliste,  carries personal ads every printing, of those looking for loved ones not seen since Jan. 12th.  A year later the search continues. In recognition of those who still search and those unaccounted for,  I'm sharing our loss -  a young man who was the face of Haiti's present and future and now belongs to her past and the legacy of January 12, 2010.

This is Carmene's son Frandzy, killed January 12, 2010.

Frandzy V.  26.01.86 - 12.01.2010

I found some pictures of him in my computer a couple of weeks ago and asked Carmene if she wanted to see them or have me print them. She paused for a painfully long time, slowly turned to me with a look of  profound sadness and vehemently shook her head. "No" was all she said.

Too painful to remember, the second son she's lost in the service of  Haiti's terrible poverty. Frandzy was in Port-au-Prince in first year medical technology. He wanted to be a doctor because his younger brother Ernst died at age 13 of a simple ear infection, easily treated if you're privileged, fatal if you're poor. He wanted to help  improve the odds currently stacked against the poor.



He was intelligent, funny, thoughtful, studious and committed to being part of the change Haiti needs from her young people. His dream would have been realized thanks to Starthrowers like you. Others will do it in his stead and in his name.

I'm not a writer - Karen and Jeff are blessed with that gift. I don't have an eye for photography - that's Pete. And I certainly have no gift for drawing a story with pen and line - that's Daniel and my son Ken.

I can be present and I can tell you the stories - the minutiae and the mountains climbed by the young people who pass through Starthrower in Haiti. I think their stories are worth telling. I think we - the privileged with our computers and zip lock bags - need to know. Knowing their stories makes me a better person. 



Marrion F.

The New Year is also a time to look ahead. Last August 14,  Marrion F. (Sen Rafayel) wrote a letter to me. It was one of 73 letters received that day. That night, while tucked under my mosquito net, flashlight in hand, I made my way through all 73, saving his for last as it was written in English - a painstaking chore to be sure, probably written with  dictionary in hand. Saved for last because no translation was required. In it he wrote "My father died in the heart quake 12 January 2010. My mother is living but she is sickly. She can't help me continue with my classical education, I'm obliged to address you."  What a profound mistake - our hearts did quake, sometimes it feels as though our hearts broke.  While  reflecting on Marrion's letter, I recalled a line from a video I had seen last year.  According to the character of Jake ('Must Love Dogs ' 2005 Warner Bros.) after an experience which breaks your heart, the universe lets it grow back bigger, stronger, more capable of love. Words of comfort are often found in surprising places. The world needs bigger, stronger hearts.

Marrion is on our waiting list - one of the 300 plus. He is waiting to finish the final year of high school and go on to university.   He is also the face of Haiti - the present, the future, the 'possibilite'.

One year later we are coping, moving on - Martha has started sleeping inside again, Piterson and Guilene have recovered as much as possible from their physical wounds. Guilene, blind from birth, is back at school in Port-au-Prince. She still has pain from six days of confinement beneath the rubble of her former school. Piterson also has residual pain, but is writing entrance exams at the State university hoping to study medicine. Another survivor with guilt. He was at school with Frandzy. It was Piterson who somehow in all the terror and disorientation,  found a telephone and called us with the terrible news.  He has always wanted to be a doctor - more so after his experiences last Jan. 12th.

Gaby, Brunie, Wisly and Alland still don't sleep well when in Leogane, Plenito has found a new university  in Port-au-Prince but has to repeat last year. His survivor guilt continues,  he wonders why favourite teachers and classmates died but he didn't. Dieugrand and others still have difficulty entering large buildings.  Vaudre, Elines, Fabiola, Constance and many others continue to live in quake damaged homes. Repairing would be futile. They need to be torn down and rebuilt. And the list goes on.  We have repaired the structural damage to our centre  in Cap-Haitien although large cracks remain.  The 'structural damages' sustained by many of our young people are not visible.

 One year later we are coping, moving on - but always remembering - n'ap degaje, n'ap kontinye ,n'ap sonje.

Beni-w

Sharon

PS An official announcement yesterday stated that three more bodies had been found  (on the exact anniversary) and that less than 5% of the rubble has been moved. One year later - still a heartquake.

Mountains and Minutiae

"Dèyè mon gen mon" . Loosely translated, behind every mountain is another mountain. This kreyol expression  succinctly sums up life here.  We have literal mountains such as Morn Granjil which we travel weekly to meet with our staff and students in Sen Rafayel. One is surrounded by mountains and led by mountains.

Look at a map of Haiti - so many mountains there is very little space for people, farms, industry. There are figurative mountains - take 2010 for example. Major earthquake in January followed by  tropical storms, cholera outbreak, fraudulent elections, civil unrest  all of which impacted upon and in some instances forced closures of  schools , banks and businesses.  Seems there is always a 'mountain' .

In tandem with the challenge of mountains, we carry on with the minutiae of daily life . Perhap because of the inevitability of another mountain, we celebrate the small daily successes.

 



Weby-Schneider and Auguste review budget



This week we sent Weby-Schneider off to University in Port-au-Prince. He will be studying Sciences Diplomatiques (Diplomatic Sciences) at the Universite Americaine des Sciences Modernes d'Haiti.

We had sent him to the capitol in the summer to inskri (register) and he had secured a bursary. Then no news until last week. He had contracted  typhoid (tifoyid) in October and is just now on his feet again. This leaving will be hard for his mother. His dad died in the summer of 2009 and he is the oldest child.

I have to admit I really like the idea of a Haitian diplomat coming from the ranks of the poor. His place is still available at the school but the bursary is gone. There are relatives with whom he can stay, which helped us make the decision to send him.

Rose-Guerlande has been in almost daily, researching schools of dentistry. She is an orphan with 3 siblings, the only one to attend school. She stays with an aunt. Knowing the probability of being accepted at the state university in Port-au-Prince, we have begun collecting her papers for a passport, checked with the embassy of the Dominican Republic re: status of students, given the persistence of 'kolera' and this week enrolled her in an intensive Spanish program which will help with the language requirements (once we secure a sponsor or group).  She completed Philo in July. The final 4 years of high school she was awarded a bursary based on academic success. She wants to study dentistry because she knows the reality '"All students have problems with teeth. There are no dentists to help them. I want to."

Rose-Guerlande researches dental schools.

Our days are not all school related . Edwige came in every other day to have wounds on her hand dressed. Her sister, Sherlyne, was gravely ill (undiagnosed by clinic doctor) and when fever and hallucinations were peaking she bit Edwige. At least with kolera we are able to get a definitive diagnosis and we know the treatment.

Dressing wounds on Edwige's hand

On a lighter note, we received sets of  dominoes for Christmas from Pennsylvania. One we earmarked for the centre. What a joy to watch these young people relax, if only for a short time. When I asked Fabien why he was standing, he informed me that he was waiting for permission from his fellow players. So much to learn.

Alex, Weby-Schneider, Fabien, Esmann



 Carmene at work Friday



This week our focus was on placements for post secondary students, as secondary schools remained closed in anticipation of protests over an election result which never came.With an unanticipated week of holidays, everyone came almost daily for a meal, a gallon of potable water, read the paper, company ... Schools will remain closed this week to mark the first anniversary of the earthquake which devastated the country Jan. 12th.  Here in Cap-Haitien,  religious programs are scheduled followed  by a solemn march around the city. The political announcement is scheduled for Thursday.

 Our house is spotless thanks to Carmene, and our water chateau is full thanks to Jack coming in on his day off to-day.

To-morrow we get to start again. What a gift - a new week.

Beni -w

Sharon

FYI Next blog post Wed. January 12/2011

Independence Day, Ancestors Day - Part 1 & 2

At the moment there is electricity and an Internet signal. While preparing food for the dogs and cat at 6am, I was able to access  the  Scorpions  in concert  on YouTube-- 'Moment of Glory' and 'Winds of Change' with the Berlin Philharmonic. Listening to Klaus Meine  - an auspicious start to the new year - it doesn't get much better.

Sounds of Independence Day celebrations, which began Thursday, have not lost any energy. Unfortunately the new punctuation  for any activity in our area (katye) is gunfire (tire ak bal). Instead of a night time phenomenon, it has become an around the clock occurrence. Twice this week staff stayed late, because of the proximity and frequency mid-afternoon.  Monday morning on their way to work,  Joceline and Rosema passed the body of a young man one street above us in front of EDH (Electrique d'Haiti). Police were on the scene. Apparently he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Anger continues to simmer around broken promises of  definitive election results. Now scheduled for Jan. 5th, the potential for violence could keep schools from reopening. We're told schools will open perhaps Monday the 3rd.

As well we are seeing an escalation in drug/ alcohol use in the general population. On several  recent occasions we have been approached while in the truck by someone obviously high on something demanding money. Staff have been stopped  in the street. They also tell of street kids now into sniffing thinner (tine). If ever there was a time to not only stay the course but increase efforts it is now. Hand delivered letters with stories of tragedy, hope and potential continue to arrive daily from students seeking 'soutyen'.

On the good news front, after a two week drought, gasoline arrived in the country. Our generator which pumps water from well to house is gas driven, so it was an exceptionally critical period for us.

Lines for gasoline were long and frustration was evident.  Patience was thin.

Boxes arrived from Pensylvania with gift items for everyone, as did funds for Christmas food distribution. Our gratitude to Penns Valley Community Church, Rashad J., Paula W. and Cindy W.  Carmene and I unpacked, sorted, removed tags, then  divided into male/female then Cap-Haitien/Sen Rafayel. We wrapped  while Joceline and Jack prepared individual food sacks. Auguste kept the office going.

Many of our young people were able to get 'home' for the break. Everyone came to eat as well as  pick up food sacks, potable water, hygiene products  and gifts. Some came to research on the computers.  

Others came to read the paper, kick the soccer ball, talk, stretch out on the hammock, some for funds for medical referrals or  to replace school shoes worn down by  rocks and mud. . Although we were closed Dec. 24 thru 27, twenty-eight students showed up. Apparently the 'CLOSED FOR HOLIDAYS' notice was inadvertently not posted. Many showed up in their very best clothing. When I gently told Paudeline we were closed she said very brightly 'I know - I came to visit!'  (M konnen - m'ap vizite) In she teetered on  precariously high cork-platform shoes, someones cast-offs from another country and another time. It was the first time I had seen her since the deaths of her grandmother and father from 'kolera'.

  

Wisly, Gaby and Alland checking Kolera stats



Edwina reads Le Nouvelliste







Sherlyne and sister Edwige's shoes



 ________________________________________________________

( Sunday Jan 2 )

The good intentions to write a two-part blog yesterday were washed away by heavy rains, which interfered with the Internet signal, also delaying ( but not cancelling ) remaining programs for Independence Day.

Rain does not dampen enthusiasm here, and celebrations resumed within approximately 15 minutes of the rain moving out - about 5:45 am by my clock.  However, it was no longer Independence Day being celebrated, but Ancestors Day (called Heroes Day by some).  It is 6 pm and the programs continue. Joceline and Rosema worked a half day today, and assured me that all 'fets' (celebrations) would be finished by Jan. 6th and the 'norm' will resume. I would be hard pressed to describe the 'normal' to which she referred.

To-day, radio carried some school opening information for this week. One or two of the private schools will reopen Tuesday the 4th. In anticipation of potential disruption by protests in response to electoral announcements on Jan. 5th, most schools are delaying second trimeste until Monday Jan. 10th.

Good news as we received confirmation this week that our  students in Sen Rafayel who lost their placements due to 2 village schools closing (see earlier posts re: College Vincent Oge and Roi Henri Christophe) have been accepted at  Lycee Charlemagne Perault and Centre Classique le Phare. Djohn and Illiomene travelled  down the mountain Thursday for funds for both school fees and new uniforms for the kids. Village tailors and seamstresses work very quickly - they're used to a flurry of activity followed by long periods of no work.

We were unable to travel up the mountain this week as our truck (machin) was out of commission (anpan).  Illiomene has recovered from her recent bout of cholera (kolera).  She brought along a bill from the clinic which treated her early in December, clearing up a question. Her initial diagnosis in early Dec. was cholera, however she was treated at the clinic for typhoid (tifoyid). The cholera did not recur but set in after.

She is looking for a place to stay in order to finish her school year. We'll pick up the rent - it's just finding a place. She will probably still be sleeping on the floor with several others but it will get her through exams for Philo (last year of high school). If she is successful writing state nationals, she hopes to enter nursing in Leogane.

Djohn, Illiomene and Auguste prepare gifts

Once business was out of the way (salaries, new school fees, clinic payments, request letters...), we set to labelling and packing gifts. The timing of the gifts for Sen Rafayel means that they received New Year's gifts (etrenn or zetren yo) instead of Christmas (kado nwel).  Jack packed food sacks for the trip at the same time.

Staff will purchase cooking oil ( lwil) and charcoal (chabon) in Sen Rafayel . We try to put funds into each community. Our truck was ready to travel to the bus station  by the time they left, thanks to our mechanic Danius, who had also come down from Sen Rafayel to do repairs.

Monday our university and nursing students all head back after a stop here for funds and a meal.  Tuesday I'll head to the banks (with reading material to pass the time) and we'll resume the hunt for notebooks (kaye), pens (bik yo), and hygiene products. We've been scouring the city the entire month of December- everything is scarce. What we do find has often doubled in price.

Perhaps this week...

Thank you for the 'soutyen' in 2010.  Knowing that so many have taken the well-being of these young people into their lives lightens my load considerably. In partnership we will continue to  make a difference, one at a time.

Wishing you a  year filled with blessings
Bon ane 2011
Sharon

Here are more pictures from this week:

Sharon, Auguste and the four nursing students: Seated Gaby and Brunie.  Standing Allan and Wisly



Dialine says mesi (thank you) for the kado (gift)

Fresnel comes for potable water

Rose-Guirlande researches schools of Dentistry

Cholera, School Exams and Rain

Voodoo (vodou) drums (boula, asoto, kata) were back last night, creating a lullaby in tandem with the rain, which has been falling for more than a week.  The drums, part of a wake ceremony for the dead, have been curiously absent for almost 2 weeks.  When I asked  if it was the rain hampering the ceremonies, staff  replied no, too many dead.

Rain means cooler temperatures (19 celcius today).  When you're used to 30 plus - that's a shock.  No one has proper clothing for a seasonal change.  It also means we can't do laundry as nothing dries, mold and mildew are taking over.

Jocelyn bundled up against the cold

Garbage continues to pile up as well. The newly distributed garbage dumpsters (poubel-yo) are never emptied so they become sites for burning. Toxic smoke fills the air on a recurring basis.

Poubel on Rue L.

Not surprisingly, chest infections abound. We have 6 students with pneumonia, Marie-Modeline being the most serious. As Carmene and Jack were off work, Auguste and I made the journey to her place in Madeline to deliver the last sleeping sponge and some bedding.  Most of our young people are sleeping on either cement or dirt floors with no covers, no mosquito nets. A full-scale 'bedding program' is currently out of  economic reach. Sleeping bags don't work here as they quickly become sources of damp and mildew.The sleeping sponges come in from the neighboring Dominican Republic but that supply route has become a mere trickle in the face of  'kolera' fears.

Auguste carrying sleeping sponge.

On the way home we stopped at one of the "Medecins Sans Frontieres"  (Doctors without Borders)cholera clinics to see if we could talk to someone about Sen Rafayel but there was no one with authority (pouvwa)  present.

 "Doctors without Boarders" cholera clinic in Cap-Haitien.

Carmene returned to work Thursday.  She had phoned early Monday to tell me her mother was ill in Sen Rafayel.  Family comes first at Starthrower - I just ask that they keep me informed somehow.  Her mother had Cholera and was forced to use the hospital which was charging our young people such outrageous amounts.  Carmene paid $60.25 USD for treatment (10 bottle of the sewomoral, which is potable water, salt and sugar) and $12.50 USD per night at the hospital to sleep on a rough plank on the floor, no covers, no pillow, no food, no water for visitors to wash their hands.  We had bottled  sewom here so Carmene knew what to do but the sugar and salt needed were not available in the marketplace in Sen Rafayel.  She was also upset by the hospital deaths during the brief time she was there - 4 people - all ages and stages of life died in front of her as she tended to her mother.  Her sister, who has been with Carmene since the quake, travelled up to take over home nursing duties,so Carmene could return to work.

Some good news. After hearing the story of the charges incurred by our young people for Cholera treatment in Sen Rafayel, a friend of mine who works in the medical field here contacted the minister for Sante Publik (Public Health).  He acted quickly, contacting officials at the hospital in Sen Rafayel  and  Medecins Sans Frontieres as well. A medical team arrived in the village late Thursday  and we are told  cholera treatment is now free.  Small victory but a victory!!

Jack also returned to work Thursday for a half day. Monday morning, he had arrived saying he had had a bout of diarrhea during the night but it was not cholera and he was fine.  I observed him throughout the morning.  He spent much of his time in the latrine and his energy level plummeted.  Late in the morning he finally admitted to being ill.   I asked Auguste how he felt about driving Jack home as he probably had 'kolera'.  Auguste was 'dako' (ok) with that.  Thank goodness for the truck.  The speed with which Jack's energy and overall wellness deteriorated was eye-opening.  I sent him home with 8 bottles of 'sewomoral'.  In some ways he is one of the lucky ones.  His neighborhood (katye) DOES have communal latrines.  Unfortunately they are pay for use and you have to find the keeper of the key and pay him when you want to use it.  He appeared for work Thursday looking wan but determined.  He was adamant about staying but quite content to leave at noon when it was suggested.

Auguste records books taken as Rosema and Esmann browse

Some schools reopened on Monday after an almost month long hiatus due to the elections/protests. Sen Rafayel schools are still closed due to the heavy rains, mudslides and rockfall.  In Cap-Haitien, our young people went from an unwelcome break into exams, which means everyone drops in for food and water as well as pencils and pens for writing.  Auguste and I had taken a day to clean out the office. In the process we decided to offer some of the text books the schools had not used for the past couple of years to anyone wanting supplementary study materials.  There is no reading for pleasure here - just study so the books were a big hit.  In the process of looking through the books, Rosema discovered that the handwritten photocopies his teacher had been distributing at a cost of just under $2 USD were taken verbatim from an older text book no longer on the purchase list.  Apparently those funds go directly into the teacher's pocket. The book has 78 pages - in groups of 3 or 4 pages to-gether so at least 20 required purchases by students. One way to supplement income - there is no copyright legislation in place here - anything can be copied. 

Daylight has broken - rain clouds linger but so does the elecricity. In closing my thoughts return to Carmene describing the hospital conditions in Sen Rafayel.  She is one of the very few people I know here who has a mother living.  She said that it seemed that those who did not have family to care for them were the ones who were dying.  Mothers and daughters - perhaps because I have just finished reading 'The Red Tent' by Anita Diamant  family relationships speak to me.  I wonder about our young people - 90% of them raising themselves and sometimes siblings with no role models, no support, no words of praise or encouragement.  Only time will tell what bearing this will have on the people they become.

Beni-w

Sharon

PS We learned late Friday that there will be an official announcement on Monday  regarding the results of the Nov. 28th elections.  As schools have been disrupted since that date, most of our young people are writing exams Saturday and Sunday. This is an unprecedented action, but understandable given  the potential for renewed violence if results are unacceptable by the populace (pep-la).  Should Cap-Haitien be 'cho' (hot) again on Monday, schools will close early for the Christmas break and remaining exams will take place the first week of January. I'll let you know.