Transitions

Life is full of changes. This week we attended the farewell party of the Fida -pcH field director Janet Bauman. We feasted on conch, fancy rice and stuffed turkey (our first taste of turkey since leaving Canada - they had to drag us away from the buffet table) and we listened to the PCH staff give tributes to their outgoing leader.



This is a picture of Janet cutting her cake surrounded by PCH staff.
We also attended another meeting introducing the new
director and hearing at the same time that we would now be taking on the role of Guest House Managers (as well as Assistant Managers). This makes us feel very versatile - not to mention busy. And busy is good - numbers have been up both in December and January - despite the unsettled times - more people are again coming to Haiti to visit, conduct business and carry out their missions. We are happy to host them!


One of the privileges of our duties at the Guest House is that we are constantly meeting fascinating people. Many become friends as they stay longer or come back repeatedly.
It also means we are constantly saying hello and good-bye.
We just said good-bye to Dja - our local expert on Haitian culture and history. He is leaving this week for a 3 month tour in USA to enlighten and educate people about his countrymen.
We also said good-bye to Melanie, an adoptive mom, who came for a day and stayed for a month, waiting for her adoptive childrens' papers to be finalized (they phoned to say that they were ready the morning she returned home alone). Melanie coined the term "comedy hour on the roof" - Waldo's evening entertainment contribution for our guests. Actually it's not the same without your hearty laugh Melanie!
We said hello to Paul Jackson (on the left) a Canadian author, lecturer and tennis player extraordinaire - who has come to stay with us for 3 months while he researches his next book(s).

This next picture shows our youngest guest this last week. At 2 months she knew how to charm everyone with her big eyes and cute smile.
We also had three Cuban seniors stay here this week. I tried to resurrect the Spanish that I had learned last year but try as I might, only Creole (and then some German) seemed to come to my mind. It is a terrible thing to get old!
And speaking of old, that is one more transition that I needed to make today. I celebrated another birthday as I made the transition from one number to the next. Waldo bought a birthday cake that we shared with staff and guests.

And lastly it has been confirmed this week that we will be flying back to Ontario to share our experiences and pictures at a fund-raiser dinner for FIDA. It will be held on Feb 21 in Waterloo.
Watch for specific details to follow!

Communicating

At first I think there must be an argument. I hear loud deliberate dialogue at 04:00 in the morning - 5 or 6 voices talking all at once. As I walk out onto the balcony to investigate, I realize that the speakers are all facing different directions and they are walking up and down the street. The guards explain that they are evangelists preaching. As I watch, they move up and down the 4 streets that intersect in front of our Guest House, preaching fervently. Eventually they form a circle in the middle of the intersection and begin to sing hymns with rhythmic clapping and two part harmony. After a while they move down the street to repeat this activity in a different part of town. We have heard this several times since moving to Haiti - always in the stillness of predawn, with roosters as the only active audience.
When I ask the Haitians why the preachers choose that hour of the day, they say it is because they have the attention of people at that time. There is no traffic or noise to interfere with their message and people can lie in their beds quietly listening to what God wants to say them at that time.

I realize that effective communication varies - I have discovered a new method this week by downloading an easily accessible program onto my computer (Skype - thanks Doreen!). It allows me to talk from my computer to my son's computer by voice. I recline on my bed (also my couch) and talk to Conrad with a small mike in my hand. It sounds like he is in the next room and I am grateful to hear his voice and the nuances of moods and words.
My daughter has e-mailed from Africa. Though she is in a remote village and has to travel 40 km to get to the closest internet, she has a cellphone. Thus I can phone her from my computer!
As Waldo and I talk to her this morning (midafternoon for her) we are again grateful for modern technology which allows us to communicate with our loved ones. When Waldo's sister left for Africa some 30 years ago, her parents had to rely on letters which took weeks to travel one direction. The world has literally become smaller as communication technology is accessed.
Cara has started her own blogspot to chronicle her activities. It is a blogspot which is called www.adventurecara.blogspot.com

Home is where you are

Aren't they cute!
To take these pictures, I had to hold the children back with my left hand and quickly snap the picture with my right hand! They wanted their face right "in" the picture.
This week we visited an orphanage (one of hundreds in Haiti) in Port-au-Prince with one of our guests. These children live in a happy noisy home.

There are two things the children love - one is some attention from an adult, another is having their picture taken.






They love being held by a tall man like Waldo.


One serious little boy clamored onto my lap when I sat down. His solemn look turned into a delightful smile and though he said nothing until I left, he never stopped smiling.







We also had a visit from Betsy Wall, the executive director of Fida Canada. She brought along a letter written by her mother Ann Wall, who started Wall's Guest House, some 25 years ago. The Walls have been back in Canada for about 5-6 years now.
This is a picture of the staff dictacting a letter to Ann, whom they remember with great fondness. Patrick is writing down their comments as they send their best wishes and prayers to Jack and Ann.





One evening we went out for supper at a favorite restaurant in Petionville (in Port-au-Prince).
We spent some time talking with this table of "blancs" who were dining next to us. Turns out they were Canadians, most from Ontario. They were all pilots and personnel connected with flying the DASH 7's used by the UN in Haiti.
One fellow had grown up in Debert, N.S. where I have relatives and we knew the same people!! The one you see behind Betsy (pointing) had spent all his summers in Long Point and Port Rowan as a youngster - Port Rowan is our home town! We had great fun talking about cottages, tomato fests, and tobacco. Small world isn't it??

Flowers of Haiti

January is the most beautiful month in Haiti. The lower temperatures and cooler nights encourages the growth of myriads of prolific blooms. My favorite scene is of large bushes of brilliant colors spilling over grey stone walls - sometimes in up to three distinct hues. I do not have many pictures of those but do have some individual flowers to show you. Displayed are only a fraction of the varieties that grow here - we notice new specimans each time we travel lately. The intense heat and drought of the spring months will likely limit some of the colors we see now, at least at the lower altitudes. These pictures remind me that flowers, like people come in all shapes and sizes, each with their own beauty! (smile)
(Try clicking on a picture to enlarge it)

THE UGLY!

Garbage:
One of the first things a first time visitor to Haiti notices is the garbage. It's true. Haiti has a garbage problem. It is especially bad in the cities - along roads. There simply is no timely system of cleaning up garbage that seems to accumulate day to day.





The water front along the cities and towns are the worst. It used to be acceptable to throw one's biodegradable garbage in the water or in the canals for the rains to carry out to sea. However, now that garbage includes mostly plastics, glass and clothing, it is no longer acceptable. However, the habit has continued. It is interesting that all plastics, glass and most clothing is imported from countries that refuse to take Haiti's imports unless theirs are taken in return. Consequently Haitians now "need" soda, plastic wrapped items and designer clothes as much as the average north
American. Plastic has become even more of a problem in Haiti because they do not "bury" their garbage as North Americans do. (Never mind that this may not be the best way to deal with garbage, but at least it tends to be hidden!)
I think of Canada's education system urging children as young as kindergarten to recycle. Road signs threaten fines if litterers are caught, giving the message that throwing things out the window is a crime.
In Haiti this is not the case.

There are indeed garbage trucks but they are not set up to handle everything they find. They do not have adequate facilities to deal with the garbage they do collect.





Thus the sights, smells and even sounds (of pigs, goats, dogs and chickens foraging on trash piles) continue to be part of the landscape in Haiti. It will take quite an effort for Haitians to bring about a change to their envinronment.

The BAD

Imfirmities
Waldo really likes to experience everything a country has to offer. He has been sampling the tropical diseases again. The bad news is that he's been diagnosed with Typhoid. The good news is that there's no longer any reason for him to diet as he's lost some more weight. This last week has been tough as he's been flat in bed, but now he's able to read, eat small amounts and be up and walk around for a few minutes. I've had little time to "wipe his fevered brow" as we have been busier this week than usual looking after guests, hosting conferences, and catering meals out of our kitchen. This involves me making desserts - today's menu included mango pie for 20 as well as bonbons mamba (peanut butter cookies) and banana cake.

Political Situation
Unlike Canada, whose upcoming election creates a bit of verbal mud-slinging, Haiti's election has provoked unrest and violence. The election has now been post-poned for the 4th time since October, 2005. The latest date we hear is February 7th but that too is tentative. Everyone involved - UN, foreign powers and interim government- each blame the other for their lack of abililty to organize polling stations and getting people registered to vote. Meanwhile the 30 plus candidates continue to stir up the public and we hear stories of arrests, shootings and illegal protests. Things seem to be heating up instead of cooling off in the political realm. It is not unusual to hear gunshots from our room at night - those of you who've lived in unstable environments know that this is common in many countries of the world. That said, we have also read in the news about recent shootings in Toronto, Ottawa and Niagara.

Kidnappings
We have been criticized for not presenting the whole picture of Haiti in our blogspot. While our point in writing on the blogspot has been to describe our reality here, we have also been encouraged by our position as hosts to be more cognizant of the danger that exists for a select few. The truth is that kidnappings, which had declined for a number of months, are again on the rise. Statistically the number of kidnappings are not that high, and certainly foreigners are not the only ones targeted. Wealthy Haitians, those in authority positions and even those Haitians who are friends of missionaries or NGO's are being kidnapped. We try to practise good habits of awareness, taking safe routes, avoiding any known areas for trouble, and have been briefed in "what to do if". That aside, we do not spend a lot of time worrying about whether we will be safe, or whether we will get kidnapped - life goes on for the majority of Haitians. We feel that the airport is one of the safest places, as it is crawling with police and UN personal. Many of you have expressed interest in the past about coming to Haiti and have now post-poned or cancelled your plans. We want you to know that that is OK. We do not expect everyone to have the same comfort levels with travelling and understand that for some it is simply too big a stretch. Everyone needs to decide what they need to do without being criticized either way. For those who keep coming, we will keep welcoming and attempting to explain the different moods of Haiti.

New Years Reflections - The Good

THE GOOD:
All I want for Christmas is....a new Inverter....and guess what? We got one! It has made our lives so much less inconvenient!. We no longer have to get up several times in the middle of the night to switch power sources because of random electrical outages. The automatic Inverter turns on by itself and the new more powerful batteries keep us our computers and fans humming many
hours longer and can even support our refridgerator! Yeah!!!


Relationships with our guests continue to be one of the greatest sources of enjoyment for us. We are happy because Jason and Corey (who seemed like family already) finally got their visa for little Erica and were able to take her home. December was a busy month for Walls Guest House - a good sign!




Our children, with whom we had a wonderful time at Christmas, have made it to their next destinations. Conrad is starting his last semester of University this week in St. Catharines and Cara has written from Africa to say she is enjoying getting orientated to her new environment in Namibia. She sampled zebra this week as part of a new cuisine!

The weather continues warm, breezy and beautiful. Eat your hearts out Canadians!!

I attended a wonderful drama and dance program yesterday performed by the Resurrection Dance Theater of Haiti. It comes out of St Joseph's home for boys, started by a catholic brother(Michael Geilenfeld), who took homeless street boys, provided a home and taught them the arts (dance, drumming, painting, singing), along with practical skills like gardening, cooking, and hospitality services . They provide excellent professional shows for guests, go on tours to different countries and many of the graduates of the program go on to administrative positions in one of their numerous projects and three Homes. A few years ago the boys started the Wings of Hope ministry which is a Home for severely mentally and physically challenged children. We watched Soni, who has an incredible story (see www3sympatico.ca/brokenwings/) perform a dance with his brightly colored costume and wide infectious smile. The entire experience was, for me, an inspiring example of hope in a country that has overwhelming problems.

We have concluded, along with most volunteers in Haiti, that we cannot affect the whole country or even one problem. But we can become involved with one person or one situation and try to make a difference with the talents and resources we have.