So today was Corpus Christi day here in Haiti which is a national holiday. Luckily, Mary who works for our organization took some pity on me and invited me to join her and Helen and some of their national staff members at the beach. Mary came to pick me up at like 8:15 this morning and ran directly into the parade. Basically, from what I was told the holiday is about how god is number one or something like that, so she accidentally cut off the parade today as they were saying the french version of our father. There were floats and lots of singing, it was quite interesting, but caused issues with us trying to leave for the beach.
So, we went to the office to meet up with Helen and the national staff. The way that CRS is structured is we have international staff members (normally from the states) and national staff members (people from the country where the program is held). The idea is that the Haitian people know the best way to rebuild their country with guidance from our CRS international staff members and once they are trained and the country gets back on it's feet, we can exit and hopefully these national staff members can keep contributing to the rise of the nation. Anyways, neither here nor there, the point is that most of our national staff are not what one would consider well off; in the US they would be considered poor. Most Haitians are still living in tents on the street where it's often loaded with trash and is not very sanitary, but the building structures around Port Au Prince aren't safe. CRS is working to get transitional housing, but this means a lot of our staff are also subject to harsh conditions. They truly are resilient from what I learned today in the conditions they live in and yet they get up everyday bucket bathe and take a long journey to work. They are incredibly driven, incredibly bright and super sweet. Most of our national staff I met today were in their early 20s and most of the girls at this point already had multiple children oftentimes unmarried. Children are a symbol of status within this country even if you are unmarried.
Yet, I digress again...so we left the office and started our hike to Kaliko beach. We had a bus for our 16 national staff and Mary got a land cruiser for some national staff, Helen and myself. The voyage was a little over an hour to the beach. I got to see a lot of the town on the drive and got to ask Mary about life before and after the earthquake. She had been part of the country program prior to the earthquake so it's interesting to hear what's changed and what hasn't. We got to Kaliko Beach which was stunning. It's actually a beach club, so it's a beach, has access to a pool, has a restaurant and a bar. It was stunning, the buildings were beautiful, the pool was great, and the beach had gorgeous blue waters. For the entrance price which was 30 USD, you got food, drinks and access to the whole resort. The cool thing is CRS paid for the national staff that normally couldn't afford it and they were so happy to be there. Not only was it a day off from work, but it was a day that they actually weren't responsible for children and they got to relax and just have time for themselves. The amount of child like wonder and excitement they displayed was quite adorable. You could tell they really liked their coworkers and also really loved what they did as they discussed it in the pool.
So, I was laying on the beach right after we arrived and I look up and I see a man with a sea turtle. I looked to Mary and was like um why is that guy holding a sea turtle? So we went to investigate. It turns out that the man was selling the turtle for 1,000 Gourd (Haitian money) which roughly was $20USD. People around here eat them and then use the shell for bowls. Well needless to say, I kirked out and said I would give him the money if I could just have the turtle. So, I bought a sea turtle today...Mary and I swam him out past the waves and far from the shore (I didn't want him recollecting little Pierre after we released him). So, I'm swimming out with this sea turtle (He was probably a foot long or so, just a baby) above my head and I realize he only has three flippers (probs why he was caught). We swam him way out then released him. It took him awhile to dive down so we followed him, but eventually he swam away and all seemed right again.
Spent the rest of the day swimming and hanging with Mary and Helen. I struggle with national staff just because of the language barrier but by the end of the day some of them realized I could speak spanish and were talking with me. Needless to say they wanted to know if I was married and how many kids I had, I told them only dogs and no husband. The day was awesome, the beach was gorgeous, I had good company, got to drink local beer that's actually pretty tasty and actually had real food other than cliff bars. They had a buffet so I got to have black bean sauce and rice and fried plaintains! So far so good, no issues. We had to leave the beach to get back for security timeframes, but plans to hang out on Saturday!
So since you all are wondering pics of the beach below:
So, we went to the office to meet up with Helen and the national staff. The way that CRS is structured is we have international staff members (normally from the states) and national staff members (people from the country where the program is held). The idea is that the Haitian people know the best way to rebuild their country with guidance from our CRS international staff members and once they are trained and the country gets back on it's feet, we can exit and hopefully these national staff members can keep contributing to the rise of the nation. Anyways, neither here nor there, the point is that most of our national staff are not what one would consider well off; in the US they would be considered poor. Most Haitians are still living in tents on the street where it's often loaded with trash and is not very sanitary, but the building structures around Port Au Prince aren't safe. CRS is working to get transitional housing, but this means a lot of our staff are also subject to harsh conditions. They truly are resilient from what I learned today in the conditions they live in and yet they get up everyday bucket bathe and take a long journey to work. They are incredibly driven, incredibly bright and super sweet. Most of our national staff I met today were in their early 20s and most of the girls at this point already had multiple children oftentimes unmarried. Children are a symbol of status within this country even if you are unmarried.
Yet, I digress again...so we left the office and started our hike to Kaliko beach. We had a bus for our 16 national staff and Mary got a land cruiser for some national staff, Helen and myself. The voyage was a little over an hour to the beach. I got to see a lot of the town on the drive and got to ask Mary about life before and after the earthquake. She had been part of the country program prior to the earthquake so it's interesting to hear what's changed and what hasn't. We got to Kaliko Beach which was stunning. It's actually a beach club, so it's a beach, has access to a pool, has a restaurant and a bar. It was stunning, the buildings were beautiful, the pool was great, and the beach had gorgeous blue waters. For the entrance price which was 30 USD, you got food, drinks and access to the whole resort. The cool thing is CRS paid for the national staff that normally couldn't afford it and they were so happy to be there. Not only was it a day off from work, but it was a day that they actually weren't responsible for children and they got to relax and just have time for themselves. The amount of child like wonder and excitement they displayed was quite adorable. You could tell they really liked their coworkers and also really loved what they did as they discussed it in the pool.
So, I was laying on the beach right after we arrived and I look up and I see a man with a sea turtle. I looked to Mary and was like um why is that guy holding a sea turtle? So we went to investigate. It turns out that the man was selling the turtle for 1,000 Gourd (Haitian money) which roughly was $20USD. People around here eat them and then use the shell for bowls. Well needless to say, I kirked out and said I would give him the money if I could just have the turtle. So, I bought a sea turtle today...Mary and I swam him out past the waves and far from the shore (I didn't want him recollecting little Pierre after we released him). So, I'm swimming out with this sea turtle (He was probably a foot long or so, just a baby) above my head and I realize he only has three flippers (probs why he was caught). We swam him way out then released him. It took him awhile to dive down so we followed him, but eventually he swam away and all seemed right again.
Spent the rest of the day swimming and hanging with Mary and Helen. I struggle with national staff just because of the language barrier but by the end of the day some of them realized I could speak spanish and were talking with me. Needless to say they wanted to know if I was married and how many kids I had, I told them only dogs and no husband. The day was awesome, the beach was gorgeous, I had good company, got to drink local beer that's actually pretty tasty and actually had real food other than cliff bars. They had a buffet so I got to have black bean sauce and rice and fried plaintains! So far so good, no issues. We had to leave the beach to get back for security timeframes, but plans to hang out on Saturday!
So since you all are wondering pics of the beach below:
Awww you saved Pierre! :)
ReplyDeleteAnother tattoo icon for your guns - Pierre.
ReplyDelete