So after my week in Port-au-Prince, I took a trip back to America
to see friends and family. I left from Communitere
and headed to the airport early on the morning of November 1st. After getting overcharged for my taxi ride, I
piled into the airport and worked my way through security. Haiti is an exhausting place to work, and as
much as I love what I’m doing, it was nice to be able to take a break for 10
days. After my 7 hour layover in Fort
Lauderdale I boarded the plane for Detroit.
I sat next to a lovely 50 year old couple from Toledo. The husband David and I chatted the whole
flight, and occasionally his wife would jump in. They left me with a book on neuroscience and
religion. Not particularly my area of
interest, but I’m sure my mom will enjoy reading it. I said goodbye to them and walked out into
the frigid outside world to meet me girlfriend Michelle. I saw her soccer mom
van and made my way over to receive a long overdue hug. We got into the car and I drove back to my
house. It was great to be with her once
again, and it was great finally be able to drive myself. We got home and I was
introduced to my new dog for the first time. His name is Bo and he’s a labradoodle.
I spent the rest of my week off relaxing and seeing some
familiar faces. I went to Oakland on
Tuesday and with Michelle’s help we were able to surprise Nicole Vitale ( @gingermermaidd
) for lunch. Along with some others we took a trip to Burgerz. 10/10 would recommend. Later in the week I went up to MSU to visit
some other people. When I got there I
hung out in the one and only Eden Rock apartment 203, and caught up with
everyone. Later in the night I got to
see my blogs #1 fan Lucas Wilson ( @sirlucaswilson ) and we got some bubble
tea. The tea itself sucked but the
experience was a 7.8/10. The next day I
headed back home to finish up my vacation.
I went on a few dates with Michelle, including a Plymouth Whalers
game. Our favorite player Sonny Milano
scored the game winner in a shootout.
Sadly Tuesday the 11th my vacation came to an end. It was nice to see everyone once again, but
it was time to gather myself and finish what I set out to do. My dad drove me to the airport and I boarded
the plane heading south. After my
overnight layover in Fort Lauderdale, I flew to Haiti and it was right back to
work.
Ruben met me at the airport and we headed to Communitere so
I could drop some stuff off. I gathered
what I needed and we started our journey to Hinche. My goal for the 5 days there would be to
assess the status of the school server and the laptop program. Ruben and I bounced around a few taptaps and
finally arrived at our van that would take us the rest of the way. We loaded in and waited for the van to fill
up so the driver would leave. 2 hours, 15
people, 1 mattress, 1 box spring, 1 microwave, 1 fan, and 1 propane tank later,
the van was pack on the interior and exterior and ready to go. We pulled away from the city and the scene
quickly became open fields, and then mountains.
We continued our climb, winding back and forth. Looking back toward where we just came from
was a breathtaking view. The roads
shoulder dropped off into a steep slope that feel drastically before curving
and leveling out into the flat valley that is Port-au-Prince. From the mountains you get a much better idea
of the size of the capital city. The
buildings run from the mountains edge up to the mouth of the ocean which was
shining brightly in the afternoon light.
We continued up and down left and right, and a few hours later we
arrived in Hinche.
Upon arriving we were greeted by Herodion, who would be
hosting us during our time there. We got
some rest after the long day of travel and started at the school the next
day. The school, St. Andres, is just a stones throw
away from where we were staying, so we walked over and began our work. I checked the school server and initially
everything looked great. They school had
electricity for starters. They turned the server on as soon as I arrived and I
was able to connect right away. This
made me optimistic for the rest of the week. The hardware was functioning and
that’s the first step. After examining
the server further we found an issue with the way that the server was storing
the data. The Unleash Kids team back
home was able to fix everything remotely and within a few hours the software
was functioning properly also. I went
out to eat with Ruben and Herodion and we celebrated a successful first day.
The next day I returned to the school to examine what had
been going on with the laptop program.
The laptops had apparently not been getting used recently and the job
was to figure out why. The hardware and
software was working so we suspected the problem was bureaucracy. I met with one of the programs teachers Darus
and asked him why things had come to a halt.
His answer was that the classes stopped because the money
stopped. He and the other teacher, Herodion,
had stopped getting paid and as a result the classes stopped running. The school is sponsored by a group from
California and they pay a lot of money.
A portion of that is supposed to be allocated to paying for the laptop
program, including hardware, software, and teachers. The school and its’ director managed to
maintain the first 2, but failed to pay their teachers. Darus has been working with the laptop program
since October 2013. Based on the journal
entries from the XO laptops, I can tell that most weeks we was running the
class 3 or 4 times a week. In January 2014, Herdion joined the program and the
two split the work load. It’s unclear
exactly how much either has been paid, but it’s very clear that there has been
a mismanagement of funds that has led to two hardworking teachers being underpaid
and under-appreciated. There’s a lot of
speculation as to just where these funds are going, but they are definitely not
going where they were intended. I was
insured by the schools director that classes would be running again by next week,
but I find that unlikely. I may come
back in December to visit with my brother. It will be interesting to see if any
progress has been made.
After a bleak Friday, we decided that Saturday I would visit
a local tourist trap, Bassin Zim. After
an 8 mile motorcycle ride up and down a dirt road we arrived at the gate,
Herodion explained that I was in Hinche for a short period of time and wanted
to see the sights. He let us in and we
rolled up to the water’s edge. Bassin
Zim is a beautiful waterfall that flows down the rocks and into a reservoir that leads
into another river.
The view was amazing
and when I finally took my eyes off the flowing water I realized that I was
surrounded by a group of 5th grade Haitians eager to give me a
tour. They are used to having Americans,
and they know enough English to communicate all the important ideas. We walked up a path to the right of the
mountains and we headed up to the caves.
The first cave we saw the called the big cave. Water flowed from a natural spring in the
back up the cave and trickled out down a small river at the caves enterance. Along the side wall a series of bee’s nests
sat staring back at me. I walked up the
river and the kids warned me about the bees to my left and about the bats
overhead. The cave was magnificent. The
walls were covered in writing from tourists who had visited. There were also cave paintings that the
Haitian guides claimed were native Taino drawings. I don’t know if I buy it but if true the
drawings have an eerie connotation. Columbus
landed in Haiti in 1492 and the Spaniards enslaved the native Taino people. By the
turn of the 18th century the natives had been all but wiped
out. We pressed on into the cave and I looked up to
see an opening that had been repelled into by some more adventurous Blan than
myself. We exited the cave and went to
the river’s edge to see where the falls began.
The water rushed by below and I took it all in. Below is a panoramic shot.
We headed back down the steps and on our way down we visited
the little cave. The tour guides
explained that it was a cave that was used to house voodoo rituals. Again I was skeptical that this may just be
what they tell tourists to scare/excite them, but I played along and one of my
guides, Jonas, took some pictures.
After leaving the voodoo cave we went back down to the water’s
edge. The kids asked me if I could swim
and then asked me to race them. I
laughed and accepted their challenge. We
got into out swim attire and the kids whined about the cold water. It was nothing compared to what I’ve swam in
back home. John was the only one brave
enough to get in with me and we raced to the other side of the reservoir. It wasn’t really that close but the kids were
cheering me on the whole way. We got out
on the other side and climbed up the rock face and relaxed for a while.
After swimming for a while longer, we decided to call it a
day and get back before the day came to an end.
Bassin Zim was a good way to end what was otherwise a pretty frustrating
week. Fixing technical difficulties can
be challenging enough, but bureaucratic difficulties are a totally different
beast. I wish everyone involved at St.
Andres all the best, but I am not optimistic.
If progress is to be made there will need to be a reallocation of
responsibilities.
I’ll be spending the next 5 days in Lascahobas which is
about an hour south of Hinche. There I
will be again be assessing server issues, but since I am arriving on a Monday, I
will be able to resolve issues early in the week and teach later in the
week. I look forward to getting back to
my forte, teaching.
Hang on,
Sean
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