I have returned from Haiti, free of malaria, stress and (unfortunately) orphans. So it was a fairly successful trip in my mind (minus the whole orphan thing).
Haiti is a gorgeous country that has problems (like most countries) but unlike some countries Haiti's problems are kind of the serious kind: malaria, AIDS, earthquakes, terrible infrastructure, etc. Which means that the biggest source of income/growth could come from tourism which is limited because as it states of the State Department website: Travel is not recommended in Haiti.
Well, the Emily department recommends it; especially if you like to have your life flash before your eyes anytime you used public transportation.
To start off my stories about Haiti, I need to explain what I was doing there.
As a requirement for my major, I had to have an "international experience" (no joke that's what it's called) so I because I knew someone who knew someone who was a part of this NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) called Sustain Haiti I decided to go with them.
I had a great time as a part of that organization. I even had a name badge with a horrible picture. It was very legit. We spent our time working on different projects like micro-financing loans, orphanages, gardening, and health projects like teaching handwashing and basic first aid.
We did a little bit of everything but I really had a blast working with the orphans. They were definitely the best part of the trip. But it was hard to leave them. Anyway, Sustain Haiti was located in Leogane which was the epicenter of the quake last year. So it still had a ton of problems but it was a gorgeous part of Haiti.
Sorry to be so long but here are some pictures:
[sidebar: I can't get my pictures to load, so I will post more. These are ones I stole from facebook]
This is about how many people can ride a moto if you don't have any problems with personal space. The driver of the moto is in green. His name is Junior and he was one of the funniest people I met. He was the guy who helped us out and took us around to different projects that we did. He was mainly involved with the gardening aspects but he helped us out a ton with other stuff too! He was just all around a good guy. The people on the bike (front to back): Paula, Junior, Me, Rony, and Jon.
Riding a moto is a bit like putting your life in the hands of mad scientist. You really have no idea what they are thinking but they obviously know more than you....they both can also kill you. I really spent quite a bit of time on a moto wondering if the last words to your loved one were going to be, "Don't forget me" (true story) and "Stay awesome".
This is the group of us (from left to right): Madouchie, Becky, Claire, Me, Abby, and Schnider. Madouchie and Schnider were the kids who would follow us around because they did not go to school. We are sitting in front of the LDS chapel in Leogane waiting for the rain to stop so we can go to our next appointment.
In Haiti, if it rains, everything stops. Nothing keeps going. It's pretty insane to tell you the truth. Literally, the entire town just stops functioning. It's a blessing and a curse [name that TV show!] because sometimes you would like to take a break but mainly you are hoping that they get back to work soon.
Ok. We are making boxes for transportable gardens for orphanages that do not have enough ground to plant there.
Junior and I had a brother-sister relationship. His wife (Saskya) and him were the Haitian version of my cousin and her husband who I love so that was pretty cool. He would make fun of me all the time and I responded by pulling pranks.
When we finished these boxes they looked like coffins, so I hid in one and jumped out at him...worth it.
These three are adventure pictures. The middle one is not any where near the first and the last one, but I thought it looked better in the middle.
Haiti is basically a giant beach with mountains. It's kind of cool.
These two pictures are me with adorable orphans. I have and will be posting more pictures of orphans. I guess it should be mentioned that I wanted every orphan I had but as my friend Matt says, "YOU'RE NOT MARRIED YOU CAN'T HAVE A KID", and when Matt is the voice of reason, things are definitely a little weird.
A lot of smiling, sweaty faces but I had such a good time! I also did have that slightly crazed look the entire time I was there. I'm not quite sure why.
The first picture is of me and Becky holding bags of water. These are best when they are ice cold and it's literally a plastic bag of water that you bite a hole in a guzzle down. They are amazing!
The next picture is of me and Junior and a water bottle called Emily Drink. Junior said that I only brought a giant water bottle so I could feel helpful, because I knew I couldn't drink it all. Basically it was one of those times when a name just sticks and so soon everyone was drinking from Emily Drink. It became the thing to ask for and Junior even came up with a slogan.
Emily Drink...For Everybody!
It still makes me crack up.
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