Here is a place for information useful to Gigi Pomerantz’s project in Haiti.

Day 4 (Posted Jan. 5, 2007)

Dear All:

It has been an incredible 4 days, and we have arrived finally in Duchity. We spent the first day in Port au Prince, then travelled to Cap Haitieen (look at a map of Haiti on google), and finally to Milot. IN Cap Haitien we met Sasha Kramer, the founder of SOIL (Sustainable Organic Integrate Livelihoods - see www.oursoil.org) and then met the mayors (there are 3) of Cap Haitien before going to her house in Milot for the night. We learned of some of the concerns the incoming officials have, and of how Sasha has developed relationships with them.

Sasha lives among the Haitiens, and we stayed in a typical house in Milot. The rooms transform from sitting room or dining area, to bedroom when needed, and 4 of us slept on the floor on straw mats, We ate typical Haitian food of rice and beans, washed in the bucket shower outside with water that had been drawn from the well. And we got to use Sasha’s own dry composting toilet!! Her friends built it for her as a Xmas present when she was visiting her family in the US!! It is amazing to see - clean, no odor, and the urine collects so nicely in a container in back that can be used in the garden.

We visited a pilot site at another place in Milot next to a church and near a soccer field, where there are 4 demonstration toilets set up - a dry toilet, a composting toilet, an Arborloo (to grow a tree), and a “kiddie loo” for small children (also to plant a tree. All appear clean, odor free, use no water and provide some kind of composting or use of the waste.

IN the evening they were celebrating the election of the new mayors in Milot, and there was a large outdoor live concert with 2 bands! It was fabulous! We danced until after midnight!

Yesterday we visited the Citadel, the 8th wonder of the world. It was built by Predident Christophe, the first president of Haiti, to deffend against the French, but was never put to use. 20,000 people lost their lives in its construction. It has magnificent views out towards the water. There remain 365 canons that were never shot! and cannon balls!

This morning we visited the slums of Cap Haitien. This is almost too difficult to describe. somewhere between 15 and 20,000 people live packed in cement houses separated by small alleys, where when it rains, the waste rises up and can enter the houses. There is NO sanitation for any of the people. We saw instead the garbage dump where people take their waste, and children run around barefoot and squat in the mess near the water, and pigs furrow - which will eventually be eaten. Sasha is hoping to build a public toilet in this slum. She is an amazing young woman who is so loved by many many people in the area - as we drive by everyone calls out her name!!

This afternoon we took the arduous route to Duchity - 2 flights and a 2 - 1/2 hour ride up the mountain again - the road that is not a road just boulders and ditches that you drive around.
And were welcomed in the typical Duchity way by a group of young people in song! Which reminds me, I have not said anything about Franci , the author of the song, and also my compatriot in this work. Franci met us in Port au Prince and travelled with us to Milot. He had never been on an airplane, and now has flown 4 times! He had never seen the urban poverty of Haiti - and I think was very saddened by it. He studiously took in all we saw, and now will try to bring some of these ideas to Duchity.

I am very excited about beginning our work tomorrow. We will meet with the Association of Young People for Progress in Duchity and begin discussing the reasons and importance of Sanitation, and hopefully eventually the use and construction of dry composting toilets.

Tonight it is now 11 pm, and I must shower and unwind from an amazing journey. I hope to write regularly now that I am here in the new computer lab of Duchity - with the computers that I helped send!!

love and love,
gigi

(Posted January 7, 2007)
Dear All:

I just spent 20 minutes writing you a long letter which got lost. I will try again, because I want very badly to share my thoughts and experiences with each of you.

We have had a very eventful 2 days. Yesterday we met in the morning with the Association - 36 young people between the ages of 15 - 26. They are intersted in improving their community through many avenues. They told us their goals which include composting toilets, literacy education and arts and culture development for export. We asked them what some health problems they could identify - malaria, cholera, dizziness, weakness. We planned to meet again and talk more.

In the afternoon we walked around Duchity - we first went down to the center of the village and visited the scgools and churches and saw their latrines, including at Blue Bird Kindergarten, which I am helping to support. Most have one or 2 hole latrines which are 25 feet deep and some are quite dirty. There are no public area toilets at all. We visited the Association garden plot. They have planted seed beds of carrots, eggplant, cucumbers tomatoes, cabbage. They will transfer the seedlings to a larger plot that still needs to be cleared. Then we walked up the meet to Les Caves. A neighborhood with no water source of its own - they must walk down to their village center to get their water. We visited Dr Michlet’s house and I saw his latrines (one no longer in use) - both tremendous holes 25 feet deep with planks laid across them. I would be afraid to fall in! And he is “wealthy” for Duchity standards! most people have no latrine at all at home. We also saw his garden which is quite large and well laid out, and we hope to use as another possible test site for demonstration of the use of urine as fertilizer in different dilutions.

In the evening we were greeted by Fr. Fritz and his superior who were visiting Duchity. We had a festive meal, including lighting Shabbat candles and kiddush. Then we went out to my favorite place in Duchity - Polytos(!) to dance and drink until midnight. The biggest surprise was Fr Michelet - he is a GREAT dancer!!

This morning just after I got up, there was a bit of a commotion - as Eli was carried in by four men. He had fallen while walking and surveying early this morning, and twisted his ankle. They carried him on donkey down the mountain! We quickly got him in the car for the 2 hours drive down to Les Cayes for an x-ray. Not the experience we were hoping for, but for me, a good one none-the-less. I got to see up close the Haitian medical system. The ER greeted us promptly and the examining doctor ordered an x-ray. we put Eli back in the car to drive 3–4 blocks to the x-ray “store-front”. The technician took the x-ray and then put it outside to dry! No fracture! But his ankle still did not look good, and when we returned to the ER, a Cuban orthopod took a look and decided it still needed to be casted for one month! Eli is not too happy about that, but will have to get another opinion when he returns. (Unfortunately, he does not have health insurance -). The cost here was about $25 US.

While we were gone, the 3 young people on our team held a session on AIDS, STDS and sex education generally, including a demonstration on how to put on a condom with a banana! The group was very responsive with many questions, and sat spell-bound during the demonstration. They were so enthusiastic about the things they learned, that they asked for it to be repeated tomorrow so they can tell their friends to come and learn as well!. They also began to distribute condoms, we will leave the rest with Dr Michelet and the public health nurse. Dr Michelet told me that there are 19 cases of HIV that he knows of in Duchity, but he believes there are many more that have not been tested. Prevention is the most important thing now.

When we returned, around 2:15, after a late lunch, I went to visit my god-daughter, Elodie Francesca Polyte and meet her mother and maternal aunts and uncles. Franci was not there and they spoke little French and no English, so we mostly smiled and took pictures. She is quite cute and tinier than her photos look.

The team (minus Eli, but under his tutelage) went out to make measurements and take soil samples of the Association garden.

Ok, I think I have recaptured the last 2 very busy days. Tonight I think we will go again to Polyto (I hope!), and tomorrow is the christening and a big party! I will keep you informed!

Thank you for all your greetings, support and prayers. The people of Duchity are grateful for it all. They survive this extreme poverty with such grace, it touches the heart.

love and love,
gigi

(Posted Jan. 9, 2007)
Dear all,

Another full day in Duchity. Last night I was awoken in the middle of the night by a frog jumping on my bed!! I screamed, but no one came to rescue me. fortunately the young people on the team were still up “hanging out” and came into the room to discover said frog hiding in the corner and finally captured it and sent it outside. It was somewhat difficult to fall back to sleep after that. I left the light on!

IN the morning I visited St Thomas College - the secondary school connected to the parish. It was the first day back to school after Xmas break. The children wear uniforms and line up in the school yard in classes. The director, Fr. Francis duVillage, gave a welcoming speech expressing hope for the children of Duchity to live in peace and with respect for themselves and each other. Then they marched into their classrooms. I visited a couple of English classes and some of the children were able to converse with me and ask questions. It was delightful! EAch grade gets smaller as children (sometimes in to their mid-20′s) try to finish their education. Tomorrow we hope to visit the grade school where many more students study.

After breakfast we delivered the microscope and condoms to Dr. Michelet. He asked me consult on 3 pediatric patients he was seeing - 2 with skin rashes - one looked like severe eczema, and 1 with malnutrition. He told me he sees that a lot. He can give them vitamins (there are lots), but who will give them the protein they need? We also learned today that some of the crops have been destroyed by pests. Eli is working on learning about this problem to suggest some solutions they can use cheaply.

We then delivered more condoms to the public health center where patients were also being seen. Today I think was pregant women. We walked through the market that was teeming with people coming from all the surrounding areas to buy and sell things. I was actually surprised at the amount of things we saw this time. Agricultural products still seemed relatively slim, but there were tons of shoes and clothes (mostly used, it looked like) and household items.

After that we went to Trou Bois to visit Ertha’s orphans and school and see the progress on the building. There were 16 orphans being cared for at the Nutrition Center - 3 infants under 6 months, and 13 others mostly 8 & 9 who looked like they were 5 or 6. The youngest is about 2 months and looks like a premie. compared to my Elodie, she looks like a baby bird. It is remarkable that Ertha can keep her alive.

The building is progressing - There will be 4 or 5 rooms including an office and bedrooms and a sitting room of some kind. She hopes to have it finished in 2 weeks, and another week for the roof - but everything in Haiti is subject to change. It will be wonderful for the children to have a little more space, and there is a vision of something really good for them. But it takes A LOT of money - and the truth is she does not have it yet. But somehow there is faith that it will come from somewhere and these children who would otherwise be abandoned will have a chance at life. Once Ertha gets the building done, she can have the orphanage registered, and then the children are available for adoption. Perhaps you know someone who would like to give a child another chance??

We had lunch outside the school - which Ertha had prepared back at the church - and discussed “business”

When we got back to the church, we met Franci and went over to Blue Bird Kindergarten to begin building our first ecological toilet. we had decided to build a “kiddie loo”, because we thought it would be easier, and much less expensive. I think we all have a lot to learn. When we got there, they had already dug a hole, but no one had really looked at the plans - and so the idea was supposed to be to make a concrete form first, and then diga the hole inside it. So they spent several hours trying to figure out how to deal with this mistake. In the end, well I’m not sure it is the end, they created a wooden frame to begin pouring the concrete ring into, but then it got dark. Well, we must all learn by doing, and I do hope that a lesson was learned. Before they attempt to build the dry toilet they will need the guidance of the SOL team from Milot.

The kindergarten is so small inside, the pictures I have seen do not convey it. 60 children meet in 2 small rooms. Jonas is very grateful for all the toys that have been sent through St Thomas, especially thanks to Lois. Tomorrow we will visit when school is in session.

Tomorro is our last day. Already I am dreading leaving. How has my heart been so taken by this place and these people?

Tomorrow is another day. It will be busy and full and I will cherish every single moment.

love,
gigi