I’m here with the journalist, Line, and the volunteer from my team, Marta- we’re charging our computers. Well, Line is charging that and her cellphone as well as her camera battery.
We haven’t had electricity for the past 48 hours (aprox.) That has been a little difficult because the nights have gotten a little bit boring and because they’ve used a generator twice and it’s so loud and because everyone has been worried about the chicken we had in our fridge (either way, fridges here turn off at ten)… but it hasn’t been as difficult as not having water.
We haven’t had it for the past two days. The last shower I took was on Saturday night before going out to Petionville, it was a very quick shower- I wish I had known it was going to be the last one. I feel extremely sticky and disgusting right now- others are saying you get used to it, that we sweat so much anyways that a little shower makes no difference and bla bla. To me, it makes a huge difference. I’m at a place where I feel I should at least wash my hands every chance I get, and .. baby wipes and hand sanitizer it simply not the same.
Many times I’ve driven by the nearest visible tent camp around our village, I’ve had the urge to get out and photograph.. especially now that, under the bridge next to it, the water has been rising because of the rain. A lot of times while in the car I noticed people and children bathing in this water and I thought I want to go take pictures there. On Saturday afternoon, on a trip to the supermarket to buy food for everyone, I got dropped off there with Maribel and Jean Jaques, one of our translator (and of course a Haitian). I was a little scared, but at the same time, I felt comfortable, having passed this place many times- ready to go and see it up-close. We started to get close to the water and smiled at everyone, as we said “bon soir”- most people received us very nicely and again, I had to act really, really confident. We mostly just observed the children in the water, so many of them looked so happy bathing that it made me think “well at least the rain has it’s advantages”. I’m sure it is refreshing for these children to be bathing here- at the same time it is a little sad because I am sure that a lot of the trash begins to flow with the water- but that is the least of their concerns. Many women were washing piles of clothes and laying them out on top of the gravel or rocks, I’m sure they dry quickly with the sun. We talked with one of the woman who told us she lived in the tent camp, I asked Jean Jaques to ask her if it would be dangerous for us to come and she told him that it would be a pleasure to receive us.
After about 40 min. Jean Jaques, Maribel and I walked up to the bridge where we were supposed to wait for the two volunteers to pick us up on their way back from the supermarket. It was very hot and we found a little shade next to a woman who was selling mangos. At this point my camera was already hidden in my bag, next to the street and everything- I’d rather not take out my camera. We ended up sitting here for over an hour- the girls were stuck in traffic and for some time I began to get worried something had happened because we didn’t expect to wait to long. But the three of us felt fine under this shade. It was a totally different experience to be looked at from the cars filled with Haitians. Usually, I’m in a car, looking through a car window and everything seems interesting. In this case, a lot of Haitians were looking at me- I’m sure they felt strange looking at a white person on the street- I haven’t seen many white people on the streets around this area (not that it’s not safe).
On Saturday we all felt a void because Tomy, volunteer from Spain, had to leave on a family emergency on Friday. I was in charge of coordinating his helicopter flight out of Port au Prince, so I spent the afternoon sweating between e-mails, skype and phonecalls. One afternoon and everything froze and the next thing we know- he is gone. People are coming and leaving (mainly leaving now) and it’s getting difficult to say good-bye.
Yesterday we were going to go to the beach, but we had another shortage. Fuel. The whole city, not sure if the whole country, has been on a fuel shortage for the past few days- it doesn’t seem like it because traffic is still crazy, but you can tell when you drive past a gas station and there are lines of cars waiting for gas.
So, everyone made different plans yesterday. Many went to a pool close by (the idea of a pool anywhere around here kind of grossed me out), Maribel went to the mountains with a translator, they took tap-taps (local “buses”) and …. I decided to stay in and relax- write, read, go to the village. Marevie, the girl who I go see at the hospital, was in one of the houses for the weekend so I went to her house and spent about three hours with her. She is doing a lot better- she looks stronger, reacts better, reaches for things, cries.. and most importantly- she smiles. I took some photos of her and her village family while a lady styled all the little girl’s hair with a hot brush and some baby cream.
After the village, without anyone really noticing, I grabbed a very little bucket of drinking water to cleanse myself in the shower. I wouldn’t have grabbed it if I felt like this water was really drinking water, but to me it’s not really- it comes from a purifier at the village and although it might be good for us, it tastes weird. I would much rather have bottled water.
Today I just cleaned myself with wipes- I don’t even want to think about it. I feel really uncomfortable right now. We got some water from outside of the village but it’s being used for cleaning, toilets and cooking- which apparently is priority.
So, one month into my Haiti trip and the living conditions get difficult.
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