Here we are, the Team, from Project Starfish Haiti, preparing for a trip to reunite with our Friends and Colleagues on Ile a Vache, with plans to hold medical clinics in the community’s Church, as well as at other local Community Centers.
We imagine what the land will look like, after the recent storms. I have personally gotten a little frustrated with the ongoing foul weather here in Virginia: it seems every other week there is a new hurricane, a threatened tornado, a severe thunderstorm. I worry about my adult children, the farm animals and about the road conditions, but so far have had no major difficulties other than soggy family weddings and a very muddy pasture.
It is a much different picture in Haiti. There, the rain falls on a rocky island already scoured of much of its topsoil by many years of exploitation by invaders, and by overcrowding. In addition to the hurricanes that have pummeled the US, the nation of Haiti has endured another earthquake.
Coming home
Rain has fallen for weeks on end, with little break, and since most people rely on the products of their own gardens, food is scarce. The children of the orphanage on Ile a Vache depend on a delivery of food from off the island once a month and that had to be delayed due to the danger of travel in a small boat to trade for the food.
A clinic in a Church
I am crabby because I miss the sunshine on my face, but I have a dry, sturdy home to come to during the storms. I have access to a warm water shower if I fall into a mud puddle, and I can throw my dirty clothes into an electric washer and dryer. It is rare to not have electricity available to me.
Imagine living in a dirt floor house, with reed walls and a thatched palm or tin roof in tropical heat and pouring rain.
Laundry by the road
You have to walk out doors to use the hand dug privy. You sleep on a single mattress with your spouse and possibly your children, and you cook your meals on a campfire outside of your house. You either walk or, if very fortunate, ride a moto, on a dirt road to get to school or to work. Your clothes (after washing in water you collected from a community cistern in a bucket) will be hung up to dry outside, or possible from your
roof inside. You might feel like you have not been dry in a month or more.
Carrying water for laundry
And yet, your spirit is so strong and hopeful, that you continue on, with hope for your future and that of your children, and you will greet the Team who are coming to your community with open arms and open, cheerful hearts.
I am so grateful for the people of Haiti who have taught me so much about the value of the important things in life: Love, Community, Hard Work, Cooperation, Faith, and Generosity of Spirit.