The Haiti team’s work is complete! I am sure the members – Chris Snyder (trip leader), Jim & Mary Fisher, Brian Westlake, Widit McLean, Caroline Hall, Errol Paulicpulle, Paul Truelove and members from Emmanuel International – Richard, Paul and Daniel will have so many stories to tell! Congratulations on a job well done all!
Market area in Port au Prince
Apr 6, 2017
Street life in Haiti
These photos show a tiny bit of the main market in Port-au-Prince, as well as the back of a tap-tap, a cheap type of transportation, able to pack in bunches of people!
Apr 6, 2017
What does 13 plus 3 equal ..the answer is ? TONS! Yes, that is finally what we shovelled and wheel barrowed. We mentioned in a previous blog what we got however since a part of what we shovelled was soil we also got a garden for Jean Baptiste. Jean Baptiste was our great helper upending the wheel barrows into a ditch for us. By the end, he had enough soil to plant a garden.
The walls are now going up and tomorrow Friday being our last day, the plan is to help with the walls. It has been a great week for everyone. In case anyone is trying to figure it out, we burn over 2000 calories by noon. We have been told the young people have been looking at us in amazement. We have had a lot of laughs and learned a lot about Haiti. We have been told there has been much improvement since the earthquake in particular since the NGOs and others got the cleanup organized. All of us worked together in upwards of 95 degree heat beautifully. Emmanuel has again been a great partner. THANK YOU. Daniel, Richard, Kemal, Paul and Paul. Our drivers were great.
We have described the visit to the orphanage several days ago run by Quesno, a local Rotarian and his wife ..a social worker.
There are 125 children from several months to age 19 in the orphanage. They are there because of losing 1 or 2 parents or being abandoned or because of the earthquake. It is not a pretty scene to see about 15 children still in cribs in one room. The toddlers cling to you desperate for physical comfort and every few minutes a blind 4 year old feels his way along the wall. I have been in a lot of orphanages but never one like this. They operate on a shoestring mostly by donations. However, they operate a farm that includes several hundred chickens and land they farm. They provide good care.
That same day after an endless drive back in Haitian traffic, Schneider and 4 brothers came for dinner and told us their story. At the age of 14, Schneider told his mother, now 52, if she stopped having children, he would support the family 9 siblings in total. This they have done. Schneider is now a 4th year medical student. Another brother is in medical school, another at law school and another just finished an IT program. The others are all in school. The mother graduated from grade 6 at age 34… but is the foundation of the family. A great story.
Chris a Snyder
On behalf of Mary, Jim, Widit, Paul, Richard, Caroline and Brian
