THURSDAY, JANUARY 12, 2012

The two-year anniversary of the Port-au-Prince earthquake that killed over 250,000 people by many estimates was Thursday, January 12th.  The day was remembered with a service conducted upstairs in the school after breakfast. While it was a school holiday many children attended wearing their Sunday best.

We were given handouts with the music, all in Creole...I didn't understand a word that was said (all Creole), but the service was moving none the less. The singing was wonderful.  Some samples as video and audio files are at the end of this blog.

Morning light in the "cafeteria" where 700 kids get at least one square meal a day.

Our intrepid truck loaded with food packages.

Edward kindly was our beer courier.  Each night we had a case of Prestige, the Haitian beer, some Sprite and some Coke for happy hour and post dinner star gazing and daily debriefing.  All slightly chilled...It made for a good time to sit around together and talk about the days events or other weighty matters like Star Wars characters, movies, music, current events...you name it.  The stars were amazing and each night we were treated to a spectacular moonrise. At Pere Bruno's farm we found what we thought was a lime, but it turned out to be an orange...it went well in the Prestige.  The next day we asked Edward to buy us an orange which perplexed him mightily. 

Lulu.

Loaded up and headed to Phaeton and Paulette.

The road to Phaeton and Paulette. This area is a great plain leading to the coast. It almost looks like Africa or some parts of the Middle East. 

Folks lined up waiting in Phaeton.  Phaeton used to have a rope factory which provided jobs, housing and electricity for both "company towns" and much of the Terrier Rouge area. When synthetic rope flooded the market the factory went out of business stranding all the people worked there.  Most never left and many of the people who received aid this day were elderly.  A community leader organizes this effort giving chits to needy folks.  This means some get left out most certainly, but it does create an orderly distribution for those who need it the most.  Pere Bruno told us he brings food to these communities "whenever I have the money."

The distribution point is the local clinic.

Aid seekers and aid givers line up.

An elderly woman thanks Pere Bruno for his kindness.

I'm told that each time there is a food drop someone is overwhelmed.  This time it was Asiaha.  I saw it happen (and have the moment on video). She gave a bag a food to an woman and I don't know what was said, if anything, but the moment seemed to overpower Asiaha who marched straight to the porch to regroup.  Here Tony tries to comfort her. I told her I understood, I had that same moment during the anniversary service that morning and I was literally hiding behind the camera during this food drop.  She rallied, and carried on, no doubt, moved deeply by the experience.  It was impossible not to be... 

These photos contrast the beauty of this place and the many needs of it's people...

This is one of my favorites as it captures so many aspects of what took place at that place at that particular moment framed by mother nature.

Edward help lift Asiaha's spirits. 

The church and clinic at Phaeton.

Rope factory ruins...this road leads to the Bay of Ft. Liberte...we didn't get down to the water, which I now regret.

While the village of Phaeton enjoyed some charm, Paulette is nothing short of desperate and desolate.  It is literally in the middle of nowhere and trees are sparse. 

Another large crowd awaiting some relief.

Part of the village of Paulettte.

These guys weren't in line, they were just hanging out...

Again, the distribution was primarily to elderly folks...

A rare sight in Haiti...glasses of any kind.  The kids constantly asked me about the glasses that are ever present hanging around my neck.  They all wanted them and the only way I could explain why I wasn't giving them away was to make an X with my hands over the glasses and then to cover my eyes.  They seem to understand that without them I couldn't see...

Paulette...

Paulette...these folks are sitting on a large disc that was used by the rope factory...It has been sitting there unused for years. 

This is "candy stampede" for lack of a better term.  I have mixed emotions about this...Giving these kids a piece of candy seems to give them great joy.  I remember a little girl in Phaeton taking the piece of candy and running back to her house with the biggest smile I'd ever seen...She ran and jumped like she had won a gold medal, or better still, the candy lottery.  On the other hand, tossing candy to waiting children as we drive by seems a bit demeaning...I didn't give away any unless I could place it directly in a child's hand.   That was my compromise.  That said, the kids LOVE any candy under any circumstance and to deny them such great joy from such a small thing would be unkind.  It's a slippery slope...maybe I'm over-thinking it...

Back at school the flag was at half-mast....

I waited four days to catch Pere Bruno standing in this doorway to capture this unbelievable understatement...

School's out...woo hoo!

I love all of these shots...the kids just seemed more playful and comfortable this day and we really had fun with them. 

This young girl tried to help me organize a few photos...a tough job as the moment they hear the camera click they rush you to see the photo...it's great fun, but it makes that "let's take another one to be sure" simply out of the question.  They got the biggest kick out of seeing themselves on the camera just like my children did when they were younger!  Some things really are universal...

Either he's tickling her or she's giving him the chicken wing...

Either way, she was serious about it!

Renard and Jim got a good game of hand slap going...there is video of it at the end of the blog.

Like the big-hearted Pere Bruno, Tony's heart is the size of a house...I knew that because I've known him and all he does for a very long time, but it was confirmed when I heard the story of Ehterson.  Tony, and his wife Holly, are sponsoring this young man's education all the way through college.  He was absent from school the first few days we were there and Tony's concern was obvious.  It was good to seem then reunited...