Haiti - Day 5: La Judee Orphanage in Gonaives
Another beautiful morning in Haiti saw
me up before most of the others... around 5:30 am, so I had plenty of
time to wander around the compound by myself. The beach was deserted, as
was the compound, so I sat on a bench and watched the ocean through our
security fence. Back in Canada I live a rather hectic life, with little
time to reflect on things... in fact, I actively avoided reflection
since it only leads to trouble. But in Haiti, with the beautiful
landscapes combined with the abject poverty, it is hard not to think
about the experiences of previous days. And cry. Every morning I would
cry for longer than the previous morning.
A close up view of one of the many flowers at the Mission Possible compound. Photo by Stephen Hermer
Around 6:30am, the group of three older gentlemen walked by, followed by
some loose goats and a couple of teenagers in shorts. One stops to
stare at me for perhaps 10 minutes, but he never says a word and
eventually moves on. I wasn't sure what he wanted, but his watching me
felt like an accusation of some kind and left me feeling even more
uncomfortable than I had already felt. The walls of the compound were
there to protect me from the impoverished Haitians, but more and more
the walls felt like they were keeping me in.
A fishing boat sails by slowly in a light breeze. Photo by Stephen Hermer
At 7:00 am people started stirring for the day. This was the last day
for construction work, so the construction team was eager to get
started. About 7:30 am, I wandered up to the eating area to hear if we
were still going to the orphanage in Gonaives. Some members of the
construction team were joining us (a nurse and an EMT), while several of
our team elected to stay behind and help the construction team.
Considering the risk of cholera, and the fact that this orphanage had
several infected children (and one death), it was probably a wise
choice. For myself, I was not going to miss this opportunity for
anything, but I must admit that I was also dreading the experience.
When we did finally hit the road, we loaded into a van instead of the
open truck. We drove back to the M.P.C.A. school and loaded up with
supplies donated by Pastor Herve and Mission Possible. Our team from
Canada also brought supplies with us, but Pastor Herve's generousity was
unbelievable! After loading the van with all the water and foodstuffs
it could hold, we headed north along National Road 1.
North of St. Marc, the land appears wetter and flatter than it did where
we spent most of our time in Haiti. Below is a photo of a flooded rice
field, with the ubiquitous smoke cloud in the distance. The photograph
is not the best, as we were moving quickly over very rough roads and I
needed to zoom to the limit of the camera.
Rice fields, between St. Marc and Gonaives, Haiti. Photo by Stephen Hermer
We continued past additional rice fields, small villages, plantain
fields, construction (lots of construction) and finally crossed the
Artibonite river. This river was the main vector for the introduction of
cholera into Haiti, and even though it was definitely contaminated
there were people bathing and washing their clothing in its waters. The
following video shows a roadside market that was on both sides of the
Artibonite river.
Traffic was slow, due to congestion at the bridge, so I was able to take
relatively stable video.
Eventually, we reached Gonaives, and I was surprised to see that it
looked exactly like every other Haitian community I had seen. In my
ignorance, I was expecting to see a city devestated by cholera, perhaps
even bodies on the road side... or some kind of outward evidence that
the people were concerned about the cholera epidemic. But no, just as
anywhere else, life goes on and people make the best of their situation.
A downtown street in Gonaives, Haiti. Photo by Stephen Hermer
Pastor Ismorin Noel met and led us to the La Judee orphanage. We parked
in the alley right outside the main gate at about 10:30 am, and were
given a quick tour of the facilities.
The La Judee Orphanage in Gonaives, Haiti. Photo by Stephen Hermer
The lower level of the orphanage contained washing, sleeping, and eating
areas. After experiencing a Haitian home in a small village, I was
expecting rather dire conditions in the orphanage, but was pleasantly
surprised! It appeared that every child had a bed!
Children's beds at the La Judee orphanage in Gonaives, Haiti. Photo courtesy of Scott Cantelo
The upper level was a church/sanctuary/school for the use of the
children and the community around the orphanage. There we were formally
introduced to the children by Pastor Ismorin, and they sang several
songs for us.
The orphans of La Judee Orphanage, Gonaives, Haiti. Photo by Stephen Hermer
The following short video clip is of the children singing to welcome us
to their orphange. Despite the fact that they are orphans and at risk of
cholera (four children were hospitalized, and one dead when we
visited), these children seemed very healthy and happy! It was obvious
that Pastor Ismorin loves the children and takes wonderful care of
them!
After the singing was over, we gave the children some presents (soccer
balls donated from Canada) and enjoyed them playing for nearly an hour!
We also unloaded a bunch of supplies, including foodstuffs and water.
Because the children were in good health, the health professionals we
had with us were not really needed (which was a Blessing), but they were
able to identify some potential problems with the well that might help
prevent illness in the future.
Pastor Ismorin surrounded by the children, with our donated supplies. Photo by Stephen Hermer
We left the orphanage and headed south
to St. Marc on National Road 1, passing everything we had seen on our
way north. In St. Marc, Pastor Herve needed to stop downtown to pick up
some supplies. While we waited, members of the construction team handed
out Christian literature in the form of small pamphlets. After a wait of
about half an hour, we continued south to Lanzac and the Mission
Possible compound.
Those of us who had gone to the orphanage were able to partially
because other members of all three teams stayed behind to work on the
construction site. We ate a quick lunch before heading to M.P.C.A to
relieve the workers and finish up for them. They had made great
progress, so by the time we arrived there was only cleanup left. I
washed walls in the clinic, then helped load and organize the tools and
remaining supplies onto the truck. We took the truck over to the supply
hut and offloaded them before heading back to the Mission Possible
compound for the evening.
We spent some time on the beach, and I had found several nice shells (which I ended up taking home to Canada).
After we ate supper, all the teams got together for a prayer and some
social time (plus to celebrate a birthday). This was the last night in
Haiti for everyone, except those of us from Canada, so they wanted to
celebrate a bit. Later in the evening, several artisans/salesmen were
brought to the compound so that we could buy some souvenirs. I ended up
buying two oil paintings, three painted tin gechos, a couple of touristy
boxes, and a wooden tray... all for the cost of around $50 U.S.
dollars.
After making my purchase, I retired to the eating area to socialize until around midnight.