Team 1 = Texasabetes - Day 4
On a side note... if you are wondering why our Texas Team has been called Texasabetes on the blog... it's because we have 3 diabetics on our team. That can be challenging for these people... how great it is though that they have each other for support. Hats off to you guys... now lets get down to business.
Water, agua, H2O... whatever you want to call it... it is a necessity!
Today was mostly about fufilling this basic human need - water. In the States we generally take water for granted. Most people don't even like water - we prefer our sugary soda pop and specialized drinks in comparison to water. Before CoVid we could easily drink water in any location with water fountains. We even have a larger than necessary selection of bottled water in our stores... I prefer Smart Water myself but I digress. In Haiti, access to clean drinking water is a constant struggle. It is NOT taken for granted. Today we delivered water to 3 neighborhoods in Port-au-Prince. This was our first time in these neighborhoods as we are unable to travel into our beloved Citi Solei. I find it a bit comical that we didn't know what to expect at these stops since we were not familiar with the neighborhoods. They were different people of course but they all carried the same look in their eyes.... happy to get fresh water and willing to fight for it if needed. We made a total of 4 stops and it went from moments of calm to moments of chaos then back-and-forth several times. We don't think about how much we use water for until it is no longer available. The need for water can cause chaos, as I mentioned before, when people thought that the water was possibly running out, they began to push and shove to make sure they got the water they needed. Children are expected to be a part of this process trying to claim water for their families. Even smaller children, no older than 5 or 6 were carrying huge buckets of water that I could barely pick up myself. It is necessary to fill as many jugs as possible because there is always uncertainty as to when the next water truck would come. Showering, a thing that we do every day, is such a big deal and provides so much enjoyment, especially for the children.
We also took part in a favorite thing of Team Texas today... Haitian Baptism. This takes place at the water station. See picture - pretty self explanatory and it was a great refresher!
Another new adventure we had today - was eating lunch at a Haitian restaurant. This isn't just any restaurant. This one is owned by a beloved Healing Haiti team member Max. The food was the diggity diggity! Fried chicken, pikliz (spicy Hatian cole slaw), plantains, fries from heaven and sauce that was out of this world. Thank you Max!
Words of the Day: water, Haitian baptism, french fries and 'dat sauce', misconception,
liy souple (line please), laughter, blame Ed, sign language, lost?, one
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