We went to the Hope school and clinic in cite soleil today, the school was filled with kids who love to run and play and ask questions. As soon as we walked in the kids were ecstatic that they had someone new they could play with. From what I understand, many of them don’t really know at this point in their life that they are in the poorest part of the poorest country in the world so they just have the same excited smiles and games that any other child would have. They have teachers from cite soleil that teach them how to read and write in creole, but many of them understand Spanish very well and they all know “hey you” and “what is your name” in English. When I don’t understand something they say in creole I tell them in Spanish that I don’t understand and they try to explain in Spanish. They are also learning math and history and other subjects that are normally taught in schools but they have a sewing lab and a computer lab as well. The sewing lab is used by women that are making diapers and masks and blankets that they can then sell to orphanages and make their own profit. So the school is also bringing in opportunities for women to become independent. The computer lab is used to give the children the opportunity to use devices, every time a new device is brought in the kids are seeing it for the first time. They use the lab to become technology literate and they learn by using the devices. They eventually can learn to code and the sometimes they are chosen to continue learning computer science at universities in the United States. We also got to hear about the clinic and how much of an impact that has on the city. They charge the patients a small amount so they take pride in their health care and they help them with as much as they can possibly provide. The clinic has also been able to help mothers emotionally attach to their children as most mothers in Cite Soleil have grown accustomed to the possibility of losing children early on. The clinic has shown them the importance of family bonds that will undoubtedly be an advantage for future generations of Haitians. After the school we went to Cite Soleil. Cite Soleil has a population of 400,000 people within 1.2 sq miles, it is the most densely populated area on earth, and it is hard to imagine what it would be like to live there even after going there. We drove to specific areas of cite soleil with a water truck and would get out and fill everyone’s buckets, tubs, pools, barrels, or anything else that someone was using to hold their water. I was holding the hose from the truck at one point, so I was at the front of the line and would get to see everyones faces as they had all waited diligently in line for their turn. I was told that they used to try to budge in line but they have learned that if they try to cut then the Haitian workers with the truck will throw their bucket as far away as possible so they are forced to go to the end of the line. When helping carry buckets for children and the elderly I was led along a street where people were selling various items at kiosks or congregated outside talking in groups. When we turned off the road we would walk to their homes, they all had something inside they really wanted me to see and you could see the pride that they have in everything they own. The children all loved to play and I saw many of them being very careful to clean their entire body with less than a cup of water. Others would grab an entire bucket and pour it over themselves and small children would wade in the water right by the truck as we were filling water. The streets are flooded in many areas of the city, they always jump over small puddles or find ways around the larger flooded areas but they do drive through it still. They care about their clothing a lot, they all have super clean clothes and they are always put together well, it seems that the philosophy they have is that they can’t fix everything in the country so they just try to fix what they have. Haitians are very proud of what they have and they do not let their living situation change that. Many of the children are “slave children” that have been sold by their parents because they can’t be fed. When they work as slaves they can get food but they often start working hard labor before they are 5. When we went to the farm, we saw local farmers that had rented out plots of land, they know when and what to farm and they maximize the land by poly farming. They time their harvests so that they have different crops at different times of year and they use the crops to feed their families. We were told about one farmer who had bought almost 2 acres of land which is far more than other local farmers and he hired five people to work for him and he also dug himself a well to supply even more water. He did all of this to feed his ten kids after he recently lost his eleventh. He was filled with desire, to get his kids in school, and to a better life. He was motivated and the only thing he needed was the land to farm. He had lost his job as a government official but his kids still relied on him, he found a way to feed his family and showed how Haitians always find another way. Whether it be starting the broken water pump with a lanyard or leasing land to start farming, Haitians come up with ingenious solutions to problems in their every day life. After seeing everything today I have become confused, How does a child see a “slave child” and think they do not deserve to be held? How does a father see hope in his future after losing his child? How can we do more to help? I think the most important thing I learned is that we are not here to save them because they already save themselves every day. They are intuitive and motivated, with opportunities to work and, in turn, directly support their local economy they can find the way out of this. With education, stronger family bonds, and opportunities to work I believe the Haitian people possess an ability to find solutions to any problem in front of them, and with such pride in their country they will eventually find a solution to end poverty all throughout Haiti.
