There really are no right words to express my feelings. There was nothing that could have prepared me for this trip and the things I would see.
To start from the beginning…
I arrived in Haiti along with around 200 plus people on my flight. We walked off the airplane and had to be bussed to the immigration and baggage area. I was on about the fourth bus, packed full of people and all of their luggage and no air-conditioning. We reached immigration and stood in the non-airconditioned building waiting in line to get checked into the country. Then we went into a room where baggage claim was, there was one baggage belt and a whole lot of luggage. I paid 2 USD for a cart, as did pretty much everyone else. There was barely enough room for all the people much less all the baggage and the belt was so fast you had to be very quick to get your bag. On top of all the people and things from the flight there were all of the Haitians. They swarm you to help with your luggage so you will tip them and that is pretty much the way they survive. Needless to say It took me another hour and a half once I got off the plane to finally get outside. Where there is another large group of people waiting. I had only seen a picture of the woman who was picking me up so I was definitely overwhelmed when I walked outside. The airport is also surrounded by gates and there were children everywhere hanging on the gates yelling for your attention and money. This is the first time I have been out of the country so it was all very new to me. After waiting about another hour for someone else who was going to the orphanage with us, we finally left.
Driving is a whole other story here. Horns are used quite frequently and the only way to get where you need to go is to pull out in front of people. There are no speed limits and essentially no driving laws. You pass who you want when you want and drive as fast as you want. Keep in mind most of the roadway is rocks and dirt, but we went about 80 to 100 miles an hour the whole way to the orphanage, which was still about a 2 hour drive. That was another different experience.
It was dark when I arrived so I didn’t get to see much of my surroundings. Initially when u drive out of the airport there are hundreds probably thousands of tents piled right on top of each other. These are the left over effects from the earthquake. These are where all of the people live. Families in tents made for maybe two people. They live and sleep in these tents right on top of each other. Seeing it is much different than just hearing about it. Once u get past the heart of the city where the most destruction is, you see the way these people really live, the more fortunate ones that have shelter other than tents. It didn’t look too fortunate to me. Small cinderblock ‘rooms’ side by side lining the road for miles and miles. People sitting on the side of the road at a little table eating their dinner by candle light. It sort of reminded me of college when the weather would get nice everyone would go outside in the quad and hang out. That’s basically what these people do. They don’t really have a “living” place it’s more of just a place to sleep. They walk up and down the street and just hang out. Hundreds of people and I am sure they all know each other very well, just walking around and doing things by candle light. Keep in mind these people are on the side of this road where tons of cars and trucks are speeding past at 100 MPH. In the dark it really is hard to see these people and we literally came close to hitting a few. Again seeing it is such a different feeling than just hearing about it. It’s hard for me to explain the things going on in my head. I know that people everywhere are homeless or poor and there are bad living conditions all over the world. But seeing how these people live, every single person in the country for the most part, it’s heart breaking. They are some of the happiest people though and obviously don’t know much different. Definite culture shock for me…
To start from the beginning…
I arrived in Haiti along with around 200 plus people on my flight. We walked off the airplane and had to be bussed to the immigration and baggage area. I was on about the fourth bus, packed full of people and all of their luggage and no air-conditioning. We reached immigration and stood in the non-airconditioned building waiting in line to get checked into the country. Then we went into a room where baggage claim was, there was one baggage belt and a whole lot of luggage. I paid 2 USD for a cart, as did pretty much everyone else. There was barely enough room for all the people much less all the baggage and the belt was so fast you had to be very quick to get your bag. On top of all the people and things from the flight there were all of the Haitians. They swarm you to help with your luggage so you will tip them and that is pretty much the way they survive. Needless to say It took me another hour and a half once I got off the plane to finally get outside. Where there is another large group of people waiting. I had only seen a picture of the woman who was picking me up so I was definitely overwhelmed when I walked outside. The airport is also surrounded by gates and there were children everywhere hanging on the gates yelling for your attention and money. This is the first time I have been out of the country so it was all very new to me. After waiting about another hour for someone else who was going to the orphanage with us, we finally left.
Driving is a whole other story here. Horns are used quite frequently and the only way to get where you need to go is to pull out in front of people. There are no speed limits and essentially no driving laws. You pass who you want when you want and drive as fast as you want. Keep in mind most of the roadway is rocks and dirt, but we went about 80 to 100 miles an hour the whole way to the orphanage, which was still about a 2 hour drive. That was another different experience.
It was dark when I arrived so I didn’t get to see much of my surroundings. Initially when u drive out of the airport there are hundreds probably thousands of tents piled right on top of each other. These are the left over effects from the earthquake. These are where all of the people live. Families in tents made for maybe two people. They live and sleep in these tents right on top of each other. Seeing it is much different than just hearing about it. Once u get past the heart of the city where the most destruction is, you see the way these people really live, the more fortunate ones that have shelter other than tents. It didn’t look too fortunate to me. Small cinderblock ‘rooms’ side by side lining the road for miles and miles. People sitting on the side of the road at a little table eating their dinner by candle light. It sort of reminded me of college when the weather would get nice everyone would go outside in the quad and hang out. That’s basically what these people do. They don’t really have a “living” place it’s more of just a place to sleep. They walk up and down the street and just hang out. Hundreds of people and I am sure they all know each other very well, just walking around and doing things by candle light. Keep in mind these people are on the side of this road where tons of cars and trucks are speeding past at 100 MPH. In the dark it really is hard to see these people and we literally came close to hitting a few. Again seeing it is such a different feeling than just hearing about it. It’s hard for me to explain the things going on in my head. I know that people everywhere are homeless or poor and there are bad living conditions all over the world. But seeing how these people live, every single person in the country for the most part, it’s heart breaking. They are some of the happiest people though and obviously don’t know much different. Definite culture shock for me…
I arrived at Canaan around 830 and had supper. Fried chicken and rice, which I think I will be seeing a lot of! We had about an hour of electricity left after dinner so I came to my room and unpacked a few things and showered… We live in a “house” there are 3 bedrooms and everything is pretty much open air. We have a ceiling and doors that we can lock, but it is basically a building screened in. Since there is no air-condition it stays cool with the breeze blowing through the room.
So let me explain the electricity and water situation…
Our power runs on a generator that is diesel powered. Diesel is expensive that is why we only have electricity for certain hours. None throughout the day, but once it gets dark at 6 they turn the generator on and at 10 they shut it off. This generator is also what powers our internet. While it is on it “charges” our internet, which is what we use the next day. If people download too much or spend too much time on it, then the internet essentially runs out.
Then there is the water….on top of each building there is a large bucket. Each morning it is filled with water. This is for showers, washing hands and the toilet. When that bucket runs out, there is no more water until the next day. Our house went from 4 people living in it to 7, so our water runs out much quicker and we have to be careful throughout the day. The shower is just a small pipe coming out of the wall that kind of just dumps water on you and it’s the coldest water ever! My first shower lasted maybe 2 minutes and I couldn’t take it anymore. Even though it is seriously hot here, it is going to take me a while to get used to the cold shower thing!
There are 2 bunk beds in my room and right now Kendall and I in there, but we have two more girls joining us soon. We cover our beds with a mosquito net and have a tiny battery operated fan we use if it gets too hot. Right now things are comfortable but 2 more girls in that room is going to be interesting.
So my first actual day here was the anniversary of the earthquake…Haiti has declared it a holiday and everything is to be shut down except the churches and everything played on the radio has to be “appropriate” and they fast. My first day here and they are fasting! Technically they are allowed to eat once it gets dark so I think they will eat dinner. The teachers and staff however did not fast. We had oatmeal for breakfast and ramen noodles for lunch, which totally reminds me of survival in college. After breakfast we went to the chapel, again I was not prepared. I couldn’t sit through church for more than 30 min when I was a kid, but we sat for three and a half hours! There were bible versus read and a lot of singing and then people telling their stories of the day the earthquake hit. All of this in a different language. It was very difficult for me to sit through! But it was also very touching. Every now and then someone would translate into broken English which was also hard to follow. Even when I couldn’t understand what they were saying, you could tell how passionate they were. How happy to be alive and how sad for friends and family lost, grown men crying and little children too. It took everything out of me to not break down. I survived the almost 4 hours in the chapel sitting on the smallest most uncomfortable benches and again no air. It was difficult but great experience. The people here are so amazing and passionate about what little they have. Sitting on a bench next to about 50 orphans wasn’t the easiest morning. As uncomfortable as I was it didn’t matter because what I was experiencing was great. They have beautiful voices and LOVE to sing. All the children got up front and sang it was so precious. I am finally unpacked and settled in for the most part. Just resting having a day off with everyone!
We went hiking and it is absolutely gorgeous here! I will share pictures when the internet is working better. Our power just went off, not real sure why, but our 4 hours of light just turned into 1...So let me explain the electricity and water situation…
Our power runs on a generator that is diesel powered. Diesel is expensive that is why we only have electricity for certain hours. None throughout the day, but once it gets dark at 6 they turn the generator on and at 10 they shut it off. This generator is also what powers our internet. While it is on it “charges” our internet, which is what we use the next day. If people download too much or spend too much time on it, then the internet essentially runs out.
Then there is the water….on top of each building there is a large bucket. Each morning it is filled with water. This is for showers, washing hands and the toilet. When that bucket runs out, there is no more water until the next day. Our house went from 4 people living in it to 7, so our water runs out much quicker and we have to be careful throughout the day. The shower is just a small pipe coming out of the wall that kind of just dumps water on you and it’s the coldest water ever! My first shower lasted maybe 2 minutes and I couldn’t take it anymore. Even though it is seriously hot here, it is going to take me a while to get used to the cold shower thing!
There are 2 bunk beds in my room and right now Kendall and I in there, but we have two more girls joining us soon. We cover our beds with a mosquito net and have a tiny battery operated fan we use if it gets too hot. Right now things are comfortable but 2 more girls in that room is going to be interesting.
So my first actual day here was the anniversary of the earthquake…Haiti has declared it a holiday and everything is to be shut down except the churches and everything played on the radio has to be “appropriate” and they fast. My first day here and they are fasting! Technically they are allowed to eat once it gets dark so I think they will eat dinner. The teachers and staff however did not fast. We had oatmeal for breakfast and ramen noodles for lunch, which totally reminds me of survival in college. After breakfast we went to the chapel, again I was not prepared. I couldn’t sit through church for more than 30 min when I was a kid, but we sat for three and a half hours! There were bible versus read and a lot of singing and then people telling their stories of the day the earthquake hit. All of this in a different language. It was very difficult for me to sit through! But it was also very touching. Every now and then someone would translate into broken English which was also hard to follow. Even when I couldn’t understand what they were saying, you could tell how passionate they were. How happy to be alive and how sad for friends and family lost, grown men crying and little children too. It took everything out of me to not break down. I survived the almost 4 hours in the chapel sitting on the smallest most uncomfortable benches and again no air. It was difficult but great experience. The people here are so amazing and passionate about what little they have. Sitting on a bench next to about 50 orphans wasn’t the easiest morning. As uncomfortable as I was it didn’t matter because what I was experiencing was great. They have beautiful voices and LOVE to sing. All the children got up front and sang it was so precious. I am finally unpacked and settled in for the most part. Just resting having a day off with everyone!
"Anyone can give up, it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that's true strength"
2 comments:
We in America don't realize how lucky we are to have electricity and air-conditioning 24 hours a day. A hot shower is something we don't even think about. Fast food and meat at every meal are things that we abuse. If more of us could experience what Amber will in the next three months, we could work more harmoniously together to make our part of the world a better place.
I totally agree... I think kids my age(13) should be thankful for what we have && quit worring about stuff we dont have!! Amber, I hope your journey will be well worth wild!! :)) i love you very much,
Sincerely your cousin,
Janna Ladner :)
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