Caraibe Petit Haiti

Labadee is Royal Caribbean's private island on a peninsula on the Island of Haiti. We were on the first tender off the ship so we hit the beach early. We set up in the shade of a coconut tree, aldi back on our deck chairs, ordered a rum cocktail, 'Labadoozle', and sat back to enjoy the white sand and blue sea. The beach was a little rocky because of the coral but the water was warm. The girls enjoyed being able to float a lot easier due to the salty water. The ship has a zipline, where ...

... at the bottom of the mountain we take a brief break. There is an orphanage there we visit. It is small now, only eight children, but it will grow bigger. There is a baby there that was abandoned at 5 days old. We stop at the gas station for some junk food snacks and cold drinks at then it is off to Hospice House. We drive through the hot and crowded streets of Port Au Prince and take in the huge UN tanks and trucks ...

... a sixth grade education themselves. Students spend an average of 5 hours of day in school and their attendance is good. However, the dropout rate after sixth grade is high. It's hard to afford school, especially when your family is starving. To go to high school, one must travel to Port Au Prince and live with friends or relatives. It's tough to send your children off to such a poor and volatile place. Class sizes average around 40! Oh my ...

... I am excited today because we are working on the "4th Grade House". My 4th graders at SJV fund raised enough (plus extra) to cement an entire house. I can not express how proud, and touched, I was by all of them! There are ten people who typically reside in the home, a mother and father and eight children. However the mother, Madeline is organizing things alone because her husband is working in the Dominican Republic. He walks ...

... is off at other houses. The work today is much faster. We've learned what to do and what not to do. Also the families are better prepared as we know exactly how much rock, sand, and water is needed. It's fun to see the same faces over and over. I feel like I am getting to know people. Even though there is a language barrier, to work towards the same goal is unifying.

Haiti, Haiti larinda

... nimble goat would struggle climbing. We are not a graceful group by any stretch of the imagination!

We divide up between three houses and get to work. Our process is five steps:

1. Level floor with shovels and pick axes.
2. Spread medium sized rocks all over the floor.
3. Sift and fill in rocks with gravel.
4. Mix cement. This is done outside on the ground.
5. Stand back and let the masons work.

The first day is a ...

We spent an evening discussing the works of Oscar Romero. If you are not familiar with his inspiring story I've included a link.


http://www.uscatholic. org/culture/social-justice/2009/02/osca r-romero-bishop-poor

... lost seven children in her lifetime. Can you imagine losing seven young children and dealing with it? We interviewed four houses and then we went to a house that had a little boy playing with a home made toy. He had a piece of string going through a bottle cap which had a whole in the center. He would string it around his fingers with both hands and then twist it up. After it was twisted, he would pull the string equally on both ends and the bottle cap would spin ...

... m'a plu. Je vais ajouter des photos quand je reviens chez moi. On a passé le premier jour d'année 2009 à Cabaret et Arcahaie. En Haïti le 1 janvier est aussi une fête nationale. On mange une soupe jaune traditionnel tandis qu'on fête l'indpendance et la fin d'esclavage (qui s'est passé en 1804).

... It was by far the most beautiful beach I had ever been to. It literally looked like a beach off of a post card. It is so hard to believe that so many people in Haiti live in poverty because of such a corrupt government, but that the beaches and mountains are so beautiful. I guess that this is just another one of life's great mysteries.