Le Marcelin Inn Port-au-Prince

... it cool and fresh. And the air is half the humidity of Saigon, making the heat very easy to get along with. As our home will have two guest bedrooms, you are all welcome here!

Myself will start to work for Médecins du Monde Canada at the end of the month, half time, for 3 months at least. Back to ONG stuff! I’ll be a kind of consultant on all of their services they offer in the notorious slum Cité Soleil (see the first blog for pics) (also, see www ...

Bonjour groupe!

Cela fait maintenant un mois déjà que je suis ici, et tout ce que j'ai trouvé de bon à vous écrire ce sont des affaires déprimantes... Pas pour rien que Haïti est le pays le plus pauvre des Amériques. Mais bon, j'imagine que certains se demandent à quoi notre vie ressemble ici, ce sera l'objet de ce billet. Je me propose d'en faire un autre demain sur nos premières impressions.

Mais d ...

... I spotted the last President of Haiti standing in the corner away from everyone else. Afterward I went to the Oloffson and got to see RAM play for a while. I definitely would have had a good time at that hotel/in that area if I could have stayed there.

Saturday I played basketball in Pelerin at 7:30am. Still lack talent in that area, but it was fun anyway. Later that ...

... up the food we provide. It is such a small way to say thank you for all they do for us. The joy in their faces reminds me to be grateful for the little things in life. We then play simple games with the children like thumbwar, paper, scissors, rock, etc., etc.. Finally we end the night reflecting and playing the "three things" game within our own group. By now we all know everything about everyone else!

... Les Anglais has a system that was apparently built by USAID in the late 70's/80's (?) and is in despair due to age, wear and tear, and hurricane damage. The water is not currently being treated. Our project model strives to be sustainable by building the capacity of the local community to maintain what has been implemented. We (the health assessment team) will be conducting household health surveys and targeted community focus ...

On behalf of Port-au-Prince, I want to wish you a happy new year! De la part de Port au Prince, Je veux vous souhaiter une bonne année! It's raining....which is weird, because it has been constantly sunny since we got here. And when it rains here, it pours. It seems like someone is dumping buckets on us. Two nights ago, I engaged in an all out ...

Upon arrival and departure, we drove through crowded parts of the city, stopping occassionally to jump out quickly for a photograph. Most of the photos you'll see from Port-au-Prince are taken from inside our vehicle. In order to get our attention for dollars, often times the local people, especially children, attempted to hang on to our doors ...

... of the ladder. Our paint is limited to two colors-a yellow and light green. The plumbing crew gets the water tower built. The electric crew gets the generator running. We bust it all day and get a lot accomplished. Back in our spacious room, we take bucket baths. We have our own bathroom! Of course the tolit needs to be flushed by hand but it is not so bad. There is a shower but the water isn't running ...

... aquí se escucha, se bebe, se come y se vive el "Kompa", que es un hermoso ritmo tropical, donde predominan los teclados y las guitarras eléctricas al más puro estilo caribeño - y omito el detalle del baile, que son de las cosas que no se pueden escribir: mejor párate y baila. 5. La comida. El primero de "los reveillones" fue el de los Amis de la Chanson, que estuvo bien organizado y rete bueno, en un "casino" (salón de baile, fiestas y eventos ...

... Salud paga a una enfermera y a una auxiliar de enfermera. El resto de los salarios provienen de... bueno, de la Divina Providencia (de lo que genere el Dispensario, y como podrán imaginar, no es un gran negocio). El dispensario no está financiado por los oblatos. El pasado octubre fui a México para el Congreso Provincial de los Oblatos. Gracias a la generosidad de amigos de los oblatos en una de nuestras capillas, hicimos una pequeña colecta de dinero ...