Taino Beach Cap-Haitien

... s a mess. And yes, there are kidnappings. In fact, about a week ago a Canadian aid worker got picked up. She's home now, after about 10 sleepless nights for her family and, I suspect, a nice payday for the captors. So yeah, we've had a lot of volunteers back out this summer. Kind of a mess there, but you'd be in the north of the country, near Cap Haitien. Sure there was some rioting in Cap last month, but the news said it was food riots. That's ****, it was political ...

... new compost site so we headed in that direction. I also wanted to check out Bwa Kayiman (Bois Caimon for you Frenchies), but this was aborted because of time restraints. In Cap Rosemond had the usual shouts from the street. Cars with massive speakers (like one would see in a small club) play loud music. A man driving one said a loud hello through his microphone, something Rosemond will have to deal with more and more.



We went out ...

... of the Citadelle). There we met one of the mayors of Milot who offered land for a composting site. The road to the potential site was the worst I've seen this time in Haiti, but far from the worst in Haiti. We bottomed out once or twice and lowered our bodies in the truck bed to avoid muddy pits and being tossed out. The local people were extremely nice and told SOIL they could dig up whatever they wanted. The ...

Thursday mostly saw progress on both toilets. We visited Doug's village first and Shada second. Between the two toilet sites we visited the intake center (first of three steps before going to the Village). There we found two cute puppies. Dogs in Haiti are not very nice. There is a problem with rabies and people generally abuse dogs. Sasha wanted one of the dogs since Doug gave away a previous selection. The name ...

Not too much to report today. We went to the beach near Labadie. I didn't bring swimming trunks so I walked around and planned on reading. Instead I found eyes for Matt's sand dragon, which I'm not realizing I didn't take a picture of in its last state. Check out pics for typical beach settings. Tonight people will watch Aristide and the Endless Revolution, a documentary I highly recommend. Check your local library www.worldcat.org ...

... wasn't happening we found Nica (mayor of Milot) and she helped us jump on a big tap tap (school bus) to Cap Haitien. We returned and inhaled dinner with the exception of Erika. She had a headache before we jumped on the tap tap which lead down a bumpy road and filled our ears with blaring music. She went straight to bed with a bad headache while others prepared for Sasha's birthday party. I worked in my room as the party ensued upstairs. People came down from ...

I do not recall the details of how Sasha met Doug, but it sounds like he's doing great work. Doug picks up street kids who sniff paint thinner and get high. He attempts to give them a safe environment and keep them busy through education. There are various places people stay depending on their needs (emotional, spatial, psychological, etc.). They begin in the city and when they get to a certain point, the get to "the Village" where they ...

... for many years living in all kinds of situations. They're in the best one yet. SOIL recently moved into a three story building in downtown Cap. The roof has a house rented by a couple of people, but otherwise serves as a garden and compost pile. The second floor has two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a composting toilet. The first floor has two bedrooms with many bunkbeds, a bathroom, and SOIL/SOL offices. There's wireless internet, a fridge, toilet ...

... on a beach mat. Enjoy the fun-filled floating Aqua Park as you bounce on trampolines and climb and slide on inflatables. Sporting Adventures Grab a bird's-eye view as you soar 400 feet above the beautiful peninsula of Labadee on a thrilling parasailing ride. Paddle through the enchanting Bay of LabadeeŽ on a kayaking tour. Absorb the breathtaking surroundings and learn a bit about the Haitian culture. Take an exhilarating ride aboard a waverunner down ...

... Duchity. He has organized an association in Duchity to work on food security, sanitation, and other issues. We flew (Franci for the first time in his life) to Cap Haitien to meet up with Sasha and SOIL, SOIL is the international version/fundraising side while SOL is the Haitian group building on the ground. We arrived in the historic city of Cap Haitien where we met Sasha at the airport. Sasha has her PhD from Stanford and has been working in ...