Camp Fini

Aug 21, 2011

On my way home now; trying to process all this. But first, how on earth is my entire body sore? I thought I was getting pretty good at the moto rides, but apparently my muscles aren’t so fit yet. I made my way out of Passe Catabois in the dark at 4 am on Saturday morning, my huge bag strapped behind me like a third person and my backpacking backpack sitting between the handlebars of my driver. After only one stop to buy a coke bottle filled with gas after we ran out midway, and the river crossing in a row boat, I made it to the airport on time and in surprisingly clean condition. No rain the night before so the roads were passable, thank you Jesus.

So, trip done. A little sadness taking over my heart, I’m not gonna lie. Something in me just needs to be in Haiti. Relationships are so rich. The work so hard, so frustrating, but somehow at the same time, makes you feel like you’ve never really been alive before. It somehow touches the corners of your heart that aren’t so accessible back home.

So some of my favorite moments of the last weeks:

- Joking and laughing my guts out with Wilfet and Lou as we carried big bags of supplies to and from the schoolhouse each day. Creating inside jokes is always fun but maybe ten times funnier when it involves Haitians and impersonations.

- Being nurse patrol at kids camp. In considering the significant presence of cholera in the area, I tried to enforce hand washing before our lunch meal; that every kid would get completely suds’ed up. It started with actually washing 6 year old hands week one and turned into major line enforcing with the 14 year olds week three (apparently washing hands with soap was a hot commodity since everyone tried to push and shove their way to the front!). I was thankful for Wilfet who took his job as “police” pretty serious. And so, success. With soap and a little prayer protection, cholera avoided. This could have been a real life nightmare since 50 of us ate lunch from the same pot everyday.

- “Music” with the kids aka. everyone pounding drums and running around in a circle yelling “Jericho!!”. Kora, one of the workers, has a gift in consolidating and leading the kids in this. Somedays, we ALL got into it and the sweat was a-dripping.

-Helping the crew with two C-sections.

-Spending time with people at the hospital in the afternoons. The hospital was full full so keeping track of people was difficult but I frequented a few special ones.

-My b-day in Haiti. Whooo! Coffee and a quiet morning. An apple for breakfast (thank you Leah). Best present ever: Haitian hammock that was made by someone’s uncle way up in the mountains that took 3 days to get here (thank you Kora!). Camp with the teeniboppers; pure mischief. Sitting with the Jal kids in the afternoon. Warm bread (thank you Evens). And a little b-day party with the blans….including chocolate cake (thank you Mama Miss Leah!!).

-My new best friend, John Kelly. Everyone needs a 10 year old best friend to sass around with.

-A month with Leah. We somehow get each other. I think it’s safe to say we are something of sisters now and somehow rocked it out just the two of us: constant kids, SWEAT, constantly covered in paint and dust, SWEAT, our diet of bread, pb, coffee and popcorn, SWEAT, cuddling our fans at night, more than a few tarantulas, SWEAT, and laughing A LOT.

Keep her in your thoughts and prayers as she is still in Port-au-Prince for a week working with kids in the slum. It is much needed…