When I sit down to write these blogs, I try to think of a theme, or of a lesson learned from my experiences throughout the week. This week, I can say without hesitation that I'm learning there are three things key to getting anything accomplished in Haiti: Patience, timing, and waiting. Not that these don't hold true in other places, but I've never seen such a striking necessity for them in daily life until I moved here.
When one of our children needs medical services, laboratory testing, or other services not available nearby, we go to Port-au-Prince. Port can be anything from an hour and a half drive to as long as four hours, depending on traffic and other delays that plague the road. Finally, we're seeing progress, as large portions of the previously broken, dirt, pot-hole filled road are now smooth pavement, complete with lines, speed limit signs, and speed bumps ~ not that anyone pays much attention to any of those. The drive in to Port has definitely become less arduous in the last year. This past week, I had to bring one of our boys in for some testing, and so we set out bright and early - at 4:45am.
For those of you who have been here, you know what we mean by the expression, "It's Haiti." Indeed, this phrase is invoked or at least thought of about a dozen times a day. Anytime things don't go quite as planned, one has to step back and remember where they are. Thursday morning at 5am as we sat in a police checkpoint line for about thirty minutes, as I noticed my frustration and annoyance rising, I breathed a deep sigh and thought, hey - it's Haiti.
While we were sitting there we spotted one of the employees at the school where many of our children go. He was on his way to Port, and so I offered him a lift. About a block later, we saw another friend we knew, and so we picked him up, too.
As we exited Grand-Goâve, I sat back and listened to the conversations happening around me. Politics, Martelly (tet kalè), one man's grumblings about the high price of goats and how he should get in to selling them. How the market for goats and pigs is changing. Even when the conversation became animated, as Haitian tend to do, speaking loudly and quickly, I made out key words like assistans (assistance) and envestisman (investment), and taks, or taxes...As I stared out the window of the truck gazing at what seemed to be an unending canopy of stars, I listened to my Haitian friends express their bemused contempt for the state of their State. Politics is politics, and it seems that no matter where you go, pep-yo (the people) hold their political representatives in similar regard. Mon cher...
We arrived at our destination almost a full hour before they were scheduled to be open. Their office was open; copies of Newsweek and People magazines strewn about. An old black and white television broadcasting Catholic Mass in Creole. Four women were seated in the waiting area when we walked in and took our place in line. We were 5th to be seen.
As we sat, we started talking. The other women told me they had been there since 6am. I explained that we, too, had a bit of a journey. Up at 4am, out the door at 4:45. And what normally would have been an irritating and annoying wait for a doctor's appointment turned in to a morning long conversation about nothing in particular and yet was such an insightful encounter. Strangers walking by the open door, greeting all of us bonjou; a strange calm in the middle of a bustling, chaotic and loud city. Every time I go to Port I have a new experience. This was a favorite. Despite our 20 minutes with the doctor taking a total of 8 hours of our time, it seems that patience is a virtue I'm finally making my way towards. Timing is everything, and waiting sometimes is the best way to catch a break...
When we finished I asked our driver to take me by the Cathedral and show me some sights in Port. Peacock, anyone? I'm told they taste great, though I am not about to find out...
The Bicentennial Monumnet...
Medical tests giving clean bills of health, this week the children at Be Like Brit got to participate in another first! A group of our children, ages 8 and up, piled on to the bus and made our way to Leogane on Friday afternoon to play our first match as a team against another group. We're so happy to have met and made relationships with Jolinda, Emilio, Nadege, and the other great people at GOALS Haiti! While our children didn't exactly break any records (or much of a sweat, either) we know that they had fun and we look forward to seeing them train harder for the next match! We know they have the skills - we just have to get them to work together. What a great teaching opportunity!
We had a great meeting this past week with the people from the Life Is Good Playmakers Team - the charitable arm of the well known smiley-face t-shirt people (and more!) Rishi and Dave came by to meet with me and my child-care staff and observe some of the things that happen at Be Like Brit in a day. We are excited to move forward with them this year as they focus on building skill sets of child-care employees and workers to incorporate more fun, more joy, more play in to their every day lives! We know our children and staff alike will benefit from this and we are so excited to see it come to us here in Haiti!
We have been hard at work making improvements and fixing odds and ends around the house. With 38 children and dozens of visitors every month, the building requires ongoing maintenance and upkeep! Gama, our Operations Director, does an incredible job at keeping Be Like Brit clean, safe, and running smooth for all of us here in it. His work is never ending, it seems, and I am so grateful to have such a great counterpart here in Haiti who recognizes the importance of keeping things in good, working order. We want to be sure that BLB is a home where our children feel safe and secure, and that is no easy task! Gama and our staff do an amazing job ~ MESI!
What do you think Williere is making in here?
Installing newer, stronger guardrails on all the top bunks!
We have a very busy month ahead of us - and with February already being a short month, we know it won't be long until we find ourselves in March! There's never a dull moment here at Be Like Brit, that's for sure! We know this month we should be seeing more children enroll in our program and come home to us. We also know we'll be busy with lots of Britsionary groups, medical teams, special visitors, and more! Be sure to keep up on what's happening here on facebook and twitter @BeLikeBrit!
