My article about Haiti

The woman I work for at The Global Social Change Film Festival asked me to write a story about my travels in Haiti for the website. It was fun to write and I am very honored to be a part of this global experience. Enjoy!

http://www.socialchangefilmfestival.org/2010/10/magic-in-haiti/

A Few Haiti Photos

Haiti - Part II

We arrived in Jacmel and went to our friend Emmet's home. Emmet is an American and works for an NGO called ACDI-VOCA. He has been in Haiti for two years now and his organization focuses on sustainable practices such as fishing, farming, clean water, and health care for local people. They are doing great work, and our group donated some tools for a program for Haitian men and women to learn how to build earthquake and hurricane proof housing.

Emmet's home was a welcome respite after such a long journey. It was open and airy, on a cliff overlooking the ocean and had a swimming pool in the back. We all had a swim and a nap and felt much better by the time Emmet arrived home from work. We had a delicious dinner together with he and some friends he had invited over that included stuffed squash, salad with avocados as big as a softball, bread, rice, and fresh lime and rum . It was a great chance to talk about Haiti from a local's point of view and talk about the politics of what's happening there. We stayed up late into the night talking and watching the heat lightning in the sky. I have never seen so many stars in the sky before my first night in Haiti.

The next day the three of us (Laurie, Lisa and me) jumped on the back of motorcycles, which are the local taxis, and headed out to visit the different places where our group would volunteer. The first trip we took could have been our last, but we were definitely being looked after.... All three of us were on a bike with the driver (what were we thinking?) and zooming down the dusty streets of Jacmel, when blam! the front tire blew. The driver was really good and knew just what to do. He got us safely to the side of the road and before we had time to even think about it, 3 more taxis had pulled over to take us on our way.

We visited a man named Jacques who runs a small orphanage in Jacmel. He has about 15 kids that we met and made arrangements to go back later in the afternoon and play with all the kids at the community center. Next we met Sister Bonite, who has a home very near a large tent city and feeds 250 children each day. She also collected donated clothing and other items for the people in the tents. She is an angel who cares for people in such a beautiful way. She is Haitian but lived in NY for 40 years and worked as an RN, but after the earthquake she says she was called by God to come back and take care of her brothers and sisters. She invited us to join her and the community at church services that Sunday.

We were starving by that time so stopped at a little shack on the side of the road to get something safe to eat. I had to laugh when I saw the sign because it has the famous golden arches on it. I think it was called "Millies". We got a grilled cheese sandwich and a bottle of Coca Cola to go and ate them as we rolled on down the road on the back of our motorcycle taxis.

We met up with Jacques and his kids and spend an hour singing some songs and playing games. It was very hot and were pretty tired by this time, so didn't have a ton of energy that day. But the kids are wonderful and sweet and so loving. They get a meal each day at the community center and get help with homework and time to be together in a relaxed way with other kids from the neighborhood. We told Jacques we would bring our group back and have some fun art projects and do yoga with the kids.

We made one last stop at the main tent city in Jacmel where Lisa volunteered earlier in the year with The Global Volunteer Network. She has some friends who are still there and they were so happy to see her. It was great for her to make those connections again and was fascinating for me to see the tent city up close. I still had so many questions about what life must be like there....

One of my favorite moments from Haiti

My friend Joseph. We didn't speak many words but communicated on a much deeper level. He is a very smart, very special boy.
Photo by Nicole Litchfield

Haiti - Intensity in Tent Cities - Part I

What to say about Haiti? There is so much.....

The whole trip was surprising to me. I was surprised by how beautiful Haiti is. I was surprised by how incredible, generous and loving the people are, I was surprised by the surprises that awaited us each day.

I went to Haiti with a group of 13 women and 2 men who are all connected through our yoga practice. Our teacher has been to Haiti earlier in the year and wanted to take a group back to do some volunteer work. It was a wonderful group of people. We all bonded in a huge way. 

I went two days early with two of the women to make sure things were in order. We took a red eye flight to Miami and arrived at 2 am California time. We had a short layover and then were on the 1.5 hour flight to Port Au Prince. It was raining when we arrived and was very warm and muggy. The baggage claim area was small and crowded and chaotic. But we had someone there to meet us which was such a help and a relief because there were throngs of men outside the door yelling and wanting us to come with them. 

We got our things and loaded up in the truck, six of us in the double cab and three men in the back sitting on top of our suitcases. We began the 2.5 hour journey to Jacmel where we would be staying with a drive through the heart of Port Au Prince and the devastation left by the earthquake. 

It was difficult to wrap my brain around all that I was seeing. Homes and businesses were totally collapsed. Huge piles of rubble everywhere. Gigantic slabs of concrete roofs laying sideways. And the huge white presidential palace flattened on itself like a pancake with only the majestic dome sticking up. There were huge rivers of muddy water that we had to cross. Piles of garbage everywhere. I would not have been the least surprised if I had seen bodies by the road. It was like a scene out of a sci fi movie.

And then there were the tent cities....acres and acres of tents upon tents. We passed so many "neighborhoods" of tents. Tents in the public parks, tents on the median strip in the middle of the road. It's hard to imagine what life must be like living shoulder to shoulder with 50,000 other people in tents. The heat must be unbearable. I wondered where people wash themselves, or take their garbage, or cook their food. I wondered about the crime and about the sense of family among them. I wondered where their kids go to school and where they go for urgent medical care. I wondered if they have lights to read or sew by or to find their way home.We were all pretty quiet in the truck as we drove through Port Au Prince. All of us contemplating what we were seeing. 


It took most of an hour to drive through the city and finally we were on the more open road to Jacmel. It was a beautiful drive with winding mountain roads, lush trees, fields of sugar cane, cows, children, chickens, motorcycles and people everywhere. It seems that the people in the mountains had it much better than the people in the cities. More open space and room to breathe....

Technical difficulties

Sorry about those last posts. Was sending via text message and didn't realize the limitations.

It's 2:30 am California time and we just landed in Miami. It's going to be a very long day.

We are meeting a woman from the orphanage hereand she will be on our flight which is nice. We will get a ride with her once we arrive in Port Au Prince and visit ine of th orphanages with her today in Jacmel.

It all feels dreamy and floaty and not real yet. I guess that's because it's the middle of the night and I haven't slept. Hopefully I'll catch up tonight. Were staying at th home of an American man who does work in Haiti and is a contact of lisas. He sounds like a wonderful guy.

Eat Pray Love Yoga