trip 2

Ok, all I really want to talk about are my two boys. But, I also want to document this last trip I took to Haiti, and so I shall. Trip number two was waaaay different than trip number one. I sort of found myself in the heart of the disaster zone this time. And I now realize just how cushioned my first trip was, staying at Gina’s orphanages and traveling around the outskirts of the country with basically my whole relief group around me. It was still shocking, but nothing like this last trip.

This time I ended up right in Port-au-Prince and Leogane (the city just outside of Port-au-Prince which was hit the hardest by the earthquake). I cannot adequately describe how horrible the conditions were/are in Port-au-Prince. I was oriented with middle class Haiti which would be considered worse than the worst slums anywhere here in America. “Houses” consist of cinder block walls usually with slabs of metal siding on the top as a roof. Most don’t have beds and have about two rooms for fifteen people. The streets are chaos. People living surrounded by piles of garbage, selling whatever they can dig up all along the sides of the roads throughout the entire city. It is just mile after mile after mile of third world poverty. The only clean road I saw on my lovely city tour was a street where Wyclef has a relief group stationed. The volunteers literally just clean the street over and over again every day. I don’t know, I can’t even describe it, it is like nothing I have ever seen. My own photos here really not do the scene justice. It is such a monumental compilation of devastation, I couldn’t fit it all into a photo. If you want to see some fairly disturbing photos that sort of capture the essence of the city since the quake, here is an article on Leogane . While most of the photos in the article were taken just after the earthquake, and much of the looting has ceased, it gives a pretty accurate view of the cities. Honestly, not a whole lot has been cleaned up in the past 9 months. The major difference is the appearance of giant tent cities everywhere. Here is a video as well as a pretty good article I found discussing the tent cities and clean-up since the earthquake if anyone is interested (I find it fascinating). Only a tiny percentage of money donated after the earthquake has actually gotten through to the country.

line for a job interview - 80% of the population is unemployed

I had thought that I would be out at Gina’s orphanage during the days helping out on this trip, kinda like the last one. But, upon my arrival into Port-au-Prince, I quickly realized that “my” relief group was not actually on this trip, and through some unforeseen circumstances, I was kind of on my own. Haiti is not a great place to be on your own. I did get dropped off (literally dropped off, like, good luck and farewell as the helicopter took off behind me) in Leogane by some friends of my original relief group. Some people were out there helping build a school for a group of children who had been orphaned and were gathered and living out in a field after the earthquake. Most orphans in Haiti, sadly, are taken care of in similar situations. Legitimate orphanages or creches probably constitute about 5% of the orphans in Haiti. The other 95% of Haitian orphans usually end up being cared for by some philanthropic member of the community who has taken to looking after them, or in non-regulated make-shift "orphanages." The saddest part is that the children in these situations will never become available to legally adopt. To legally adopt a child out of Haiti, they must be associated with a true creche and adopted through a legal agency. So, these hundreds of thousands of children basically have no hope of finding families.

While I was helping at this new school site, I was dying a little bit inside. Not just from my surroundings, but I had no idea how in the world I was possibly going to find my way back to Port-au-Prince and I was pretty devastated and certain that I was not going to be able to see Gina or my orphanage this trip. Through some angelic intervention (which seems to be a common thread here), I met Hayley and Nat Yulien, a couple who were also helping out in Leogane. Hayley was an American from CA and Nat was Haitian. They met in college at BYU Hawaii, got married and decided to move back and live down in Haiti for a few years helping to start small businesses and boost the Haitian economy. I was relaying (possibly sobbing at that point) to Hayley why I was down there and how I had been hoping to at least see my orphanage during this trip, and she and Nat immediately offered to drive me anywhere I needed to go.

Seriously? Driving through Haiti is no small feat. There really are no paved roads, or if at some point they were paved, they have now been completely swallowed up by gigantic potholes, debris, garbage, dead animals, what have you. In fact, one of the highlights of my trip was during my initial drive from the airport through the city. I actually had to ask to stop the car where I proceeded to puke my guts out in front of an entire group of UN guys. One of them had pity on me and handed me a bottle of water. Good times. Given all of that, this blessed couple drove me all the way out to Gina’s valley orphanage, about a three hour journey. I have absolutely no idea how we were even able to find that place. It is way out of the city through a maze of dirt roads and I had only been there by helicopter before. It was a true miracle. I owe this couple forever.

The whole drive I was a bit worried that even if we were able to find the place, Gina might not even be there. I had assumed she was planning on our whole relief group working out there, but since that had not happened, I really had no idea what Gina was doing or if she might be up at her house in Kenscoff, near the other orphanage, way up in the mountains. When we finally pulled up to the orphanage gates, Gina was sitting right outside meeting with some people on some other projects she has going on. She welcomed us (and thankfully didn’t seem bothered by the fact that I had just dropped in on her out of the blue) and said she would love to talk to me one on one about my being matched. We sat down for a few minutes and she expressed to me that she knew how busy I was as a single working mom and she was being careful with choosing a child for me to fit into my circumstances. She said she initially had one baby boy in mind for me who turned out to be HIV+ and she didn’t think that would be a good fit for me. Of course I told her that this was my life, my kids, I came all the way down to Haiti just to talk to her about it, and I would not want to rule out a child because of their health issues. I believe she saw how serious I was. She still said she did not think that boy was right for me, but there were a few more children who were probably going to become available soon. She said that she would call me as soon as she heard news on the children’s availability.

By then it was almost dark, and not a good idea to drive through Haiti in the dark, so it was time for us to leave. We had about 10 minutes to see the children, some of the older ones were awake, but the little guys were all sleeping. We played with the older ones, and I went in and watched the little ones sleeping and just felt happy to be able to see them. They were all still there, safe, taken care of. I really feel like they are all my kids somehow. That orphanage just feels like home to me.

That night I stayed at a hotel directly across the street from one of the tent cities. These cities have become extremely dangerous. Rape is apparently one of the biggest problems, although widely ignored. In fact, rape was not even considered a crime in Haiti until 2005. Malnutrition, disease, and abuse are rampant. And just to add to the mix, the prison in Port-au-Prince was severely damaged in the earthquake and 3,000 prisoners escaped. About 1,000 have been re-captured, but the other 2,000 are just roaming around out there in the general population.

The next day I was able to go with Hayley and Nat to visit an orphanage run by an LDS bishop right in the heart of the city. I dare anyone to walk through that place and not wind up in tears. It was filthy, giant walls missing, and no toys except one dirty little doll I saw throughout the entire orphanage. It was so sad. (Since I came back I have asked around about that particular orphanage and heard that they are trying to get a new building for those kids. Also pretty much everyone I know has offered to donate toys, clothes, shoes for those children, and donations are going down there soon. Thank you everyone.)

Wow, I know I have probably left out a LOT of details from this trip in contrast to my first trip. Perhaps because they are things I don’t quite want to remember. It was a life-changing trip. When I finally left Port-au-Prince and got off the plane at the Miami International Airport I seriously felt like falling on my knees and kissing American soil. I know I have said this before, but I am so grateful to live in America. The stark difference between the airports alone was overwhelming. I had an 11 hour layover in Miami and took a shuttle to an airport hotel. It was like I had died and gone to heaven. I seriously had not eaten anything in Port-au-Prince for about 24 hours. There was nothing to eat, I certainly didn’t feel like finding myself some food on the streets alone and chance getting lost or worse or catching some disease that I hadn’t already caught. So, when I finally got in to Miami, I took my shuttle to the hotel, showered, ate the best salad I have ever had in my life, drank water from the tap (ahhh), and slept in my comfortable air-conditioned room. Viva America and pray for Haiti. I will never complain again.

While I would never have dreamed this last trip up, and would never ever in a million years want to repeat it, I am so grateful that I had the experience I did. First of all, if I had not been able to meet up with Gina (for that whole 20 minutes) I am fairly certain that I would not have gotten my call to be matched with my boys as soon as I did. That call came four days after I met with her. Secondly, I was able to witness first-hand how life really is in Haiti. Like, every-day normal life. And it is not just post-earthquake life that is hard. Before the country was hit, it was already one of the most poverty-stricken countries in the world. It is beyond hard, it is unimaginable. If children make it past birth in Haiti they are a miracle and then so many can not be cared for by their parents. It is not like these parents don’t want these children, they literally can not care for them. There is no food, no money, no education, and no work. And for the vast majority of the population, no chance of bettering their situation in the future. It is just survival. Barely.

view from my hotel in port-au-prince...

view from my hotel in miami...