Getting to Know You

Thursday, February 11th

12:30 (Lunch is Served) Today the office manager must have felt sorry for me because she made me eat something for lunch. Bertiny helped me prepare a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and that’s when I began to get to know more about him. He told me that he is the eldest of five children and he left home for work in order to help his family, to pay for school, and to buy nice clothes. His home collapsed during the earthquake and he explained that his family was living elsewhere. Bertiny is neat in appearance and always smells good and seems to be like a typical young man that I see at home every day. But I know the reality of his life is far grimmer than any that I know. Bertiney only speaks Creole and French so we communicate by using hand gestures and a free translation tool on the internet. He is 21 years old (same age as my brother) and desires to live elsewhere but at this point he has no other choice. When I told him that he reminded me of my brother he gave a surprised look. He wanted to know if my brother was black so I showed him a picture that my sister, brother, and I had taken together. He giggled when he saw it. He then asked if I had any children and a fiancée. When I told him that I had a boyfriend he also wanted to know if he was black (I still don’t know why that was important to him). Bertiny pulled out a photo of him and his mom and expressed to me how much he loves and misses his family. I tried not to let my emotions get the best of me.

House Arrest

Wednesday, February 10th

6:00 a.m.-5 p.m. (A New Friend) I woke up early for breakfast and later spent most of the day working from inside. At first I set up my office space on the second floor but decided to move because it was hot and too quiet up there. Plus, fear again got the best of me because I was afraid of being caught on the second floor if another quake took place. I worked out of my room and kept my door slightly ajar because I didn’t want to feel so alone. Lunch is not provided here so I snacked on granola bars and Rice Krispies Treats until dinner was served. There are three full-time people working here which includes a woman, a young girl, and a young man. They live here and all work seven days a week. At night the two women (who are sisters) share a mattress that they place outside on a little patio that sits between a gate and the front door of the house. The young man sleeps in a little outside area attached to the house that serves as the kitchen and "break room" (there is no air condition in their quarters). The women, Joanna and Nadege, do the cooking and cleaning. The young man does a little bit of everything from mopping and dusting to washing cars. He introduced himself to me as Bertiny and he reminded me of my younger brother in appearance and mannerism. Bertiny soon became someone to help break the monotony after being stuck in the heavily guarded “compound” all day long (there is a gun toting “guard” on the premises at night,bars on the windows, and barbed wire along the fence).

Are We There Yet?

Tuesday, February 9th

6:30 a.m. (Ride to Haiti) It takes roughly six hours to drive to Haiti from the Dominican Republic so we needed to get an early start. The driver and I were accompanied by a Spanish-speaking American girl who served as our translator (the driver doesn’t speak English). I literally feared for my life during the drive to Haiti. I will admit that the driver is very skillful but he took too many chances by dodging in and out of traffic while trying to get around slow moving vehicles. But, the translator was feisty and made sure to keep him in check when he pushed the limit (which is what he did throughout most of the trip). At one point he decided to slow down. He told the translator that “losing five minutes is better than losing your life”. And I was sitting there trying to figure out why it took him 4 ½ hours to realize this!

10:30 a.m. (Border Patrol) We were stopped at the border and asked to go in to customs. I was told by the translator that this normally doesn’t happen. We were directed to pull into a dusty parking lot and escorted into a tiny building. There were so many Spanish and Creole speaking people in there and I was absolutely confused. The little Spanish that I know went completely out the window. I felt so intimidated to the point that I found myself searching for even the simplest words within my limited Spanish vocabulary. We were stuck at the border for about 30 minutes and it was hot as hell. I thought that I was going to pass out. The customs officer took our passports and I planted myself at the window to make sure no one walked off with our them. A line formed behind me and we were packed at the window like sardines in a can. I had to pay close attention to make sure that no one was trying to slip their hands into my pocket. The officer told us that we couldn’t cross the border because the translator had not paid her tourist fees in Santo Domingo (she has been living there for 1 ½). Finally the driver was able to privately speak with the female officer. I guessed he sweet talked her into letting us go because she started smiling and handed the passports back to me. I later found out that he asked her to show some compassion because we were only relief workers traveling to help the Haitian people.

12:00 p.m. (Blue Water) A guard finally opened the blue gate which divided Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The border sits in a city called Jimani on the D.R. side. Along the border lies a beautiful body of water that flows on both the D.R. and Haitian. Sadly, it's the only beauty that the two countries share. On the D.R. side you will see lush greenery, which is in sharp contrast to the Haitian side. Haiti looked like a different place and time. I couldn’t understand how two countries sharing the same island could be so extremely different in appearance. It was like night and day. The D.R. side of the border breath life, while the Haitian side sucked life away.

2:00 p.m. (To Pee, or Not to Pee) I met with my team member at the airport in Port-au-Prince. The translator and I had to use the bathroom and the Haitian guards there were trying to give us a hard time. As we walked away in search of another place to empty our bladder a guard called us back and pointed us in the direction of a portable restroom. I opened the door to be greeted by a sickening stench that made me want to puke. The toilet was filled with human waste and flies encircled the bowl. I told the translator that I couldn’t do it (although my bladder felt as if it was going to burst). She went in and thought the same but said that she just couldn’t hold it. I stood guard at the door as she went for it. It gave me enough time to talk myself into going in next. I thought about the poor people suffering in Haiti and tried to picture myself in their shoes. I went in and covered my face with my shirt and held my breath as long as possible until I couldn’t anymore. I then pulled my shirt over my head and breathed into it (I should have grabbed a face mask out of my bag). I prayed that this was the not the beginning of worse to come.

4:00 p.m. (Tent City) I spent a couple of hours at one of the “tent cities” in a place called "Dadado"( where some displaced Haitians are living.) This particular camp is set up on a soccer field. Although people lives have been disrupted by the earthquake they seem to remain in good spirits and are very resilient. I felt so guilty about the little things that I complain about back at home after seeing them smiling and going about as if nothing happened.

7:00 p.m. (Home Away From Home) After sitting in traffic for about an hour we made it to the house where I am staying. The house is huge and I am set up in a large room with three beds: one full size, and two twin size. I chose one of the twin size beds. The house is nice but there is no hot water for taking showers and the bathroom doors don’t have locks. I hate cold showers and it is a challenge for me to do so every night. It was my first night here and I didn’t sleep well. I jumped out of bed because something stuck me on my leg. I turned on the light and spotted a huge cockroach zip across the floor. I pulled the back the bed cover and expected to find a bug but instead I found a tiny piece of wood sticking out of the sheet. I settled back in bed but could barely sleep because the rooster outside was apparently confused and crowed throughout the night. Also, there was a lot of traffic that night and I jumped every time I heard a loud noise. I can admit the main reason for not being able to rest was because I feared there would be another earthquake.

Santo Domingo

Monday, February 8th

5:40 a.m. (Too Early to Fly) Waking up so early in the morning to make this flight was not fun. I went to a Super Bowl gathering the night before and didn’t get to bed until after midnight. I planned to arrive at the airport around 3:30 a.m. so I only got a couple hours of sleep. Although I was extremely tired I could not fall asleep on the flight to Atlanta. This was unusual for me as I normally fall asleep before take-off. I think I was a little anxious about everything (plus I was freezing on the plane.)

7:20 a.m. (My Connection) I arrived in Atlanta for my connecting flight. I didn’t mind that the layover was two hours long because it allowed me enough time to grab breakfast and “people- watch” (Atlanta’s airport is the best place to people watch!)

9:45 a.m. (Flight to Dominican Republic) I flew into the DR because Port-au-Prince airport is not accessible by commercial airlines at the moment. This was a three and a half hour flight and I was able some sleep this time (I had a blanket to keep me warm). I met two wonderful women from Destin, Florida who were also headed to Haiti to provide relief work at an orphanage in Carrefour. We exchanged contact info and stuck together at the airport while going through customs and baggage claim. I promised them that I’d connect with them once I return to the States.

2:10 p.m. (Santo Domingo Airport) Going through customs at Santo Domingo's airport was not too bad. A young woman working with our team in Santo Domingo met me there once I grabbed my bags. There were so many people both inside and outside that it took me a couple minutes to spot the woman holding a sign with my name. It was very hot there and I was overly dressed for the weather (it was about thirty degrees back at home when I left). Luckily I wore a tank underneath my shirt and once we got in the car I peeled off the extra layer. The ride from the airport to the hotel was about 45 minutes and I had the opportunity to take in the beautiful scenery and coastline.

3:30 p.m. (The Streets of Santo Domingo) We arrived at the hotel and I was shown to my room. I was exhausted but chose to go along with my team member to run errands. I wanted to see as much as possible. One thing about Santo Domingo is that driving in the city is absolutely crazy! The streets are very busy and everyone drives as if time is running out. They won’t hesitate to honk their horn for the slightest thing and seem to have little regard for traffic lights. I witnessed several people, including my driver, speed through red lights as if they were green! I was not prepared for this and found myself hitting imaginary brakes on the back seat floor. After the speed tour through the city I was ready to call it a night. Around midnight I settled in my room and prepared for the next day; I had to meet the driver in the lobby at 6 a.m. for our drive to Haiti.