Our time at HATS Haiti has been a whirlwind adventure with lots of laughs, smiles, hugs, great food, lessons in Creole, and thanks to the roads of no repair, we had some VERY bumpy drives through the countryside. The roads are incredibly bad and really need a travel advisory of their own. The so called “roads” are mostly varying degrees of horrible potholes, some gravel, and very rare patches of concrete. On more than one occasion, Karen had to move to the opposite side of the road to avoid losing the back end of the truck in a hole! I admire her driving skills, which are definitely acquired with experience, because there’s no way any driver’s ed class could prepare you for driving anywhere in Haiti! The only thing I could think of comparing it to is the game of “whack a mole,” where the truck is the hammer, and the potholes pop up like the moles in the game! Driving ANYWHERE there will is always an adventure!
One other thing that’s kept me, Beate, and Mackenzie on our toes was learning Creole. Karen was a great teacher, and so were the children, and the kids took great delight in hearing us try to adjust our Canadian accents to make a sensible statement in Creole. Beate and I were very good students, because we did our homework and practised… and practised…and practised! Mackenzie was a quick study, too, because he spent most of his waking hours with the children. Learning a little bit more of the language each time we go just adds to the whole experience. We were able to talk a little more with the empoyees, and they seem to appreciate our efforts, and they, too, helped us out when we struggled for words–it takes a village to teach me and Beate how to speak Creole!
When it comes to education in Haiti, these children will have learned 3 languages by the time they finish school in grade 13: Creole, English, and French! And these kids certainly have a wide variety of subjects to study– Karen’s oldest boy, J.J., showed us his report card, and it has 17 subjects on it! Yep….17! The Haitian system teaches them everything from languages to the other regular subjects, like history, math, and science, but they also take subjects that will prepare them with ways to make a living, if they don’t continue their academic studies. Still, with an average ANNUAL salary of $350 USD, and most people earning less than $2 USD/ day, life is a struggle. I so admire and respect the hard work they do, just to have the basics, like food and water, and the water, for most people, comes from a community well where they go to pump it into buckets, not from turning on a tap at home ….
Since my first trip to Haiti in 2015, people have asked what it’s like after I get back home to my first family. To be honest, I have a hard time adjusting, and it sometimes takes a few weeks before I can start to get back to “normal.” I carry the sights and sounds of everything I’ve seen, and not just the happy ones from inside the walls of the compound; there is a feeling of guilt for having so much, in comparison, and a feeling of helplessness that I can’t do enough. For that reason, I am SO incredibly blessed to have an understanding husband who keeps things going when I’m gone, and supports my need to go, and gives me time to adjust when I get back. Also, I am so fortunate to be able to share this trip with Mackenzie for his second year. As a mother, this really is something special. It makes me so happy knowing that he loves Haiti and everything about HATS as much as I do, and I could see it on his face every single day, whether he was swinging the little ones around, or when he was in a huddle with the boys, who are now more like his Haiti brothers. Traveling with him, I have realized the importance of letting kids experience the difficulties and challenges other people face on a daily basis. I love that he doesn’t see skin colour, not that he ever did, and in his own words, he said he has some new Haiti brothers and sisters! And to think that, last year I was afraid of him not being ready for the trip.
Bottom line– if you feel the need to do something, whether it’s a gift of time or money, just do it, because something is still more than nothing, and if you want to make a difference, you’ve got to start somewhere! For the last time this year, Hugs from Haiti ??
