As some of you may already know Martin, his mother, three volunteers and myself recently went to Haiti. The plan was to come down so that we could build some emergency shelter for our kids that had been donated by Pacific Domes. Unfortunately due to shipping complications we have not received the domes yet and none of us were able to complete the job that had originally brought us down. For some of us this trip would be much more then helping out at the orphanage and one of our neighboring organizations, it would be a trip where we got experience Haiti and how amazing this country is.
Saturday 28 Maart 2010
The day before yesterday, thursdayevening the big sailboat from Holland “Tres Hombres” had finally arrived in PAP after sailing for about 6 weeks.
Arjan van der Veen, the captain called me to inform me that they were not able to dock in Jakmel, and so if I could come and meet them in the harbor of PaP. He also told me that customs had taken all the goods that my family had send for us, like clothes, shoes, lots and lots of diapers, and fun games, and that that would not be released until next week.
So I decided to take the triplets with me and just make this day into a fun outing for all of us, visiting this Dutch pirate-ship. None of our kids had been anywhere other than around our campsite, or the Jakmel beach a few times since the earthquake and on the way to PaP I left my camera in the hands of Youseline. Following some shots of what captured her photographic eye on the way.
Our Mission is to provide a home and education for children infected or affected by AIDS in Jacmel. As our resources allow, to provide emergency aid to the community of Jacmel.
Our History
Kay Angel, Creole for Angel House, opened its doors in 2007 and is now home to 13 children. 5 are HIV+; 2 are severely handicapped; all are lucky to be alive. They are the fortunate exceptions to the estimated 225,000 child slaves in Haiti, children as young as five years old who lost their parents and are now forced to work just to survive.
Visiting Haiti has never been easy. After a few trips, though, I had gotten used to the nation’s peculiar blend of chaos and charm. Post-earthquake, the recipe has changed. “Now with Extra Chaos!” is the unfortunate, new reality in Haiti.
You would think that the flood of media images would have appropriately set my expectations, but they couldn’t suppress the visions of the suffering witnessed by buildings like these:
There are tents everywhere now. On fields, by the side of the road, and even on median strips of major city streets. Three feet and a thin sheet of Coleman Nylon is all that separates people’s “bedrooms” from honking, speeding, diesel-spewing, 24/7 traffic.
Monday, April 19, 2010
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