O-CAP O-CAP O-CAP!

Abra and I have been in Haiti for just over two months now, and it's finally started to show.

Our four students are really showing progress. The two girls can finally read at a first grade level, they're able to do basic math in their head, and carry-over addition/borrowing subtraction on paper. And they can read clocks! The boys can write the entire alphabet (both UPPER CASE and lower case), and have just started on basic addition and subtraction. I'm just starting to associate letters with their sounds. They pick up most of the concepts pretty quickly, and I hope to get the girls going on multiplication soon.

Progress is there, but it hasn't come without some serious neck-wringing along the way. It's been a frustrating undertaking, but the results are definitely rewarding. I've also began work on a first grade curriculum that Trisha can implement when we go away. I'm creating day-to-day lesson plans, along with some worksheets that she can print off. But so far I've only completed 8 of 52 weeks. It's slow progress, and I have little free time to work on it. I'm a strong believer in education for these kids, and it astounded me that they hadn't had any sort of consistent schooling before we arrived. I thought a laid out curriculum would give Trisha something to work off of, and would increase the chances of school.

Well, those chances took another boost when we learned a few weeks ago that a twenty-something-year-old is coming to work here 'indefinitely'. He's set to arrive January 5th. And he seemed at least remotely interested in teaching. I just hope Ray doesn't absorb him into the construction crew, giving him no time with the kids. God knows these kids need a lot more attention than Ray and Trisha can/have afforded them, so to deny them the full attention of a volunteer would be cruel. There's also another twenty-something-year-old who offered to work here for a few months, though we have not heard any confirmation yet for him.

In an (admittedly conniving) effort to push my education agenda, I talked Abra into staying in Haiti until just past January 5th so that we could meet the new guy. This way I can continue to work on my curriculum, further cement my Monday-Friday 10:30-4pm school schedule, and recruit Michael to take over as teacher. I'm hoping to get the kids disciplined enough by that time that it's less of daunting task to hand over.

In other news, the kids all got haircuts the other day. Three of the boys are now bald, while the rest (including the girls) have crew cuts. Can't say I'm a big fan!

There's little new news on the election front. Manigat and Celestin are heading for a January 16th run-off. The election board said they'd have a recount, since Celestin beat Martelly for the 2nd run-off spot by just a few thousand votes. The UN added some pressure saying they would leave Haiti if they didn't honor the vote.

Two weeks ago, Abra, Ray, Fernand, and I went hiking in the nearby hills. We trudged through river and mountain side, and met many 'mountain people' along the way. It was really quite pretty up there, and some of the views were stunning. It's crazy to think these people live so far from town, and make the 4 hour march twice a week to sell their crop and buy the necessities.

I know this portion is flat, but the portion before wasn't! (For those of you who notice the tongue!)

Taking the higher road!

Fernand in his flip flops... a true Haitian!

The boys... Hans, Fernand and Ray.

Someone's mountain home

Abra shooting away...

Someone's kitchen

Mountain woman

Someone's house in the mountains. Was 2 rooms, the one right inside that door, and another separated by a curtain.

More mountain living

Mountain family... 2 adults, 3 kids, all living in a 2 room house. They showed me one room, and it looked like it served both bedroom and kitchen. Was about 6x8 feet.

On our way back home, we saw people washing their cars in the river. Just drive it right in!

Also, this past weekend Abra and I took a break from this insanity with a trip to Cap-Haitien, Haiti's second largest city, for a couple days. We left Friday morning at 6am, and caught out first tap-tap (pick-up truck turned shared taxi) to Pont Sondi, where we caught another tap-tap to L'Estere, where we caught another tap-tap to Gonaives, where we caught another tap-tap over the mountains to Cap-Haitien. The guy working the tap-tap collecting money hung off the back yelling "O-CAP O-CAP O-CAP!" most of our ride out of town. The entire trip took 6 hours. And 6 hours in the back of a pick up on a hard bench, squeezed together with 12 other passengers and all their luggage (and a chicken!), on a winding, pot-hole-infested road, is not fun. Not to mention, four people threw up during the ride through the mountains. We arrived at noon, and after checking in to our budget hotel, walked around the city for a good couple hours.

Garbage, garbage and more garbage! Anyone heard of a garbage can? Or littering? If the government ticketed for littering, they'd be filthy rich!

Nice illustration for the men and women's bathrooms...

The things people carry on their heads...

So many of the graves were dug up... and so many bones just laying around. Not many skulls, but this one the most complete one!

Rapidite Banks are everywhere... kind of like Starbucks in Seattle. They're really just places to buy loto tickets. So, if you win, I guess that's some RAPID cash!

Some Nepalese UN Police we came across in Cap

Can I have one?! Please?!

So much market... and in the background there is the Iron Market. Smelled real nice in there.... (sarcasm!)

Chicken sale

Our room, with shared (but not) bathroom right outside. Not bad!

 

On the tap-tap back home. Waiting and waiting and waiting to leave!

On Saturday we were out of bed by 7am, and on our way (via tap-tap) to the nearby Sans Souci palace. It was built by Henri Christophe in 1804(ish), after he declared himself King of Northern Haiti after the country won independence from France. However, he committed suicide in 1820, and the abandoned palace was reclaimed by nature. After that, we hiked the mountain to visit the Citadelle, his mountain-top fortress, for defense of his newfound Kingdom. 

San Souci Palace

At first, we attempted the climb by foot, but about 30 minutes of unforgiving uphill, we were exhausted, and I was too stubborn to hire the horses that the locals were walking behind us. It was steep, and we had only gone a fraction of the 7 kilometers. Lucky for us, a mission family was also visiting the Citadelle that day, and were driving up in their car, so we hopped on the back for a very enjoyable ride up.

The Citadelle was definitely worth the trip. It was massive, and the views were astounding. You could see all the way to the coast, and as far as the mountain range that divided Haiti from the Dominican Republic. What a mountainous island! We were one of four groups of visitors that day, and as one of Haiti's main tourist attractions, that's pretty sad. The site was hardly built for tourism, and we could walk anywhere in the fortress. Besides a few handrails in possibly the least dangerous portions of the fortress, the place was hardly maintained, and full of hazards. While climbing down a set of moss-covered steps, Abra took a slide down half the flight, and her camera took a hard landing beside her. The body is fine, but the lens no longer zooms smoothly and the manual focus doesn't  work at all. Tourism has (apparently) taken a hit since the earthquake, and especially after the cholera outbreak. In reality, it was already low because of the political volatility, protests, and general poverty.

The Citadelle, with it's boat like point.

Some of the views on the way up.

Views from the top of the Citadelle.... gorgeous!

Top of the Citadelle... don't fall!

On the tap-tap back to town.

The country is in a lot of upheaval, though very little of it is violent. Sure, you should avoid protests and mob-scenes, which no-doubt have existed post-election. But in general, Haitians are very kind and jovial people. Despite Ray's warning that "it's a war zone out there!", Abra and I never felt the least bit in danger at any point of our trip.

On Sunday we walked around the market, and town for a few more hours, before heading back to Verrettes. We found our taptap (Gonaives! Gonaives! Gonaives!) easily enough, and the ride back was a cinch. Except for our taptap running out of gas, and later getting caught in the rain, it was mostly trouble free. Sure, we banged our heads against the canopy a few hundred times, and we hid from the rain under a tarp (very illegal-immigrant-esque), and sure we had to listen to some God-awful singing for a good portion of our O-Cap-to-Gonaives stretch, but it was a good time.

So we're back at Kay Konfo, and back into the old routine. School is going on right now, as Abra and I tag team with the kids (until one is too frustrated to continue). The internet at the house is out, so we'll only be online rarely when we walk down to the local internet cafe. Lets see how long our sanity lasts this time before we need an extended break to Port-au-Prince, and eventually the DR.

Setting up the Christmas tree!

Posted by Hans, Photos by Abra