After much anticipation, we are finally scheduled to go to Desarmes (Dezam) tomorrow. Even though a bridge is still out at about the halfway point, we'll be met on the other side of the bridge by our Desarmes MCC team. The bridge is still passable by foot, motorbike and bicycle - just not vehicle. So today we tried to finish up loose ends here in Port-au-Prince (getting drivers' licenses, buying essentials, finishing laundry, etc.) so we can leave without too much unfinished business lingering around. Tomorrow we have to wake up early to try to finish up the last few tasks and be on the road by 11am. I'm a little skeptical that we will actually leave by 11:00, as we have a meeting with the bank early to see if our account is set up, have to meet with a partner organization, and then head back to the Drivers' License office for round #2 of getting the licenses.
Some people have asked us how hard things have been here since the flooding and hurricanes -and honestly, we ourselves have not been affected at all. We haven't even heard much of the news, as everything we hear is in Creole or French; even though we have been studying for a while, the most I can get is "flood, money, hungry, Gonaives, bad roads." (This is actually not too bad, as the DJs rapid-fire their Creole.)
Port-au-Prince hasn't skipped a beat, and it's hard to know what is really happening. It seems most people in the U.S. are getting more news than we are - today I got two e-mails about Matt Damon, and some internet searching revealed that he and Wyclef Jean were here on Sunday. It seems we are about one day behind the U.S. in news from Haiti.
Check out Ben and Alexis's blog for photos of the flooding in Gonaives. Ben drove up there on a fact-finding mission on Friday and was able to document some of what's happening. MCC is helping out with relief through some of its partner organizations here in Haiti, but I'm not quite sure exactly when they are doing what.
It's strange to feel that we are close to so much tragedy, but it still feels so far away. At the moment it feels like we can't really do anything directly, but we're open to suggestions.
Monday, September 15, 2008
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Hiya,
Glad you're moving toward where you'll settle. Something in my mind lately is that even though getting where I'm going takes a lot longer than I'd planned, it is finite. I won't always be taking buses between friends' houses. And so with you.
Afghanistan update: it's almost a go. I still have to get a final clearance from the head of MCC Int'l Programs because of the security situation. One couchsurfer in Petit Goave (I think I was looking for your profile) said, "From 2004 through 2007 (and then again for a bit in 2008), I lived and worked in Afghanistan managing development programs. As of May 2008, I now work in Haiti doing the same thing but without anyone shooting rockets at my house." Sobering, eh?
Talk to you later...
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