Sa pral rive nan semen avek kat jedi

That will happen in the week of four Thursdays.

Tomorrow I go home for my brother's wedding but I will be back next week. After that, I only have about a month left of this experience. However, there are still two projects I want to finish in July: the solar panel at the school in Morne Michel and the clean water system in Ba Cange (the small community that lives next to the lake below Cange).

This weekend, the local high school here had their graduation. It was a major affair that lasted over six hours and made other graduations seem rushed. However, this ceremony was much more interesting with everything from lip-syncing Beyonce songs to a fake wedding.

The graduation ceremony was in the church and it was packed. When the power went off and the fans stopped, you can imagine it got hot and smelly pretty quickly.

After the ceremony, I went to a reception for one of the wealthiest families in Cange. Check out this cake:

I just want to point out the fountain underneath which is a part of the cake. I guess Haiti has a Cake Boss too.

In terms of the Marketplace project, the erosion due to the bulldozer is much worse than expected. Even if we decided to proceed after the government broke their promise, we would spend all the allotted money to build retaining walls much less a marketplace. We are waiting to see how our funding source handles the situation but it is out of our hands.

I am looking forward to going home for the first time in six months but I know I will be eager to get back to finish my work. Wish me luck!

Se neg fe neg, Bondye ri.

What man does to man makes God laugh.

It has been an interesting few days here in Haiti. After a long day in Port-au-Prince on Wednesday purchasing solar panels for the school at Morne Michel, I came back to a small crisis.

I have not written much about the Marketplace project here in Cange because that project was assigned to James Goodwin, another Clemson engineer that is working here as well. In order to promote economic development in the village and move merchants off of the highway, we have been working with the people of Cange and the local government to construct a new marketplace. It is a major project but poor communication has led to long and frustrating delays.

As of yesterday, we still did not have a final design, budget, or scope of work. We were by no means ready to begin construction or move forward. As such, we made a deal with the government officials on June 2^nd that we would not clear the land before we had several official documents necessary for proceeding with the project. Despite this, the government brought in a bulldozer and parked it right next to the spot for the market on Wednesday night.

So I came back from Port-au-Prince to find this:

We immediately called our funding source and my bosses to see how we should proceed. It was agreed that if the government broke our June 2^nd agreement then we would cancel the project and yank all funding. This was communicated to the government last night.

Thursday morning I immediately went to the site of the potential market to see what was going to happen. I found the mayor of the area talking with several locals about what they were going to do. After a quick discussion, I quickly realized that with or without the official documentation, they were going to bulldoze the land.

From here, I did everything possible to prevent this; if the government proceeded then our funding source would pull funds and the entire project would fail. This involved standing in front of the bulldozer desperately pleading with the government officials while the locals were furiously yelling that I was standing between them and a new marketplace. I called James and he brought one of the members of our major funding committee to debate with them but to no avail. You can see us arguing with the Haitians below while I remain in my spot in front of the bulldozer.

As I write this, they are finishing clearing all the land and violating our agreement. It is not clear what the future of this project is but right now it looks pretty bleak. Our funding committee will debate how to handle this situation but I am confident that I will not see this marketplace built while I am here.

A falta de pan, casabe, dice el pueblo

Make do with what is available.

As I am sure everyone noticed, the title of this blog post is in Spanish rather than Creole. In honor of my trip to the Dominican Republic last weekend, this blog post features a Dominican proverb in place of the traditional Haitian proverb.

The trip itself was a blast. The Dominican Republic, while still a developing countries in many senses, is miles ahead of Haiti. It has paved roads everywhere, shopping malls, and (at least one) Krispy Kreme. Needless to say, I was totally blown away by all the American fast food chains (everything from Burger King to Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs to TGI Fridays) and wealth just on the other side of this small island. I took full advantage of their widespread use of air conditioning and delivery pizza.

The border between the Dominican Republic and Haiti was quite hectic. As you can see in the photo, there is a large wall with a gate that opens at precisely 8:00am upon which the crowd storms through in order to get to the large market that operates on the border. We waited until all the shoppers and merchants had entered before going through, getting our passports stamped, and hopping on a bus to Santo Domingo.

The purpose of the trip was to go see mutual friends graduate from University in the Dominican Republic. We actually ended up going to two different ceremonies, one in Santo Domingo and one in Santiago. This is a photo of the ceremony in Santiago. It was outside and absolutely packed. 

 This is a photo of us with the graduate from the ceremony in Santiago. He grew up in the small village where I live now and just graduated from medical school. It was a big deal and heartwarming to see the community come out to support him. There were probably 20 people from the village who traveled all the way across the island just to celebrate with him. Trying to 'make it' in Haiti is so difficult and occasions like this are so rare, it was a special thing to see.

While in the Dominican Republic, our Haitian friends used the shopping malls to purchase suits for the ceremonies. Above is a picture of me and one of my Haitian friends looking as fresh as possible. For whatever reason, Haitians don't smile or show their teeth in pictures.

After attending graduations all day on Saturday, we went to the public beach near Santo Domingo on Sunday. Surprisingly, it was a beautiful place and much cleaner than I expected. I also got to try octopus on the beach. It just tasted like calamari.

Ze pa danse ak woch

Eggs have no business dancing with stones.

I thought it was about time that I talked about some traditional Haitian food.

This is a plate of frita, a Haitian dish that consists of a variety of fried food and pikliz. Above, you can see fried plantains, fried marinade (like a hushpuppy), and fried beef. Pikliz is like Haitian coleslaw except saltier and with vinegar. It is my favorite Haitian food by far.

The other day I went to Port-au-Prince and bought what they call 'Je Potpourri.' It is basically a Haitian smoothie; it has all sorts of tropical fruits and ice. The one you see above has mango, banana, papaya, and corossol (a fruit that resembles a coconaut but is much sweeter). It is absolutely delicious and the pitcher you see above only costs 50 HTG (less than a US dollar).

This is a CEDC cornhole board. It was made by another Clemson student and he brought it all the way to Haiti. I've carried a lot of weird things through airports but I can't even imagine lugging this  around...Then again, it was about time that someone brought cornhole to Haiti.

I am going to the Dominican Republic this weekend to go to a friend's graduation from engineering school there. It should be a good trip and I'll put up pictures next week.

Kreyon Bondye pa gen efas

God's pencil doesn't have an eraser.

I realize that it is has been quite a bit of time since I have commented on my language ability. At this point, after having been immersed in the Creole language for several months, I am comfortable conversing with anyone. While some more specific vocabulary words still elude me, I find that I can communicate any idea that I want. Listening and full comprehension is still difficult at times, especially when conversing with people who have little to no teeth, but language is no longer a handicap.

There have been times when I get confused about which language I am speaking and end up speaking Creole to white people. The worst (or best?) time was when one of our Haitian cooks approached me and asked me if I had seen someone. I replied that I had not and that I did not know she could speak English(!). To this, she gave me a confused look and walked away. At this point, I realized that she had asked me the question in Creole and my brain, for whatever reason, thought it was in English. I have not had a dream in Creole per se but I have had dreams that take place in Haiti so I am speaking and hearing Creole in them.

I think the most interesting thing about this language is that there is no single way to spell words. Despite the fact that everything is phonetic, some of the most heated debates I have seen here involve how to properly spell things.  I suppose that is the consequence of not having a standardized curriculum across the country and/or region. Most people did not grow up with an official Creole Dictionary on their bookshelf.

This week I will be working on prepping our next set of projects and some housekeeping items. I hope to start the process of fixing up our sand filters and constructing the water system in Ba Cange. We’ll see how things go!

Si li Bondye ki voye, li peye fre ou.

If it is God who sends you, he'll pay your expenses.

Today we had a meeting with DINEPA, the Haitian Water and Sanitation Department. It went really well and I thought we made some serious progress. The purpose of the meeting was (1) to begin the process of transferring the management and finances of the Cange water system to the Haitians and (2) to work to get our upcoming water systems in other villages approved by the government.

With DINEPA's help, we will now begin talking with the community about transitioning the system by talking to village leaders and posting signs on the fountains, schools, and churches in the area. We are aiming for a July meeting with all members of the community where we can start electing members to a Water Committee, sanctioned by DINEPA, that will have the power to levy taxes on the people who use the system.

In terms of other water systems, DINEPA has requested that we submit documents about the proposed water systems in Bwa Joli, Morne Michel, and the other villages we are looking to provide clean water. Once we are authorized, we have the government's official permission to begin the projects and break ground. While this might seem unnecessary, especially considering the current state of the Haitian government, it is critical to the long-term success of these systems.

Unfortunately, I don't think I will have time to begin these water systems with what little time I have left. There are several other projects that are demanding my attention including the construction of a new marketplace in Cange, the mounting of a solar panel at Morne Michel, the placement of small water system in Ba Cange (a small community that lives next to Lake Peligre), and finally fixing the sand filters.

In other news, the chlorinator is officially up and running! We are getting WHO approved chlorine levels throughout our system for the first time in almost two months. These handmade erosion chlorinators can withstand the high pressures of our system and are one-of-a-kind. They require zero electricity and should last for a long time to come.

One of my workers (Greg) and I posing next to our completed product. We're pretty happy.

Si ou vle danse sou pikan, ou dwe mete soulye

If you want to dance on thorns, you should wear shoes.

We are still working on the new chlorinator. It looks like we have all the piping ready but we are still waiting to locate bolts to secure the housings to the concrete. I am trying to get to Port-au-Prince tomorrow to search for the right size but that could be a wild goose chase.

Last week, I spent hours looking for a cutting board in the city (to mount the chlorine capsule) but had extreme difficulties finding a store that carried kitchen supplies and translating "cutting board" into Creole. Eventually, I decided that there are no cutting boards in Haiti and bought four heavy-duty cafeteria trays. This is by far the most random item I have ever purchased in another country. My driver thought I was crazy. I hope bolts are a much more reasonable thing to be searching for but I'll find out tomorrow.

Yesterday, I went back to Morne Michel with a group from South Carolina that helped fund that project. It was so rewarding to get to show off our work and demonstrate what we can accomplish with enough effort and perseverance. They also had a team of dentists that saw patients while we toured the village and talked about the possibilities for a water system. Above, you can see students playing with the soccer balls and jump ropes that the team brought with them for the children. In the back, inside the school, you can see a few people working the clinic.

The other day was Scouting Day at the church in Cange. All the students were dressed in their uniforms and helped run the service. They did everything from usher to read scripture to sing in the choir. As an Eagle Scout myself, it was fascinating to see scouting in another country. And yes, the Haitian Scouts are co-ed.