Les Cayes, Haiti

Entrance to AUC, with the Les gate in background.

Hurricane Isaac greeted me in my new home at the American University of the Caribbean in Les Cayes on the southern coast of Haiti’s southern peninsula.  Fortunately for us the worst Isaac did was interfere with internet.  It rained steadily Friday evening and Saturday, but the sun was out on Sunday when we went on a road trip to explore the coast between Les Cayes and Roche a Bateau.  Near Les Cayes the surf was very turbid from all the run and runoff.  Closer to Roche the water became more blue, but still not crystal clear like one might imagine the Caribbean to be.  We stopped at the restaurant of Hotel Reposoir du Village in Port Salut and ate right on the beach.  I had a slightly spicy pikliz salad (cabbage and carrot coleslaw) with citwon jus (lime juice).  Rhoda had shrimp and pomme frit (French Fries) and Tim had a chicken sandwich.

Crab at the restaurant beach.

Our meal at Hotel Reposoir.

River is high from Hurricane Isaac.

Teaching at a Haitian college!

At long last, the past four years of informally teaching ecology in schools and workshops in Haiti has led to an opportunity to teach at a small university on Haiti’s southern coast!*  This fall I will teach (in English) Tropical Ecology and Project Management at the American University of the Caribbean (AUC) in Les Cayes. 

Les Cayes is a coastal town, Haiti’s 3^rd largest city.  Here’s a video of the town (if you’d like to visit please note that it has resorts!).  AUC is a Christian college of about 300 students and is accredited by the Haitian Dept. of Education.  They offer three degrees: Civil Engineering, Agriculture and Environmental Science, and Community Education.  The dean of the college, has a blog which will give you a sense of the classrooms and labs.  She indicated that though tuition is very low by US standards, students make a big sacrifice to attend the university.  Also, students are not able to afford textbooks, but photocopy relevant pages of textbooks to share. 

I will basically have no budget for classroom activities but will use the resources I’ve acquired for the informal education I’ve been doing in the central plateau, and binoculars and items recently donated.  I will also be looking for opportunities to continue teaching ecology in the local schools and perhaps community centers.  AUC cannot afford to pay their American teachers, but I’ll be teaching in exchange for room and board.  My church has set up an account for any funds that people wish to donate to help with education on or off campus (to donate on-line look here under GIVE).  Some of my expenses will include: a cell phone, food for days the cooks have off, transportation around town, taking the students on field trips, travel back and forth from the capital, and teaching materials.  See this blog's side bar for how to donate to these projects directly.  And one of my biggest needs will be your prayers and support as I figure out how to teach college students who have not had the educational opportunities we get in high school and for whom English is a second language.

Stay tuned to this blog for updates about this new adventure!

*Here’s the back story for those just joining this blog.  My dream of moving to Haiti is to teach both adults and kids about science and the wonderful creation that surrounds them in Haiti.  My experience in rural Haiti is that people rely so directly on their environment for their agriculture and water, yet have many misunderstandings and superstitions about nature, many tied to voodoo (Such as snakes actually are the devil and should be killed!  But in reality there are no venomous snakes in Haiti and they eat the rats that eat grain and chew on the people’s feet at night).  People have told me they thought they couldn't do anything to improve their environment because the degradation was all due to evil.  They were elated to learn the science behind it and realize they could make a difference.  It's sounding like teaching at AUC will be a perfect first step, or maybe long term fit, for this vision!

Art for art classes in Haiti

My jewelry making friend Charlene made these pendants from Haitian artist Larimer's bird paintings.  Some of the funds will not only go to Larimer for permission to use his artwork, but also for supplies for art classes Charlene and I would like to bring to Haiti next year.  Click here for Charlene's Etsy shop - or click on - egret - redstarts -  woodpeckers.  To request a different metal, a bird that is sold out, or perhaps a brooch, go to the Custom tab on Charlene's Etsy page.

Great Egret

American Redstart - male and female

Hispaniolan Woodpeckers - male and female - on a banana flower

Gift shops in Haiti

Here’s a smattering of photos from the gift shops I’ve visited in Haiti, all were at a guest house or missions compound I stayed in: United Christians International in Caiman (can't find those pictures now), Haitian American Friendship Foundation 1 mile away in Bohoc, and the Matthew 25 House gift shop in Port au Prince.  The UCI shop served as my bedroom after the earthquake.  The Matt 25 shop is the most extensive and has some items of higher quality.  There’s also a lot of artists selling from the street – just be quick about what you want because you have to pull over in traffic!  And the National Agriculture fair on May 1 had lots of art.

HAFF's Zondolit giftshop

HAFF's Zondolit giftshop

HAFF's Zondolit giftshop

HAFF's Zondolit giftshop

In Petionville

 

At the fair on National Ag Day

Outside Kinam Hotel in Petionville

Outside Kinam Hotel in Petionville

Matt 25 House

Matt 25 House

Stone carvings at Matt 25 House

Toy taptap at Matt 25 House

Ecotour of HAFF (a syzygy*)

My American agronomist friend Rhoda and my Haitian bird guide friend Louiders finally got to meet!  Rhoda came up to spend the week with my team at HAFF (where she was a former intern) and we went on a bird hike with Louiders, who I met in 2009 and trained to be a birding guide.  Rhoda gave the two of us and Kristin a tour of the trails in the 40-acre HAFF compound in Bohoc while Louiders pointed out the birds, a black tarantula in a dark tree hole, and even a skinny green snake in a tree.  As a bonus, Louiders taught Rhoda some of the plants she wasn’t familiar with (including the banza, a vine with an edible root).  We saw a termite mound and all the trails it made in the tree, a cricket that blended in perfectly with tree bark, and a walking stick (known as a devil’s horse in Creole).  Louiders filled us in on the misbelief about cicadas (lasigol in Creole).  Louiders told us the cicadas grow bigger and bigger until they finally explode and die!  I figured out he was seeing the split skin left behind when the cicada molts from a pupa to an adult. 

Rhoda & Louiders

 *Syzygy - a straight line configuration of three celestial bodies.  Also the book by Frederik Pohl that I read on this trip, losing it twice – once for 2 days in my bed, and once at the Miami airport with my boarding pass in it (quickly retrieved from the snack counter where I left it).

banza vine

cricket

starfruit

eating starfruit

Rhoda and me in front of a termite mound

Dark termite trails along branches of a flamboyant tree

Ecology classes at HAFF

Last week I taught ecology to 7^th graders who attend the HAFF IBP school in Bohoc Haiti.  Friday’s class had 17 kids and Saturday had 8, aged 13 to 22 years old, chosen by their teachers to attend.  We talked about the importance of birds and bats, and I introduced two topics new for me to teach – native animals and littering.  We used posters provided by the Haiti Audubon society (thanks Keith!) to discuss animals that are native to the country – the ones that were here before Christopher Columbus.  One poster had a mix of exotic (lion, zebra), domestic (horse, cow), and endemic (solenodon, flamingo) animals.  We finished with a discussion of littering and being a good neighbor, and then had a campus cleanup contest – whoever picked up the most trash won a prize.  In the Friday class was an outstanding student named Donald who really took an interest in all the props I had.  I had wanted to give him a bird book and binoculars but couldn’t single him out from the class.  Fortunately he won the trash contest so I was able to give him the book and binocs as his prize.  Gregory won Saturday’s contest and I gave him a frog life cycle set (thanks LeeAnn!).  Thanks to Diranot and Rhoda for translating, and Kristin and Louiders for helping!

Fish of Trou Caiman

We went to lake Trou Caiman (Camain hole) this morning to see if flamingos were there.  They had already flown away, but we saw these men catching these fish by slapping the water to chase the fish into nets.  Women were preparing them for the market.  Anyone know what they are?

With our guide.

Men slapping the water to chase fish into a net.  They are standing, the lake is shallow.