Aquatic Ecology workshop for AUC students

Here is the schedule for the Aquatic Ecology workshop that Dr. Donald Huggins and I are presenting at the American University of the Caribbean in Les Cayes Haiti.  This is for the SOPHOMORE class at AUC, since they took Tropical Ecology last fall but we never got to go in the field.  There is room for 30 students.  Other students may come if there is space, but no more than 30 total may be in the workshop. 

Tuesday May 7th
9am - 12:30pm Classroom lecture about water quality and importance of watersheds

Wednesday May 8th
8:30 - 10:00 am Half the class will meet to learn about equipment and how to evaluate the stream behind campus.
10:15 - 11:45am The other half of the class with meet to repeat this.

3:00pm  Dr. Huggins will give a talk to everyone at AUC about environmental engineering.

Thursday May 9th
 8:30 - 10:00 am Half the class will meet at AUC to walk to the canal near SEED to learn how to evaluate it.
10:15 - 11:45am The other half of the class with meet to repeat this.

Dr. Huggins will also speak at the Botanical Garden at 4pm on Friday May 3 about why we need to protect Haiti's watersheds.  Dr. Huggins is a scientist in the aquatic ecology unit at the Kansas Biological Survey in the USA. 

Thanks to the University of Kansas for contributing travel funding for this trip!

Tending to Eden – the link between poverty and the environment

Hillside garden where once there was rainforest.

If you think that poverty is an issue we must do something about, then you need to read the book “Tending to Eden” by Scott Sabin.  It presents how poverty is inextricably linked to environmental degradation and that if we are to care for the poor, we must also take care of the environment.  This became apparent to me after several visits to Haiti.  In US we are shielded by government infrastructure from the effects of environmental degradation, while in Haiti most people live directly off the land, obtaining water, food, and fuel directly from the source (streams and wells, the land, and trees).  Helping the poor is a mandate common to most religious beliefs.  And to do this, we must also protect the environment.  Another great source of information mentioned in “Tending to Eden” is the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment which assessed the consequences of ecosystem change for human well-being.

Bottom line – if you care about the poor, you must take care of the environment.  If your church or other organization is challenging you to help the poor, challenge your church to include the environment in that calling.

Spring from which people obtain drinking water.

Woman washing clothes at drinking water source (and where livestock are on the banks with access to the water!).

The new Bradt Haiti travel guide

Paul Clammer’s Haiti travel guide was finally released in the US.  If you came to this blog via that guide, you’ve found the right place for information about birding in Haiti’s Central Plateau and Southern Peninsula.   

• Follow this link to learn more about birding and cultural tours in the Pignon and Hinche area of the Central Plateau, along National Route 3 between the two towns (and this for a species list).   

• Follow this link to go the Audubon Center website for information about birding and tours in the Les Cayes area on the Southern Peninsula.  You can borrow books and binoculars from them, as well as a guide.

A recent convergence along National Route 3 near Pignon is a guest house, Haiti Unlocked, run by a man who grew up there near Bohoc, and a back packing outfitter, Expedition Ayiti, who leads hikes in the area.  Pair them up with the bird guide Louiders (pictured below) and you’ll have a great excursion!

If you need a bird book for your trip, Princeton's Birds of the Dominican Republic and Haiti is the one to use.

Please leave comments about your experiences with these groups so they may improve their services. 

Birding in the Central Plateau with guide Louiders.

Mesay, we’re not in Haiti anymore!

I haven’t posted an update lately since I am back in the US, with one of the orphan kittens I raised.  I brought Mesay back, and she saw her first snow in PA.  And now we are back in Kansas (where we’ve had wind, rain, snow, ice, 73F weather, 0F weather, tornado possibility, all in a span of 2 days!).  I am still involved with AUC, and will return in May with the goal of taking students to a nearby lake for a field study.  So I am still looking for support and supplies for teaching ecology in Haiti.  Contact me if you’d like to help with education in Haiti!

Things to see in Camp Perrin

The electric plant along a beautiful stream.

Camp Perrin is about 1/2 hour from Les Cayes and well worth the trip.  Here are some things to see.

1. Etang Lachaux - Hunting and fishing is banned at this lake.  It was stocked with fish, and once the fish are large enough fishing will be allowed with special nets that allow the small fish to escape.  Way to go Minister of the Environment for the South Dept.!

2. The water fall at Saut Mathurine.  Bring your swim suit and a picnic.  There is also a little souvenir booth near it.

3. The electric plant down the road from the falls, along a beautiful rocky stream.

4. The NGO Organization for the Rehabilitation of the Environment (ORE) - visit the bamboo grove and mango dehydrating facility.

Contact me if you would like directions to these places.

No fishing or hunting at Etang Lachaux.

Etang Lachaux

New road to Camp Perrin along Etang Lachaux.

The waterfall Saut Mathurine.

Entrance to Saut Mathurine waterfall.

Bamboo at ORE.

The Haitian board game Rhum, Rom

The standard-sized board.

Here in Cayes many people sit outside their house playing a game called rhum or rom (pronounced waom), on homemade boards.  Ashley’s friends made one for her, then I commissioned one small enough to fit in my suitcase.  The idea is to be the first to move all 4 of your pieces around the board and into the center, before someone lands on your spot and sends you back to the start (or eats your piece).  You roll two die, and need a 5 to move out of your starting block and onto the board.  Play continues around the board, moving the number of spaces you rolled on the 2 dice (i.e. a 4 and a 5, you can move 9 spaces with one piece, or 4 with one and 5 with another).  The exception is if you roll a 6 you move 12 places.  If you roll two 6’s, you immediately roll again.  If this second roll results in two 6’s, your piece that is furthest ahead (but not up your alley on the way home?) goes all the way back to the beginning.  You always have to move the maximum spaces possible, even if it puts you in a bad position.

5 moved the piece out to the green space, then it moved 4.

There are colored spaces in which you are safe (green or red in these photos).  No one else can land on these spaces while you are there.  So the goal is to move from colored space to colored space to make it home safely.  The only time you can eat someone on a colored space is if they are on the one at your starting block and you roll a 5 to get out.  These colored spaces are 5 or 7 spaces apart, which make moving quick since you shouldn’t need to count every space when you move.  The Haitians can move quickly around the board, I still need to take my time and count the spaces.

You can also block other players by having 2 of your pieces on the same space.  The only way someone can pass these is if they also have 2 pieces on the same space and roll the same number on both dice to land on your 2 pieces, as long as your 2 pieces aren’t safe on a colored space.  If an opponent's block is on your starting space, you can eat both pieces by rolling a 5 to get out.

Post comments if you know about this game!

Update - This game is parcheesi!  With differences in how the dice are counted.  I also found it referred to as Haitian Lotto or Haitian Parcheesi, with one being sold as "Handpainted. 'VooDoo Eye' motif. Oil on board. c. 1970's. 28" x 28". Provenance: The Ute Stebich Collection. Est. $200 - $400. Ship: $35."

My rhum board made by Dervensky, complete with a bird.