Boys home

Morgan invited me to teach ecology once a week at the safe home she runs for boys she brings off the streets.  You can read about the home at their LittleFootprints webpage.  Most of the boys had been reunited with families since I had been there 2 weeks previously with friends Nate and Kristin!  

With the remaining 10 or so boys, the first lesson last week was about the importance of birds to people and agriculture in Haiti.  I tried to drill into the boys’ heads to protect the birds and their nests.  Then we watched a hummingbird video, and the boys got to try out the binoculars.

Back at the orphanage

Friday afternoon I went to the girls’ orphanage in Simon to resume teaching ecology.  Two weeks ago Nate, Kristin and I were there so Nate could teach first aid.  After drilling into the little kids’ heads to go find an adult if they come across an accident (rather than taking the person to the hospital themselves!), Nate worked with 2 of the older girls interested in medicine, while Kristin and I stayed with the rest.  AUC student & translator Richard was great in leading them in singing, then we learned a bunch of standing-in-a-circle games.

On Friday I taught the usual bit about birds and bats.  Fortunately, when asked where do bats come from, they said trees and houses, rather than old mice!  Afterwards I had them write their names on a white board so I could take photos and try to learn all their names.  That took for…ev…er….!!!  They all wanted to draw pictures with their names, and the perfectionists of the group kept erasing their drawings and starting over.  So I ended up with photos of about 1/3 the kids and will try again next week.

 

 

Gelee Beach Festival

This week I worked an Audubon Center tent at the Gelee Beach Festival.  With American University of the Caribbean students manning the tent I was able to walk around and enjoy the agriculture and art vendors in the Agro-Artisanal section my AUC coworker organized, up the beach away from the main crowded party area.  Here are photos of some of the art that I had never seen before.  The bone art is made from goat bones.  There were necklaces, buckles, ponytail holders, wall art, and pencil holders carved from the bone.  The piece I bought reminds me of Inuit ivory carvings, with a fish and sun.

Next to the Audubon tent women were selling woven baskets, purses and dolls.  Across from the tent was ceramic art, which I had previously seen passing through the streets of Port au Prince and assumed was gaudy plastic resin.  Turns out they are ceramic and beautiful.  The vendor said they were made of lime.  Leave a comment if you know anything about this type of ceramic!  It must be mass produced somewhere in Port.

Gelee Beach was transformed to a packed, party atmosphere with a giant concert stage blaring music, trinket and food vendors, plenty of rum and alcohol booths, and games of chance tables.  The festival lasts all week, but the main day is Aug. 15, Assumption Day on the Catholic calendar.  I was told it gets rowdy and don’t be there after dark.  People in our ag/art section seemed to be there more for the festival atmosphere than shopping or education, but we were still able to talk with many about the importance of Haiti’s environment.  See this post about the Audubon tent.

By the time I left around 6pm the Gelee roads were packed at the intersections with National Highway 2, so beware if you are traveling west out of Les Cayes during festival week!  There were plenty of police directing traffic, and steam rollers blocking intersections to channel traffic.  Made the moto ride home quite nerve racking!

The trans-Caribbean trash exchange program

Ti Malice on a Florida beach (by balloonsblow.org).

Recently, Florida resident Tom emailed me asking about the Ti Malice brand that he saw in the billboards in this post.  Turns out the tubs that hold this yellow margarine-like product are washing up in Florida, and apparently enough of them that caused the Floridian beach comber to inquire ‘What’s up with Ti Malice?’  See the photo taken by Danielle and Chelsea of Balloons Blow, a non-profit that picks up trash from Florida beaches (and visit their facebook page).

Ti Malice is a character in a Haitian children’s story.  He is the mischievous counterpart to his friend (or brother?) Bouki.  And he is causing more trouble by washing up in Florida.  This poses the questions:

• Are there more tubs of Ti Malice than other brands being used then thrown away in Haiti?
• Are the Ti Malice tubs sturdier than the other tubs?

Might make a good Master’s thesis!

And will also make a good classroom lesson about littering and the trash disposal systems in Haiti.  As far as I can tell, people either burn trash or throw it in the streams and on the beaches.  I’ve also seen systems (well, once, on a missionary compound) in which two pits are dug, one for burnables, and one for things that shouldn’t be burned (plastic, glass etc.).  This second pit is buried when full and another pit dug.  I’ve also heard that garbage trucks pick up residential trash in Les Cayes, but I have never seen this nor do I know where the trash is taken.  

I think I will make this a student project this fall: Report on trash disposal practices in Les Cayes.  Then perhaps we will have a campus clean up and brave a beach cleanup.  Once I learn what we should do with all the trash!

The 'dock' in Les Cayes where we were picked up in the little wood boat to go to Ile a Vache.  While waiting we saw a woman dump her garbage here.

The beach in Jacmel.  We saw people come out and dump their garbage here!

Furcy to Jacmel hike

In the spirit of promoting ecotourism in Haiti, I want to share this blog post that details a hike from Furcy to Jacmel through La Visite National Park.  I've never done this hike nor do I know these people, but the detail is great!  http://ryanandmelissaalberts.com/3399/hiking-the-mountains-of-haiti-from-furcy-to-jacmel/

Transport Chic - bus between Les Cayes and Port

The bus in Les Cayes, with our luggage on top.

Last week we took the Transport Chic bus back to Port au Prince from Les Cayes.  The bus was great!  And air conditioned.  It stopped in Miragoane for a bathroom and food break at a restaurant/convenience store.  It dropped a couple people off at the towns closer to Port, so you could probably hop off anywhere along the way.  And the ticket was only $10.  You buy it at the bus station the day before.

They strapped luggage to the top of the bus (you get to take one piece of luggage-on-top for free, and no one asked for a tip to put it up there or take it down).  The stop in Les Cayes is along the main road into downtown, Ave. des Quatre Chemins.  We had a 9am ticket for a bus that didn't leave until 10am.  But you want to be there in time to get on first so you don't end up with the little middle aisle seat that folds down.  And sitting up front might make you nervous - you'll see all the things that the bus is trying to pass, and all the traffic coming toward you.  We were oblivious to this in the back row, except for Don who could see right down the aisle.

The stop in Port is across from the stadium, at a very busy intersection.  The Transport Chic office building is painted purple.  We arrived at the terminal at 2:30pm, so it was a 4.5 hr ride, with about 20 minutes at the stop in Miragoane around noon.  We passed through Leogane around 12:30pm.

Here is someone else's post about it: http://sweethaiti.wordpress.com/2012/07/28/transport-chic-air-conditioned-mini-buses-to-les-cayes/ 

Inside the bus.

The blans had the back row to themselves.

The office in Port au Prince.

Looking at the stadium across the street from the Port au Prince office.