I was picked up by one of CNP's drivers and taken to the airport for smaller planes. I was heading to Cap Haitien in the Northern part of Haiti to help Gadyen Dlo with a training for their water technicians. It was a short flight, about 20 minutes long, but it was absolutely amazing to be flying over the mountains and beautiful landscape of Haiti.
Gadyen Dlo has begun working with different Parish communities in the North, Northeast and Southeast departments of Haiti. A former program, "Gift of Water", had worked with twinned communities (one Haitian and one US Parish community) throughout Haiti. Unfortunately, the program fell apart and so Gadyen Dlo has started to go into the communities where Gift of Water formerly worked and has re-trained their water technicians and are transitioning them to the Gadyen Dlo program. Gadyen Dlo will help the water technicians expand their catchment area and market the products in their communities so that they can begin to generate more of their income from sales (the sale of the locally produced chlorine helps to cover portions of the technicians salaries), thus becoming more sustainable. Our first training was in Tibo, near Milot. During the training, we educated the technicians about the transition process and allowed them to voice their concerns. Many of them expressed how difficult it was for them and their families when the Gift of Water program just stopped, leaving them with no
income. They all seemed happy the program was starting again, but a little apprehensive about how long the program would last because they wanted to keep their jobs. We also spent a lot of time educating the water technicians on proper water, sanitation, and hygiene promotion. One of the Gadyen Dlo supervisors in the Léogâne Commune led participatory educational sessions with the technicians. For example, using cards with drawings of various activities, the technicians were asked to compile a chain of contamination based on the pictures on the cards. The technicians were able to see how one bad hygiene practice such as not washing your hands after using the latrine can lead to contamination of drinking water which can subsequently cause other family members to become sick. In this way, technicians were able to relate individual habits and practices on a larger scale and see the negative consequences of poor hygiene, water and sanitation practices.
View from the roof of our compound in Tibo
After we finished the three day training session in Tibo, we drove to an area close to the Dominican border, called Ferrier. As we drove, I was struck by the amazing conditions of the roads and the fact that new ones were being built. I learned that the roads between Haiti and the DR had been improved to encourage commerce between the two countries. I also learned that the amazing roads from Cap Haitien to Tibo (close to Milot) were built so that cruise ships could dock close to Cap Haitien (but avoid the dirty city) and visitors could be bused to Milot to the Citadelle (A mountain fortress built back in the 1800s to help keep the newly-independent nation of Haiti safe from French invasions). I will be interested to see if either plan is successful or ever completed. Overall, I enjoyed my short visit to Ferrier and found it humorous that some of the Haitian children yelled "Gringo" instead of "Blan" when I ran by on my morning run.
Although, I didn't get to spend much time in Cap Haitien, I found it interesting to see another larger city in Haiti besides Port-au-Prince. I was surprised to see how many "stores" there were in the town. The priest I was with said that a lot of things are shipped to the Northern part of Haiti from the States and are sold and/or stored in Cap Haitien before being transported to other areas of Haiti. He said that having so many little shops is actually a problem because fewer and fewer people actually live in the city, but just come there to work. He thought this was detrimental because despite the rich history of the city (it was the first capital of the Kingdom of Haiti and was the site of the final and defining battle of the Haitian Revolution), it is become less and less appealing for tourists. I think one of my favorite parts of the trip was to getting to know Nancy, one of Gadyen Dlo's staff members. It was her first time ever on an airplane and she was just so proud and excited to have the opportunity to see other parts of her country. Sadly, I missed "Free Friday" at the border of the DR and Haiti. Every Friday it is free to cross the border as a means of stimulating trade between the two countries. Apparently, you can just see people walking back and forth. Nancy insisted on making time on Friday to cross the border and when she did, she started calling all her friends to tell them where she was and of course she had to have her picture taken so she could post it to facebook....haha
Overall, it was a great trip and I was grateful for my new experiences in Haiti. I do want to go back to further explore more of the historical areas in the North, including going to the Citadelle.
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