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Meet Guesly Pierre. I have known Guesly since I started coming to Haiti in the summer of 2008 when he and Kara taught me dance lessons. You can always find Guesly singing and laughing. He just completed law school here in Haiti before the earthquake and has worked for Save the Children leading relief efforts after the earthquake.
Kara and Guesly are now married! They were married in June of this year here in Leogane. They are amazing together and it is so great to have them here in the house.
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There is never a dull moment with Courtney around. She provides constant entertainment and is always telling the most ridiculous stories. She has had more near death experiences than anyone else I know . She has been struck by lightning, almost drowned when she went into SVT while playing drowning victim in her lifeguarding class, and had a showdown with a King Cobra in Zambia. We never know what will come out of her mouth next, especially when she starts a story, "This one time when I...."
Courtney also loves to laugh and she may or may not snort when she laughs. We are working on breaking her Haiti record of 8 snorts in a row....
I should also mention that Courtney is a very kind, understanding, and generous person. Courtney is also my roommate and has a lot of patience to be able to put up with me.
Next, meet my other boss, Michael Ritter. Michael and I both went to Emory for our MPH. He has been working here in Haiti for 2 1/2 years with household point of use water treatment programs. Gadyen Dlo was originally started by CNP, but Michael took over the program following the earthquake and has expanded it tremendously. Michael speaks amazing Kreyol and his Haitian staff loves working for him. He is always coming up with amazing and innovative ideas and is an extremely hard worker.
Michael is also super laid back and has a lot of patience -. I don't know how he manages to live in this house of mostly girls. He is totally a trooper (but I think he secretly enjoys being surrounded by us girls, even when we give him a really hard time....).
Elisa Marino is the Program Coordinator. She came to Haiti as a volunteer and was able to take over for the former CNP employee who was running the Stabilization Center. Elisa is a registered dietitian and has an MPH. She is meticulously organized and does a fabulous job running the Stabilization Center. We are all hoping that she will stay and take over Kara's position when Kara has to leave us in December.
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Elisa is from the Southern part of Italy. She and I both love to cook, but Elisa is amazing at making bread. While it is a bit challenging with the humidity here, she has made us everything from pizza dough to olive bread to focaccia bread and totally spoils us. Elisa and I are both very strong-willed, outspoken, opinionated people, but we get along great and enjoy spending time together. Elisa is also a great friend who is a wonderful listener and I know there isn't anything she wouldn't do for us. She is always there when we need her.
Last but not least, meet Pierre Chackal (pictured on the far right). He just joined the CNP team a few weeks ago as our much needed Finance and Operations Manager. He came to us from Montreal. He and Kat previously worked together in Haiti. We are happy to have him on the team.