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Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Rayjon Awareness Trip to Haiti
March Break 2016

More pictures from our trip!

Here is Maddy supervising the card making activity with the kids at Gilbert school.



Our guide at St. Damien's Pediatric Hospital in Tabarre, Haiti



Artisans at the Apparent Program making beaded necklaces and bracelets that are sold all over the world!



Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Rayjon Awareness Trip to Haiti
March Break 2016

Margaret's Blog- Day 7

Today we started with a visit to St. Damien's Pediatric Hospital.  First we took a look at the school and therapy centre for special needs children.  School was out but Collin gave us a very thorough tour and described what the centre does for the children.  The centre also provides therapy for adult stroke victims and we did see some of the children and adults that were receiving treatment. It is the only centre in all of Haiti that provides therapy for special needs children.  They also have a focus on training as none of the therapists have formal training since there are only a handful of physio therapists in all of Haiti and none have the training to work with these children.  So the centre trains and sends therapists away for training as well. Then we toured the pediatric hospital with a very enthusiastic and informative guide about the real challenges of parents of sick children.  He told us how care is free but parents are expected to contribute to care.  He also talked about how the hospital has limited facilities and has to triage the children to determine who they will treat but they also have to tell parents to take their children elsewhere when there is no more room.  We were struck by our guide's candor.  Mothers have to fight for healthcare for their children. Our guide also talked about how the hospital has to be careful about where they buy their medication and they have a lab to test medication to determine if it is fake if it is not working.

After St. Damien's we lightened things up by going to Croix des Bouquets to buy artifacts made out of oil drums for Rayjon's Women Helping Women event.  We all had a lot of fun bartering for the artifacts on our list.  We learned that Chelsea is the queen of bartering.  We finished off our shopping at the Apparent Project and Papillon Industries.  The project trains and employs Haitians to make jewelry out of clay beads and beads made out of recycled cereal boxes.  The project takes a holistic approach by employing caregivers in a day care for the workers' children as well as providing fair wages and good working conditions.  The philosophy of the project is to provide good employment so parents can provide for and keep their children rather than having to take them to the orphanage because they don't have the means to care for them.  In addition to jewelry, they also made pottery, stuffed toys and handbags.  We were able to tour the facility that was making the products and had a chance to purchase items in the boutique across the road.

This is the end of the blog for this trip. We are packing up ready to go home. We are all richer for having had this learning experience and are thankful to Rayjon and our trip leaders Joanna  and Lyndsey for making our trip truly memorable.

Monday, March 21, 2016

Rayjon Awareness Trip to Haiti
March Break 2016

Margaret's Blog- Day 6

Today we started our day with mass at the Missionaries of Charity nutrition centre in Port Au Prince.  The nutrition centre provides daily care to malnourished infants whose mothers either are too young or too poor to properly feed them and nurse them back to health. At the beginning of mass there were many school children in their school uniforms that lead a procession with their palms along the street to the chapel.  Their singing during mass was beautiful.  Somehow, most of us ended up with babies from the nutrition centre to hold during mass.  It was incredibly touching as I walked into the nursery to pick up a baby and saw so many malnourished infants.  I picked up a baby boy that was crying and as soon as I picked him up he stopped and put his head on my shoulder.  We brought the children into church and held them during mass.  Luckily there was another group in the church from the United States that were staying a little longer so we could hand the children over to them after mass. It made leaving them so much easier. 

We then headed to a supermarket in Petionville to buy supplies for lunch.  This was where we realized there are very wealthy people in Haiti as well and we saw some very nice houses on our way to an orphanage near Kenscoff.  None of us were prepared for how large the orphanage was.  It was like a campus with many dormitiories and school buildings.  



There are more than 400 children and all the services are provided with only charitable donations.  Most of the children do have family but the family is too poor or otherwise unable to care for them.  We brought some toys in order to play with the children.  The soccer balls were very popular and it gave the teenagers in the group a chance to interact with Haitian children their own age one on one.  With some broken English and broken French, they were able to communicate fairly well.  It had been an emotional day but that was offset by the cooler air in the mountains.  The view from the orphanage was beautiful and we also stopped at a lookout on our way back down for a group photo.  This part of the country was much greener and very scenic.

Saturday, March 19, 2016

Rayjon Awareness Trip to Haiti
March Break 2016

Margaret's Blog- Day 5



Today we visited Saut d'Eau Falls. It is believed that the virgin Mary of Mount Carmel appeared there in the late 18th century. The place is also associated with voodoo and is a place where women pray for fertility.  Joanna did see what we think was a voodoo priestess in a trance.  The falls were beautiful and there were many boys to help us walk up the falls.  Everyone found the boys were very friendly, helpful yet not overbearing and very attentive to make sure no one slipped or fell.  The ride in the Range Rover (2 benches in the back seated 9) was 2 1/2 hours each way and although it was very cramped, it actually was a bonding experience.  Everyone was extremely considerate of each other.
Rayjon Awareness Trip to Haiti
March Break 2016

Margaret's Blog- Day 4

Best laid plans.  Today Joanna had plenty planned for us but it was not to be.  We visited a history museum in St. Marc to learn about Haitian history. The slaves in Haiti revolted and defeated the French.  It was a slave from Jamaica that had been sold in Haiti that encouraged and led the initial revolt.  We also learned about voo doo in Haiti and that it incorporates symbols from Catholicism because the slave masters wanted them to be Catholic.  So the slave fooled their masters by using Catholic symbols but having them represent voodoo spirits. We got back on the bus for the hour ride to Port Au Prince  and that's when plans fell apart.  A bridge was out that created a huge traffic jam and the trip took about 5 hours.  It did give us plenty of time to observe the people on the street.

Friday, March 18, 2016

Rayjon Awareness Trip to Haiti
March Break 2016

Margaret's Blog- Day 3


Today we visited the elementary school in Gilbert.  We rode in the back (except me, I rode in the cab) of a truck to the outskirts of the village of Gilbert and then we all walked about an hour to reach the school and medical clinic.  Up until today, we had really only seen the land from the road which looked very dry and barren but on the walk we were able to see the variety of food that is grown in Haiti.  We saw cultiviated tomatoes, yam, sugar cane and rice.  The walk was very pretty but it was a good climb and although the locals were almost running up, it was a bit of a struggle for us.  When we reached Gilbert, we took a tour of the clinic and then we had a chance to engage with the children as we brought crayons and paper with us for them to make cards.  Joanna had given a talk about Haiti to her grandaughter's class and they had made cards for the children in Gilbert.  So in return, she asked that they make cards for the children in Sarnia. The children were so easy to interact with despite the language barrier.  All we had to do was smile and admire their art work and they beamed.  The teenagers in the group were really engaged with the children. After lunch some of the girls played a bit of soccer and volleyball with some of the children.


Then we were able to visit another adult literacy class since the school is used for adult literacy later in the day.  Once again we were impressed by the enthusiasm of the adult students.

At the end of our visit we ended up riding back in the truck rather than walking back down as everyone was very tired.  However, the ride in the truck was very rough and very very low. 

Thursday, March 17, 2016

Rayjon Awareness Trip to Haiti
March Break 2016

Margaret's Blog- Day 2


After an excellent breakfast that included fresh mango and porridge, we visited St. Patrick's high school in St Marc and shared questions and answers with the students.  Bella made a special connection with one of the students who sent her a kind note.  Several of the students had individual interactions with the students and Chelsea was especially touched that one of the girls thanked her for visiting.  The St. Patrick's students from St. Marc told us that things they would like to have include a cafeteria and sports.  At the end of our visit, we just had to say the word photo and all the students swarmed to get into the picture.

Next we stopped for a lunch of goat soup (including parts of the goat some preferred not to eat) and rice and headed off to explore the market.  The market was an assault on the senses with the smells, crowds, narrow paths and all the yelling to catch our attention.

Next we visited a literacy centre for adults.  Maddy was especially impressed at the eagerness some of the adult students had to show how they could do the math and spell their names.On the drive back to our hotel, some of the girls saw some of the students they had met earlier in the day from our bus and waved to them. We all noticed how warmly people responded when we wave to them from the bus.  The day was real eye-opener for us all.



Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Rayjon Awareness Trip to Haiti
March Break 2016

Margaret's Blog- Day 1

And we're off.  We had a very good travel day. Everyone was excited as we met up at Tim Horton's to begin our journey.  Travel was relatively incident free although we were a little surprised by the kerfuffle at the airport at Port Au Prince over handling our luggage.  The group was impressed how Joanna stayed calm through it all. We have only see Haiti in the dark from the airport to the hotel but we're are starting to experience some culture shock with just the difference between the airports we visited on the way.