I left Haiti this afternoon on the smallest plane I have ever seen. It had two seats- one for the pilot and one for the co-pilot. Needing to evacuate as many people as we could, 6 people crammed on the little Baron aircraft. The 4 of us in the back were crammed on top of our luggage, and certainly exceeded the 500 pound limit the plane is able to handle. On a commercial flight, the Haiti-Florida route takes around an hour and a half, yet on our midget plane it took four hours from Port au Prince to Fort Lauderdale. The flight was really scenic as this is a low flying plane and we could see all the little islands as we hovered over the water. We landed at a small private airport in Ft. Lauderdale with just enough time to make my connection to North Carolina at the commercial airport. Im now sitting on the plane to Charlotte.
Let me explain why we needed to evacuate the country. If this is too long to read, here is a link to what was happening all over the city for this past week:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1Pxddz9ATc&feature=player_embedded
The election results were announced this past Tuesday after about a 10 day counting period since the actual voting. Everyone was aware of the fraud, so the results were awaited anxiously as Haiti got more tense by the day. On this past Tuesday, the Electoral Board had until midnight to announce who had won, or if there would be a runoff between two candidates (a 50% majority is needed in order to avoid runoffs). The Electoral Board kept Haiti waiting until 9 pm that night to announce their highly incorrect results. It was a weird sensation waiting hour after hour for what could be devastating news and undoubtedly launch the country into violence. Without surprise, the handpicked candidate of the current government received a much higher percentage of votes than any of the exit polls indicated, and the front runner (Mirlande) did not win the election fully as she should have. Michelle Martelli, a very popular candidate and an absolute favourite to be in the electoral runoffs, was eliminated from the runoff with unexpectedly low results. It is safe to assume that the corrupt candidate (Jude Celestin) will win when the runoffs will take place January 16th. These announcements caused absolute chaos in Haiti and denouncement from the international community.
Following the election results on Tuesday night, riots formed a few blocks away from our compound before they marched on downtown. Our compound is quite close to the gathering spot for the start of these manifestations. The way people protest in Haiti is done by the destruction of everything in their path. They burn tires on every street, throw rocks and Molotov cocktails at passing cars, and ruin the businesses that have remained open. On that Tuesday night, 8 people died, including one cop, and many more seriously hurt.
On Wednesday the riots continued full force across the country. The cities of Les Cayes, Cap Haitien and naturally the capital (Port au Prince) saw the worst of it with violent clashes against the UN and police forces. Some of the manifestations went to the campaign offices of Jude Celestin (the crook) and burnt them down along with police stations- even the Canadian Embassy was damaged interestingly enough. On base at GRU, we were told not to go on the roof so that they could not see that there were white people in our compound, and advised to pack a small bag with our passports and money in case we had to make a run for it. At our daily morning meeting, we looked up to see the sky blackened by the smoke from the burning tires.
The airport is indefinitely closed, so we had no concrete way of getting out of the country. Later that evening, we were told a small plane would be coming in from the Bahamas which would be able to bring a few of us out to Fort Pierce, Florida. This pilot does medical drop-offs in remote parts of Haiti to bring in cholera supplies. Because these drop offs took too long and this tiny plane is unable to fly at night, we had to postpone our evacuation to this morning. After our departure, only the project managers and directors have stayed at GRU, and are meeting today in order to decide whether to continue operating in Haiti under these circumstances. This is a difficult thing to do when you are on full lockdown and all the businesses are closed.
I don’t think there has been anything more rewarding than having spent 3 months in Haiti this year. This is, without a doubt, a foundation for the type of work I aim to do throughout my life. Our group has put ourselves in some of the most volatile, poorest, endangered situations in the world, and all we can think about is returning to the Haiti we love. Doing this type of work is a testament that the traditional passageway to employment and success (high school, university, career) is not obsolete. Personally, I have never felt so productive, content, and at home as I have during those three months in what some only know as the poorest country in the Western hemisphere. This country, solely in 2010, has endured an earthquake killing a quarter million people, 2 devastating hurricanes, a cholera epidemic that has killed upwards of 2000 people and infected 120,000, and is now on the brink of civil war due to the corrupt political system.
I don’t want to drag this on, so here it is.
To all the people I have met on this trip: thank you, you are amazing, I wish you all the best and will undoubtedly be seeing you soon (Big Dave, Black Mountain, Bambi on Ice, Bryan, Gracie, GRU crew). Your positivity and optimism has rubbed off on me, and I look to the future with confidence. I think I already miss my tent.
Im changed, Im happy, and ill be back.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Elections for sale
Greetings,
Largely due to the elections, a lot has happened since the last time i posted. Election day happened on Sunday the 28th of November. A number of presidential candidates had called for a temporary postponment of voting given the cholera outbreak, yet their requests were ignored and everyone headed to the polls.
While a certain level of corruption seems unavoidable in Haiti, the elections were proof that the current government looks after itself before it considers the millions of people getting nothing out of the system. The current president (Preval) has given his support (funds) to an absolute crook who is relatively unknown in the political rounds (Jude Celestin). This candidate, with endless money available, the current governments blessing, and load of stuffed ballot boxes, should not win the election. The people saw it coming and it happened right under their eyes. They are pissed.
Just hours after the voting began, some of the front running candidates called for a complete cancellation of the vote after receiving many reports of ballot stuffing and fraud. Following this announcement of fraudulent voting, the current government delcared the elections to 'have been successful'- go figure. This was enough for manifestations and riots to break out across the country throughout this past week. Even in our smaller city of Jacmel mobs took to the streets to burn tires, throw rocks and car parts while marching to the UN and Police stations. Schools were indefinately canceled, and with the election results being announced in 2 days things are not looking much brighter. If this were your country, wouldnt you be in the streets protesting as well?
While everyone else at the base was on lockdown, Sierra, Bryan, David and I left in the mornings to work on our newest construction project. We spent over a week building the kitchen for a foundation for malnourished and orphan children. We had an awesome time doing it and the final product looks sharp- especially the door.
Our 3 security guards decided to all quit on the same day this past week. This was due to a combination of their work and lack of communication with the management. It was a terrible thing to see them go this late in the game after so many months without incidents, robbings or break-ins. People had to stay up that initial night to watch the house until the new guards began their shift in the morning.
With the final construction project completed, i decided to leave Jacmel and return to GrassRoots United here in Port au Prince. I arrived here yesterday morning after an amazing last night with the crew. We were greeted with the news that European Disaster Volunteers had just bought huge house and were throwing a big pool party. Damn is it good to be back in Port au Prince!
Emma and I will be going into some of the bigger slums throughout the week to do parasite treatments for hundreds of schoolchildren.
Im going back to the States on Friday after two incredibly rewarding months here and my third in-country for 2010. I feel at home and every day is a blast, but i do look forward to being in NC with the fam and everyone else and getting on with university.
Ill post one more of these before I leave, until then i will be thinking of the delicious chicken burrito im going to eat at QDoba upon my return. Flocka
Largely due to the elections, a lot has happened since the last time i posted. Election day happened on Sunday the 28th of November. A number of presidential candidates had called for a temporary postponment of voting given the cholera outbreak, yet their requests were ignored and everyone headed to the polls.
While a certain level of corruption seems unavoidable in Haiti, the elections were proof that the current government looks after itself before it considers the millions of people getting nothing out of the system. The current president (Preval) has given his support (funds) to an absolute crook who is relatively unknown in the political rounds (Jude Celestin). This candidate, with endless money available, the current governments blessing, and load of stuffed ballot boxes, should not win the election. The people saw it coming and it happened right under their eyes. They are pissed.
Just hours after the voting began, some of the front running candidates called for a complete cancellation of the vote after receiving many reports of ballot stuffing and fraud. Following this announcement of fraudulent voting, the current government delcared the elections to 'have been successful'- go figure. This was enough for manifestations and riots to break out across the country throughout this past week. Even in our smaller city of Jacmel mobs took to the streets to burn tires, throw rocks and car parts while marching to the UN and Police stations. Schools were indefinately canceled, and with the election results being announced in 2 days things are not looking much brighter. If this were your country, wouldnt you be in the streets protesting as well?
While everyone else at the base was on lockdown, Sierra, Bryan, David and I left in the mornings to work on our newest construction project. We spent over a week building the kitchen for a foundation for malnourished and orphan children. We had an awesome time doing it and the final product looks sharp- especially the door.
Our 3 security guards decided to all quit on the same day this past week. This was due to a combination of their work and lack of communication with the management. It was a terrible thing to see them go this late in the game after so many months without incidents, robbings or break-ins. People had to stay up that initial night to watch the house until the new guards began their shift in the morning.
With the final construction project completed, i decided to leave Jacmel and return to GrassRoots United here in Port au Prince. I arrived here yesterday morning after an amazing last night with the crew. We were greeted with the news that European Disaster Volunteers had just bought huge house and were throwing a big pool party. Damn is it good to be back in Port au Prince!
Emma and I will be going into some of the bigger slums throughout the week to do parasite treatments for hundreds of schoolchildren.
Im going back to the States on Friday after two incredibly rewarding months here and my third in-country for 2010. I feel at home and every day is a blast, but i do look forward to being in NC with the fam and everyone else and getting on with university.
Ill post one more of these before I leave, until then i will be thinking of the delicious chicken burrito im going to eat at QDoba upon my return. Flocka
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Port au Princee week
Just returned to Jacmel after an amazing and intense week in Port au Prince with GrassRoots United and European Disasters Volunteers (EDV).
Sierra and I pitched our tents at the GRU compound and set off to work early on Monday. I was supposed to be sent into Cite Soleil, the notorious Haitian slum, to teach cholera education. Unfortunately, the current situation in Haiti did not allow us to go into the camps or leave our base. From Tuesday on, the camp was put on lockdown with a 6 pm curfew for all nearby activities.
The situation with cholera seems to have been building up to this point. There are some serious allegations that a Nepalese branch of the United Nations brought in cholera to Haiti, which had NO cases prior to this outbreak. The people of Cap Haitian and Port au Prince, upon hearing these accusations, took to the streets for some manifestations. These protests were planned and not meant to turn violent. Unfortunately, there have been shootings and deaths in both cities as well as 4 consecutive days of riots. The crowds have been tear gased and shot at for throwing molotov cocktails and rocks at the blue helmets. The GRU compound is right next to one of the bigger UN bases in Port au Prince, so we got quite the feeling for these protests.
On Wednesday, one of the GRU workers took our bus to do a medical supply drop off in St. Marks (an hour north of us). On her way out of the city, she was stopped by the haitian police and threatened to have the bus impounded along with all of the medical DONATIONS because she had forgotten her license. She got out of it when our coordinator sped off to her rescue. The following day, on the second attempt to make this medical drop off, the GRU worker driving the bus drove directly into a protest. A few cars ahead of our bus was a van full of white people. Simply for being foreigners, the protestors took to smashing all the car windows by throwing rocks and bottles at it until it was completely destroyed. Its getting heated down here!
As far as work went, Sierra and I largely focused on building the GRU community workshop. This is an awesome project that will allow other NGOs to come use all our tools, facilities and building materials. We also sorted out a ton of medical supplies that are stocked at the compound. While doing this, we realized we had about 100 donated wheelchairs, so we all had a few Prestiges and played a game of wheelchair soccer. At one point, Belgium was up by 3 to Haiti, America, and Holland.
I cannot give enough praise to the work GRU and EDV are doing in Port au Prince. They are right in the heart of all the conflict, and are still giving their all to be able to impact the capital regardless of the turmoil. Every project they approach is done to high standard, for the best intentions, and with a long term vision. I will for sure be back before i go home.
Thats all for now. Go listen to the avett brothers. happy birthday glenn
Sierra and I pitched our tents at the GRU compound and set off to work early on Monday. I was supposed to be sent into Cite Soleil, the notorious Haitian slum, to teach cholera education. Unfortunately, the current situation in Haiti did not allow us to go into the camps or leave our base. From Tuesday on, the camp was put on lockdown with a 6 pm curfew for all nearby activities.
The situation with cholera seems to have been building up to this point. There are some serious allegations that a Nepalese branch of the United Nations brought in cholera to Haiti, which had NO cases prior to this outbreak. The people of Cap Haitian and Port au Prince, upon hearing these accusations, took to the streets for some manifestations. These protests were planned and not meant to turn violent. Unfortunately, there have been shootings and deaths in both cities as well as 4 consecutive days of riots. The crowds have been tear gased and shot at for throwing molotov cocktails and rocks at the blue helmets. The GRU compound is right next to one of the bigger UN bases in Port au Prince, so we got quite the feeling for these protests.
On Wednesday, one of the GRU workers took our bus to do a medical supply drop off in St. Marks (an hour north of us). On her way out of the city, she was stopped by the haitian police and threatened to have the bus impounded along with all of the medical DONATIONS because she had forgotten her license. She got out of it when our coordinator sped off to her rescue. The following day, on the second attempt to make this medical drop off, the GRU worker driving the bus drove directly into a protest. A few cars ahead of our bus was a van full of white people. Simply for being foreigners, the protestors took to smashing all the car windows by throwing rocks and bottles at it until it was completely destroyed. Its getting heated down here!
As far as work went, Sierra and I largely focused on building the GRU community workshop. This is an awesome project that will allow other NGOs to come use all our tools, facilities and building materials. We also sorted out a ton of medical supplies that are stocked at the compound. While doing this, we realized we had about 100 donated wheelchairs, so we all had a few Prestiges and played a game of wheelchair soccer. At one point, Belgium was up by 3 to Haiti, America, and Holland.
I cannot give enough praise to the work GRU and EDV are doing in Port au Prince. They are right in the heart of all the conflict, and are still giving their all to be able to impact the capital regardless of the turmoil. Every project they approach is done to high standard, for the best intentions, and with a long term vision. I will for sure be back before i go home.
Thats all for now. Go listen to the avett brothers. happy birthday glenn
Monday, November 15, 2010
Good evening, i will be taking you through my past week or so in Haiti.
I recovered fully from Dengue and Strep in time to welcome my mom, who kindly came to visit me during my stay. During her time here, we visited some of the IDP camps, our compound, and several of the projects i worked on in May and during this past month. With her particular soft spot for orphans, we set out to find sleeping arrangements for the children of Ecole Rousse. Thanks to her, we have the funds and UN contacts to get these in the coming week, thanks mommy!
Sierra and I decided to come work with GrassRoots United (GRU) for a week here in Port au Prince. This is not the quiet southern town of Jacmel we are accustomed to. We have come realize how nice we have it at GVN in Jacmel, with running water, easy transit, etc... Although its a bit harder living, I am having a blast here meeting all the new people and getting my hands dirty. Along with GRU, I will be going into some of the many tent camps in the capital to teach Cholera education. This will involve basic lessons in Cholera transmission, hand washing and prevention. Im not sure how close the outside world is following the breakout, but it caused violent riots aimed at MINUSTAH (UN) today in Cap Haitian. It has been reported that a police station has been burnt, protestors shooting at the UN, and a possible UN hostage.
There are several ways to kill mosquitoes. I have gotten particularly good at these methods ever since contracting (free) Dengue from those little munts. One of my favorites is the "Payback Snipe". This is when you see a mosquito already biting you and you snipe if right then and there while asking it the question: was it worth it? This would all be a fun and harmless snipeshow if they didnt carry diseases.
In general announcements;
I got accepted to Wake Forest for my Spring transfer.
Here is the link to our segment on Fox News from the documentary shot about our work in Jacmel. Worthy of mention is that Fox did not have my consent. I might sue:
http://video.foxnews.com/v/4307532/giving-a-helping-hand/?playlist_id=87889
I recovered fully from Dengue and Strep in time to welcome my mom, who kindly came to visit me during my stay. During her time here, we visited some of the IDP camps, our compound, and several of the projects i worked on in May and during this past month. With her particular soft spot for orphans, we set out to find sleeping arrangements for the children of Ecole Rousse. Thanks to her, we have the funds and UN contacts to get these in the coming week, thanks mommy!
Sierra and I decided to come work with GrassRoots United (GRU) for a week here in Port au Prince. This is not the quiet southern town of Jacmel we are accustomed to. We have come realize how nice we have it at GVN in Jacmel, with running water, easy transit, etc... Although its a bit harder living, I am having a blast here meeting all the new people and getting my hands dirty. Along with GRU, I will be going into some of the many tent camps in the capital to teach Cholera education. This will involve basic lessons in Cholera transmission, hand washing and prevention. Im not sure how close the outside world is following the breakout, but it caused violent riots aimed at MINUSTAH (UN) today in Cap Haitian. It has been reported that a police station has been burnt, protestors shooting at the UN, and a possible UN hostage.
There are several ways to kill mosquitoes. I have gotten particularly good at these methods ever since contracting (free) Dengue from those little munts. One of my favorites is the "Payback Snipe". This is when you see a mosquito already biting you and you snipe if right then and there while asking it the question: was it worth it? This would all be a fun and harmless snipeshow if they didnt carry diseases.
In general announcements;
I got accepted to Wake Forest for my Spring transfer.
Here is the link to our segment on Fox News from the documentary shot about our work in Jacmel. Worthy of mention is that Fox did not have my consent. I might sue:
http://video.foxnews.com/v/4307532/giving-a-helping-hand/?playlist_id=87889
Monday, November 8, 2010
Dengue Fever, Hurricane Tomas, new rotation
I havent written in a while because i have been sick in bed or boarded up for Hurricane Tomas. Here's what has been happening:
Dengue Fever:
I acquired Dengue Fever for free from a nice mosquito. It is transmitted by the daytime, striped mosquitoes that are infected with it from when they breed in dirty stagnant water. A few other people have had it in the house in the past few months, but it is overall a rare occurrence. This was not fun. You pretty much get a constant fever for the duration of one week, painful body aches and shivering. My fever peaked at 103 or 104 degrees every night for a week, and i eventually developed strep throat toward the end of my Dengue bout. I've been on antibiotics and feeling much better now, so its back to work.
Hurricane Tomas:
This could have been a lot worse than it was. Haiti was expected to be hit as a category 1 hurricane, which means very strong winds and a lot of damage considering the million plus people living in tents still. The major problem with Tomas was that it was such a wide system that most of Haiti was hit with at least a tropical storm status as far as wind and rain. Here in Jacmel, the storm lasted for about 2 days, with its real strength coming 3:30 am on friday night.
David and I were sent to work with the IOM (International Office of Migration) to check the status of the camps in the Jacmel area. We went off with a team and filled forms that indicated urgent need, disappearances, severe flooding, etc... By and large, the camps sustained moderate damage. The last camp we went to was absolutely destroyed. There was nothing left of most of the huts, which were made of leafs and cut up plastic tarps. The major problem in other parts of Haiti, notably Leogane, was the amount of flooding. We had the house boarded up for 48 hours, so we as a group had no problems.
We took in a family with a malaria infected baby for the duration of the hurricane. If we had not, they would have been soaked in their tent for a few days, and the baby would have most likely died.
A new rotation arrived a week from yesterday. They're all very cool people and a few of them are going to stay on board until the camp closes down in December.
Sierra and I will be going to Port au Prince in a week and doing some work for GrassRoots United. This will be a good change of scenery and it will be awesome to be there in the few days prior to the election. My mommies is coming to see me on wednesday!
Moore soon. Flocka
Dengue Fever:
I acquired Dengue Fever for free from a nice mosquito. It is transmitted by the daytime, striped mosquitoes that are infected with it from when they breed in dirty stagnant water. A few other people have had it in the house in the past few months, but it is overall a rare occurrence. This was not fun. You pretty much get a constant fever for the duration of one week, painful body aches and shivering. My fever peaked at 103 or 104 degrees every night for a week, and i eventually developed strep throat toward the end of my Dengue bout. I've been on antibiotics and feeling much better now, so its back to work.
Hurricane Tomas:
This could have been a lot worse than it was. Haiti was expected to be hit as a category 1 hurricane, which means very strong winds and a lot of damage considering the million plus people living in tents still. The major problem with Tomas was that it was such a wide system that most of Haiti was hit with at least a tropical storm status as far as wind and rain. Here in Jacmel, the storm lasted for about 2 days, with its real strength coming 3:30 am on friday night.
David and I were sent to work with the IOM (International Office of Migration) to check the status of the camps in the Jacmel area. We went off with a team and filled forms that indicated urgent need, disappearances, severe flooding, etc... By and large, the camps sustained moderate damage. The last camp we went to was absolutely destroyed. There was nothing left of most of the huts, which were made of leafs and cut up plastic tarps. The major problem in other parts of Haiti, notably Leogane, was the amount of flooding. We had the house boarded up for 48 hours, so we as a group had no problems.
We took in a family with a malaria infected baby for the duration of the hurricane. If we had not, they would have been soaked in their tent for a few days, and the baby would have most likely died.
A new rotation arrived a week from yesterday. They're all very cool people and a few of them are going to stay on board until the camp closes down in December.
Sierra and I will be going to Port au Prince in a week and doing some work for GrassRoots United. This will be a good change of scenery and it will be awesome to be there in the few days prior to the election. My mommies is coming to see me on wednesday!
Moore soon. Flocka
Monday, October 25, 2010
I can make your cot rock
Greetings since the last post, here's what we've been up to:
Work on the final classroom is coming to an end. We decided to let our "architect" go because he was of very little use and kept making pretty significant mistakes. We started putting the roof on the structure today...if anyone has ever done tin roofing you will understand this is a brutal activity in 100 degree weather. I'm sure the project will be done tomorrow and the kinder-gardeners will finally have a classroom to run around in (Maya you are lucky!).
I was watching CNN yesterday and it seems that the Cholera outbreak has garnered international attention. This is in fact very serious, especially if it reaches Port au Prince. This is an EXTREMELY rare and old school disease, which has only had a few dozen cases reported in the past 5 years; 259 have already died here. If untreated, the risk of death is from 50-70% and can kill within 3 hours of the first signs of illness. We have sent our 3 nurses to go relieve some of the doctors working the outbreak around the clock. We can only hope for the best, even if the UN has predicted deaths in the tens of thousands. Why Haiti again?
Now that i have gotten to know the group for about 2 weeks, i can honestly say how amazing these people are. This sort of work seems to attract like-minded people, and this feat has proved true again for the 3rd time in my life. About the long-term group: we have a recent Chapel Hill graduate, an italian self proclaimed actor from NYC, Mikey Mike who has lived and taught high school in South Central LA for some years and has lectured the History of Hip Hop at UC Berkeley, Sierra from Hawaii and Oregon, Steine still kickin it in Haiti at 72, and i'm sure i am forgetting some.
After returning from dinner last night, we heard four consecutive shots that must have been within 100 yards from our compound. We all waited on the balcony for our guard to go investigate and tell us what was going on. He business-casually informed us that "someone just fired a .38 semiautomatic 4 times down the street because he was pissed". Sierra went down to the corner store for beers after this assessment of the situation.
"Nous sommes en difficultes, mais nous sommes toujours solidaires"
Thank you for your strong and truthful words Kettia, i think that pretty much sums it up.
Work on the final classroom is coming to an end. We decided to let our "architect" go because he was of very little use and kept making pretty significant mistakes. We started putting the roof on the structure today...if anyone has ever done tin roofing you will understand this is a brutal activity in 100 degree weather. I'm sure the project will be done tomorrow and the kinder-gardeners will finally have a classroom to run around in (Maya you are lucky!).
I was watching CNN yesterday and it seems that the Cholera outbreak has garnered international attention. This is in fact very serious, especially if it reaches Port au Prince. This is an EXTREMELY rare and old school disease, which has only had a few dozen cases reported in the past 5 years; 259 have already died here. If untreated, the risk of death is from 50-70% and can kill within 3 hours of the first signs of illness. We have sent our 3 nurses to go relieve some of the doctors working the outbreak around the clock. We can only hope for the best, even if the UN has predicted deaths in the tens of thousands. Why Haiti again?
Now that i have gotten to know the group for about 2 weeks, i can honestly say how amazing these people are. This sort of work seems to attract like-minded people, and this feat has proved true again for the 3rd time in my life. About the long-term group: we have a recent Chapel Hill graduate, an italian self proclaimed actor from NYC, Mikey Mike who has lived and taught high school in South Central LA for some years and has lectured the History of Hip Hop at UC Berkeley, Sierra from Hawaii and Oregon, Steine still kickin it in Haiti at 72, and i'm sure i am forgetting some.
After returning from dinner last night, we heard four consecutive shots that must have been within 100 yards from our compound. We all waited on the balcony for our guard to go investigate and tell us what was going on. He business-casually informed us that "someone just fired a .38 semiautomatic 4 times down the street because he was pissed". Sierra went down to the corner store for beers after this assessment of the situation.
"Nous sommes en difficultes, mais nous sommes toujours solidaires"
Thank you for your strong and truthful words Kettia, i think that pretty much sums it up.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Back in the TRAP
I forgot to post this on here, but a short documentary was shot of our work here in Jacmel back in May. Head on over to wwww.explore22.com to see our living arrangements, work, and me walking around with a breu. This is being pitched to the Discovery channel at some point.
Today we began work on a new classroom for one of the schools on the outskirts of town. We made the measurements, dug all the holes for the foundation and got the lumber ready for tomorrow. I thought it would be cooler this time a year, but the heat really got to all of us around noon.
I leave you with a quote,
"white diamonds, yellow diamonds, gucci not racist"
-Gucci Mane LaFlare
Today we began work on a new classroom for one of the schools on the outskirts of town. We made the measurements, dug all the holes for the foundation and got the lumber ready for tomorrow. I thought it would be cooler this time a year, but the heat really got to all of us around noon.
I leave you with a quote,
"white diamonds, yellow diamonds, gucci not racist"
-Gucci Mane LaFlare
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