ayiti chere

 My first day back in Haiti, and my immediate and overwhelming reaction:  bliss.  I love this place!!!!  From the live acoustic folk music at the airport, to the chaos of finding my bags (all found in one piece), to driving down the dusty, rocky streets, I love this place.

First adventure of the trip:  going to the Oxfam office with a goat.  Here's what happened - Oxfam granted SOIL a huge contract to develop the compost sites (second contract this year) but for unknown reasons was slow to deliver the funds. Today, Sasha and Leah came up with the idea of going down to the Oxfam office to bribe our contact there to give us the funds -- with a goat -- just for fun.

One of the SOIL staff here at the house happens to have a sweet little goat, and was willing to let us borrow it for an hour to run our little mission.  So we loaded up in the back of the truck, me, Sasha, Leah, and the goat, and headed through Delmas toward downtown and the Oxfam office, laughing and having a great time thinking of the upcoming surprise.

But one thing I've learned in my brief times in Haiti:  nothing ever works out exactly as planned (isn't that true in most places?).  In this case, the truck broke down on a very busy street, filled with school kids walking home from school (most schools just re-opened yesterday), many covering their heads with wash cloths, using umbrellas, or simply sweating from the humidity, and all of which were confounded to find two white women hanging out in the back of a truck with a goat (Sasha hopped on the back of a moto to go on down to the Oxfam office to sign the contract....).

After a few minutes of pondering, our driver went off to find a mechanic, and Leah and I sat inside the truck to get out of the sun, scheming up options for what to do now.  Thankfully there was another truck available at the SOIL house, and Anthony agreed to come out in the middle of his busy work-day to assist us in our mission.  After getting lost he did eventually scoop us and the goat up from the stranded vehicle, driving through stop and go traffic up and over Delmas toward Petitionville, where the Oxfam offices are.

The timing actually worked out perfectly, as we arrived at the offices just as Sasha was completing her meeting, and with the permission of the security guard we went through the gate with the goat.  (Thankfully she pee'd and pooped right there on the door-steps -- before going inside -- good goat!)

It was a huge success as the entire office was laughing so loud to see a goat being paraded past their desks to the back of the office where our Oxfam officer was giggling and cracking up at our quasi-gift.  We sang him happy birthday (since it is his birthday), and everyone clapped and cheered.

And the money has been delivered so it was a successful afternoon.

Prior to the goat mission, Sasha and I walked over to the yard behind Matthew 25, a house which became a central refuge for thousands of people after the earthquake, and where Sasha and Nick actually slept outside under the stars for months.  Now it has been transformed into a "displacement camp", and very recently a wonderful school has been constructed.  It was so beautiful I can't wait to show you pictures!  The school has several classrooms, and the kids were being very attentive and cooperative.

In the coming weeks SOIL will be building toilets for the school -- possibly while the film crew is here....so stay tuned.......and always remember when you go to the bathroom: sanitation should be a basic human right......but actually, it is a privilege we in the "first" world often take for granted.......

HOLY CRAP!