directions in English

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Leanna, Alexis, and I went for another walk after church. They were searching for shells and interesting finds on the beach to take back to Pittsburgh with them. These walks had become somewhat routine. I would spend some time looking with them, but often found myself engaged in conversation with someone on the beach. Regularly Pierre Richard would join us and continue his conversation about me needing a husband and when I would be getting one. For me, practicing Kreyol was useful no matter what we were discussing. As the conversations continued, I realized how I was slowly building my vocabulary and therefore my ability to better express myself as well as understand slightly more complex sentence structure. Trust me, the learning is SLOW ...but well worth the time and effort.

I have also come to cherish the time on the beach because it's one of the few ways I have to build relationships with people around here. If I stay on the compound, I don't really need to learn any Kreyol. I wouldn't practice Kreyol. I wouldn't interact with Haitians much, if ever. As I identified the need and desire within myself to embrace my reality here, I found myself becoming more adventerous and looking for opportunities to interact with people. Pierre Richard, Rubenson, Keshare, Jedson, Nelson, and Kenya are a few of the Bibliotec children who I have noticed seek me some in their own ways while I am walking. Chilene, Jubert, Marilan, and Roostania are a few of the teenagers who wish to speak with me ...some prefer to practice their English and others are interested in helping me learn Kreyol.

When Leanna, Alexia, and I returned to the compound with our wares for the day, Mike asked us if we would be interested in helping a lady put up a tent. This lady lives right below the church we attend. She has only one leg (the other was lost before the earthquake, but I don't know the details), and someone gave her a tent to sleep in. The problem she was experiencing was that the instructions were in English (just like with the larger school tents were erected). The three of us agreed and walked over with Mr. Paul (the older gentleman who maintains the compound property). The woman was there, holding a baby on her leg, watching a couple guys around my age as they cleared the area of rocks and swept the dirt flat.

The tent was a little camper. Most Americans could probably put it up without having to do anything but glance at the instructions. We were able to get it up in about 15 minutes and that time included my poor attempts at explaining what we were doing to the one guy who helped us. It also counts the time we spent trying to get the stakes pushed into the ground as we encountered a few rocks here and there. The woman said thanks with her smile and words.

Walking back across the street, my thoughts were focused on the numbers of people still without covering. Those who do have covering mostly have a tarp, tent, or sheet. Rainy season normally starts in March. The summer brings tropical storms and hurricanes. How are these structures going to protect people? The structures that existed before the earthquake on January 12th were not ideal hurricane protection. Some of those homes were roofed with coconut or banana leaves woven together. That didn't always offer protection from the rain which results in the dirt floors becoming mud. Knowing how bad things were before doesn't make the knowledge that things are worse now any better.