Tcho and Jo'el are techs in the clinic. Awesome guys.
A number of you have asked about the conditions/ living situations here. Let me expound...
Kay Hanger is what I would call a Florida style home. 3 bedrooms with a central living/dining room, 2 full bathrooms and a kitchen. The house used to belong to the director of the hospital. There are a few pictures on some of the links in the blog.
About 75% of the homes at HAS have running water. Water runs from 6am to 6:30am, noon to 12:30pm and 6pm-6-30pm. There are no water heaters, unless you count the sun, and our proximity to the equator. Showers are a cold trickle. Due to the running water schedule, bathrooms and kitchens are usually stocked with buckets to stow water for flushing toilets, washing clothes (by hand), cooking, washing dishes and drinking. The water is not readily drinkable. It must run through a ceramic filter that is used here....special buckets. ;). The shower area is pretty European, with a shallow tile step down, or low wall that separates the shower area from the rest of the bathroom. Still, you are crowded by buckets...for toiletting.
Killer T...there are doors, but some are just better left shut
The house is cinder block and stone with a tin roof. Middle class here is cinder block or stone, not necessarily running water. Poor is wood + sticks with some other natural material for roofing, leaves, wood. Many homes are 1 room. Cooking is fairly common outside, rather than in. The Haitians spend a lot of time out of doors. Hot is hot.
Most homes make decent use of their land, if they can...goats, chickens, banana trees, mangos, corn, avocados....etc.
The food, like the clothing and culture is a mix of traditional Haitian to consistent American relief of a politically broken country. Papayas, mangos, avocados, bananas, corn, plantains, and passion fruit make up a good part of the diet. Add to that goat, chicken and pig, then rice and American relief pasta.
There is a lot of pasta being eaten here. We have also had a lot of goat (cabrite). Tcho has offered me cat,...I'll let you know ;)....he has a good story of how the "chat" is caught.
Goats and chickens ( roosters included Kathy). Seem to have free roam around here. Though I have been told they each belong to someone.....? They are both, all over the place. Then, suddenly there is one less...mmmm....lunch. Madame Bebe, our cook and house keeper uses a spicy type of goat sausage....in a bit too many dishes. I taste it all night...still there in the AM.
Last night, some non-stewed rooster was confused about the time a crowed for a while around midnight. Good times. He'll be lunch, tomorrow for sure.
Mansfield Center for N+R...no barefoot races yet...but there is still time. And yes, I have heard Blanc (or blan) many times.
They have given me a new name. Want to hear it? Just walk to the market with me, and listen carefully to the onlookers.
Till tomorrow
Chev Blanc
PDA
Hey Lil Bro,
ReplyDeleteBlanc I understand. What does "Chev" come from?
MEEEOOOWWWW!!
MC Hammer called. He wants his pants back.
ReplyDeleteFinally a photo with YOU in it! You're as adorable as ever. Couldn't be much whiter looking next to your co-workers though. LOL
ReplyDeleteFYI: It's a common misconception that roosters only crown in the morning. Our first rooster would crow any time of day, sun or no sun, if he felt there was someone threatening his ladies. He is now living a second life on the end of fly fishermen's rods all over the Farmington valley.
Enjoy your lunch. :)
-Kathy
Let's see. Co-workers are nice. Shop has stuff you wish for in Vernon. Fresh fruit and fresh animals to eat all the time. Meals prepared for you. Good lager!!! Electricity - not one but two fans on you at night. Toilets, kinda. Showers, kinda. Sounds like conditions are horrible. Have you booked your second rotation yet? Or did you tell Bonnie to pull the kids out of school and head on down?
ReplyDeleteOh, Paul! While it is warming your heart to be helping so many people, who really need it. I get the feeling the comforts of home WILL REALLY BE APPRECIATED! I think a hot shower will be the requirement when you get home.
ReplyDeleteWe hear roosters crowing outside our timeshare in St. John, not at night.
A little rule of thumb. If you can't boil, broil, bake it, or peel it, don't eat it. Always wash it before peeling. Mom's 2 cents worth for the day.
"Hi to Jo'el."
I would not eat cat if I were you; it could have rabies, etc. Plus how could you eat cat, when they were your first companions in your bachelor days?
Still haven't found a definition for Chev. Kreole and Haitian Dic. haven't been to helpful yet.
Latest news: Cholera outbreak in rural Haiti. 142 have died. Be careful of that water.
ReplyDelete