Berthony arrived at 8:30 AM with Julio, we picked up Marie at the church,
and then headed for the project to meet the contractors for a job walk so that
they could better bid the work and know exactly what we wanted. Marie also needed to interview the local people
to find out how we might best organize the hygiene training.
A view from one
of the streets in Fort National
The other day Jim and I were joking that these houses were so close together
that they probably had to walk through someone’s house to get to theirs. Imagine our surprise when one of the
contractors (who is Haitian but has lived most of his life in the US ) told us that this actually happens sometimes
with those closely built houses on the hills!
We were so pleased with our progress, the contractors seeing what needed
to be done and Marie interviewing all the influential people in the community. They said that they had a bad reputation but
when they know why an outsider is there, that no one would bother them as they
did their work. We have heard various
conflicting reports about working in this area.
One contractor told us that they had to pay off gangs so they won’t
sabotage the job while they do their work.
The job walk took all morning so we were happy at last to be able to
leave and find a place to eat and cool off.
The buffet was not being served at the hotel we went to yesterday and
Julio really likes to eat, so we went to another hotel with a buffet. The serving area was open to the swimming
pool and we could see that this hotel was a favorite of NGO’s and humanitarian
and aid workers, or just kids ‘doing their thing’ for two weeks. I was jealous that so many of them found time
to use the pool.
I was intrigued by the Haitian people and asked Marie what their ancestry
is made up of. I have noticed many that
look like Africans, some like Americans with dark skin, and many other
varieties of distinguishing features. Marie
said that it was because they had so many conquerors, that there is a huge
melting pot of cultures intermingled with the people. I noticed that the women here aren’t as
diligent in going to the hairdresser as they are in the parts of Africa we have been to. In Kenya and Sierra Leone even in the villages they were rarely without
a wig or hair piece weaved into their hair or at least braided. They do all that here too, but I saw many women
and older girls that just pulled their hair into a short ponytail in the back.
After lunch we met with Mr. Mouscardy who was to take us to DINEPA, the
government ‘water’ people. The man we
were looking for was at another building so we had to leave and drive to
another place, but we eventually got to visit with him and his colleagues at
about 4 PM —only one
hour off our schedule. We were finished
at 5
PM .
Marie and
Berthony interviewing a man near one of the water tanks and kiosks that we want
to bring water to. Right now a man pays
to have water trucked to the tank and then sells it.
I wish that was the only part of the story to tell, but when we got
there we received the same treatment we usually get from government people—they
don’t care much for their people, unless it benefits them. We had to sit there and listen while they
said that all of a sudden the water ‘wasn’t available’ and that they wanted to
give us a BOQ (bills of quantities) for the job we wanted to do. This means that they intend to use their
contractor, and in fact we think it is Mr. Mouscardy that is the contractor and
is the one that brought us to the project in the first place. I was so tired at this point of the day that
I had to chew gum to stay awake, but at the same time I think if they could have
gotten site of me (I was hidden behind a computer screen) they would have seen
steam coming out of my facial crevices. On
a previous trip, Jim said that they told him to give them the money and they
would do the job. Jim told them that we
don’t work that way. This is their way
of getting the money, so they think. If
need be, we will have to walk away, and after all this work and preparation by
everyone. I get so frustrated by 3rd
world governments.
We found this
family sleeping in one of the kiosks, along with another family. We found another kiosk being used by two
businesses, but we were able to solve these problems—if we bring water, they
will leave or at least sell water for us.
A few kiosks had been taken over by individuals buying water from trucks
and then selling to the people.
I was alternating between being very mad and praying. Julio whispered to Jim that this was the time
to give a ‘good speech’. Jim did not let
us down. He said later that his
inclination was to get up and leave, but instead he gave this eloquent
speech. He let them know that we had
money to spend every year in Haiti IF
our first project is successful. He also
let them know that we had a budget that we had to adhere to (meaning we doubt
if we will ever use one of their contractors with their overblown prices). We hope they got the message. It was our intention to meet with them the
first day, which would have saved all of us a lot of work. But Julio told
Mouscardy afterwards that this project was funded in 2012 and that if we
couldn’t use it, it would be gone, and if it wasn’t within the budget, it would
not be used in Haiti. We are sure he
will take this back to the others.
We are now here at the hotel and tomorrow I will actually get to enjoy
the facilities. Jim is going with
Berthony and Julio to check out an area where the church wants to drill a
borehole in time for a youth conference this summer. Luckily, it does not belong to anything
DINEPA has their finger on.
What a day! I’ll take a shower
and go to bed early…I need to lose my desire to strangle someone…
Love, Jim & Karen, mom & dad, E/S Greding
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