We arrived back in Haiti 3 weeks ago now, after a very lovely Christmas break back in UK and Denmark. It was really great catching up with friends and family and we got to see most of the people we had planned to see. We even got to meet our new niece/cousin, it was a privilege to be able to spend her first few days with her and her brother and sister. Every thing is more or less the same back in England and even Rebecca agrees that not much happens there either. Coming back to Haiti was coming home. “My house, my bed, my kitchen” and lots of familiar faces, quite a difference to arriving here 1 year ago.
Julian has had a reasonably quite time since we got back. Finishing up with the available materials on the hospital site and waiting for the pieces to fall into place for the construction of a Compassion school in the mountains 45min drive from here in Fontina. The school will be build from the same basic principles and design as the hospital and will keep Julian busy while we wait for the rest of the funds for the hospital. I think he is quite looking forward to it and I know he is looking forward to challenging the local workers to build the same again somewhere else.
Wednesday is market day in Palma, a town in the mountains about 1h drive from here. It is the big market on La Gonave and people come from all over the island to trade livestock, fresh produce and anything else one might want. We have talked about going since we first got here as it is suppose to be the best place for fresh vegetables and fruit. This week we had a team from South Carolina and Greg decided it was a good time to take a trip to the Palma market to buy live chickens for a local orphanage. The team loaded up on hired motorbikes with Greg on the quad bike, with a big plastic tub on the front and Julian and I decided to go two. Neither of us was needed on the compound for a few hours. I climbed on the back of Julian's motorbike and off we went to Palma.
The roads on La Gonave are awful. It must only be for political and personal safety reasons the “World’s worst roads” are not filmed here. The roads are merely dirt tracks and non of them smooth. The surface range between fine sand dust (looks and feels like talcum powder) to small rocks resembling marbles and big boulders with holes to match. It’s only about 7 miles to Palma but there is no way of driving quickly round here, every trip is a journey and an experience. Traveling 2 on a motorbike is a great way to spend time together as despite the noise of the engine you can have conversations without interruptions.
We made it to Palma with all 6 bikes and 7 people in good time and the market did not disappoint. There was a large livestock section with cattle, goats and pigs. It reminded me of the country fairs I used to go to as a child, even the auctioneer sounded authentic. The dried foods and clothes sections was definitely the least interesting part of the market. The fresh produce looked fresh and inviting and the meat section was incredible. Large tables under cover and with concrete floor was covered with freshly butchered cuts of meat of all kinds. The dogs were hanging round underneath the tables hoping for a bit to fall and fighting each other for even the smallest scrap of meat or bone. Julian and I had to step aside in order to not get caught up between 3 angry dogs. The flies were almost non existent in there, a sight we are not used to from the Anse a Galets market. On one of the tables we noticed a leg of beef. It was huge and really fresh, it was warm to the touch and the muscles were still twitching. It just looked so good. My initial reaction was, “what a roast that would make…fancy that for Sunday lunch?” After a little time of discussion and patience with our Creole we understood that the lady wanted Gds2000 for the whole leg, that’s $25US. Before we left home Julian had decided that we did not need to bring much money as I had told him there was nothing we really needed but suddenly we needed gds2000 cause I wanted that beef. We found the money we did have, about gds250, and went in search of the rest of the group to see if we could borrow the rest. No-one had goudes to lend us but one of the team members had $25 and decided to buy the meat if I would let him taste it. It turned out we had bought 5kg, 15lb’s of beef and it was really fresh. I apologise for forgetting my camera.
Greg had mentioned he wanted to buy about 5 hens for Katie and Bernard's orphanage but even he was swept along by the atmosphere and by the time we got back to the bikes there were 8 hens and a cockerel to fit into the tub. All secured we set off back down the mountain. On a bike in front of us was 2 men with a pig strapped to the back. First I though it was dead but as they set off the pig started squealing like only pigs can do. Poor thing was strapped across the back grate with 25% of its body hanging off either side of the bike. Only the middle section was supported and that on a metal rack with no cushioning. After a few hundred yards we caught up with the bike again. By now the pig had stopped squealing and was groaning every time the bike hit a pump or went down a hollow. It was absolutely awful to see and Julian had to overtake at the first opportunity. I dread to think what state that pig would have been in by the time it reached its destination, broken ribs, internal bruising etc.??????? For someone who loves meat but would like to thing that my steak was “happy in life and happy in death” it can be difficult to watch how the Haitians treat their animals.
Back at the compound, with sore arms from holding myself toward the back of the bike going down hill, we weight the massive leg of cow and arrange with Met Johnny, the guesthouse manager, that we should cook the beef and add it to the team and missionary supper the following evening. Julian BBQ’ed the beef, thanks to WISH for lending us the BBQ, and although it was overcooked for our European pallets it was very tasty with roast potatoes, fresh rolls and Coleman’s horseradish sauce. Yum.
My day off was not quite finished though as Wednesday afternoon the team went snorkelling on the “Breeze Sea”, the lobster boat we have not been able to use since we arrived. The girls got their first swimming trip from the boat and as they have been looking forward to, since Julian and I arrived back from Haiti Oct 2011, they got to jump in from the roof of the boat into deeper water. They had a great time and Rebecca enjoyed using her new flippers.
Wednesday this week was an unexpected and delightful day off in Haiti.
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