I spent the last 10 days with my Haitian family in Meno. Here are a few photos and a tiny glimpse into life in rural Haiti.
From as early as 6:30 in the morning the Senjan house (our Haitian host family) is overflowing with kids. When I wake up and am often greeted by a million bonjou’s from the mouths of 3 and 4 year olds followed by “byen domi, m’ pa pise nan kabann”. (I slept well, I didn’t pee in the bed.) On this particular day all of the young kids were marching around the house singing, with a leaf perched on their heads. Meet Alainx, Paublo, Joanna, Fabrese, Oberson, and Maniska.
This is my host father Senjan. He is grinding corn to make akansann, which my host mother sells every Friday and Saturday at the local market.
My host mother, Madam Senjan or Mimi, is scraping the last bit of coffee out of the pilon. After the coffee is grilled it is finely ground in this large mortar and pestle.
One of the neighbor kids was endlessly trying to fly his little kite. He spent hours on top of these tombs, located right next to the Senjan house, trying to get it to fly.
This is a view from the top of Meno. It isn’t the best picture, but you can get an idea of the landscape.
The simple words of this Haitian proverb have come to life for us over the past month. As we split out time between the city of Jacmel and our Haitian home in the rural community of Meno, we’ve had many opportunities to see how food is distributed. Our host mother in Meno, Madam St. John, constantly amazes us with her generosity. Each day, after she feeds us and her family of seven, we watch her hand out small plates of food to the neighbor kids. Sometimes we feel like were watching food being magically multiplied, because no matter how many people are at the house she always has something for everyone, deliberately adjusting the portions to make a plate for all.
In a country where most know the pains of hunger all to well, and families never know if they will have the means to eat the next day, it’s remarkable to watch our friends share instead of hoard. In fact, they are teaching us to live better in community while helping us to laying aside our greedy individualist tendencies. This week we found ourselves in the food distribution role while making delicious Haitian hot chocolate. Our first instinct was to put aside 2 heaping glasses for ourselves before allocating the rest. Yet, in a subtle way our Haitian friend reminded us, before we had the chance to embarrass ourselves, that our first priority was to share with our neighbors. It is times like this we realize that we have a lot to learn!
As if living in the Caribbean was not hot enough, I came down with Malaria this week. We caught it right away, but it still included a significant rise in body temperature that put me up for 4 days. I am just about recovered but a bit weak and a few pounds lighter. On the bright side I did loose the spare tire I was carrying around my waist. This is my second bout with malaria–I had it once before when I lived in Haiti in 2001. By far the most memorable part about malaria is the medicated dreams. Just last night I had the chance to visit a number of distant lands, and even got the opportunity see some of you who I have not seen in a long time.
I undoubtedly contracted my illness last week while with a Transformational Travel group in O Cayes–a town known for being overrun with mosquitoes. We had a youth group here visiting from Bowling Green Kentucky, the 6 kids and 4 leaders had an enjoyable visit, experiencing some daily activities of Haitian life…milking cows, grafting fruit trees, and handing out report cards at a local school.
