Rocks Out of Water

By Nick Caistor
Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Haiti was the first country in the Americas to abolish slavery, when it won its independence in 1804 after a struggle led by Toussaint Louverture. But thousands live a life of near-slave labour because of poverty and social breakdown.

Jeanette is walking up a hill in Petionville, a district in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince. She is carrying a huge blue drum full of water on her head. Jeanette is only six, but has to walk 4km (2.4 miles) every day to get the water from the public standpipe.

Jeanette was born in the countryside outside the small town of Hinche in the north of the country. Her parents are among the poorest of the poor in this country where more than half the population of 9m lives on less than 50 US cents (£0.25) a day.

Her father one day told her she was going to stay with (French: rester avec) distant relatives in the Haitian capital. Ever since, Jeanette has become one of the estimated 250,000 children used as near-slave labour in Haiti.

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Another event during the month of January was the annual fèt, celebration, at the Catholic Church in Meno. It was a really big event for my host family because it was their youngest daughter, Kitkit’s, first communion. I still don’t understand all that went on, but I believe the first communion activities began on Thursday and the children had 3 days of classes/preparation with the priest. (Kitkit even skipped school for 2 days.) Saturday morning they attended a church service and then went back to their houses for a reception with family and friends. I regret I didn’t get up to Meno in time for Kitkit’s reception – there were just too many other things going on that same day.

What I did get to see were the nighttime festivities. Hardly anyone in Meno slept that night! My host mother and many other women from the community were at the church making dinner for the priest and preparing to decorate the church for the mass the next morning. Down the hill from the church, surrounding the school, people had set up little stands, with lights, and they were selling all sorts of food items. It felt so lively! I couldn’t believe it – there were 3 different dances set up with 3 different generators, and at about 9:30 at night, 6 men from the community were climbing the Meno mountain, carrying another generator to provide light for the women to decorate the church. Almost everyone was helping with something – it was truly a community effort!

The next morning the mass was beautiful and brought tears to my eyes. The choir sang a plethora of songs and my favorite part was a group of young girls who performed synchronized dances during the music. I love the way communion is done during celebrations at Haitian catholic churches. As the offering plate is passed, everyone’s eyes are focused on a double line of slow moving dancers, rocking back and forth, as they make their way up the middle aisle. They are usually carrying baskets of produce on their heads, which to me, is such a beautiful visual reminder of bringing the very best of what we have been given, and placing it before God.

I wish I had some pictures of the actual mass, but I’m sure they wouldn’t have done it justice. It was so special to have spent the last 8 months living in Meno and then share this important community event with them. Below are two of my neighbors, the littlest, Jilianna, was baptized.

Another treat for me was meeting Leslie, the only SenJan (my host family) sibling I had yet to meet. Leslie lives and works in the Dominican Republic and he came home for the festival. In the picture below, Leslie is standing next to me in the black shirt. These are the 4 youngest SenJan kids, from left to right, Kiki (16), Roosevelt (18), Leslie (23), and Jean Frantz (21).

The last two months have flown by and we finally have time to sit down and update the blog. We had a very busy January, filled with planning for a transformational travel (TT) group, receiving the group, and attending the week long Limyè Lavi annual meeting (Beyond Borders sister organization).

One of the highlights of the month was meeting the TT participants and spending a week with them as they experienced Haiti for the first time. I think they enjoyed their time, and one of the participants has traveled back to Haiti already. In fact, she is in the country right now, and is making plans to open a store selling handmade Haitian arts and crafts.

I certainly learned a great deal while the group was here! Instead of hiring people we didn’t know to make food, we put together a kitchen team of our favorite cooks, our good friend Samson’s girlfriend, Marjory, and our neighbor Dalouse, and someone how I got into the mix too. Cooking here is a big ordeal and it can take 3+ hours just to make one meal. My week was filled with trips to the market with Dalouse, early mornings, and a whole lot of hearing, “No, that’s not how you do it. Cut it like this, or wash it like this…..”

I was exhausted by the end of the week, but thankful for the experience. It was especially neat for the group, as they got to interact with the cooks, help out, and learn how the food was made. We all went away with a deeper appreciation the long hours put into making a delicious meal.