Greetings from Fondwa, Haiti
I can't believe its in the middle of my trip already...I'm sad to leave here. This entry is me just rambling about what we saw today...
Today we woke up early and went with the group from Family Health Ministries to the Elementary-Middle-Secondary School. Some children walk up to 2 1/2 hours just to get there, now that's dedication. I kinda felt bad that I felt tired so quickly walking on that road (I-Fondwa as Norma calls it). We were all given the tour of the facility and I felt kinda bad taking pictures of the children, like they were some kind of spectacle for the foreigners to take pictures of. Its alright though, I talked to Dave about it and he says that they understand that big groups from Family Health Ministries are good because they'll keep donating money if they see the good that they do.
We also went on a tour with Mono (after naps and reading) on the economic programs that the peasant association are funding to revitalize Fondwa. We saw the reforestation projects that are trying to solve a the big problem of soil run off from lack of trees. Professor Meehan said that there were a lot more trees from the last time that he visited the area. We went to the chicken coup-where they are raising Dominican chickens-that are stronger and more rustic. There was also a pig pen, but it was kind of sad because the APF stopped funding it because they thought that the farmers should be self sustaining by this point (sell pigs to get more food). But that's not the case and the pigs are anorexic.
We also saw the nursery where baby trees are growing. We wanted to plant some trees, but rainy season hasn't started yet-so our efforts would have been futile. What a trek! I was so freaking tired at this point-but that's alright the views were amazing. We visited the bee-hive project, which they just started up about 3 weeks ago. I bought some honey from it. The idea for all these economic projects are to build a local economy. We're actually going to see the market on Wednesday.
Finally, we saw the water-project. Its a reservoir that collects water from a stream. The idea is to collect the water and add clorine to it to purify it. It also helps out the peasants so they do not have to walk as far to get the water.
I am really excited about tomorrow because we are going to get to see the University of Fondwa.
The only thing about this trip that is kind of bothersome (only a little) is that I seem to be the "3rd Wheel." Norma and Professor Meehan have the same academic and social interests so its understandable that whenever he wants to make a point he says "hey Norma, you'll like this.." Well, hey! just because I don't know much about a subject doesn't mean that I don't want to learn more about it. oh well, its really not that bad, I just wish more people we in the mix.
Today we woke up early and went with the group from Family Health Ministries to the Elementary-Middle-Secondary School. Some children walk up to 2 1/2 hours just to get there, now that's dedication. I kinda felt bad that I felt tired so quickly walking on that road (I-Fondwa as Norma calls it). We were all given the tour of the facility and I felt kinda bad taking pictures of the children, like they were some kind of spectacle for the foreigners to take pictures of. Its alright though, I talked to Dave about it and he says that they understand that big groups from Family Health Ministries are good because they'll keep donating money if they see the good that they do.
We also went on a tour with Mono (after naps and reading) on the economic programs that the peasant association are funding to revitalize Fondwa. We saw the reforestation projects that are trying to solve a the big problem of soil run off from lack of trees. Professor Meehan said that there were a lot more trees from the last time that he visited the area. We went to the chicken coup-where they are raising Dominican chickens-that are stronger and more rustic. There was also a pig pen, but it was kind of sad because the APF stopped funding it because they thought that the farmers should be self sustaining by this point (sell pigs to get more food). But that's not the case and the pigs are anorexic.
We also saw the nursery where baby trees are growing. We wanted to plant some trees, but rainy season hasn't started yet-so our efforts would have been futile. What a trek! I was so freaking tired at this point-but that's alright the views were amazing. We visited the bee-hive project, which they just started up about 3 weeks ago. I bought some honey from it. The idea for all these economic projects are to build a local economy. We're actually going to see the market on Wednesday.
Finally, we saw the water-project. Its a reservoir that collects water from a stream. The idea is to collect the water and add clorine to it to purify it. It also helps out the peasants so they do not have to walk as far to get the water.
I am really excited about tomorrow because we are going to get to see the University of Fondwa.
The only thing about this trip that is kind of bothersome (only a little) is that I seem to be the "3rd Wheel." Norma and Professor Meehan have the same academic and social interests so its understandable that whenever he wants to make a point he says "hey Norma, you'll like this.." Well, hey! just because I don't know much about a subject doesn't mean that I don't want to learn more about it. oh well, its really not that bad, I just wish more people we in the mix.