Moulin sur Mer

Moulin Sur Mer

We've been at the Moulin Sur Mer hotel for 7 days and it's been like a secret world. Beautiful tropical beaches with palm trees and coconuts, clear aquamarine water, conche shells, clean, white sand and friendly, sociable people enjoying the warm balmy days.

We've met some interesting families here, of all races and nationalities, many in the diplomatic services, some working for charities, the UN or Haitian Americans who have returned here to spend time with families.It has been wonderful to meet such interesting people, all seemingly super intelligent with such vast experiences of the world, work and travel. 

One lovely couple, the wife a Haitian American and her husband an Italian, who live in  Geneva and work for the UN. Another couple, a Haitian American lady married to a French guy, who are in the process of adopting 2 little Haitian toddlers, over here spending time with their adoptive children while they wait for the adoption procedure to be completed before they take their children off to America to live. 

There seem to be quite a few families with one adopted Haitian child to a westernised family, who seem to have brought the children back for a holiday ...not sure if this is a requirement of adoption over here or whether the parents want to keep the children in touch with their roots.

Have spent time with a super friendly and clearly very smart guy from the UK military who came over to help immediately after the Haitian earthquake and has continued to spend his leave time from the army, doing charity work as well as combining this with military duties in America. 

Have met various families and individuals, whilst swimming and floating about on a giant inflated trampoline, moored close to the beach...a short swim from shore and a big attraction for Seb.. One couple, the husband an American attache and originally from the Cameroon, just recently arrived.. sharing their experiences of Port au Prince and their immediate impressions. People have mentioned that Haiti is very expensive and some have said, surprisingly, that private education here, is not particularly good, in the international and westernised schools. But that has only been the opinion of one or two.

As we've got closer to New Year, the hotel has filled up and there seem to be more Haitian families having a holiday and then Haitian American families, meeting up with their relatives who live on the island, to spend new year together. 

There are a few of these hotel complexes along this stretch of coast, close to Port au Prince but a million miles away from the lives of most Haitians. This is another Haiti, clean, comfortable and safe. Litter free, with westernised music and food...a 'bubble', and maybe a necessary (?) luxury getaway for expat families, tourists, Haitian professionals and charity employees, to escape the litter strewn, chaotic life, traffic infested, dusty, rutted streets and bleak hills, and shanty dwellings, that exist outside of the hotel estates. It's difficult not to feel guilty about the inequality that exists in this poor but (in parts) beautiful country. However as one Haitian doctor said to me, 'Tourism brings money and jobs...don't knock it.'

Its been a wonderful beach holiday, despite Seb and I suffering persistent 'deli' belly, which we have renamed 'Haitian tummy'. But you can't help feeling constantly aware that a mile away from the resort, there is poverty, unemployment, despair, lack of basic infrastructure like reasonable roads, and too many people living on the breadline.

Our last day here, ending after New Year. Back to the central plateau, and Mirebalais, for one day. Then to Port au Prince for the last night before we fly back to the UK. Think my lasting impressions are not going to be of this idyllic beach, but of the Haitians I see on the roadside and in the overcrowded taxi's, struggling home after a hard day battling to make a living.

Port au Prince

Day 5 

Port au Prince

Port au Prince....crickey, what a place. The traffic!!! Just a crawling mass of vehicles all randomly dodging and beeping their way along potholed, dusty, rutted roads. Buses are amazingly brightly painted and decorated, moving works of art. With template like, patterned windows and covered in elaborately painted scenes, some religious with messages beautifully scripted.

And people everywhere. 4 x 4 vehicles of all shapes and sizes nudging through the streams of traffic. The occasional hand pulled, and pushed, carts covered in metal pipes and another with firewood, determinedly trudging along with the massive trucks and hooting cars. And of course, 'motos' (scooters) everywhere, dodging in and out between the cars and bumping along the pavements when gaps can't be found in the traffic. 

Bedlam at intersections with no apparent system as to who has right of way, everyone pushing their way forward until they create a gap to squeeze into. Bryan is completely in his element, manoeuvring his way through the nose to tail traffic.

Ladies carrying huge bundles of blankets or wood on their heads, some swinging throttled chicken with their dead wings, and heads, flopping about. Vendors selling piles of stuff from wheelbarrows, small stalls and from rough concrete steps of their small shops. 

We visited the metal work factory area to buy some of the beautifully cut out metal pictures and artworks. Found a beautiful mirror with peacocks tails cascading down each side, for Bryan's house. (Bachelor lifestyle doesn't prioritise things like mirrors but Bryan thinks it could be useful for shaving!)

Strong, lean Haitian men sit hammering away at the metal sheets onto which they have traced intricate templates of sea scenes, trees, birds and cyclists. Once they've carved out the design, another guy sits tapping away with hammer and small anvil like tool, tracing around the edges of objects to create a raised pattern. Huge amount of work and then to sell a medium sized artwork for $10.

Next to the find the american supermarket 'Giant' in the supposedly salubrious Pettonville district, which I had been led to believe was very wealthy and exclusive. The roads were in much better shape and there is a feeling of it being a 'neighbourhood' with solid, big buildings, hotels and a more structured layout to the whole area. Some quite grand buildings with gardens and street lights. The same random surging traffic system though and still masses of people swarming along the pavements and hanging out in squares and parks. 

'Giant'...clean, orderly and completely westernised, has everything you could wish for and we were even able to buy an ironing board and kettle. A very genial, polished, pale skinned, french looking lady, who would have looked at home in a posh french boutique, helped us find some bits and chatted away charmingly. The ex pats at the hospital in Mireblais, apparently make a group trip here once a month...it must be a godsend. You can buy sliced bread, any cereal imaginable and butter, and cheese! All unheard of items in Mireblais markets and so called supermarkets.

Then into another world completely...we went to wonderful 'Brasserie Quatier Latin'. A sublime restaurant in an old colonial house, in the Pietonville district. It was now dark and as we walked up the spotless peddled covered drive we were transported into another world of calm and beauty, the lush gardens lit up by fairy lights wrapped around the trunks of huge palm trees and then into the tall ceilinged rooms with white clothed tables lit by candles and soft lighting. We ate delicious food in the beautiful open aired courtyard and when the band struck up, Seb was encouraged to join in by playing the shakers, the cymbals and then tapping to the beat with wooden sticks. of course, he loved the limelight and jiggled his way through the songs. A gorgeous place, world class and a memorable experience.

Then back along the softly lit palm treed drive, at the end of which sat parked security cars with and guards hovering, forming a barrier to the city people...not a comfortable experience and a bit of a stark reminder that there are desperately hungry people nearby. Start the journey back to Mireblais and down the hill from the attractive area of Pietonville into the crazy throbbing city, dodgem driving and back onto the dust swirling, bumpy roads ...a bit quieter now but the pavements still thronged with people hanging out, open fires burning trash and dogs scratching around the piles of debris. 

Cange

Day 6

Sunday 22nd 

Cange

Getting close to 'Noel' and we're the only ex pats from the hospital left now. All the US folk and other nationalities have made their way back to the states or into the Dominican Republic for the Xmas break. The house which provides the catering for ex pat staff is still producing food for 40,  so with just 3 of us to feed, plus the security guard and one or 2 cooking staff, the other 34 portions must either being sold or used to feed the families nearby. 

A big problem for Bryan I gather, as the catering bill is way out of kilter.  But a dilemma as, if the large amounts of extra food are going to the local needy, then surely this is providing 'aid' for Haitian people? However, the funds for the hospital must be kept for the relevant medical expenditure.

We visited the huge man-made dam at Cange, built in the 50's by the USA & operational in '68, to see the massive hydro electric scheme which provides 2/3 of Haiti with electricity. There are problems with the Hydro scheme as the dam is silting up.

The area between Port au Prince and Mireblais is pretty barren, which looks strange as this is a tropical country with, theoretically, rich soil. The hills all over this inland area are bare and dry due to cutting down of all the trees for firewood. The result of this is that the top soil washes off into the rivers and then is carried into the dam. This has resulted in a build up of silt and debris at the dam wall where the turbines draw in water, and one of  the 3 turbines is out of commission. The Haitian gov have a team of Italian deep water divers trying to clear it and consequently, a decompression chamber is available at the hospital to treat these guys if they need it. 

The interesting thing is, that this complicated and highly skilled operation to clear the turbines, probably couldn't have happened quite so easily, if the hospital wasn't in situ...and the company contracted to repair the turbine are having private medical treatment at the hospital, which brings in good revenue. But this treating of private patients is a contentious issue, another moral dilemma. Should the hospital be strictly reliant on foreign aid (which is difficult to sustain) and for local Haitians only? Or should the hospital have some private patients which produces income and begins to make it produce some of it's own funds?

Again, I am being made aware of the massively privileged life we lead in the UK, with our National Health System, free Education (apparently 40% of Haitians have no formal education and the other 60% may only get 2 years of schooling, for which their parents have to pay!) and Social Security. People who whinge about how awful things are in relation to these, and petty comments about waiting 10 minutes for the phone to be answered at their local surgery, should be airlifted here and plonked in Mirebalais for a dose of reality!

Seb has made good friends with the local kids now and there are 2 boys, Damus and Dolph, who live next door, who are regular visitors. They hang out, play hours of football (Seb joins in with the constant calling of 'passe mois!')  They all love lying on the livingroom floor, adding to the big communal drawing on a piece of old brown paper, saved from some packaging...everyone adding something to the communal art work. 

Did I mention how dusty it is? White dust everywhere, worse when the kids have kicked all the dust up in the yard. Added to no running water (bucket baths...eek, or cold showers at the hospital), no washing machine (Nadege handwashes in the river, I use a bucket) no cooker (but we have a proper kettle and ironing board now!) and no internet...there are some things I'm looking forward to enjoying at the hotel at Xmas!

Ecole de choix

DAY 4 

FRIDAY 20TH DEC

Wake up to the cockerels crowing and the one poor guy joining in weakly, who must be an adolescent....he has a much deeper, croakier call.

Mon Dieu!

Big surprise when we left the house to ritual drive up to 'Le hopital' for our daily shower (no water yet and not gonna happen while we're here...they've decided that digging the 10m well by hand, another few meters, is not a good option as someone recently died in a deep well digging, when the sides caved in on him! And our 'hole' is perilously close to the house, scenes of disaster...collapsing structures...ouch! So they're bringing in a digger...watch this space apparently!)

So we left the house and were immediately struck by how clean everything looked around us....someone had done a clear up of the litter!

That explained the letter that came in, written in French, which I hadn't properly understood..they were asking all the neighbours to help in a holiday litter clean up... I thought it was a local census...eek...must brush up on my French!!

What a difference! This place actually looks like a tropical country with palms & green indigenous foliage instead of shredded plastic bags clinging to trees & fences, broken bottles lying about, plastic containers, plastic tubs and cups and more and more plastic sh*t strewn about.

Our whole little neighbourhood was out en force, guys with machetes attacking the weeds and overgrown bushes, people raking up debris and stones and tidying up the road & their front gardens! And this is all in aid of the Public holidays...not sure if its Xmas itself or just because of holiday celebrations....such a shame I can't speak Creole and ask Nadej..she'd explain. It would be amazing if they could maintain this clean look....somehow I doubt this will be long term

Visited the new local charity-funded school where Lisa volunteers, running the library and a reading program. This was the condition so her 3 daughters can attend. We were met by Lisa who kindly showed us around and introduced us to the Head of school and various staff. Her three gorgeous little girls showed us their classrooms and chatted away happily about their school experience. They are taught in 3 languages, French, Creole and English and it seems that the core subjects are all taught in the 3 languages ...quite impressive to think you cover addition and subtraction in French, Creole and English...and pretty challenging too.

The school was created through a charity trust for the children of the lowest socio economic level in the local area of Mirebalais. It was a surprise. Pleasant, practical high ceilinged buildings with good resources, interactive white boards, a computer suite with enough computer notebooks for each child in a class, loads of textbooks and workbooks, a well stocked library and lovely, seemingly v motivated staff...mostly young men and happy kids running around in cute uniforms with the girls hair tied in coloured bunches all over their heads. The school not only provides a really good, sound and structured education, it also provides each child with a nutritious meal (for some, their only meal of the day) and drinks and snacks at  break times. If the hospital is an oasis in the desert this is a mini mirage... such an amazing facility in a poor and struggling community.

Of course their biggest challenge is maintaining ongoing funding....must be a nightmare. But they have over 50% 'sponsored children' whose food is paid for by overseas donors at $350 per annum. The "Kellogg's' group was also mentioned as a major funding contributor...I'll remember that next time I reach for the 'No name brand' cornflakes & I'll get the Kellogg's variety instead. 

Back to the hospital to catch up on some emails and to make use of the internet. Lunch at Construction House as per usual and back to the office with Bryan to have an afternoon of internet use!

Tonight.....probably a take away from one of the rickety little shack like 'restaurants' ...you really do not want to look in the kitchen or at the tethered pig snoring alongside the shack. 

Oh yes, did I say? ...not only do we have no running water, we also have no cooker (or stove as the American's call them.) No appliances at all in fact, except a small travel kettle that takes 20 min to boil! It's so weird not even being able to boil an egg!

 

Haiti..local shopping experience...a change from Waitrose

Day 3 

Thursday 19th

Our day started with Bryan, Seb and I hopping on the bike (I know 3 up...scandalous!) and motoring up to the hospital to shower and use a proper loo!

 

Still no running water and we didn't have enough buckets of the neighbours borehole water (which the housekeeper collects from an outdoor borehole ..pumped by hand, every day) to wash. 

We then bike over to the collective house (called Construction House as this is where the construction team lived when they were building the hospital) for breakfast with the rest of the ex pat hospital staff. Pancakes (way too sweet -people here apparently add loads of sugar to everything, hence Diabetes being a common disease I believe) and fresh pineapple & homemade baps/rolls.

Then Seb and I had another go at visiting the 'super market' with the housekeeper Nadege. This time Bryan took us all into town on the motorbike on his way to work, 4 up! I know, horror of horrors and not something I would ever have imagined doing! However, it is sometimes the only mode of transport (the hospital shared cars are all busy at the moment) and the locals all get around like this and its amazing how quickly you adapt to local behaviour, or you'd sit at home!

'Moto taxis' is the commonest form of transport here but not with the expats. I realised how un-PC it was for a 'blance' (as the Haitians casually call us westerners) to do this when we went to lunch at the shared house after our town visit and I gaily announced that we'd caught a 'moto taxi' home. There was a collective gasp and dropping of jaws and cutlery! Not that the doctors and nurses are whimps, they are just told categorically not to catch the moto taxis as they are defying death if they survive the ordeal. Probably extremely sensible & I shouldn't be admitting to our irresponsible behaviour but it was fine, Bryan is an experienced bike rider, traffic and road rules pretty hairy but we got home in one piece.

The 'super market' was something else. Like being in the poorest part of Soweto, in SA. Started at the massively busy high street with stacks of small shops and shacks, all selling loads of cheap Chinese products: cosmetics, hair products, wigs, hair extensions, foreign brands of soaps and creams and loads of pills and medicines...unpackaged and with no labels or instructions that I could see. Plastic house ware, cheapy toys, buckets, piles of clothes and shoes, plenty of quite pretty bras and pants, tin buckets, more plastic stuff and still more cheap plastic stuff! The food...meal, maize seeds (popcorn), sugar, flower, dried beans etc are all sold by weight out of big sacks. 

Then into the food market which is on bare earth and vendors crouching under low canopies (cheap plastic and cotton sheets held up by wooden stakes.) Flies everywhere, sad dogs wandering around, dirty buckets containing food and just generally terribly unhygienic. Rather pathetic fresh produce, rotting lettuce, Tomatoes...not too bad, dirty cabbages and twisted and sometimes shrivelled carrots. Then healthier looking sweet potatoes , bananas and limes. Some garlic and whilted Spring onions and coriander. 

We ended up buying all sorts of stuff... some I didn't even want, like the 6 limes I ended up with, but I felt sorry for the lady selling them. And some stuff Nadej bought without me knowing, as our french/english leads to confusion! Nadej did the bartering and paid with my money (just handed her a bundle of notes in the end!) ...she had a blast!

Then we started trudging home with our wares in the hot sun. Half way back I gave in and told Nadej she could flag down the 'moto scooter' that she had mentioned about 6 times on the walk home! So there we were again, Seb and I, two of the four riders, on a moto scooter....we were certainly noticed by the locals as they're used to riding this way but not used to seeing 'blancs', especially a woman and child, travelling 'local' fashion. (Or should that be 'loco' fashion?)

The afternoon was the opposite in terms of civilisation and activity. Bryan motorbiked & dropped Seb and I off at a smart cuban styled hotel on the other side of town where we swam and then were joined by Lisa, Luther, & family & Luther's amazingly interesting mum visiting from the US. As well as another v friendly ex pat American doctor who had family staying at the hotel. We had a fun afternoon & evening, swimming and chatting and stayed on for chicken and chips. 

That felt like a world away from the Mireblais market.

First day in Haiti

We arrived in Haiti  yesterday and my first impressions were that the airport, dated and a bit jaded, reminded me of the old Louise Botha in Durban (South Africa), from when we were kids. Post colonial, Sixties style tiling, narrow stairs down to the baggage hall, old fashioned posters advertising holiday resorts and wilting plants in brown pots. 

Except more crowded and with a cheerful, bouncing band playing a mix of jazz and Hawaiian music. Reached the high fenced, razor wired, locked up heaving, parking lot and experienced the baptism of honking horns and close cut manovouring as the random parking system gradually unravelled itself with huge 4 wheel drives squeezing past each other for the narrow exit. 

Then we found out about Haitian driving and traffic rules! ...there aren't any.

Guys if you ever thought South African or Greek drivers were unsophisticated and the roads hazardous, then come here for the real thing...OMG. The roads are pot holed and rutted and if your car breaks down, you just leave it where it stops. No one drives on the correct side of the road (I actually can't work out if they drive on right or left) you just go down the middle and swerve out of each other's way as you pass. Motorbikes are everywhere and its a waste to drive one solo, so one passenger at least, but more often 3 on board and quite a few 4 up!

So much of this country reminds me of Sough Africa. The people...who could be zulus and xhosas (But some are soo tall!) Most are friendly & will answer you with a happy 'bonjour'...the more gentle attitude of the woman and the sometimes, arrogance of the men. The little kids wandering around near their homes, half dressed and generally looking like they should have a mum near them, but actually they are pretty street wise, toddling out of the way of motorbikes and just learning about life from their experiences as they watch the 'toing and froing' on the streets.

The countryside would be beautiful, hilly and tropical but there has been massive deforestation and the hills are dry and eroded. But the saddest thing to see if the littering. Again, as we all know, parts of SA are v bad for this, I think of areas we've driven through...Empangeni, parts of the South Coast and around squatter camps and informal dwellings. Here, there is major litter everywhere! I have yet to see a dustbin. It's such a horrible thing and a real shame as it spoils the small glimpses of beauty.

There is a big informal settlements right near the airport in Port Au Prince...again reminiscent of Durban and Cape Town, but you don't drive past it behind fences and from the middle lane of a free way. Here you're on a rutted concrete road with the squatter camp right alongside. 

In the towns, there are concrete homes, simple but with some little touches of character. But loads of tin huts and sad little dwellings. Chickens running everywhere, goats, of course and the occasional donkey and pig. And Litter!!!

Bryan's house is one of the solid, substantial homes near the hospital. It's fine, tiled throughout, cleanly painted, a cement front yard (No time for gardens here) and 4 beds, 3 bathrooms. This is all good except they have no water. Yet! The workmen are busy digging a borehole which I gather is an ongoing project ..but hasn't reached fruition! Oh, and there is power restrictions so they have the noisiest generator around. And the fridge arrived the same days as we did and still no cooker. But hey, it is luxurious compared to what some of the neighbours have. The hospital rents out a number of these bigger houses and all the staff live in them in groups. There is one main communal house...Construction house..must be 6 bedrooms and this is where the meals are cooked and served to doctors and some of the admin staff (mostly the ex pat group.) And apparetnly, they also feed ost of the neighbourhood surruptisiously.

Bryan shares with Gabu (who is a Gambian surgeon) and clinical director and they are good friends.

Seb immediately made friends with some of the local neighbourhood kids and was throwing his ball around outside the gate with them. They see him as a bit of a novelty but seemed sweet (apart from a few older ones who were a bit cocky) and were asking him his name and speaking to him in a mix of french and english. We also dropped in on an American family last night, a surgeon Luther (who was operating) his friendly, lovely wife Lisa & blonde children who are living here for 2 years. 3 little girls & a baby boy. They're going to a local school and their mum is helping out at the school in payment for their education. It's a state school but these were the conditions of them being educated here. Really confident kids who are coping v well with the big changes they are experiencing..all speaking French and Creole after a few months.... Seb loved them of course...three pretty blond girls.

The housekeeper, Nadege, who works at the house is lovely, she is 22 and has a cute 1 & half year old son called Ashton. Seb played ball with him this morning and then Nad walked (or should I say car and 'moto' dodged our way) with us into town to the market...which we never reached as there was no money in the ATM.

Instead I had my first encounter with a stroppy Haitian youth who treated me to a little verbal racism when we accidentally jumped the queue (it was an honest and easily made mistake as people were lolling all over the passageway, african style and you couldn't see where the queue end or started!) 

We were obviously a spectacle walking through town, a white woman and white boy, and guys were rubber necking us on bikes and a thin, poor looking lady carried her child up to us and took Seb's hand to touch the baby...she must believe it would bring her good luck. On the whole, the Haitians are curious but polite and non threatening. And the ones you meet through work and socially are genuinely nice and welcoming.

We're now in Bryan's office after spending most of the day on our own at the house (we've set up our cheapy Tescos xmas tree and pottered about) and the hospital is amazing...by anyones standards! It's like an oasis amongst the rutted roads and shacks.  Very colonial looking, all the buildings stark white, built around courtyards with black wrought iron ballastrades and tropcal flower beds. Haven't yet been to the clinical side but the admin section is wonderful... again centred around courtyards, clean, white walls, lovely planting and a feeling of coolness and tranquility. 

But this illusion of some pristine colonial estate, maybe on a sugar plantation, is quickly dispelled by the families of the sick camping out on the pavements and on the walkways around the hospital as well as the informal stalls (well, the smart ones have an umbrella with a table and a half drum with coals) set up on the opposite side of the road. Outside the admin block, from Bryan's office window, you can see and hear chatter, kids playing from a nearby field with a water pump. This is a communal gathering place and somehow feels odd when you are amongst the composed office staff and clean corridors of the admin section. But actually, the chatter, laughter and noises of people gathering in the background, is somehow comforting and normal.

We're off to some social function tonight, for staff and people connected to the hospital so will be coming back here to shower and change before we mingle with the ex pats (Seb too!) Have no idea what to expect but sure the people will be friendly and interesting.