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.
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