Haiti 04: M'ap Boule

I awoke the next morning at five thirty in the morning completely refreshed after 10 hrs of sleep beautifully set up by a bath in the river that washed away the heat and excitement of the day that would have made sleep impossible.

After the soccer match we walked down to the river through the dark, wary of a tarantula that Shane had seen on the path earlier. The river was muddy from the day's rain so we walked up stream to a tributary with fresh clear water cascading in shallow steps. A half moon and stars illuminated the stream and jungle edges with magic; the sound of frogs and insects calling out to each other in this perfect place completely grounded me where I stood while my whole being reached out to connect with Laura, our love and the life and dreams we share. I wished for a temporary collapse in the space between us so we could share this place together for a while.

This lack of man-made bathing infrastructure that had been related to me by a colleague as a quaint inconvenience of the site was transformed by its sublime, raw, elemental nature into a timeless human experience. I reluctantly dried off and walked back towards the school and the light, pleasant sleep that awaited.

Breakfast

After our breakfast of hot chocolate, bread and fire roasted corn on the cob - which we took after conversing with some boys leading sand bearing donkeys who traded us fruit for bits of our Clif Bars (which we later found cast aside on the river bank) and a final review and coordination of work to be done on site - we dropped by Madame Luke's cabin to say goodbye. Here we got to see Iseya and hand him the Kreyol - English translation sheet as promised and were entreated by him to return soon - a request I hope to fulfill shortly.

The cash for work program is a part of the overall project where people who live in the area provide day labor in two week rotations so anyone who is willing and able can take advantage of accessing temporary employment. Today's staff may have done well to stay in bed as a delivery of plywood and varnish had to be transported in to the site - by hand over the route to Embouchure previously described. I started to appreciate the response "M'ap Boule!" more and more as we crossed paths with men carrying two sheets of 1/2" plywood on their heads - huge smiles from faces dripping with sweat and a singing "M'ap Boule!" (I am burning!) before continuing on back to the school at Embouchure.

Plywood Trekking

The sun was out as we changed into our boots climbed up from the river into the foothills - our Haitian engineer Elisca and his friend having left us in the dust stood waving encouragement from a distant hilltop - as the day started to heat up. I marveled at the landscape and the building heat and stopped often to take photos and rest from the climb. I was soon singing out my reply to passersby with new understanding M'ap Boule!

Resting.

At just about the end of our climb an old woman and her son who was escorting her down the slope raised her arms and shouted at us enthusiastically - thanking us for coming to her country to help out. Big hugs and big smiles all around we continued on to finish the hike, waited for Samuel who arrived right on time to take us back to Leogane and our afternoon meeting in Port au Prince beyond.