Sunday, March 27, 2011 


Audrey Hunter, R.N. has been traveling with Forward in Health since the very beginning. She was a member of the first disaster team which landed in Haiti 1 week after the January 2010 earthquake. Audrey is also on the FIH board of directors. Helping the people of Haiti is never far from her thoughts. She celebrated her birthday this past Friday with friends and family. John and Paula Mulqueen, co-founders of FIH, were only too happy to join in. At Audrey's request, any money which would have been spent on a birthday present was to be donated instead to Forward in Health. FIH received $1,010 from those in attendance. Audrey obviously speaks often about FIH and is proud of her own self-less giving to the poor of Haiti. Whenever she would introduce Paula or John to her friends and relatives the response was usually the same. "I recognize you from pictures Audrey has shown us." FIH is equally proud of Audrey and wishes her nothing but the best on her birthday!

8:18 PM | |

 

Hal In Haiti - Coastal Cruise

Hal Seifert from Lopez Island, Washington has volunteered to spend the next 6 months in Haiti working for Forward in Health. He is in charge of construction of the clinic. All of his expenses are being paid for by Spirit of Hope based in Worcester, Ma. (spiritofhopehaiti.org) The following is from his blog Hal in Haiti (http://halinhaiti.blogspot.com).


Saturday, March 26, 2011

Coastal Cruise

Today was a most excellent day. I met Evens and Zico out on the main road at nine. They thought one of them was going to drive my motorcycle, HELL no. We headed west toward the beach for a few miles then headed north on a dirt road. The road was like a river bottom full of softball-sized round rocks. Sometimes there are trails, sometimes not, sometimes they create a quicksand effect, but you always have to drive slow and cautiously on a motorcycle. Plus, it was so dusty, at times I had to slow to a crawl. We were headed out to place that we could have a clinic for a day. I think it was a French run church. Not really sure of the particulars, except they agreed and we are doing it for a day. They will provide lunch and let the community know to come that day. It took about an hour to get there, and on the way I gave a woman a ride, just her and I on a dusty road with land mines everywhere. I was a little nervous, but getting the hang of driving a motorcycle in Haiti. Most people have entire families on their bikes.

After we solidified our plans we headed back to the main road and proceeded to the beach. Now this was the best part, not too much traffic, wide smooth road, 5th gear baby. Saturday is market day, so women are carrying their wares on their heads. As we came to small towns, with the market in full swing, it was like driving through a crowd milling about outside Safeco Field. Weaving and dodging, but everybody is calm like they know what's going on.

Then the road started to climb into the mountains, smooth, curvy, lined with palm tree, still little traffic, so this why people ride motorcycles so much. Bicycles are cool, but this is really something. As we climb in altitude the road narrows through small villages, people everywhere, all staring at me because I am white. Along the way I kept getting impressions of past experiences, California, Nicaragua, I tell you it was like a dream. At the summit you could see for just about forever, the ocean was turquoise, like those houses painted that color on the way to the coast, that you thought nobody in their right mind would paint their house. There it was-the Caribbean. Tranquil and beautiful. Sliding down the mountain, very few houses and people, quiet and peaceful. Rounding the last curve we entered Port Salut. Cobble stoned streets, walls on each side hiding mansions, luxury hotels ,a coastal resort town.

We arrived at a public beach packed with mostly young Haitians enjoying the sun, beers and seafood. There were a few Europeans, and I spent quite a bit of time talking to UN soldiers here from Uruguay. Though they live in South America and speak Spanish they look European. We spent the day swimming, talking, eating, and resting. Then we returned the way we came and it was just as fun. This is definitely a different Haiti this time around.

4:36 PM | |

Wednesday, March 23, 2011 

Hal: Flyin with the Friars

This weekend a group of Americans arrived for a week long stay.  That's fairly common, what wasn't common was the arrival of two Fransiscan Brothers.  Brother Robert and Brother Maximillion.  I didn't know what to think at first, both in impecible white habits.  I had never been around men in habits before, men with habits I know about.  I thought stiffaroony.  Boy was I wrong.  We right away started eating and drinking our way to silliness.  Holy cow, no pun intended, well maybe a little,  we had so darn much fun.  Robert is from Ontario and in his wild past life was a hair dresser and managed 5 restaurants in Canada.

On Sunday we went for, what I thought at the time, was a short stroll to check out a job site.  Scott, a great fellow from Long Beach, CA. , the two brothers, Peter, another great guy, whose been here managing construction projects for many years, and myself (obviously).  We started out, two men in habits, dragging on the ground, what turned out to be a four hour hike.  We started out on a trail passing through trees next to a canal, which passed as a stream.  People were doing laundry, washing motorcycles, swimming, bathing and just hanging out.    Story has it that the French built these canals in the 20's.  At any rate, they are very effective in enhancing simple lives.  I say simple without judgement, whose to say all the complications of our modern is any better.  These people seemed well fed and content.  Decide for yourself.  The entire time we're strolling, not only are we white, we are with two men in dresses.  Nobody made more fun of them than the Brother's themselves.  The people we encountered were warm and embraced us. 

We walked almost all the way to Les Cayes, but not quite enough to keep going and make a loop home, we had to backtrack.  On our return we were able to revisit our new friends.  From an American perspective, the people we encountered were poor and uneducated.  But we really didn't have any way of knowing that.  They seemedhttp:/halinhaiti:blogspot.com perfectly happy and well adjusted.  Funny thing, it's all in how we look at things.  They could have been very well educated, for all we knew.


On the way home the Brother's couldn't stop talking about things they were going to drink, some not do desirable  After arriving without any voodoo spells on us, that we were aware of, we proceeded to watch the sunset from the roof drinking a few cold ones.  I never thought I'd see the day, but I did.

The next day we went to town to buy motorcycles, more on that next time....................

Happy Spring, Hal

5:35 PM | |

Tuesday, March 22, 2011 

Sr. T carrying the FIH message to California

"The luck of the Irish along with Laurie and
Doug Bauer lead Forward in Health to a pot of Gold!
And Sister T was there to collect it!"


On Thursday March 17th, St Patty's Day Laurie and Doug Bauer hosted a Caribbean St. Patrick's Dinner Party. Their house was filled with aroma of Haitian food and sights of shamrocks and green plants as over 30 friends and neighbors were introduced to Forward in Health through the eyes of Doug, Laurie and Sister T. There efforts were able to raise over $6,000 for the clinic. Anyone interested in hosting an afternoon/evening, tea or dinner, wine tasting or... with friends, co-workers, family and have Sister T come and speak to the group, feel free to contact her at 508-873-6404 or sistert@mudturtle.com . She would be more than happy to help set you up!

7:58 AM | |

Sunday, March 20, 2011 

Hal: Settling In

I've been gathering so much information recently my brain is swirling.  I need to let things settle out, then I can regurgitate it coherently, or at least in my own words.  Many of the things I felt and witnessed on my last trip here are proving to still hold their validity.  In many ways Haiti hasn't really improved that much since they won the revolution in 1804.  For example; plumbing is still a foriegn idea to the majority of people here, toilets, what are THEY?, running water inside their homes, only when it rains, electricity is also unfamiliar to them, and everything that goes with it, lights, switches, all of that plus refridgeration, unheard of, all food is eaten or it spoils, fresh milk, in a box, no fresh dairy.  There are many more examples.  People come here from other parts of the world, especially the States, and they are quickly confused and angered by the Haitians dumbfounded responses to their expectations.  As the country is slowly developing the people are gradually grasping what we expect of them. 

Another part of the problem is Haiti's educational system is lagging behind, really, the rest of the world.  Most kids don't have the opportunity to go to school.  They start working, for example, fetching water, as soon as they can carry a bucket.  It costs money to go to school here, also they need to buy uniforms.  Many families aren't sure where their next meal is coming from, let alone having money for school.  One of the negative by-products of this is the inability to critically think.  We take it for granted.  When we run into a problem that we don't immediately have the answer to, we begin to think of ways to find resources to solve it.  Haitians don't have that mindset.   As more kids are given the chance to go to school, they'll figure out how to figure things out. 

Water is another thing we take for granted.  Most villages have a pump spigot, but it can be miles from people's homes.  If you've ever lived for a time without water, you know how much energy has to be put into just getting it to the house.  Many people on Lopez remember those days.  The difference is we all knew it was temporary, for many Haitians it's the only life they know.    If there is a river nearby everything happens there, bathing,  laundry, all garbage including dead animals, in extreme cases, humans, goes in the river.  These are examples of the inability to critically think, I think.   Another huge factor is malnutrition in the developing years. I think the key to getting along with will be patience and compassion, keep showing them the way over and over and over again.

I would  like to take this opportunity to thank all the people who have supported me in these adventures of mine.  I think of all of you and really really appreciate your support, I wouldn't and couldn't do it without you.  Thanks, Hal

4:47 PM | |

Saturday, March 19, 2011 

Hal in Haiti

Hal Seifert from Lopez Island, Washington has volunteered to spend the next 6 months in Haiti working for Forward in Health. He is in charge of construction of the clinic. All of his expenses are being paid for by Spirit of Hope based in Worcester, Ma. (spiritofhopehaiti.org) The following is from his blog Hal in Haiti (http://halinhaiti.blogspot.com).

Sunday, March 13, 2011

First days in Haiti-second round

We arrived in Port au Prince early in the morning on Thursday March 10. Pam Reidy, Paula Mulqueen and I came from Boston through New York. The evening before I had met with the engineers and architect going over the progress at the clinic Forward in Health is building in Fondeford, this is a very rural area outside the city of Les Ceyes, in the southern region of Haiti. Wort had been started on the walls, they were up about six courses of block. The plans had been modified to protect the building in the event of another earthquake. Engineers responsibility is to ensure the safety of ALL people. If the workers follow the plans that should be the case, however, if they don't which is the situation, the work has to be altered, and in some cases removed. The photos we received indicated things weren't going well.
Upon arrival, it was worse than we suspected, but we will dig in and get the crew back, all of our subtraction, then begin our addition.

I will be staying at ESPWA, an orphanage very close to Fondefred. There is 800 orphan boys living here so I won't be pressed to find kids to be around. They have a guesthouse that I will share with people coming to Haiti to do a variety of projects here at ESPWA. That will give me a chance to talk to people in my native tongue, which is always nice. We take for granted the ability we have to communicate thoughts, feelings, and technical information. Learning a new language is like going back to 1st grade, very trying and frustrating.

Paula and Pam left today, the 13th, after Paul and had done a ton of duties getting things in place to get going again, opening a bank account, looking into buying motorcycles for myself and Evens, my translator, just a multitude of things.

One of the things we did was visit an orphanage that Forward of Hope, an offshoot of FIH, is overseeing now. There are 34 boys and a director. The director, David is there out of the kindness of his heart. He has a college degree in music, so the kids play music and sing like angels. In the plans for the orphanage Paul Fallon has designed a performance space for them. They had enough food for the next three days, that's it, so we went to the Sister's of Charity, which is Mother Teresa's organization and they were kind enough to give us about a weeks worth. This wonderful place houses and takes care of terminal and handicapped patients. There must be 200 patients, all terminal and abandoned by their families, getting as much food, care and love as anywhere in the world, all done with love and compassion. I tell you, it stopped me in my tracks, emotion flooding me, not knowing what I felt. Truly an amazing place. Getting back to the orphanage, I always thought I would build one, and one needs to be built for these boys. In the mean time they need to eat and go to school, with food and an education they have a chance to lead full and productive lives. So the battle goes on.

Pam, John and Paula Mulqueen are all doing really good things for the people of Haiti. And this time around I am having a very different experience, they are all taking great care in ensuring I'm safe and well cared for. For that I am very very grateful. Until next time, take care, love, Hal

9:26 AM | |

Friday, March 18, 2011 

Hal in Haiti

Hal Seifert from Lopez Island, Washington has volunteered to spend the next 6 months in Haiti working for Forward in Health. He is in charge of construction of the clinic. All of his expenses are being paid for by Spirit of Hope based in Worcester, Ma. (spiritofhopehaiti.org) The following is from his blog Hal in Haiti (http://halinhaiti.blogspot.com).

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Post Paula and Pam

My support team is back in the states now, but I'm not alone. It seems people living in 3rd or 4th world countries stick together and help each other out. The place where I'm staying, ESPWA, have been very helpful. My right hand man here, Evens, is an excellent companion. We walked around Les Ceyes yesterday, stopping in at the bank, motorcycle shop, and his house. The motorcycles won't be here for a week, wink, wink. We'll see. His mother is very nice and family is friendly. I'm still taking baby steps with Creole.

This trip feels very different, it's like I'm more connected to the people without trying as hard. With 800 kids around it's not hard to interact with them. The weather is warm and sunny, but not stifling hot. I'm going out to the clinic site later today, then we'll see how I feel about the heat. I'm going to meet the man who has overseen things so far and the crew, to go over the particulars of this project. This time around I'm hoping things will be different. We have an excellent architect and a team of engineers to answer to. The first order of business will be undo, how shall I say it, less than exceptable work. But we'll do our subtraction and get on with our addition. Hopefully this time next week we'll be on our way. Alrighty then, until later, Halhttps://facebook.com

8:14 PM | |