The Big Day

We rise, before the sun, ready to get to work.  Walking out to the facility site, we come across three men working on the road.  Two volunteers stay behind with a shovel and a pick to make sure that the large truck can make it through the road out of the river.  The two remaining volunteers continue to walk.

 

7:15AM - We arrive at the hen site.  Greet the guardian, wash boots, fill water barrels, and wait for the hens arrival.

 

9:00AM - The estimated arrival time of the hens from Port-au-Prince.  There is no sign of birds and no word from the driver.  Guy Marie makes some calls through Gonaives to find a phone number for the driver.

 

11:15AM - We make contact with the truck driver.  They are not yet to Gonaives.  Kelly, Eleni, and Gina walk to the house.  The rest of us wait.

 

11:45AM - Haiti Broilers veternarian of Gonaives arrives in Gros-Morne.  He inspects the house for the arrival of the hens and approves that everything is ready. 

 

1:20PM - Kelly, Eleni,and Gina return with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, ice water, and a piece of chocolate for Christie.  Christie eats her lunch in the street where she met the three ladies along their walk.

 

1:32PM - A large truck enters into the yard of the hen facility.  The doors are opened.  Guardian and manager of the hen facility wash their feet and walk inside.  Crates are unloaded from the back of the truck and brought into the house - 12 birds in each crate.  The crate latches are unlocked and birds fly overhead.  Birds perch on the houses, poop on the water troughs, run out the doors.  Just another Haitian kind of day...  The birds are counted as they come out of the crates and the empty crates are counted for verification that all hens are present.  1426 hens are unloaded from the truck and let loose in the house.  One lays still.  Two cartons are overflowing with eggs that are found in the crates.  It's starting to be a good day.

 

3:15PM - Volunteers and the sisters pile in the land rover to head back to the house and take showers.  Feathers in hair, droppings on feet, and smiles on faces.  The team relaxes and awaits tomorrow when 75 hens will be delivered once more and the sales can begin!

Ala Bel, Sa Bel

"Ala bel, sa bel" (This is truly beautiful), these were the words of Mayor Beauger of Gros-Morne during the benediction of the Poulaye this past Friday. The mayor was joined by Caritas Gros-Morne and members of the community to celebrate the benediction of the newly constructed hen facility on the outskirts of town.

The ceremony started with a reading and blessing from Fr. Claude of the local parish. This was followed by remarks from the director of Caritas, Gros Morne, the mayor of the town, and Guy-Marie, the Agronomist for local Caritas projects, and visionary of this project. The speakers took advantage of the opportunity to encourage the community to protect the hen facility and to make it their own. They were reminded of the benefits from local egg production including the boost to the economy and the availability of local nutrition. All parties stressed the importance of working together and supporting the effort. The mayor in particular showed tremendous energy when expressing his happiness in hope for the community and for the growth of Gros-Morne.

After remarks were made, a red ribbon was cut by Hens for Haiti President, Christina Newman, along with Mayor Beauger, Guy Marie Garcon, and Fr. Claude. As a well deserved finale, a bottle of champagne was popped open and shared with all in attendence. The ceremony was broadcast live over three local radio stations to spread the word of the Poulaye and to encourage residents of Gros-Morne to buy eggs locally.

Last minute preparations are in full swing as the team prepares for the arrival of the 1500 hens on Tuesday morning, March 27th. All are praying that the heavy rains hold off until the trucks have crossed the river to deliver the load. The team looks forward to a successful launch to the Poulaye project.

An Island in the Sun

There hasn't been much to report lately. After completing the foundation of the larger facility, construction was put on hold until Peter could come up and assess the work and plan for the continuation of the walls and roof. This process was delayed a little by anticipation of the election results and possible riots. But luckily, Peter was able to travel up to the project site last week with his father to make plans for their work this coming weekend. In preparation, the workers in Gros-Morne have raised concrete beams to support the wooden structure to come.


Although things have been moving a little slow, not to worry, I found things to occupy my time. Guy-Marie and I advertised, interviewed and choose a full-time production manager for the project. When the business gets going, Wilson will be in charge of overseeing employees, controlling cash flow, purchasing feed, replacement hens and the general dealings of everyday production. Guy-Marie will be available for oversight and to answer any questions, but he will not be on-site everyday. I have already started to train Wilson in the ways of animal husbandry and the vision for this operation. The three of us together will sit down tomorrow and discuss options for a guardian and other facility workers.

Another side project that started was the digging of a second well for use by the community. The well that was dug in August is located inside the facility security fence and will be off limits to the outside community once hens are on the property. Because we want the community to also benefit fromt the development in the area, we decided to dig a second well near the community school/church. The land was once again donated by a local farmer and the community has already agreed to father rocks, sand and gravel as necessary building materials. I am encouraged by the enthusiasm of the community and their desire to participate in the development. Through my interaction with the people in the last several months, I am confident that they will continue to support and protect the new Poulaye project.


And finally, my time waiting for things to move forward was well wasted. Jean (Bob) had the chance to come visit for a week or so with his gregarious cousin George. I took him to visit the hen house, the ravine correction, construction of additional classrooms at the Fon Ibo school and of course Tiden's beach/bar. After spending a few days in Gros-Morne, we took a tap-tap to OKap to visit his family. We even spend two days sleeping on a local beach, aptly named "Paradise". It was a great time to see him and try to give him a taste of my daily life in Gros-Morne. Although short-lived, I took advantage of my break from work and my opportunity to spend time with him before his deployment.


And now things are starting to pick up again. Although I will be returning to the US after a few more weeks, the project will continue to advance. I will return in May to attend my brother's graduation from the University of Arizona. After spending a month or so with friends and family, I will most likely return to Gros-Morne to continue working: installing solar electricity, finish setting up water and feed systems and purchasing of hens. I am looking forward to ice-cream and Chipolte, but I also know the my work is far from over.

Long Time Gone

Good news from this end, the foundation is finished! It took 36 people 2 full days to pour the floor...but 210 bags of cement later, I have my very own, shallow but wide swimming pool!

So what next? Well, to finish the construction of the facility, I am waiting for Peter and the Kembe Foundation to bring materials from Port-au-Prince the first week of April. They did a great job with the guardian and storage houses back in December and have been anxiously waiting for the next chance to come to Gros-Morne. In the meantime, the nest boxes are almost finished and the water and feed systems are under construction.

Guy Marie and I are also in the process of selecting a manager to run the operation. I want to make sure I have the chance to train at least one individual before I leave in May to know that the project is in good hands. Tomorrow morning I will be conducting my first Haitian interview. As usually I am not the one asking the questions, I don't really know what to ask. This is where Guy Marie comes in I guess.

In other news, the road hasn't been an issue lately because it has not rained in the last month. I am anxiously awaiting what may happen when the rainy season does come. Of course I hope it holds off another week or so until after Peter comes and is able to drop off his materials, but I know the farmers in this area are praying for the opposite. Because the funds are not available at this time for complete road re-construction, I am focusing my efforts on moving forward with the Poulaye project and training a manager and technicians to take over after I leave. For this I am also leaving behind an instructional booklet specialized for our operation as well as several books on the basic care and health of poultry. It looks at this point that I may have to return to continue the project once again. When I leave, in May, the operation should have everything it needs in terms of structures, materials and employees. The only thing that we will be waiting on is electricity and the hens themselves. We do not want to bring in hens before there is electricity, and this may not be until June.

None the less, we are working hard and pressing forward. I will accomplish all that I can before the time comes for me to leave. I am in high spirits and already can see the effects of this project as a success. People are asking when they can start to buy eggs, other people are asking if there will be job opportunities, many people in the community are just happy to have water. The whole town of Gros-Morne is watching and waiting to see what will come of this Poulaye. Just as I know many people are doing in the United States...as am I. I trust in God.

Three Cups of... Coffee?

Greg Morteson spoke at Virginia Tech a few years ago about his work in the middle east and the challenges he faced in constructing his first school. He talked about how long it took him to raise money to build an elementary school for a rural mountain town. When he finally gathered everything he needed for the school and went back, he couldn't access the community by road. He was forced to raise more money and build a bridge before he could get construction materials to the site for the school building. Well, I'm about to call Mr. Morteson and ask him how he dealt with it all...

Friday morning I got up to go running as I do at 6:30 every morning. When I walked down the stairs Madam told me that I couldn't run because there was too much mud in the streets. Not a problem, I would just do lunges around the house. A few hours later, I jumped on the 4-wheeler to head out to the project site and check on the work of the foundation. Apparently there had been more rain the night before than I thought and the river was pretty high. But not only was the river high, it had eaten away at the work we did on the road the week prior - so much that the entrance up the bank on the other side was now a 4ft drop directly into the water. Needless to say, I wasn't going to make it to the project site by moto that day, and neither were the remainder of the needed construction materials.

Instead, I went by foot on Saturday to see the work on the foundation and assess the damage to the road. The men had been working hard all week and it paid off. The foundation only needed a day or two to be completed. But now what to do about the additional needed materials...? I walked back to town trying to come up with different solutions to our problem of road access. There was no land left on the bank of the river to temporarily "fix" the road to be passed by large trucks. In order to secure the road and give protection to the bank of the river, major construction would be needed including hiring a bulldozer to re-direct the path of the river and purchasing and installing gabions to control erosion along the edges. This type of work would require a large amount of money that I did not have.

But technically, I do have the money. Only the money I have is designated for the construction and operation of the hen facility. But what good would it be to have an operating business if nobody could access the product we produce? Even finishing the construction of the house would require large trucks to pass carrying wood, tin, cement and of course, chickens. Similar to the situation faced by Greg Mortenson trying to build his school, I feel I am at an impass. Ideally it would be the government providing necessary roads and public services, but because my time here is short and this issue greatly affects my work, I feel the load has fallen on me. There is a large community separated from the downtown area because of the fallen road, but they also are looking to me.

I knew nothing in this country was easy, but why does it have to be so hard!? When I left Gros-Morne in 2008 with the intention of finding money to fund the hen project, road access was not an issue. It was just this past year when erosion control was done on the opposite side of the river that water was forced towards Kanpech, eating away at the bank. Without proper planning, correcting one problem only caused another.

So a little frustrated, I press forward. I took several town officials out to the river crossing to see the damage and discuss what could be done about it. In the meantime, I continue to work on the smaller things like waterers, feeders and nest boxes to go inside the house - if and when it is completed. Tomorrow I will again talk to the town officials to see what they found from talking to the people of the affected area and how they will contribute to the solution. With support from the community, I will start looking for possible funders of a road re-construction. ...Or for new funders of the hen project, depending on how urgently the roadwork needs to be done.

Truly "tet chaje", meaning "head fully-loaded" - a lot to think about, having no easy answer at this time.

Tet Chaje

Things have finally started to pick up. This week was spent digging and constructing the foundation for the facility to house the hens. Sounds simple enough, but of course it never is.

The first obstacle we faced was the transportation of materials to the project site. The dirt road to "Kanpech" where the land is located is swept away every time a heavy rain comes and causes the river to rise. At first our mason suggested paying 40 people to carry rocks from the river to the site over a one week period until we had what we needed. Fortunately there are several brilliant young minds in our house that suggested, "why don't we grab a shovel and fix the road ourselves?" But of course that meant, they volunteered for the job. So last Saturday at 6AM, four Americans and an Irishman piled in the landrover to head to the river. By 6:15 we were throwing pick-axes, raking dirt and carrying rocks - and by 9AM our work had paid off to support large dumptrucks passing through. Problem solved.

But it can never be that easy. Now that we can get a truck out of the river and onto the road, how do we get if off the road and onto our property? Well, because one of the neighbors had moved the property boundary in his favor and taken our access to the road to build himself a house, this was going to take some negotiation. Fortunately this neighbor also owned the land on the other end of our property, again between our door and the road. However, instead of starting a "lawsuit" (if there is such a thing around here), he agreed to give us a portion of his land on the opposite end to make a "driveway". After a few swings of the machette, setting fire to a bush filled with yellowjackets and displacing the grazing cows, we were in business.

It's hard to describe exactly why things move slowly without experiencing the situation first hand, but every step forward is in the right direction. It has started to rain every evening for the past week and while this is good for the gardens, it may cause more delay in construction. We just keep pressing on and not giving into the challenges put in front of us. I knew God made me stubborn for a reason...

And then there was one...

Although I was sad to see her go, the time had come. I dropped off Cameron in Port-au-Prince yesterday to spend the evening with another sister of the RJM and catch her flight to New York this afternoon. As I am sitting on the balcony in shorts and sandals, I do not envy the snow to which she returns. I will however envy the paved roads, wine and icecream.

Before her departure, Cameron and I were able to accomplish a lot, especially in organizing our plan of attack. During the past few days, we were able to finish the concrete perimeter of the guardian and depot houses and while in Port-au-Prince, I picked up barbed wire to secure the top of the fence.

Yet amidst all this, we still found time to climb Mon Belans, the "big mountain" of Gros-Morne (for which it is named). From the top of the mountain we could see the town in its entirety as well as Gonaives to the south and Port-de-Paix in the north. It was a beautiful, yet strenuous way to bid Cameron farewell.

Now the town is bustling with music, games and shops. Not because Cameron is gone, but because February 2nd marks the feast of the Catholic Church in Gros-Morne. Each year the while town takes advantage of a great reason to celebrate. Starting last weekend vendors were lined up along the streets across from the church. As the day draws near, it is harder and harder to drive down the main street. This may hinder some of our work for the upcoming week, but I won't complain having to postpone arguing with masons until Thursday.