An excerpt of a journal entry:

A couple thoughts I had today while walking:

Haiti may be seen as an “unsafe” country, and it may be for “foreigners”.  But everyday, children of all ages are walking to school by themselves.  I have seen a few parents walking with their children in school uniforms but the majority of the time, kids are walking by themselves or with their group of friends.  There was a little girl that was walking with us for about 10 minutes today.  Not because we were “blan” but because that’s the way to her house.  She was so sassy and confident, just struttin' her stuff on her everyday walk.  Even in P-au-P the kids are walking to school.  It definitely says something about the culture and these communities; that kids are safe to walk 10-15 minutes each day by themselves to school without their parents having to worry.  It also says something about the importance of education to these kids.  Who knows how far they walk somedays!

Last year we drove past this group of homes that looked like a bunch of silos.  Metal, round homes.  I didn’t think much of it; some foreign company probably financed these homes.  But today we walked into them to locate a mother for our survey.  The "village" was fenced in, with what seemed to be a community farm/garden and a little convenience store at the front.  As you walked down the road to the village center (where all the homes were), we passed a pavilion like structure which was either unfinished or open for the weather.  Rosembert was talking to me about the village.  Granted, it was a little rough to understand his whole story but from the gist of it, it seemed that the village was not as helpful as it may have intended to be.  Rosembert mentioned the difference between a need and a desire.  The people who built the village obviously had a desire to help the people.  But was there a need?  The village structure itself seemed very nice; about 4 homes in a circle with a middle structure ( a concrete slab with a thatched roof over it) similar to a gazebo.  Then there was another larger middle structure in the very center of the entire village.  But after walking through the entire zone of service last year and this year, and seeing all these different villages it seems to be completely contradictory to the way everyone else lives.  They seemed to be closed off from the rest of the community.  Even the homes themselves are so similar, the families are unable to personalize the homes with the bright colors and soft curtains many of the other homes have here. Was this a need or a desire of these people?

My First Trip to Haiti - Claire Cioni

The months leading up to the GROW internship were filled with planning, preparations, travel arrangements, and budgeting. With so much going on, I never really stopped to think about what it would be like to actually be in Haiti or what it would be like to finally see Maison de Naissance – the place I’ve been fundraising for and hearing about nonstop for the past few years. Now, as my time in Haiti wraps up, I can honestly say I couldn’t have asked for a better experience.

            The culture and society of Haiti was alarmingly different than my life at home. Yet, although I was surrounded by a life style that was completely foreign to me, I never once felt sorry for, or pitied, anyone. I think to go into another culture and pity them would be of utmost disrespect. And who is to say that my privileged lifestyle is necessarily superior? From what I saw, Haitian life is not easy; it is based on hard work and resilience. Families stay close and look out for one another. Energy is not wasted on many of the unnecessary stresses that I subject myself to in my life at home. And above all, they seem happy. Also, they are extraordinarily talented at balancing very large baskets of bread, clothes, food, and donkeys (kidding) on their heads! Haiti isn’t the luckiest of countries; they’ve been dealt a rough hand. Yet, the people continually pick themselves up, brush themselves off, and push onward – a quality that I admire greatly and hope to mimic.

Our project was centered about gathering data from women, who gave birth in 2012, in the service zone of Maison de Naissance. This gave us the unique opportunity to visit different communities and work with both translators and community health workers, all while walking the beautiful Haitian countryside. This gave me a closer look into what their life was really like. I immediately noticed many striking similarities: children taunting and teasing each other, mothers holding onto their babies lovingly, and conversation between neighbors or friends. These similarities proved that laughter, love, and friendship are universal concepts.

There are so many little things I want to remember from this trip: the beauty of the immense mountains, the precious uniforms on the school children, a certain intern (ahem, Megan) falling into a bush after crossing a log over a river, the kiss on the cheek I received from a tiny little Haitian boy as he approached me on his porch, the sounds of a baby being born (simultaneously painful and amazing), and many many many more. But most of all, I think it’s the people I’ve met who will stick in my memories the most – the patience of the translators, community health workers and drivers, the kindness of the mothers and families, and the many random people we interacted with.

Overall, I can’t say enough good things about my stay in Haiti. The country and people of Haiti will stay very dear to me for a long time, and I don’t even care if that sounds cheesey. 

GROW 2013

New year, new GROW team, new adventures!

We are almost done with this years trip but we hope to put up some reflections up soon.  Until then, I just wanted to introduce this years project.

Last year, we focused on the demographics of those within MN's zone of service.  This year, we wanted to focus on the babies that had been born in 2012 and the vaccination status of those children.  The results we will find will help give us a better understanding of those that use MN's services and the overall vaccination status of many of the babies that were born this past year.  So far the results look great.  Even better, is the fact that we get to work closely with the translators and community health workers of MN, developing friendships with these people despite the language differences :)

- Emma Flowers