15433: Matt Ray writes a travelogue from his recent trip to Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Matt Ray <mraymus@yahoo.com>

IN the past others have mentioned that they’d like to see more travelogue-type emails concerning travels and trips to Haiti.   We just got back from a trip to Haiti (April 10th through the 20th) and I think I’m just about ready to put my thoughts to pen and paper, so to say.

We arrived in Haiti on the 11th of April, a Friday afternoon, and were greeted by the airport, to me one of the most traumatic places one could go to in Haiti, and of course, it’s first on the list of  “Places to see” in Haiti, despite what the itinerary is supposed to say.   We were greeted by a guy named “Big” who “helped” us with our luggage.   We were there in Haiti on a Medical Mission with Healing Hands for Haiti (http://www.healinghandsforhaiti.org) and were of course bringing in medical supplies and medications.    We were told that as long as we send all our information down in advance that a franchise could be obtained and we could zip through the airport without our bags being searched and our meds getting confiscated.  Well, to make a short story of it, after $60 to the customs folks and another $40 to Big’s crew, we were on our way without our meds being confiscated.   If anybody here has a better way of getting meds into Haiti, I’d appreciate an email on it so we could discuss your methods.    If bribes are the only fail-proof way, it saves a lot of time, but it sure feels creepy.   I’d rather have something “legit” setup so we don’t have to pay bribes and Haiti recognizes the benefits of us bringing in meds to help those we treat.

After arriving we found out that the embassy was closed.   We didn’t realize this would be the case as we came down on Friday expressly for the reason of registering with them.   Apparently they’re closed on Friday after noon, so we waited until Monday to register.    Interesting tidbit about the embassy.   If you want to save a lot of time and effort, don’t go down to the embassy to register everybody in your party.    At the very least, send one person down to register as the contact point.   Even better, though, is to email all your information down ahead of time.   You send the email to the following email address :  wardenpap@state.gov or you can fax it to 509.223.9665.    Send the following information for each party in your group.   Name, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Address, Phone number in Haiti where you'll be staying, Length of time you'll be staying (arrival and departure date), passport number, country of residence.

We stayed at the Guesthouse/Clinic, Kay Kapab, throughout the week.   http://www.healinghandsforhaiti.org/ghouse.html   It’s a nice place to stay with great food, clean water, a swimming pool, and good security.   It’s in Pacot, which is a moderately safe place to be.     We’re within walking distance of the Prince Hotel, a great place to drop in for lunch as well as some super souvenir shops just around the corner.    All the prices are marked in these shops, so there isn’t a lot of haggling going on, but we felt that the value at these shops was very good.

Over the week we saw over 100 patients in our clinic, Kay Kapab.    We also visited the following orphanages:   Mustard Seed, Wings of Hope, Foyer du Sion, and OECB.    Most of these were great experiences.

As far as activities go, here are the things we did in the evenings and on the weekend.

Saturday we went to the Baptist Mission in Kenskoff, a must for any foreign group going to Haiti, in my opinion.  We didn’t get the chance to go to Fort Jacques, this time, although it’s one of my favorites as well.   The nice thing about the Baptist Mission is you have all the souvenir shops outside and you also have the boutiques in the mission itself where all the prices are clearly marked.   I picked up the latest Bib La, there as well as a copy of Pawol Gran Moun, a book with 1000+ Haitian proverbs in it, a treasure for anybody trying to learn more about Haiti.      And of course, my favorite thing about the Baptist Mission experience, is the Peanut Brittle they sell there!   I love this stuff.    Just about anything you buy in their baked goods store is wonderful.     Of course we spent time haggling over machetes and “pies de bois yo,” or wood art and paintings.     The nice thing about going into a place where the prices are marked is it gives you a good gauge on how high or low to go on your haggling outside.     You can typically get a lot better deal outside, but not everybody is into the whole haggling thing.

Sunday evening we went to one of my favorite places to eat, the Hotel Montana.   The view there is spectacular and the food is fantastic!    Plus it’s a great bargain.   It’s an all-you-can-eat buffet of Haitian cuisine at the normal price of $12 US per person.   However, for some reason, when we went, the price had been reduced to $8!   What a deal.   Everybody loved it as it’s a great place to see and experience in Haiti.    We saw plenty of the primitive and raw in Haiti and it was nice to see a nice refined place.   I’ve been told to stay at the Hotel Montana it costs $110 US per night.

One of the highlights of our week was Wednesday night.   We went and saw the St. Joseph’s Orphanage for Boy’s Dance Group!    We talked to them while we were at Wings of Hope and they told us that they had a dance program they do often and that if we wanted our own show it would only cost us $100.    With 16 of us, we decided that would be worth it and arranged to make it happen.   When we got there, there were at least 20 other people there, so the cost ended up being only $5 each.    It lasted about an hour and it was a wonderful performance.    All accompanied by drums.   The closing piece was called Soni’s dance.   Soni was an orphan who had been abused as a child and has Cerebal Palsey.     Through the St. Joseph’s orphanage he was able to come out of his shell and be happy again, so much that he’s now dancing with this group.   Apparently this group tours to the US and other places a few times a year and we thought it was a wonderful treat.   Great traditional Haitian drums.    A lot of power to the music and dance numbers.       For more information about this orphanage go to this website.   http://www3.sympatico.ca/brokenwings/    Also, listed there is the book called Soni’s Mended Wings, which is basically what the dance is all about.   Soni comes out with a costume with wings and dances!    Definitely a must see while in Haiti.   I learned a lot about Haiti’s history and music at this event.    Just keep in mind that if you are the only people there, their minimum charge for doing the dance is $100.     I’ve been told that you can email sjfamily@pobox.com for more information.    Also, you can call 509.257.4237.

Thursday night was RAM at the Oloffson Hotel!    I went to the RAM concert last year for the first time and I love going every time I go to Haiti.    It is highly recommended.     I guess the only concern or caveat I could give is if you don’t really like bar scene (smoking and drinking and dancing) and loud music, don’t go.   Otherwise it’s a fun night with great music and lots of fun people.    It’s at the Oloffsen Hotel every Thursday night.    They are supposed to come onstage at 10:00PM, however this time they didn’t make it until 11:00PM.     That would probably be my only complaint.     I may be wrong on the scheduled time, perhaps Richard Morse could elaborate on the schedule and whether 10 is the “normal” time or not.     Unfortunately we showed up around 8:15 to get good seats, only to have to wait 2 ½ hours for the concert.   So, by the time they came on, it was already getting late for us.     But most of our group stayed until the concert was over around 2:00am.    Sensational music, great dancing, wonderful experience!    The concert is $10 US per person and they have great food there at the hotel!

Friday morning we left for Jacmel.    We don’t typically get to go to places like this because of the distance, but Good Friday became a blessing and a curse for us.    A blessing because it allowed us to go to Jacmel and spend the night.   A curse because most of the things we wanted to see were shut down for good Friday.    Oh well.   Live and learn.    We made reservations at Hotel de la Place, but when we got there they said they didn’t have them.    We even called and confirmed.   Oh well.   We ended up staying at the Jacmelienne, which is a nice enough hotel, however the food there is terrible.     The rates were decent and the beach was nice.   It would have been a lot nicer if it had been cleaned up and raked, but unfortunately, it was something we come to expect in Haiti.     So, for Haiti, it was nice.    I hope I don’t offend anybody by saying that.     After we had a horrible lunch at the Jacmelienne, we decided to have dinner at Hotel de la Place, which was a huge improvement.    We ran into a RA-RA band on the way back from the restaurant which was a treat for some and a scare for others, particularly when we kind of got stuck in the middle of the RA-RA with nowhere to go.    Next time we go, we’ll definitely go drop in on Mambo Racine.   Sorry we didn’t this time, but I got sick during this trip, so I was out of commission for most of it.    We spent Friday night there and headed back to the clinic on Saturday morning.    The only other issue I would warn about for Jacmel would be the 3 hour drive across the mountains.   It was rather tortuous in a bus load of 16 people.    I think next year we’ll probably head north into St. Marc and would welcome any recommendations for tourist locations there, particularly beaches and restaurants.     We’ve gone to Kaliko Plage in the past, but if we go there again, I’d like to combine it with a quick trip into St. Marc so we can see the sights.

Well, I guess those are the highlights of our trip.    We were able to help a lot of people who needed our help and we left Haiti feeling that we had done quite a bit of good there.      The plight of the Haitian people seems the same from year to year.   I think I noticed a small increase in the suffering and pain there, but not overwhelmingly more than last year.   I sure wish there was something more that could be done to alleviate the suffering.    I try to focus on the things we are doing, knowing that we can’t solve all of the problems there, but many of them have to be solved on their own.    Our focus is to work with the handicapped there, so we’ll keep focusing there and let others focus on the economical and political situation.    We do our share to employ those when we can.    We’ll be investing in a hospital and another clinic in the future, which will hopefully provide some kind of economical boost.   I know it will be a better help to the handicapped in Haiti, regardless.    As we grow, so will the need for employees and services, which will also add to the economy.

I welcome any feedback, thoughts, or suggestions concerning my narrative and look forward to seeing some of you in the future.

Best regards,

Matt


Matt Ray
Healing Hands for Haiti Foundation, Inc.
4212 Danube Court, Bakersfield CA 93308
http://www.healinghandsforhaiti.org
mraymus@yahoo.com
661.588.4400 - phone
801.516.0168 - efax