Normally Sundays are the day of rest for people in Leogane so HODR tries to respect that and not go out into the community to do work. We didn’t know this until late Saturday night, so this morning we decided to ask if we could do some work around the camp since we just got here and would only be here a week. They gave us the job of clearing off the rubble on top of our building, which was weighing down the roof and could eventually cause a lot of problems. This is also the after hours hangout spot for the young guys (yes we are old and boring and go to bed at 9 so we haven’t experience this)so they wanted the area clear for safety reasons.
Ryan and Rik had the job of shoveling the huge pile of rubble while I had the job of sweeping everything into big piles and clearing all the broken glass that had been created from the locals throwing empty bottles on the roof. These seem like pretty easy tasks except for the fact that we were on a roof with no covering all day in about 98-degree weather and the rubble was never ending.
When it came time for lunch we went to the corner and got egg sandwiches made by the locals and a cold bottle of coke. The sandwiches consisted of egg, some type of meat product, lettuce, and ketchup on a hoagie roll. Surprisingly it was an amazing meal!
After lunch we got back to work on the rubble pile. We were so exhausted but we made it though and we got the huge pile of rubble cleared by about 3:30.
I decided after the hard day I would go experience my first bucket shower. It is exactly as it sounds too. You fill up a bucket with water from the faucet and then take a pale and the bucket into a stall covered with a tarp. Before the trip I was dreading the cold water but oh my gosh it was an amazing shower… except for the fact that afterwards I realized I didn’t get the soap completely out of my hair and I was already sweating again from the hot weather. But that’s ok at least I didn’t smell and I wasn’t covered in dust!
For dinner we took a 10-minute walk up the street to a burger joint. We had “chicken burgers”, fries and ice cream. The chicken was more of a weird chicken nugget on a bun, but the strawberry ice cream made us forget about that. After a long day in the sun we could have cared less as long as we had something cold to eat!
The best part of that experience was the walk to and from dinner. I took amazing video footage of the town, which I hope to get up here soon. It was surreal to see houses basically crumbled to the ground. There were so many houses one after another that were collapsed and nothing had been done. I just wondered how many people have still not been found yet because obviously there is no way to get through all that rubble any time soon. I also wonder the stories of these people, what they have gone through, and whom they all have lost because of the earthquake. This experience took me aback and made me really see how great of a life I have. I might not be the richest person in the world and I might not be able to do everything I want to do but I have a roof over my head, food on the table every night, and my family around to talk to whenever I want. I hope I can keep these memories close to heart every day. No matter how tough of a day I have, no matter what I go through, nothing will compare to what these people have gone through. I thank God so much for this experience and for helping me see that I live an amazing life.
-Kat
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