Day 5

So the boys are slackers and don’t take the time to tell there stories but I want to get mine down before I forget anything….

Today I went to talk with a group of Leogane teachers about disaster preparedness. We didn’t really know what to expect so we had an agenda and a few notes to help us. We road a tap-tap, aka a taxi, to the site. A tap-tap is a beat up truck that has bars around the bed so you don’t fall out and so a lot more people and be crammed inside “safely”. Imagine riding with at least 10 people in the back of a pick up on a very bumpy dirt road going really fast and that is what we did!

When we got to the site their were 45 teachers waiting for us to present. The first thing we did after introducing ourselves was give the teachers a chance to share their stories about January 12^th. I think the most shocking thing to me was the fact that they were not emotional about the experience. They told the stories of where they were, what happened to them, their families, and their neighborhoods. They praised God a lot for him giving them this experience, letting them survive, and giving them the opportunity to share their experiences with others. I was very shocked by this, and it made me wonder, what we as Americans would do in this type of situation. I would hope that I would thank God for keeping me alive, but I feel I would be more upset with seeing people die and my house and the houses around me destroyed. It was amazing to hear them talk about people coming together to help each other and being upset because they couldn’t help everyone. Is this the way we would be or would we be selfish and only worry about ourselves? If I take one thing from this trip, I hope it is that I can be more giving to others and not just think about myself but what I can do to help the people around me.

We spoke with the teachers for almost three hours about what to do to prepare for earthquakes, a hurricanes, and fires. We also gave them ways to practice with their students and families and the steps to follow if one of these occurs. I knew they would ask us about things that actually have occurred since the January earthquake but I wasn’t prepared for the other questions- what is a hurricane/earthquake, where does the water come from during a flood or hurricane, why did my house fall and my neighbors did not, etc. It made us realize we needed to assess what we were talking about and really get down the facts first before we could even go into what to do if an earthquake or hurricane does occur.

After lunch we spoke to about 30 more teachers. This time we gave more facts about earthquakes and hurricanes so the questions we received this time were more scenario based. Haitians love their families, love their friends, and love their country so it was hard for them to handle the fact that we were telling them not to go back into the building no matter what or who was in there.

I have really gained much respect for the people of Haiti. They may not have the life that the Americans do but for the most part they live a happy life. As we were leaving the site today, a guy about my age stopped and said hello to me. He asked me whom I was here with and if we had work for him. I explained that we don’t get paid to do work, we just volunteer to do it. To my surprise he responded, “I don’t want money. I want to help my people.” That put a big smile on my face, because it is people like this young man that will help Haiti heal. You wouldn’t think there were many people like that around, but as we traveled around Leogane all week we would see the Haitians knocking down rubble and trying to clean up the community. It was amazing to see children who were probably 6 or 7 taking wheelbarrows full of concrete down the street or carrying buckets full on their heads to a dumping site. I hope more Americans can see this way of life and understand that it is not about how much money we have or how big our houses are. It’s about who we have around us, supporting us. I hope that I can learn from this trip to really appreciate my family, my friends, and any one else I meet. You never know when something like this could happen to us, will we be there for each other?

-Kat