Sunday, January 10, 2016

Byenvini an Ayiti

Bonswa!

Maryam and Valerie here, reporting from Port-au-Prince! We arrived yesterday around 4 PM and were greeted by the beautiful 90 degree weather. Our friend Patrick, a coordinator from the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), picked us up from the airport and brought us back to our lovely guesthouse where we will be staying this week. The drive through the city was full of sights and sounds: street vendors and motorcyclists milling about this beautiful city. Patrick gave us an orientation followed by our first meal: poulet creole, a delicious chicken dish, with rice and salad. We were eager and ready for a full night's rest after having been awake since 3:30 AM...

At the sound of the rooster crowing, we were up and ready for breakfast by 7AM: croissants, mango, eggs, and Maryam's favorite - Haitian coffee! After breakfast, we embarked on our journey for the day. We were fortunate enough to have been invited to a church service at Assemble du Grace where Pastors Yvon and Leslie delivered a compelling and passionate sermon. The music had us on our feet. Four young talented boys played guitar, drums, and keyboard while the congregation sung hymns in Creole. Afterwards, we were given a tour of the church grounds which had been devastated by the 2010 earthquake. Since the disaster, MCC has assisted in the rebuilding process of the parochial school that is attended by over 150 local students who are taught by ten volunteer teachers. We sat down for a nice lunch full of Haitian delicacies: diri ak djon djon with goat, fried okra, breadfruit, beet salad, and ackee juice with milk. We gobbled down these delights and were able to listen to the pastor share some of his opinions on the influence of the French language on the Haitian education system as well as the ongoing elections in Haiti which were just postponed to January 24th.



Our next stop of the day was to the iron market where we got to test out our haggling skills. Unaware of the American dollar to Haitian dollar conversions, we had a bit of trouble bartering prices but all ended up with beautifully hand crafted pieces of art! Get excited for some cool souvenirs :)

Later this evening, we were visited by Boumba, an MCC partner, who shared with us the history of Haiti from its precolonial times to its development into the French colony of Saint-Domingue, concluding his presentation by answering our lingering questions about class systems, language, education, and politics of postcolonial and modern day Haiti. He gave us a lot of insight into Haitian culture and we cannot wait to use this knowledge on the rest of our trip!


The team with Boumba and Patrick!

That's all for now!

Orevwa!

- Maryam and Valerie

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