Reflection on Poverty in Bondeau

 

Living here in the middle of a poor peasant village in rural Haiti, I see situations with people and families that we couldn’t conceive of in the U.S.  Sometimes it seems surreal.  It seems that there is no end to the poverty here.  So many kids wander around partially clothed, dirty, and hungry!  Families are broken when a child is sent away to live with a relative or friend, usually serving as a restavec (a child slave).  I don’t know the percentage of children that are sent away, but I hear about it from time to time.  Nor do I know the percentage of children here in Bondeau that are not in school, but there are many.  Without an education they will grow up being illiterate just like their parents, and face a life of poverty just like their parents, and bring children into the world that will face a life of poverty just like their parents, and the cycle goes on and on.  I see all this around me and can only do so much to relieve the suffering.  It’s so frustrating!

A little girl returned to Bondeau after living with a relative.  The girl is about ten years old.  She comes here to Kay Timoun, where I live, and spends the day.  She has her meals here and plays with the kids that live here, but mostly, she likes to help with the work.  I think it’s because that what she knows after living as a restavec.  She is not in school.  The kids and staff help her to learn basic math and writing.  But she needs to be in school.  One morning she arrived all flustered because her step father told her to stay at Kay Timoun.  We are not in a position to take in another child.  We can, however, help her with food and clothes.  For now, that’s what we are doing.  And we do what we can to help other kids, as well. There are always six or seven extra kids to feed at mealtime.  These are kids from families in the community that are so poor they cannot feed their children every day. 

Very often poor families have so many children they can’t feed them.  A woman showed up one day asking for food.  We got into somewhat of a conversation, given my limited Kreyol language ability.  She told me she had twelve children!  How in the world, I wondered, can a woman bring twelve children into the world when she can’t even feed herself?  She agreed to help with washing dishes in exchange for food.  We talked about family planning and she agreed that she needs planning but doesn’t have the money.  Thoughts ran through my mind about medical missions supplying some type of birth control and instructions on how to use it, available to those women who want it.  The upshot to the conversation is that when she left, the staff told me that she has sixteen children!

Somehow the poor do survive!  They have strong faith in God, believing that they will receive all that they need.  They thank God for everything.  I see and hear people thanking God for rain, for a good night’s sleep, for today.  They survive one day at a time, believing that they will have enough for tomorrow.

Is He coming or is He already here?

It's a quiet Sunday afternoon with the kids visiting their parents.  I have time to think.  And the thought that kept running over and over in my mind is that we Christians are waiting for the return of Jesus.  I honestly don't know if He'll return in the way that we expect.  As I see it, He has returned, and keeps returning, except we miss Him.  I see Him every day in the poor children who live with me;  I see Him in the eyes of their destitute parents as they struggle to get together another meal.  I see Him every day in the disabled man I call "Net" (because it means perfect) who comes here to beg a meal.  I see Him in the girl who I'm caring for who has returned to Bondeau after being a child slave most of her life. 

We keep waiting for the return.  And yet, He is here.  We just don't see Him.  Or is that we refuse to see Him?

Bondeau, Happy to See You!

Arrived back in Bondeau on Tuesday, September 10 to a glorious reunion with my kids at Kay Timoun and the wonderful people who looked after the kids while I was gone.  The first thing I noticed after all the hugs and kisses was that every child was visibly thinner.  Not skinny, by any means, but thinner.  So, like a typical grandmother, first thing I did was prepare a snack.  The flight steward had carefully wrapped muffins, biscuits, and quiche as a special treat for the children. 

It didn't take long for me the staff to bring me up to date.  Many problems, they said.  The kitchen faucet leaks so much that buckets upon buckets fill with water that drips from the connections under the sink.  A plumber is repairing as I write.  And then there is the recurring problem of the electricity.  We have no electicity at all!  I came equipped with new battery powered lanterns, one for each room.  A great inconvenience is keeping my laptop charged so I can go on the Internet.  All is well in the daytime, but at night, I really get annoyed at having to read with a flash light and carry a lantern with me as I make my way around the house.  The chapel is illuminated by candles at prayer time, which makes for a peaceful setting.

The good news is that the moringa tree is huge!  And there are three smaller ones growing, as well.  I trimmed some leaves from the tree and added them to the tuna salad sandwiches yesterday.  I also talked with our cook about adding the leaves to food.  She said she is familiar with moringa.  She told me that Haitians use moringa often, adding the leaves to rice dishes.  Moringa is extremely high in nutrients. Often called the "miracle tree", it is used in developing countries, especially good for children with malnutrition.  

The kids are at my door wanting attention, so I'll end my blog and hope to write again soon.

Summer at Kay Timoun

We are well into our summer schedule at Kay Timoun.  Like kids in the U.S., kids here like to stay up late at night and sleep late in the morning.  So, instead of going to bed at 8:30, the kids are up till after 10:00.  Then they sleep till 7 or 8 in the morning, a good break for me!  The end of the year report cards showed that many of the children need extra help in school.  I have an agreement with one of the teachers to teach Zachary, Love, Jean Marie, Sundrene, and Benjamy every morning, hopefully focusing on math and language, in exchange for money.  Most of the kids did well all year and then had a hard time with state exams.  I can't speak Kreyol well enough to help them, although I have been giving them math exercises to do.  We also have study time every afternoon.  At the end of the day I check with everyone on their chore duties and their study time.  Their reward for good work is watching a movie on the laptop.

Our kids love to play outdoor games.  Their favorite is soccer, called football here.  They play every evening until dark.  A second favorite is "marbles", thanks to the mission team who gave all the kids marbles.  Another game is similar to "jacks", except that the kids play it with stones, no ball.  They can play this for hours in the shade of the porch.  Then there are the kids who love to play games on the laptop.  Benjamy is the star player.

This is the rainy season here in Haiti.  We get wonderful downpours that water the garden and we collect water in buckets and huge drums.  But there is a downside to those downpours.  Water runs into our house, first flooding the girls' bedroom, and then the kitchen.  Water also comes through the window casings, runs down the wall and onto the floor.  It's a matter of house construction that didn't make provisions for heavy rain, something that's unheard of in the states.  The upper verandas also flood but that is less of a problem.  Rain water runs down from the mountain forming gullies, even in our driveway.  Houses at the bottom of the mountain, across the road from our parish land, are flooded, looking like they sit in a lake.  Dedet, who works here, and her family live in one of those houses that are built on the dirt ground, which turns to mud after a heavy rain.  Huge puddles remain in all the low spots, a perfect nesting place for mosquitoes.

I'm so thankful that the tropical storm that was threatening us broke up and is no longer a threat.  I have my own personal "weather man", my grandson Michael, the meteorologist.  Michael is at Florida State working on his masters in meteorology, interning this summer with the National Weather Service.  He keeps me well informed.  Thanks, Michael.  Keep those storms away from Haiti!  Let us enjoy our summer!

Comfortable? No... but happy!

It's so much fun living with and caring for twelve children.  They are all precious in their own ways, their individual personalities always shining.  My favorite time is first thing in the morning when I go downstairs and one by one the younger ones wrap their arms around my waist and hold on tight.  "Bonjou, Anita" or "Bonjou, Mama".  The older kids are more reserved, but do come to me for a less enthusiastic hug.  Now that school is out some of the kids sleep late.  This morning Ange slept till after 10:00.  Breakfast was over when she wandered sleepy eyed into the kitchen to begin her day with a hug and a kiss.  Chores begin right after breakfast: the older girls sweep and mop their bedroom.  The boys have various jobs: cleaning their room, picking up trash around the yard, taking trash in a wheelbarrow to the "dump", always making their beds and picking up their clothes.  This morning all the kids went to the mountain water source to wash clothes.  There isn't enough water in our water tank to allow for washing clothes.  They carry huge basins full of clothes on their heads, walk up the mountain trail to the water, and then after a couple of hours, return and hang their clothes on the line to dry.  This morning the younger boys were in charge of washing "stinky" sneakers.  Kids at Kay Timoun love between meal snacks.  Their favorites are watermelon and mangos.  No paper wrapped snacks here!  So, bringing up kids here is a lot different from bringing up kids in the states.  And in many ways, it's a lot easier.  With people on the Kay Timoun staff, I have very little actual "work" to do.  Carole does the cooking and is main caregiver to the children.  She makes sure they take a bath, brush teeth, and have clean clothes.  Naomi and Dedet clean the house and wash clothes.  There is a tremendous amount of laundry with kids changing clothes two or three times a day.  Carole does the big market shopping for food.  Wonel runs all the errands on the motorcycle.  There is no such thing as driving a kid to soccer practice or a music lesson or to a church activity.  Everything is right here.  The kids watch movies on a small laptop.  They have never been to a movie theater.  So, life is simple!

I write on Facebook and complain about not having electricity, (true...we have electricity for a couple of hours a day.)  I write and complain about not having running water, (true...I often take a "bucket bath" and the kids bathe outside, often with rain water.)  Going back a hundred years, we buy ice to keep food from spoiling.  Most of our food is cooked in an outdoor kitchen in a huge pot on a charcoal fire.  Today Carole is roasting peanuts for home made peanut butter.  It doesn't get any better than that!

Having lived for years in my comfortable air conditioned condo, driving in my air conditioned car to shop in an air conditioned store, or have dinner in an air conditioned restaurant, or worship in an air conditioned church, it's not easy for this city woman to live in what I view as primitive. But, truth be known, the joy of my kids far outweighs the discomforts of living in rural Haiti.  I pray that God continues to give me strength and endurance, and whatever else I need to carry on.

"Bebe"

“Bebe” is a deaf mute lady who has lived in Bondeau all of her life.  She survives by selling fruits and vegetables that she buys at the market and sells for a few cents profit.  It’s a hard life, carrying around huge baskets of fruit in hope of selling a few pieces.  Bebe has the added problem of not hearing and not speaking.  But local people know her sign language and can communicate. 

Bebe has come to Kay Timoun often to sell her produce and we always buy from her.  We can use the food and she needs the money.  So, when the children called to me, “Bebe is here," I expected that she would be selling something.  But,not so.  Bebe said that she didn’t have any money to go to market to buy fruit.  I just listened, or watched, I should say.  The kids translated her sign language.  I saw that she was considerably thinner than she had been.  I assumed that she was hungry, so I asked her to wait.  I went into the kitchen and made her a peanut butter sandwich on an oversize Haitian bread, scooped the oatmeal that was left in the pot into a small bowl, and cut a piece of watermelon.  Bebe sat at the picnic table and ate her meal.  I went out again to say good-bye but she was gone.

 

Some of my favorite things.

Life is difficult here in Bondeau, no doubt about it!  But there are so many pleasures and joys, so I'll share some of those with you now.

Breakfast this morning:  Freshly made hot chocolate with real chocolate, add milk and sugar.  Freshly baked Haitian peasant bread spread with peanut butter that was made with peanuts roasted on charcoal fire, and then hand ground into thick delicious peanut butter, topped with fruity confiture (a type of marmalade)  Carole cleaned and sliced one whole pineapple just for me!

Roadside markets:  Everything you could ever want in organic fruits and vegetables;  our own "Whole Foods Market".  Women tend to their business selling vegetables and fruit neatly arranged by the side of the road.  Every town has a street market.

Children singing "Jesi Savoir".  Our children's choir sings beautifully.

Mother hen carefully tending to her chicks.  Love that maternal instinct that we females have!

Watching the garden grow.  Watching my neighbor's garden grow.

Feeling the cool breeze just before a rainfall.

Watching the rain water our garden.  Mesi Bondye!  (Thank you, God.)

Mangos just off the tree.  Eat them while they're fresh and sweet!

Hearing the brass band practice Mozart.  (Twinkle twinkle little star.)

Watching the kids create art with color pencils, crayons, and color paper.  The winners get displayed on the refrigerator.

Teaching Benjamy a new computer game.

Sitting with the kids as they learn English with Rosetta Stone.

The smell of sheets on my bed that have been hanging on the clothes line all day.

Ending the day reading a good novel.

"Facebook" friends.

Emails from my grandsons.

These are a few of my favorite things.