Yes, the title of this post is "see" for yourself.. but no photos yet. Mainly because I just haven't had time to truly process them as well as figure out what I want to show. But I do have images to share - and this post has 2 videos and a 3d map, so hang with me! Let me give you a little background on the little community we were in 2 weeks ago in Haiti. This is text taken from Food for the Hungry - with my comments added in [brackets].
There are two primary schools in Kafou Tenten, each with about 350 students. These schools are not government operated and the families pay a tuition of 600 gourdes ($15) a year to send their children to school. This tuition covers the teachers' salaries. Uniforms and schools supplies are not included in this amount and must be bought by the families. The cost of schooling hinders many families from sending their children to school. [ALL of the kids WANT to go to school.] Only 2% of children in this community finish secondary school [which isn't even in their community]. The religious beliefs in this community are a mixture of Christian and voodoo practices [didn't see any sign of voodoo].
There are two sources of water nearby that each take about an hour to walk to. [down an insanely steep ravine trail that is slippery and rocky and left me winded after just .25 mile! More on this water walk below...] Each of these sources of water serve a minimum of 1000 people on a daily basis.
• Child protection due to family disintegration.
• Fear keeping even those children who were attending school from going back.
• Lack of adequate latrines. [this is so true. I don't think anyone there has a true latrine... just imagine that daily.]
• Need for post-disaster spiritual and psychological counseling
• Neighborhood clean-up and relief planning.
Ongoing critical issues:
• Most of the children in the community do not attend school because their parents cannot afford the tuition fees.
• Health care is another critical issues. There is a health clinic building in Kafou Tenten but it is currently not staffed other than the occasional mobile clinic that comes once every few months.
• The nearest hospital is in Fermathe, 10 km away.
• Common illnesses among the children include diarrhea, headache, eye problems (pink eye), anemia, malnutrition, malaria and skin eruptions [saw a ton of runny noses and skin issues].
• Economic hardship, lack of adequate water and sanitation are also critical issues.
Strategies for meeting these needs:
• Child-focused initiatives that sponsorship supports will complement a US government grant and other relief funds targeting immediate quake-related structural, nutritional and protection issues. This government grant is short-term.
• Sponsorship funding will allow FH to stay in the community for the seven to ten years that will be required to reach the long-term vision for a community that meets its children's needs.
• Sponsorship will allow staff to develop relationships with children, parents and community/church leaders that can carry on after relief clean-up and rebuilding ends.
View Kafou Tenten, Haiti in a larger map through google... in 3D. I put markers in a few places for you (including the water walk).
I am sure that you could take this text above and pretty much replace a few small stats and it would be a picture of poverty stricken areas all over our world... even in our own backyard in the deepest parts of Appalachia. What amazes me to this day is that in such a media driven culture that I could know these things mentally, have a decent grasp on them visually and even a few anecdotal connections through friends' stories, but nothing makes something as real to you until you experience it yourself.
One of the best things we did while in Kafou Tenten was to take a water walk. I geared up by putting on my Swiss Army Trail shoes, grabbed my camera and bag with an extra lens and walked with the rest of our crew with buckets in tow. We walked about a mile down a muddied road to a point where we took a small path through some woods and came to a clearing where the main downward path to the water started. I was excited to do this to "experience" what these kids do 2-3 times a day. But I began to get a little anxious when I saw the terrain. This was a freaking cliff side with a winding little path. 3 boys who looked 5-8 bounded by us barefoot with their jugs and buckets and bounced down the path like little pinballs. Every muscle in my legs was tense as I tried to navigate down the path. There were points where I slipped, points where I had to reach out to grab an exposed root or rock to steady myself and we hadn't even gotten halfway there! Karena and Kat stopped at a point because she is pregnant and it was just ridiculous t even think about her descending, so AshLee, Justin, Jeremy, Jordan and I went down to the water source.
We reached the bottom and my heart sank. I had seen the video footage from the first team's trek last month (posted below), but like I said... you have to BE there to get it. There were a few kids hanging out on a rock that had been smoothed by years of water flow. They were washing off their faces and feet. A few were beginning to scoop water with a small metal bowl into their old Mazola oil jugs. As you can imagine, this is not the most efficient method. We hung out with the kids for a while, helping fill water jugs and buckets, and discovering a large crab!!!! I had no idea crabs could even exist in fresh water mountain springs. His pincher was as big as my thumb. But really our hanging out with the kids was to catch our breath and mentally prepare for the climb back up. We had spilled our water a few times and refilled... so we were finally ready. I took a short clip from my iPhone that I will post. I had my asthma inhaler ready and headed up - NOT EVEN CARRYING A BUCKET, MIND YOU. I was a mess. Seriously stumbling and breathing hard. Again, getting passed by kids who seemed to be leaping uphill with water jugs on their heads. They laughed at our clumsiness and seemed to get a kick out of our attempt. At one point, an 11 year old girl took my bag off my back and out it on then reached out her arm to steady me. She was helping ME up the mountain!!!
