Haiti in a Nutshell

Andrew's first days at the Creche

There may be many of you who have not seen too many of our adoption photo's. As a result we will occasionally post some of them. This is a photo of Andrew when he first arrived at the orphanage in Haiti (the Creche). He was two years old and in very bad shape. He was given a blessing at that time by a man from Alpine, Utah, which is another story and that is where he got the name Andrew, prior to that his name was Gaillard (pronounced Guy-art). We were not given any photo's of Maillie when she first arrived. But here's one after she packed on some pounds.

Maillie after being fattened up at the Chreche

UN trucks are a common sight in this country of unrest.

Food line.



The common area in the Creche. As you can see it is much nicer than the world around it.

Plantains 'a' Plenty

In Creole "Banan"

I don't know what is so unusual, that's how I transport mine. Don't you?

Meat Sale!

From goat-truck to market fresh! Yum

The Tire "Store". No there is not a better one.

Hillside Villas

A typical village home

Inside a village home.

The "Bathtub"

This canal runs from the mountains to the sea. It is used for

a variety of purposes. Most of which you wish you hadn't seen.

Market Day

The Creche

Andrew and Maillies orphanage

School Children "the lucky ones"

kids rooms at the Creche

Juice Lady

This Auntie made the most delicious juice

that I have ever tried in my life. I will never forget it!

Laundry Lady

I wouldn't be smilin' neither!

I have added a bunch of Haiti pictures courtesy of Megan Swalberg. Kudo's Megs. She was a volunteer at the creche for about two months so her pictures rock. They are much more extensive than the ones we took while we were there for a week. I will be adding some of ours too though. You can see a bit what Haiti is like. Traveling to Haiti is something you never forget. I had seen pictures prior to going there but no matter how many pics you see or stories you hear nothing can prepare you for what you will see when you get there. The first shock I received was the view from the airplane before we landed. The entire city was covered with shanty huts and buildings we would consider condemned by our standards. Just in the short drive from the airport to the orphanage (about 30 min.)there were a few vignette's that I can't forget: A Man missing two limbs standing by a chain link fence begging for food or money, garbage piled in the streets everywhere you went, a man bathing in a large brown colored river right in the middle of the city, Lots of folks bathing in canals and large wash tubs right out in the open, two women holding a boy, one by the arms and one by the legs while one of them beat him with a thick reed, children wearing rags for clothing, I could go on and on. I looked around and was truly surprised that anyone was alive in this country. I still just can't describe what it was like to see Haiti. Having said that, there is a beautiful underside to Haiti. If you can get past the shock of what is on the surface you will see that it is a beautiful tropical island. It has been heavily deforested and littered with signs of a failing government, but it is beautiful none the less. The people are beautiful too. These are strong people. For them death and disease in abundance is a part of life. They are stronger than you and I. They would beg you to take their child from them to give it a better life. Could I do that if it came to it? They live with bacterias, virus', and parasites in their systems pretty much all the time. They see people die often whether it is by disease or violence. They live hard lives and die young. They smile, and listen to music, and make the best of what they deal with. They survive in a situation that when I saw it, I couldn't believe anyone could live. You hear many people speak of the poor in third world countries and how they have nothing, yet they are happy. But in Haiti I saw something else. I saw people laugh, play soccer, and dance. I saw their smiles glow when we met them. I realized that most of the happy faces that we saw were that of the youth. As I observed the adults and the young adults I saw that those that were happy were happy on the surface. But it is not hard to miss what is underneath, a deep painful need for a better life, an obvious awareness that there is something better out there and that they do not have it. It became evident in every person we met. The glow that I saw was the glow of opportunity. Those that we met with all seemed to see us as "their chance" on varying levels: Their chance to get a new hat or pair of sunglasses, their chance for a bit of cash, their chance for a piece of candy or some food, their chance to get some guns from America, their chance to find a way to come to school here, their chance for some new clothes. These people are uneducated but they are not dumb. They are happy but they are not satisfied. There is a better life. They know this. The people amazed me. Even though I felt as if I was viewed only as a means to a handout much of the time, I did not blame them one bit. It is a matter of survival. For the poor in Haiti (which is just about everyone, they have a very small very rich upper class) there is no other way to live but to survive. They are oppressed. Their government is corrupt. I truly feel that to fix Haiti it would take either a miracle, or hundreds of years of reform. What do the people of Haiti need? The true gospel and education! Not to mention some sort of functional government that had the country's interest in mind and not their own agenda's. Haiti had a rhythm and a flow to it that was beautiful though. It was noisy, vibrant, and colorful. People were everywhere sauntering along with baskets on their heads and wares to sell. The jobless sat in the shade and listened to Haitian music (which I loved). There were a lot of jobless. Cars bounced along on the dirt roads weaving in and out in a manner that makes you unsure that you will survive the car ride (no seat belts either). I loved the way they drove. It was hard to go back to the slow, patient way that we drive in the U.S. Well, I need to wrap it up, I will write more later and post some more pictures. Ta ta.