Days Five & Six
On Wednesday morning we departed in a jam-packed van to Jacmel, a coastal city on the southern end of Haiti. We switched between American and Haitian music as we wound our way through the mountains above the coast. Jacmel is a beatifully scenic town with bright blue water, colorful buildings, and intricate mosaics. We spent our first afternoon running directly from the van to the beach as jumped into the rolling waves. After a taste of Haitian fish and the delicious-as-always plantains, we drove back to downtown Jacmel and experienced a taste of Haitian nightlife, walking along the ocean and dancing in the warm Carribbean rain. We are also so grateful that Soluk, a good friend of Rea’s who works as a translator and tour guide, joined us for our trip to the south. He speaks English like a native-speaker, is full of knowledge, and provides a unique prespective as we witness new parts of Haiti for the first time.
Thursday we were able to meet with the founder of ASSLHA (Association Saint Luc d’Haiti), an organization that works to provide economic opportunity and medical services to the region and the more isolated mountain communitites. We followed the founder through banana and plantain fields, learning about how they jumpstart agricultural projects and care for the crops. From the fields we drove to the center of the organization where they use moringa, the magic plant of Haiti, to produce nutriant-rich oil and powder to sell. We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering the streets of Jacmel, also called the New Orleans of Haiti, and peaked our heads into brightly-colored stores. When we returned, we sat on the beach as the sun set and listened as Rea again expressed that she loves being able to show us the “beatiful side” of Haiti without trash. We all affirmed that whether we are returning for our third trip or there for the first time, Port-au-Prince is beatiful because of the people we have met and come to love. Haiti is a country full of incredible history and inspiring individuals, but Rea wanted to show us how the natural beauty and a historic city are important for us to also know; Rea hopes that when we return to the US, we can conifdently say that Haiti is a country worth knowing and loving.
Our final morning in Jacmel, we bumped along in our crowded van on the dirt, mountain roads to remote waterfalls, called Bassin Blu. We followed our Haitian guides along cobblestone paths and across small streams to arrive at the incredible waterfall that drops into a deep turquoise basin. The most daring of our group scaled rocks to drop into the basin as we all watched and yepled in awe. We piled back into the van, wet and exhirilated from the hike, and started our trek back to Port-au-Prince for our final night. Rea, with the help of Soluk’s translation, was kind enough to share both her life story and her experience durnig the earthquake in 2010. We are all so privilaged to have gotten to know a woman who has fought for so much in her life just to give back, again and again. We are lucky to have heard her story and to have the opportunity to support her work and the future of SOPUDEP and Haiti through the scholarships we provide.
We are off to celebrate Bato’s, Rea’s husband, birthday and dance the night away with the family that has welcomed us in as their own. Tomorrow, we will wake up and leave for the airport, full of new questions, more frustration, love, and most of all - a will to keep fighting, sharing, and fundraising for the country that we now love.
