Day 4: SAKALA

Bonjou tout moun!

It is our fourth day in Haiti, and we cannot believe our week here is already halfway over. We started the day off right with a delicious breakfast of pancakes, fresh fruit, and of course, Haitian coffee. Next, we headed to Tabarre to meet with Solidarite International, an NGO working in Haiti to fight the cholera epidemic. Following the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti in 2010, Haitians faced a large-scale outbreak of cholera, a disease that was once considered to be eradicated due to the improvement of sanitation. Since then, cholera has taken the lives of over 10,000 people in Haiti, and this number is considered an underestimate by many due to unreported cases during the mass outbreak. Our long time friend and close contact in Haiti, Ti-Paul, works for DINEPA and has been an instrumental player in implementing an action plan that strives to eradicate cholera. He was able to set up site visit for us with Solidarite International, during which we were able to witness and learn a lot about their process for handling an outbreak case. This movement has made incredible progress and the people behind it are extremely impressive in their commitment and determination to educate the population and supply them with the tools needed to terminate this devastating disease.

In the afternoon, we made our way to Cité Soleil, one of the poorest neighborhoods in Haiti, to visit SAKALA. SAKALA is a community organization that provides a safe space in the heart of Haiti’s largest undeveloped area, where youth come together to grow, learn, and play. SAKALA was founded by Daniel Tillias, a local community activist and long time friend of Rea’s, who grew up in Cité Soleil and strives to promote peace, reconciliation, tolerance, and truth for a new Haiti. At SAKALA, they have developed a number of successful programs ranging from education to athletics to agronomy, all with the mission of empowering youth and providing hope for their futures. One of our favorite moments every time we visit is to witness the growth of their garden, which is notably the largest urban garden in the country. Daniel and a team of students have even made steps towards self-sustainability through the production and export of moringa oil from the trees in the garden.

Daniel had mentioned to us an effort to expand their art program, and thus, we decided to bring along supplies for a small art class, during which the students made paper airplanes and decorated them with watercolor paints. It was so fun to interact with the students and learn a new skill together, one which they can use again to create new memories with their friends. Additionally, we had a very meaningful and moving conversation with a group of young women our same age, who are administrators and monitors at SAKALA. We absolutely loved getting to know them more and hearing about their journey to and with SAKALA and what they hope to do in the future.

Overall, today was full of highs and we cannot wait to see what the rest of the week has in store for us. For now, we are off to get some sleep before our very early wake up call for the Mobile Medical Clinic tomorrow.

Bonwi!