Today’s blog post is written by Elizabeth Lilly, GHF ’16.
(Note: Pictures are still taking a long time to upload. We will keep trying, or we will input them into these posts upon our return this weekend!)
Today was our first day immersing ourselves in what is truly rural Haiti. Whereas before we had been roaming the relatively urbanized (by Haitian standards) streets of Hinche, we traveled today to Clory, a beautiful village far off the beaten — and safely driveable — path. It is in Clory that Manno, the manager of the Midwives for Haiti house, and his friend Theard, have built their school; it is in this school that Stuart will pilot her curriculum tomorrow morning. Clory sits in the center of an expansive plateau, rimmed by towering, cloud-topped mountains. We hiked along narrow, rocky trails to gather information about perception of disease in the most rural of settings. All of us found the residents in and outside of Clory to be, for the most part, lacking medical knowledge that we take for granted in the United States. Nearly all of us encountered someone whom we knew to be sick, but in each case we were unable to do anything. The nearest hospital in Hinche, St. Therese, is basic at best in the care it offers. This cast a somber mood over the interviews but only reminded us of our purpose. Many of the people we surveyed were curious about that purpose — and what was in it for them. Our responses to these questions usually began with “In the future, we hope…” This trip is the first step in making that hope and future a reality.
Highlights of the Day:
Bridget: Seeing that the kids at Maison Fortune remembered us