Today we woke up bright and early just to gain a new appreciation for “Haitian time.” We planned to depart for Clory at 8:00, but we were finally under way about 45 minutes later. When we arrived we separated into our respective project groups. Aneesh and Hunt went on a long hike around Clory with one of our translators to finish distributing Luci Lights and map out the homes of those recipients. Lawson and Olivia did the same with their translator. They later shared that they enjoyed seeing parts of Clory that they had never seen before. Liz, Bridget, Claire, and Mrs. Hall continued to educate the locals about the biosand filters and their functions as well as map out the locations of their homes.
Trekking from house to house in Clory to map the biosand filter locations.
The biosand mapping group.
Meanwhile Wyatt, Brian, and Gabi sat down with a few of the teachers of the school in Clory to talk about their handwashing curriculum. They generously came to the school on a Saturday to discuss our plans for the upcoming school year. We had planned for the Tippy Tap handwashing stations to be a big part of our project, but the school had more access to running water than we realized. We did build a Tippy Tap for Theard, a community leader, yesterday so that he could learn the model, and he plans on building a more permanent handwashing station for the upcoming school year. Since the school has pretty good access to a running water source from their well, the curriculum has become the main focus of our project.
Conversation with teachers at Flower of Hope School about handwashing.
In our discussion with the teachers, we explained that our focus was to educate the students about the importance of handwashing and proper technique. The teachers said that they already try to promote handwashing, but they are still interested in our curriculum since it was adapted from the previously successful curriculum created by the ‘16s for Operation Blessing International’s Peru division. The curriculum includes interactive teaching with giving and taking between the students and teachers as well as supervised handwashing. The teachers were especially interested in our posters, which explain in detail the process of handwashing. They even asked for more when we return next year. One of our focuses in the future will be to provide soap because the teachers said that the cost is the limiting factor in educating the children about handwashing.
In the afternoon we split into two groups. The ‘18s went to the Maison Fortune girls’ orphanage to enjoy interacting with the kids. The ‘16s went to the Azil, a recovery facility for undernourished infants and children. We took great pleasure in helping feed the malnourished infants baby formula. As we settled down for the night, our translator Kelby led us in a very helpful Creole lesson, while Aneesh, Bridget, and Mrs. Hall mapped the biosand filters being installed in Hinche.
-Wyatt Miller and Brian Peecie, GHFs ‘16
Highlights from the Day:
Gabi: Brainstorming with the teachers at the Clory school about future projects
Elizabeth: Hanging out with the kids at the Azil
Claire: Giving a biosand filter to a kind, old man in Clory who took time to pose for his picture
Lawson: Singing in the car on the way back from the orphanage
Hunt: When a man climbed up a tree to cut down a coconut for us
Aneesh: Coming across a beautiful view while walking in Clory and being reminded how gorgeous this country is
Wyatt: The productive discussion we had with the teachers in Clory
Brian: Hanging out with the kids at the Azil; one of the kids called him “Dada”
Stuart: The Azil
Bridget: The Azil and seeing Hinche in a whole different way tonight mapping the biosand fliters
Liz: Walking around with Claire and Bridget today in Clory
Olivia: Getting to see my friend, Sophia, again at the orphanage