Always something new

Back in Haiti for another two weeks stint.  This time I have a few days to prepare before the team arrives.  It is a lot less stressful and we don’t have to try and squeeze 7 guys in 5 1/2 seats plus all the luggage.  We want people to enjoy an experience of Haiti but not to throw out their back so they can’t work.

Yesterday I drove down to Port-au-Prince to buy some supplies and talk over the work plans for next week.  You always see something new and interesting.  In our area of Kaliko people are cutting down trees at a furious rate.  One of the current challenges for people is that they have food but no way to cook it.  Most people in Haiti rely on charcoal.  But in cutting down the small scrub trees for charcoal they are putting themselves at risks for flooding and mudslides.  I have seen the store in this picture before.  The name of the place is “Down With Charcoal.”  They sell propane tanks and are hoping to convert people over to this less destructive fuel.  Let’s hope they make some headway.

Whether buying gas or just pulling in to buy a drink there are always guys selling DVD’s.  Of course, not one of them is legal.  There is a huge industry of pirated DVD’s here in Haiti.  But who would have thought it had infected even the nation’s largest bank?  I was waiting in line to deposit money at Unibank and they have a big screen TV playing music videos and commercials for their services.  The DVD keeps skipping, picture goes grainy and then stops.  They restart it again.  Can you say – not legal?

And then on the way home I see something new.  It is a John Deere combine on the back of a truck being transported north.  I have seen tractors, I have seen plows.  But a combine?  I wonder what they are using it for since there are no crops like corn or wheat in large enough fields to combine.  Who know?  Always something new to see in Haiti.