Interview With Paul Farmer

Thanks again to my cousin Ellie for sending noteworthy articles our way. Here is the link to an interesting interview with Paul Farmer. Read and enjoy.

For All of You History Buffs

Me looking at the ruins of a fort in Mole St. Nicolas, my backpack is freakishly high up on my back for some reason.

I ran across this site yesterday. Mapping Haitian History (which will now be linked on the right) is a simple site with a map of Haiti that allows you to click on several towns to see pictures of areas with historical significance. Check it out, click around and have fun. Also, I contacted the administrator of the site and we may be working with her to get pictures of the Northwest up for people to view.

The Playground

Some more photos of the playground from Dustin Waller:

Summer Update Number Two

The final soccer game as seen from the roof of our house (photo by Dustin Waller). I promise that soccer is not the only thing we have done this summer, as this post will show.

An incredibly hectic schedule has kept us from posting over the past few weeks, and so while I normally would have written about the absurdity of Wyclef Jean’s possible presidential candidacy, among other things, I will instead give a quick recap of the last few weeks, a la the previous post.

The Playground:

Some storms kept the guys from Kids Around The World on the other side of the river and so they never got the chance to come out and put the playground together in La Baie. However, the team, from Heartland Community Church and Daybreak Community Church got together the next week and put together the playground, pictured above, for the kids in the community. The kids in town have never seen anything like it, and it has been a big hit. We owe a big thanks to Kids Around the World for donating the playground, Heartland Community Church for making the trip happen and connecting us with Kids Around The World, and the hard work of both Heartland and Daybreak in putting together a playground in the middle of the Summer in Haiti.

The Soccer Tournament:

Danielle and I with the championship team.

The soccer tournament came to a close last week in grand fashion. In the first semi-final game, Elet’s team upset Chalnet’s team to go to the finals. Elet’s team had been by far the worst team all season and a few lucky breaks helped him to not only qualify for the tournament, but also reach the final match. My team (Kentucky) beat Michelet’s team in the second semi-final and went on to meet Elet in the finals.

The group from Heartland helped set the stage for our first ever night game, and it did not disappoint. Although it took a while to get the lights going, we finally managed to get the game started. The game went into extra time and then penalties in which my team won. I will put as many photos as I can on the Flickr page linked on the left. Thanks to Dustin Waller for document the events.

The Development Group:

The sound of machetes and saws can be heard in the yard once again, which means that another  boat is being built.  This is the third boat since the beginning of the project to help the fishermen of La Baie.  For more info on this project see previous posts, here and here.

The group has also been busy building a small marketplace in town, and also is getting ready for another round of micro loans. The group also just rented a new building for meetings so we will no longer meet in the nutrition program house. Last week we had a representative from Compatible Technology International come out and see the group. NWHCM is partnering with CTI to bring appropriate technology to remote areas of Haiti, specifically grinders. For more info on the grinder project see this post.

The Military:

Apparently the U.S. Military has been working in both Port de Paix and St. Louis building some medical facilities, and even working with the mission. This has meant for us that a giant boat (actual boat pictured above accessed from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/USS_Iwo_Jima_(LPH-2),_portside_view.jpg) has been anchored in our back yard and that multiple helicopters constantly fly overhead at an unnecessarily low altitude for seemingly no reason at all. Who cares about national sovereignty anyways, right?

The Water Crossings:

The first of several water crossings being built on the road to La Baie.

A while ago we posted about an important drainage/road project in La Baie lead by Bruce Robinson (see the link here). Well that project is in full swing and there is a small bridge being built on the road right in front of our campus. These drains are going to bring a huge change in crop yield for the farmers of the area and will also make traveling to and from La Baie much easier. We are excited to be a part of this project and are still looking for supporters to help build the other water crossings and drains. If you are interested in this project please let us know.

This is just one of several areas on the road that will also require a water crossing.

Our New Store:
Many times when groups come stay here they end up donating the clothes that they brought with them. Our staff in La Baie recently came together and decided that we would like to start selling these donated clothes instead of giving them away. We are doing this for numerous reasons. First of all we feel that by selling clothes we are promoting a healthier mindset than we would by simply giving them out. We feel that people can retain their dignity and also get what they need. Secondly, we have found that people are more than willing to pay for these items. Lastly, the money that we bring in from selling clothes will help to fund projects on campus. Overall, we think that this project will help both the mission in La Baie and also the residents of the town.

We have already started a store for fishing supplies and it has gone very well, Elet has taken the profits and is opening up his own shop to sell both fishing supplies and gasoline. The clothing store opened today and it was a great success. We will continue to update you on this project as it continues. Until then, now that any used clothes that are donated to La Baie that are not for programs (orphanage school etc.) may be sold here in town.

Again these are just a few of the things that are going on this Summer. If you would like to know more about one of these projects, or if you would like to help please let us know by emailing us.

Summer Update

So it has been a very long time since we have written anything on the blog. It has been a pretty busy Summer and it looks to get even busier as a lot of work on the new campus is happening and we think we will probably move to the new houses sometime in the next week. We also have a large group from Heartland Community Church in Rockford, Illinois coming out next week to build a playground on the new land. We will be much better about updating from here on out. here is a quick recap of the Summer so far.

#1 Neighbors Project:
The neighbors project is sort of the culmination of the series of posts that we wrote about development. The project is a new way in which NWHCM approaches community development. For a more complete description of the project see this link and this one to the NWHCM site.

Danielle and I are heavily involved in this project and so far this summer we have spent time with two groups doing census work. The first was a group working in the mountain town of La Croix (we actually spent our anniversary there). We found out a lot of things about this community including that they are having problems with bugs eating their coffee crops.

Danielle, Maxi and I hiked all over La Croix looking at water sources and other important parts of town. Here we made a two hour detour to see a cave.

I snuck a picture of the group through a hole in a rusted, tin fence while they were doing the census in La Croix.

Danielle and I in front of the cave in La Croix.

We also spent a few days in Mole St. Nicolas doing the census as well. The group got to meet with a lot of the leaders in town who shared their vision with the team, all signs point to the fact that it was a great experience for both sides.

Fisherman in the bay of Mole St. Nicolas.

#2 Soccer Mania:
In case you did not know, the World Cup has taken up the better portion of the past month. If you have never had a chance to watch a World Cup match in another country, I highly recommend that you put that on your list of things to do before you die. Below are some of the venues in which we watched the games.

This is where I watched the US vs. England match in La Baie.

Brazil vs. The Ivory Coast in La Croix

Brazil vs. The Netherlands in Port de Paix.

We have also taken the soccer league in La Baie to the next level. Thanks to a businessman in Lexington, most of the kids in town received soccer cleats.

My team getting ready to get fitted for their cleats.

After everyone received their cleats we started a soccer league again. There are six teams with ten players each. Each team has their own uniform, coach, and fans among the other kids in town. It is not uncommon for more than one hundred people to congregate in the yard at 4:30 everyday for the games. Each team plays ten games, the regular season will finish up in a few weeks and then the tournament starts. The team that wins the league receives half of the money in the pot and the team that wins the tournament receives the other half. The pot grows as coaches have to pay when their players receive cards, and also as they buy and trade players. In honor of George Steinbrenner’s death, I used my advantageous economic standing to buy a player for my team (Charite) from Chalnet yesterday. We should be pretty set going into the tournament.

The schedule, results, and league rules are posted on the wall outside our house.

My team (Kentucky) in the grey takes on Chalnet's team (Brezil) in the red.

#3 Regular Campus Work:
We have also been doing all of the other things that we do here. Construction is still going on up the hill. Right now we are finishing up the composting toilets, starting the kitchen/program building for the children’s home, and also building a wall for rainwater runoff. This morning we put the boat that was built for La Baie after the hurricanes, in the water. It suffered some damage in transport from Port au Prince to St. Louis, so we had to patch up some areas, but it is now ready to go (pictures will be posted).

The work in agriculture is also still going and we spent some time with a group from Wichita making Moringa powder, which is the ground up leaves of the Moringa tree. We are hoping that this nutritious powder will not only help in NWHCM’s nutrition programs, but it will also produce some income on the market.

Stripping the leaves from the branches.

Grinding the leaves, the kids had fun helping.

The trees have grown quickly since we harvested from them last month.

This is just a quick update, we will try to make sure that we post more as the Summer continues.

Also, be sure to check out more pictures on our Flickr page, linked on the left.

The Jeep

Many of you have participated in the process of getting a vehicle for the campus in La Baie, from fundraising to building, lots of people have been involved. Well here are a few pictures of the finished project, it will be in Haiti soon. We cannot thank you enough for partnering with us on this.

This is the build team from Heartland Community Church in Rockford, Illinois.

Two Videos You Need To See

The first video is about the ongoing partnership between Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Pierre Garcon and NWHCM. Here is the link.

The second is a video made by Andy Olsen, and covers some of the issues of malnutrition in Northwest Haiti and includes the story of a family from La Baie. That video can be found at this link.

Another Article On Food Aid

Here is a short article on the topic of food aid, it is well written and covers the issue fairly well.

U.N. Spending

It is no secret that I am not the U.N.’s biggest fan, but that is another issue. Check out this article about UN spending in Haiti. This should make you angry. This should also make you think about sending money to small NGOs (shameless plug) rather than some of the bureaucratic, mega NGO’s or organizations like the UN, in any situation not just Haiti.

Also, this is probably the first and last time that I will link to Fox News.

CBS Photo Essay

CBS ran a photo essay with a few photos from the NWHCM clinic. Here is the link.