From: paul.graveline@travel.com (Paul Graveline)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.caribbean
Subject: CARIBBEAN TRAVEL ROUNDUP3
Date: 29 Sep 92 14:27:00 GMT
Article-I.D.: travel.1315.168.uupcb
Reply-To: paul.graveline@travel.com (Paul Graveline)
Distribution: world
Organization: Travel Online / St. Louis Online - St. Louis, MO

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I  went to see my sponsored child. My kid is 16 and only in the fourth  
grade.  Every  year  she  has to drop out of school because she missed  
too  much  of  the  year  due  to  illness, coupes, or other political  
disasters.  As  for her future, it's pretty grim. There's not much for  
her  to  do,  except  maybe  grow  some vegetables in the garden. They  
don't  have  the  training  programs  as readily available as in other  
Project  countries such as Guatemala. Some of this is due to political  
problems.  
 
The  status  of  women  there  is horrible. The status of MEN there is  
horrible. I didn't notice it being too much worse for the women. 
 
She  lives  in  a village where there is a creek running nearby. It is  
full  of  silt  and  debris. The people bathe, wash their clothes, and  
water  their  gardens  with  it. The well that was dug is now useless,  
because  the  water  table  has shifted. They said that they get their  
drinking  water  from  another  well about a good 10 minute walk away,  
but  I  assume  that  it  is much more convenient to use the creek, so  
they probably drink from there.  
 
The  houses  are  made  of  twigs  and  mud,  and  do not keep out the  
weather.  There are no sanitary facilities in my child's house, so she  
either  uses  a latrine at another house a distance away, or finds any  
available  spot  in  the surrounding area. I brought the grandmother a  
sack  of  rice  and  a  sack of beans, as well as 8 bars of soap and a  
large  container  of shampoo. For my sponsored child, who is now 16, I  
brought  some  makeup,  hair  clips in pretty colors, and a giant size  
pack  of  sticks  of sugarless gum. I have pictures of her playing the  
"big-shot"  by  giving  pieces  out to all of the kids in the village.  
While  she  was  doing that, the grandmother was saying that the house  
needed  repair.  At  that very moment, a child reaching for a stick of  
gum leaned against the wall, and part of it fell off!  
 
It   was   fun   to  watch  the  kids  playing  an  informal  game  of  
soccer...barefoot!  The field was surrounded by palm fronds woven into  
mats,  and  placed  upright on stout poles. This keeps the ball in the  
field.  They  have  built  a school for the kids out of cement blocks.  
The  materials  and training mostly came from the money given by child  
sponsors  from  the  US, Canada, and the Netherlands, primarily. There  
is  also a small business making the metal frames for the school desks  
which  employs  some  of  the  local  men,  and provides desks for the  
school.  
 
By  the  way,  almost every person I saw had beautiful teeth! It seems  
as  though  the  malnutrition  has affected them in other ways, rather  
than  in calcium deficiency. I asked if I could take photos each time,  
and  when  they said yes, I asked (in French) "Can't you smile?". Then  
they  would  give those closed mouth smiles. I would then tap my tooth  
with  my finger and say "Ouest votre dents?" (where are your teeth) or  
"Don't  you have any teeth?" They all thought that this was hilarious,  
and  would laugh and laugh till their stomachs hurt. All of the people  
seem  to  have a wonderful,quirky sense of humor, which I found in all  
of the places I went. 
 
They  like  to play subtle games with words, and especially like it if  
you get the mild double entendre.  
 
As  to  how  Haitians  view  Americans,  it's  complicated. I had many  
conversations  with many people. It usually started by asking me "What  
do  you think of Bush"? I said that I did not necessarily support him,  
and  abhorred  how  he  was  treating  Haiti.  I  also  stated  that I  
personally  felt  that  it was due to his C.I.A. ties. However, I made  
it  very clear that "The Government is not the people". Without saying  
anything  against  the  current  regime  there,  I was able to make my  
point.  Every  Haitian  that  I  talked  to (and they loved to ask you  
questions  when  they  saw  that  you were an American) said that they  
hated  Bush  and  that  he  was  being  unfair to the country and it's  
people.  They  laughed  about  the  embargo. "How can they, with their  
fancy,  high-tech  equipment  (my  rough  translation) find a group of  
Haitians  in  a leaky boat adrift in the sea, yet the huge oil tankers  
sneak  through"!  Indeed,  there  is  no  shortage  of gasoline in the  
country,  although  it goes for about three times the price found here  
in  the  states.  They do generally like Americans. It's that division  
of politics vs. people I spoke about.  
 
They  were  astonished,  however, to find out that there are people in  
the  U.S.  who are homeless...people who have no food...people with no  
jobs.  Each and every person I spoke with, from street person to hotel  
worker,  to privileged elite, thought that all Americans were wealthy.  
They  were  shocked  to  hear me say otherwise. I was quick to mention  
that  although  there  are  20%  of  Americans  out  of  work  (my own  
statistics)  and  80%  who  have jobs, in Haiti, there are 20% who are  
working and 80% who are not. Puts things in perspective.  
 
Regarding  the  political  situation,  any sign, photo, mural or other  
depiction  of  either  Aristedes  face or name has been obliterated by  
the   Macoutes.  There  were  some  buildings  which  were  completely  
destroyed  in  order to get rid of his presence. Beautiful wall murals  
commissioned  by  the  former  government  are  defaced. You may see a  
lovely mural with the head missing, only the body.  
 
All  in  all,  I never felt in any danger during my stay. Unlike other  
places  I  have been (Israel, China after Tienanmen Square, the Soviet  
Union  after Chernobyl), I never saw soldiers or people with guns, and  
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Newsgroups: soc.culture.caribbean