Saw our Paraguayan friends in a caravan heading to the border as 6 of them leave on break for 5 days today. It was fun to see them waving like maniacs to get our attention.
Realized we forgot the printer to copy ID cards at the camp today. Oops. Turned around and drove all the way back to the compound - about 25 minutes each way from where we were.
Went to the village to pick up the President to take him with us to the camp to interview the last of the families. He wasn't there even though we called him 15 minutes before we arrived and he said he would be around. Took Ruth instead.
Drove the back way. Floyd started making a noise. I got out down a back road to see a pipe dragging. Lord have mercy on us is all I could think! Johnbern and I tied it up until we could get it to a "garage" that wasn't in a garage. Used my shoelaces to tie it up. Hey - you have to improvise in Haiti. Just needed to be welded back together - 250 goudes or $6.50 US. Not bad! We think it rotted at the seam from all the saltwater we have been driving through at the border.
Back on our way to the camp at Lilavois 6. Less tents than when I first visited. I wonder if people are around because they knew we were coming or if they are actually living here. Interviewed 4, only taking 1. We asked them to show us the tent they have been living in at the camp. One lady showed us one with nothing in it, the others couldn't show us because their tent didn't exist, and one lady was legitimately living there - we only took her. Ask President about other people who were around washing clothes, bathing, and getting water. He said they are bad people and will cause problems at the new village. We told him we wanted to give everyone a chance and interview them anyways because we knew he just wanted to only take his friends. He didn't like that. We started walking around to realize almost none of these people were actually living there. After 2 hours of lies, we decided we were done for the day. By this time it was 2:15pm. The President and I went back and forth because I saw a lot of people from the village there. I kept asking him why people would travel so far in a taptap to visit people in a place when they just said they didn't like the people. He didn't gave a good answer.
On our way out we drove 4 of the guys from our village to the street to get a taptap back to the village. Saw Ernst (one of the guys that ACTED said had a "good" house) at a car place. Showed me his tent. Asked him where his girlfriend and 2 daughters are. He said they were at the village today even though yesterday we told him he had to move out. Apparently he moved them in yesterday afternoon even though he has had almost 6 weeks to move them in. I decided I was too tired to battle for the truth any longer.
Dropped the guys off in Clercine and JB took Laurel and I to a nearby restaurant for lunch. It was Laurel's first time in a restaurant in Haiti and she has been here since March! Upstairs was a very nice salon for women and downstairs was a barbershop. It was cool to see.
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| At the barbershop. |
As soon as we got in Johnbern went to take a nap and Laurel and I ended up talking in the car for over an hour. She is so fun and I love talking to her about what we are doing and the books we've read. I think we are learning a lot from each other.
Dinner, shower, and bed. Lots of meetings tomorrow.
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