Thursday, April 8, 1998

We were wide awake at 6:00 a.m., but stayed in bed and talked about the trip's events for about 45 minutes. Terry called home and talked to Annie for a bit. All seems well. We showered, worshipped on the balcony, ate breakfast and headed for the orphanage. Terry worked in the room with the smallest and sickest children again. Terry spoke with Diane and gained information on how to send supplies back to the orphanage. John spent his time in another nursery where he held babies and tried to get them to build up leg muscles by standing up in their crib. Many mothers were lined up outside the orphanage to receive powered milk and other supplies from the sisters. As we left the orphanage, several of the mothers begged for us to help them and their babies. If only we had more time, people, resources, etc.!!! After lunch, we talked Bob into taking us to the Boy Scout office in Haiti. Tim also went along as did Robert, an employee of the villa. Robert was great at helping us find the Boy Scout office and translating for us. John was thrilled to get several Haitian Scout patches and books.

Upon returning, Terry headed for the pool while John talked to a United Nations employee. John had seen six white vehicles with large U.N. letters painted on the side and was curious as to what they were doing in Haiti. Remi, a U.N. worker, said they were there for two reasons, to train a new police force and to monitor human rights. The police force was unique in that it was not connected to the once corrupt government and would bring real law and order to the city of Port-au-Prince. Remi said workers were basically there on a six month commitment and could apply to stay or transfer elsewhere after that. He said a military force was close by to provide them with protection if necessary. He said the salary was good and he got one plane ticket a year to fly round trip to New York. Roger Desir stopped by and met with John regarding computers. It seems that a power outage had corrupted Roger's hard drive and since the computer was old, wanted to purchase a new one. John provided him with some recommendations on what he should buy and also offered to help him further via email. After dinner we were joined by Claudette Wehrly, former prime Minister of Haiti for an interesting and informative talk about the women's movement in Haiti. She provided some interesting facts: approximately 70% of children attend school, average per capita income is $250 U.S. per year, women selling on the street make 60 cents to $1.00 per day, office workers are paid $200 - $1,000 per month, 1% of the Haitians have 49% of the wealth. After her talk we all socialized around the pool before turning in for the night.