Haiti is a country that has deep beliefs in magic and voodoo. A lot of the time in the clinic these beliefs clash with western medicine. At times I find myself very frustrated and I just want to yell, no that is not true! Today though I have a new appreciation for magic. When you are faced with the numbing loss of a loved one for no apparent reason and you have no knowledge what actually caused this person to die, why not believe it was the work of dark magic? Tonight we visited the home of young Rodlyn, a sweet little boy that passed away this afternoon. He has been a long time patient at the clinic and I have gotten to know this quirky little fellow quite well. He has been sick on and off for quite some time, but he recently came down with bad stomach pain resulting in a swollen abdomen, swollen feet and vomiting. He went to a hospital and they said that someone had put a curse on him and he was going to die... After suffering all night his grandmother brought him to the clinic and he was already in bad shape, he did not make it through the day. It is so hard to witness this loss which seems to happen here all the time. But life goes on...(sorry for the morbid story but that is what is on our minds right now)

We spent two incredible weeks down in the south west of Haiti. We had a few nights up in the mountains in a town called Kazal (where we met up with Kimball) with our friends Cissy and Fenel and their beautiful healthy boy named Christopher. We then headed to Port au Prince for a bit then up to the high mountains of Douchity. Kathryn, Donna and two other UVM students joined us at this point for the next week. While in Port au Prince we spent a day at the school VHP sponsors and spent some quality time singing with the kids trading some American songs for Haitian songs, I think Peter has a future as an elementary choir teacher. After just a few days in PAP we were feeling ready to get to the mountains and out of the chaos.

We really enjoyed being up in the mountains. A real change from Terrier Rouge, it rains there every afternoon and actually gets quite cold at night! We spent sometime working on a garden and helping Despagne plan his future technical school. This is a project that Peter and I are especially excited about. This is a real dream of Despagne’s and Vermont Haiti Project is assisting him in getting his dream off the ground, he will run and operate the school but VHP is trying to help raise some funds. Peter and I see this as a future place to bring people to explore and appreciate all the beauty the culture, people and land that Haiti has to offer. Peter and Fenel spent nine hours hiking in the mountains one day with Pierrevy, Despagne’s nephew, who is trying to start exporting the coffee he and many others are growing. When they got back to town that evening they (Peter and Fenel) could barely walk their legs were so tired. One of the highlights from Douchity was that we were their during carnival so there was a band that played music during the night and all day long. They were all wearing red and blue and playing the drums and other homemade instruments marching around town chanting,singing and dancing- it is hard not to dance since the music truly enters your soul.

After Douchity we finally got to the ocean for a quick swim before returning to the dusty polluted city of Port Au Prince. We have been back in TR now for a week and it feels good to be back home. Things here keep marching along. We both have some work here we want to finish before we leave for an unknown amount of time. Peter is working with friends building an arborloo (movable shallow pit toilet where, after its full and moved, you can plant a tree). Meredith is still working on conducting a survey on family planning for the clinic. Mostly though we will try to remember to spend our next two weeks doing what we love most here. Which is, talking with people in the street, telling jokes, and experiencing a life, its good times and bad, that is still so different to us. The “work” that we do is at best an excuse for these interactions, and we are grateful for it.

The run-off election is held Sunday and former President Aristide returned from exile this morning. Let us all pray that everything stays calm.