Meeting Milhous Rabel in Thiotte

Today’s technology has revolutionized the way we interact and also the capacity to connect and re-connect with others. When I prepared to depart for Haiti, Hannah Powell, one of Trinity’s youth group members, urged me to establish a blog and get on Facebook. I took her advice on both and, through these forms of electronic communication, I have met new people and had others long since absent return to my life.

My 35th high school reunion was last April. A member of my class set up a Facebook page and, within a very short period of time, names and faces of people who I hadn’t seen or heard from for over three decades, began to surface. It was wonderful. Along with this pre-reunion reunion came a string of old photographs that prompted all kinds of great memories and much laughter.

Since I was not able to attend the reunion, I sent a message to my fellow classmates, sharing a little bit about my work in Haiti and letting them know that they would be in my thoughts and prayers as they came together. This e-mail prompted a response from Jeannette Pittman. Now living in England, Jeannette sponsors two children through an organization called ActionAid (www.actionaid.org). One of these children is located in Rwanda and the other in Haiti. When I learned this, I let her known that I had visited a child in Nairobi, Kenya sponsored by the sister of a friend of mine through another organization. I offered to visit Jeannette’s child in Haiti. I explained that, in such cases, the sponsor needed to make the request of the organization.

Jeannette was excited by such a prospect and said that she would contact ActionAid. Some time passed, during which Jeannette sent a couple of e-mails to me expressing diminished confidence that this was going to happen. Eventually, though, she did receive a response from ActionAid and, almost simultaneously, so did I.

Edithe Mathieu, Sponsorship Junior Officer in the ActionAid Port au Prince offices, became my contact. She was extremely efficient, both in terms of communication and also making all the necessary arrangements. We began the planning before I departed for my leave in July. I learned that the little girl’s name was Milhous Rabel. She was 9 years old and lived in a town called Thiotte. Thiotte is in South Haiti, about 3 ½ hours from Port au Prince. It is the #1 producer of coffee in Haiti and about a 2-hour drive from the border of the Dominican Republic.

As I investigated transportation options, I learned that a journey from Port au Prince to Thiotte required changing buses three times. Since I was not familiar with this part of Haiti, and still somewhat limited in speaking Creole, I decided that this was not viable for me. I contacted Edithe and asked if someone from ActionAid might be traveling to and from Thiotte and could give me a ride. She responded by saying that round trip transportation would be provided by ActionAid. As a result of the distance and the length of the visit with Milhous, Edithe said that we would spend the night at a Guest House in Thiotte and return the next morning. We set the date for August 18.

Time passed quickly and, soon, I was back from leave and ready to finalize the details for the visit with Milhous. ActionAid does not endorse having a single child receive gifts or benefits over and above others. Along with Milhous, I would meet with 9 other children. I was invited to sponsor a pizza and ice cream lunch and/or bring small gifts for all of them. I chose to do both.

August 18 arrived and I was picked up by Edithe and another gentleman. I quickly learned that we needed to purchase the ice cream and pizza in Port au Prince. It was another reminder how much Americans take for granted with regard to easy and immediate access to virtually all things. We picked up the ice cream at one of my usual markets, Piyay National. Then it was on to Epidor for two large home made pizza pies.

Once we had the essential items for the party, we began to creep our way out of Port au Prince and through Croix de Bouquets (the home of Haiti’s beautifully crafted iron art) during the morning traffic. After Croix de Bouquets, the road started to open up. After we drove past Fon Parisien, the rest of the trip was going to be uncharted territory for me. And uncharted it was. I have traveled on some pretty bad roads in Kenya, Guatemala and Haiti. However, this trip was, without a doubt, on the worst roads that I have experienced.

The balance of the drive was filled with narrow paths of rubble, up and down steep mountain, around hairpin turns and down into valleys, all with enough jockeying and bouncing to destroy the best of shock absorbers. Guard rails are almost non-existent in Haiti, so one was keenly aware that one sudden swerve or slip of the tires and you might well find yourself down a mountainside. One is particularly aware of this when a large truck on tap tap passed by. Thankfully, our “chauffeur” was an excellent driver.

Amidst the “adventure”, I saw the greatest spectrum of landscape-vast expanses of land devastated by deforestation and a major flood in 2004, resulting in miles of boulders and other rock where a small river and various communities once stood; a beautiful pine forest; exquisitely terraced farms; and lush, almost jungle like areas representing the heart of the coffee business.

Once in Thiotte, we first visited the regional offices. We were greeted by officials of both ActionAid and their national partner CROSE. A lovely snack of boiled eggs, fresh bananas, bread and coffee were provided. Within about 20 minutes, we were off to meet Milhous and the other students.

As we approached the school grounds, there were two brightly painted buildings, one to the left and the other to the right. In the center, there was a large tree providing significant shade. Under the tree, we found Milhous, her parents, the other 9 nine children and about half a dozen adults seated and patiently waiting.

I was first introduced to Milhous and her parents. Milhous wore a beautiful cream-colored lace dress. Her parents were also impeccably dressed. It was an emotionally charged moment for me as I became the conduit through whom Jeannette was linked to Milhous and her parents. I fought back the tears and joyfully shook their hands. I then greeted the rest of the children and adults.

After introductions, we began to serve the pizza and the ice cream, still surprising cold, to everyone. The children were incredibly well behaved, each patiently waiting to receive their serving.

Following their snack, I distributed a few gifts to each child: a beenie baby, box of crayons, pencils and 3 toothbrushes. Given my involvement with Tabasamu, I always try to provide toothbrushes wherever I visit. The children seemed to like everything. One little boy received a bright yellow duck for his beenie baby. He clung to it all afternoon, even in the group pictures. Edith Evans, my mother-in-law, had donated the beenie babies. Her loving gesture brought great joy to the lives of these children.

Since I provided dental instruction sheets in Creole, I was asked to do a small presentation on good dental care. The children were attentive, though clearly the length of the day was beginning to effect their energy level. As so often happens in Tabasamu programs geared for children, the adults who were present seized the opportunity to ask their own questions.

At the end, I asked if there were any other questions that the group had for me. Milhous’ father asked if it was possible that Jeannette might visit Haiti some day. I explained that she lived in England and that it might be difficult. I was then told that I was the first person to visit a sponsored child in Haiti. Perhaps those who are reading this posting, and who sponsor a child through ActionAid in Haiti, will consider making a visit. It was certainly a blessing for me and was clearly meaningful to Milhous, her parents and the broader community.

Following the dental program, everyone assembled for group photos. Then it was time to say goodbye and head to the micro finance coffee business. The coffee company has been in existence for several years and exports coffee to various countries, including Japan and the United States. This enterprise not only provides income to sustain ActionAid’s regional programs, it also offers employment to a significant number of parents of the sponsored children. It was an impressive operation and a wonderful example of local business supporting community development.

We left the coffee business and headed to the Esperanta Guest House, stopping briefly to purchase some of the wonderful coffee that we had witnessed in production.

Esperanta was a lovely multi-room guest house, which also hosts banquets, weddings etc. We checked in and had time to relax a bit before dinner was served. Given the altitude, the air was delightful. I sprayed the tops of my sheets and the balcony doorway, so that I could keep everything open.

Dinner was delicious-rice, beef with sauce, plantains, salad and fresh juice. After taking a shower, the rest of the evening was spent catching up on a few e-mails via my BlackBerry and reading Mountains Beyond Mountains.

Breakfast (classic Haitian spaghetti with ketchup & fresh juice) was served at 7 a.m. the next morning and we were on the road by 7:30 a.m. Edithe and the chauffeur were quite gracious in allowing me to request a stop whenever I wanted to take pictures. I took full advantage of their kindness, particularly in the forest and in the area of the terrace farming.

When we returned to Port au Prince, Edithe took me to the central office. She provided me with a full tour that ended in the sponsorship office. I completed the visit evaluation form on line and, as I got up to leave, was presented with a lovely collection of ActionAid gift items. The straw hat and the travel first aid kit would definitely come in handy! I thanked everyone for all of their efforts in making this memorable trip happen, especially Edithe. Then Edithe and the driver took me home.

Sometimes we think the world is very large and disconnected. My visit to Thiotte brought three countries together- England-Jeannette’s home; the U.S.-my home and Haiti. It took a team effort to make this amazing encounter take place. And, for a brief time, the world became very small.