Try not to forget

Finally I am back home and back to work. Before leaving for Haiti, I never thought we could accomplish so much in four days!

During the trip we configured the price of what is costs to make the tire sandals (which is very important in order to be able to sell them at a certain price), we created a new fund-raising project on global giving titled 'Give Handmade Haitian Sandals to Barefoot Orphans' which can be found at http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/give-handmade-haitian-sandals-to-barefoot-orphans/ and we taught Brunel, RG accountant how to keep track of the sandals according to size configurations and color combination, we helped deliver sandals to an orphanage, we created a stronger partnership with Sogucedes, we communicated production goals with RG artisans, and we were involved in some of the planning for the new land, and we are transcribing what it costs to volunteer with RG.

Overall, I learned that I can have a balance of working and growing in my profession and strongly supporting an international nonprofit while being able to take short trips to get to experience what it is like as well. I am so pleased to have had the opportunity to see what it is like in the day of Julie. One thing she said to us is that in time we will forget what it is like out there. I am going to try my best to not forget and help all of you not forget because REBUILD is changing lives and the work they are doing is important.

Final Stretch

In front of REBUILD Shop

For the rest of the day we sorted the sandals that are in the shop, so that we can seperate them from the new weekly production expectation.

Give love, another partner organization funded by Patricia Arquette and Rosetta Getty, primary makes compost toilets, which typically cost $1000 in materials to make, started making a compost toilet for RG today.

Give Love Volunteers building compost toilet for new land

Our afternoon plan was to hire a driver to go to the UN to check on the grant application that Julie and I have spent countless hours on and have waiting over 3 months to see if we received our proposal, but it was too difficult and we were running out of time. Instead, Julie called the UN- which is very hard to get a hold of a contact on phone since most of the day people are dealing with crisis, and left a message to have our contact call her back. With surprise, she called her back within an hour and told us the proposal is being reviewed right now. That is very good news!! It was also an accomplishment to have found that information out over the phone because most meetings are done face to face, which money spent in transportation via a tap tap or hiring a driver, which can cost about $40 round trip. I am so surprised how expensive it is to live in Haiti and having a car is essential! Unfortunately cars cost around 30K not including a driver which is about $20 per day, and necessary to combat the traffic and driving styles. I know with a car Julie can accomplish more and I look forward to the day we as REBUILD supporters are able to buy her one.

Julie, RG Founder & Sam, Grassroots United Founder

We also had some time to sit down and meet the founder of Grassroots United, another partner organization which has hosted over 200 nonprofits on their land since the earthquake. The current RG shop is located at Grassroots United. I saw just within the past few days how important it is to be around other nonprofits, so the RG can continue to foster partnerships with various nonprofits in the Haitian community.

House made with re purposed materials

Recycling Area at Grassroots United

The place to get the most amazing coke!

Compost toilet at Grassroots United

In front of Grassroots United

It's becoming a way of life

This morning we had coffee-which always starts out my morning better. We walked over to the new land to come up with a plan for the volunteers to work on the land this week. European disaster Volunteers are truly a great partnership for RG. It was very exciting to see how much new space RG will have to work with.

Julie found a tomato plant on the new land,1st plant for RG garden

New Land

New place for RG shop

RG Container donated by Worldwide Modular Construction, RG new office area

Rest of the land that will be developed

Next we had a meeting with RG partner Sogucedes and we made head way in creating a better partnership for both groups. We found a solution so that they have a profit from the straps they sell to RG, so that they can pay the 8 teachers to teach the children in their schools and a solution to buy the materials for the straps for less at a different source.

Sogucedes Partners

We also had a meeting about quality control and increase in production goal with RG artisans that make the sandals. It costs much more than the typical myth of $2 a day to survive.  It was difficult to explain to them that we want them to make more sandals a week, in  order to help decrease the cost of the of labor and in turn decrease the cost of the shoes. But even in the US economy most  people in their jobs are now being required to do more with less time and resources, it’s becoming a way of life.

REBUILD Globally Artisans

Play Day

Today we woke up at 8am and did computer work for a couple of hours.  The not so glamour part of field work is all of the administrative responsibilities that entail keeping an organization alive. Since Julie is out in Haiti alone, this work is usually done after the day is over, until late in the night. I’m glad that we were able to help with some of the work, even though there is still so much to do. Since living in Haiti makes you isolated from the rest of the donors and supporters, it’s essential to keep the line of communication open and to communicate the work that you are doing here. The administrative work entails accounting for all the money spent on supplies as well as sandals sold and many other things.

After spending a few hours on that, Ody, the shop supervisor invited us to breakfast at his house. This is first time he has cooked for Julie and her friends, and it was fabulous! We felt very honored to be invited to breakfast, even though we might have been a little scared of the food, I felt that it was important to receive his genuine gift graciously. 

After breakfast we prepared for the children to come to Caribbean Lodge for the swimming day. All of the 23 children arrived in one truck that was generously driven by Caribbean Lodge, if not the truck than a tap tap full of all children-which are much more dangerous. Caribbean Lodge went all out- they prepared to feed the kids lunch, juices and sodas and provided them with soccer balls and balloons to play with. When the kids first got here, they were so anxious it took all we had to keep them from jumping in the pool in their clothes- mind you none of the kids know how to swim. We convinced them to change, or some kids just striped down and swim naked. They clung to us so tightly but for the most part they were pretty fearless. The majority of children were full of energy and the ones that weren’t seemed to be suffering from worms and infected chick pox. EDV volunteers came to help with the swimming and also noticed some of the children who were sick. Solutions formed pretty quickly and within an hour they had arranged to bring a nurse or doctor and donated antibiotics over to the orphanage tomorrow.

After swimming for about an hour, Caribbean Lodge turned on the Jungle Book on a big screen TV and children played and watched the movie.

The most rewarding part of the day was watching all of the children come wearing their rebuilders. Some of the younger children even wanted to wear them in the pool, I think just to make sure they didn’t loose them.

After loading all of kids back in the truck, we are back to work!

Nothing is hard

Billy, Britani and I in Carribean Lodge restaurant

After working all day at the RG Shop

We ended up staying at the Caribbean Lodge, where Julie's accommodations are provided for due to the great relationship she has formed with Worldwide Modular Construction & Caribbean Lodge. Julie is right, the partnerships she has made out here are keeping RG alive and Julie. Luxury living in Haiti is not defined by plush pillows and steaming hot showers, but it is defined by having the luxuries of having a safe place to sleep that is monitored by an armed guard, a semi warm shower and an air conditioned container. We felt pampered by Julie letting us sleep in till 8am, most Haitians normally rise around 6am. This morning we went to the RG shop and there was a free training for 10 women in a woman’s group that functions to empower women in the community. The women who came today desperately want jobs and want to learn the skill of making sandals. RG hopes that one day they will be able to expand and increase the number of artisans. Julie briefed us on today’s plans and while she was explaining the women’s group and their desire to work with RG she broke down in tears. Because the bottom line for Julie is not about making money it’s about being a catalyst so that people can have the opportunity to take a care of themselves and their families.

Grassroots United Land

We spent most of the day coming up how much with how much it costs to make a pair of sandals. It sounds simple but the prices change due to riots, the color of the skin of the person buying the materials and local conflict, there is no stagnant price. It’s important that the sandals are sold at a rate that is beneficial for RG and the vendor because the sandal component differentiates RG from other nonprofits in the sense that it not sustained solely through individual donations or grants, but by the revenue generated from the sandals as well.

Next we went to European Disaster Volunteer’s (EDV) Compound. EDV’s goal is to provide meaningful relief and reconstruction assistance to disaster affected communities. They aim to understand and address the factors that make a community vulnerable to the disaster in the first place. They empower volunteers to affect positive, long-term change in their day to day lives as well as while volunteering. EDV has partnership that has been very supportive of RG since the beginning. The current project that we spoke about today was to organize EDV volunteers to help clear and build on RG’s newly acquired land. Not mention, they made great suggestions for fundraising initiatives to raise money for construction on the new land. We had an incredibly productive business conversation sitting on the couch, with a cat in heat in the background, that provided some comic relief!

After the meeting we were eager to get back to the lodge and get started on helping Julie implement some of the new ideas that were generated today. Tomorrow we are taking the kids from the orphanage we visited yesterday swimming. Although it isn’t exactly swimming, because none of them can swim and we were told we will be there flotation device with 5 kids hanging on each person. I’ll let you know how that goes!

After spending one day in ‘the life of Julie’ I know that it is her passion that keeps her here. It is not easy. Speaking with a local today, he was telling us that ‘nothing is hard-if you love it’.

Sandal Delivery to Orphanage

Yesterday when we arrived in Haiti we were hounded by men wanting to help us with our bags, even after a constant refusal of services ,they then held the handle of our luggage with us all the way until we reached Julie and our ride, where they insisted that we pay them and held on to the car while we drove away. 

Leaving the Port-au-Prince airport

We went straight to the RG shop where the artisans make the sandals. We spent a couple hours getting to know the artisans and understanding the sandal making process. We immediately saw the challenges the artisans take working in such hot cramped conditions. Julie had an impromptu meeting because RG partner Sogucedes, who are responsible for making the macramé sandal strap, showed up without notice, which I'm finding is very common. Julie spent two hours attempting to explain that RG need to decrease the cost of the strap while maintaining livable wages for the students that make the straps. It was very difficult to communicate the specific needs because she could not speak directly to the head of Sogucedes, an interpreter was used to translate into Creole. Although RG has a great relationship with Sogucedes, there's always a question in what is being communicated. 

The day got much better when we were rewarded by taking the sandals that were custom made for each child to a local orphanage that has close ties with RG. When we immediately walked into the orphanage all eyes were on the 5 white Americans. It was amazing to see how easy it is to communicate with kids with hugs and kisses and high fives, the language barrier was broken. We handed out the sandals and each child was ecstatic to have a pair of shoes made just for them, where as before they had no shoes.  When it was time to leave the orphanage,  the one year old that Julie was holding started to cry hysterically when Julie tried to hand her off to the workers at the orphanage. 

Upon leaving we realized our ride had left, we walked part of the way home and for the other part we got to experience our first ride in a tap tap. A truck converted as a taxi which consists of railings to hold you in and a low hanging top which inhibits you from viewing your route, or even where to get off at. After a short ride we made it  to the new land which Julie cannot be more proud of how partnerships she has been working on have come together. She gave us a quick tour of her shipping container converted bed room and where she plans to build to new large RG shop. Then it was time to quickly head over to the hotel, because Junior and his older brother were waiting to meet with Julie. Junior and his brother make woven bags out of spaghetti packing which has enabled them to move their family out of a tent into an apartment. However RG has only been able to sell one of the boys bags out of the many bought by RG, so it was time to again let them know that we could not continue to do business with the until they alter their design and lower the price. Again, like Sogucedes everything came down to price; RG is struggling to operate with such high material cost and maintain decent salaries for their workers. This was another uncomfortable conversion because we know that if RG, their only source of income,  cannot sell their bags then, RG cannot continue to buy them which would put an end to the boys and their only source of income for their families.

A Packed Full Day

Today is the day I have been looking forward to for quite a while. I finally packed my bags for Haiti. I let most of my friends know I was going to Haiti this week, poor timing on my part, but I think if I would've said anything sooner I would have been way over weight capacity. Within the past week I have collected over 100lbs of donations for REBUILD Globally and the orphanages RG contributes to. Normally when I pack my bags for a trip I am the typical female over packer. It felt so great this time to be over packed with donations rather than an over abundance of clothes, shoes and jewelery which I normally bring. I am so thankful for the wonderful friends that I have that went out of their way to buy the things that were on RG needs list. I hope an over abundance of donations is a continual problem for RG and the best problem to have! I'm looking forward to waking up at 3:30 am to be at their airport at 5am! As many people have told me, the Port-au-Prince Airport is very dangerous, I feel very relived that Julie will be meeting us at the airport and has given us very clear directions on where to meet her! I am looking forward to an adventure filled, most likely sleep deprived trip!