Day Two: Introduction to our Team

We started our day with a tour of the SCI living quarters and new rehabilitation clinic/vocational training center. It was amazing to see the progress they’ve made in the past year. The last time we were down, there was just an empty plot of land. The buildings are clean and beautiful, and inside they are equipped with a section filled with weights and various equipment for physical therapy, and the other part contains a flat screen TV, sewing machines, computers, wii games, & arts and crafts of all sorts. This is the room where Bay Lavi will be born.

Rehabilitation Center/Vocational Training Center- Where Bay Lavi is made!

Betsy & Madame Zidor 

Brainstorming ideas together

At 2pm that afternoon, I was introduced to the group of 5 women who would be our first Bay Lavi artisans. As they entered the room one after another, I was intrigued by how diverse they were with an age range from 19-53 years old. We had an orientation where I introduced myself, explained what I do, & my mission in working with them. Afterwards, we gathered around and each woman introduced herself and shared her story. With the help of Betsy’s translation, I typed as they spoke. We talked about the earthquake, of life before and after their injury, & of their hobbies and passions. My eyes were opened to their resilience, optimism, & determination.

Ginette is a 53 year old mother of three, and was a businesswoman before the earthquake hit. She would sell rice, candy, & soda on the road in front of her house. She was happy when she finally got a refrigerator, as it allowed her to sell cold drinks. When the earthquake hit, she was sitting in front of her house with her 1-year old grandson on her lap. When everything began to shake, her reaction was to hover over him to protect him, and in doing so, the house fell onto her spine. Her grandson was okay, but she had to be pulled from the rubble with a rope. There weren’t enough hospitals to house everyone who was injured. After 8 days, they brought her from Port-Au-Prince to a town a few hours away. With no feeling from her waist down, she spent 8 days without going to the bathroom. She was laid on a cot in a soccer stadium that they transformed into a relief center. Ginette arrived at SBHF for rehabilitation in February and it is here that she has learned to become more independent. She is very close with her children who are often here visiting her. 

Barbienne is 24 years old, born into a family of five children. She was a student before her injury. She said that on the day the earthquake hit, she woke up with an intuitively bad feeling. She knew something was wrong but didn’t understand why she felt that way. When the earthquake hit, she was in a small space with 2 other people. She was the only one who survived. She never lost consciousness, and remembers every detail of the day. Two men had pulled her out and brought her to the hospital. She was laid onto a bed on the second floor. When aftershocks were happening, she wasn’t able to run outside. The hospital was shaking and her bed would sway back and forth. She kept thinking to herself, "this is it, this is where I’m going to die". She said she should have died a thousand times, but she lived through it all. The hardest part for her was accepting her diagnosis, and realizing that she wouldn’t be going back to her previous life. She said at first she kept thinking that she didn’t want to live anymore, but that now she appreciates what she does still have, and her perspective changed, seeing life as even more beautiful after her accident. She said she spends each day making life as beautiful as it can be, and everyday she takes chances to have pleasure in her life and be happy. She often tells the other girls not to concentrate on the problems they have physically, the things that can’t be changed, but to focus on their goals and what they still have. 

Fabi told us there are so many obstacles she faces being in a wheelchair in Haiti. That there are people who don’t understand them at all, people who think they can steal from you because you can’t defend yourself/chase after them, people that ask her to pay them if she needs help getting across the road. That Haiti is incredibly inaccessible. She can no longer go to the cinema or get on public transportation. She dreams of people understanding handicapped people better and to remove the stigma that they’re helpless. Her outlook is that its NOT her fault that she can’t get around, its society’s fault that the roads are crappy and she can’t get to where she needs to go. Everyone needs help, not just handicapped people and things should be equal for everyone.

Fabi said her bliss is performance art. She loves to write, sing, and make people laugh. She said that SBHF is where she made her friends, where she doesn’t feel alone, where she finds support. She said doctors weren’t expecting her to live past 6 months, and that she celebrates each birthday more grateful than the last.  Fabi’s favorite color is black because she said it symbolizes strength.

Gina is 28 years old and the oldest of seven children. She was on her way to becoming a kindergarten teacher and was student-teaching when the earthquake hit. Everything turned black suddenly, & the whole school collapsed. She doesn’t remember much that happened after that, but when she finally made it out of the debris, her back hurt terribly and she was unable to walk. Since her injury, she’s tried to go back to teaching, but other teachers didn’t trust in her ability to work with little kids. She was so close to the graduation process, but with her disability, its become too complicated to go back. She said when she started to understand her diagnosis, she felt very depressed and stressed. She said that where she lives, its extremely hard for her. She’s the only person in a wheelchair in her neighborhood and there is NO accessibility. She suffers humiliation when she has to depend on others to get around and there are many people who are intimidated and scared to help her.  Gina enjoys studying sign language, is an activist for human rights, and a community organizer. Gina has a glow to her and her spirit is so strong despite the hardships she's been through.

Mamaille is 19 years old and comes from a family of eight brothers and sisters. She had a business doing hair before her injury. She was a really good student, enjoyed going to school, and church. She said she lived well in Port-Au-Prince and had a nice life. She was cooking in her house before the accident hit. She ran out when she noticed everything shaking. Her neighbors house fell on top of her. She was awake through everything and felt like her body died. She couldn’t move anything other than her head, her entire body was covered in dust and debris. She kept praying and praying and felt so helpless. Through the crack of light she had, she saw a block about to fall on her head. She closed her eyes and just waited for it to fall, and when it hit her head, blood flooded down her face. Two men finally came to save her from beneath the rubble. Instead of removing the debris off of her, they slid her out from it, and it was in saving her that her back snapped. They took her and laid her onto the ground where others were putting dead bodies.

A group of relief workers picked her up and brought her to a hospital, where they laid her on the ground outside in front of it because there wasn’t enough room to bring her inside yet. She spent an entire day on the ground in the beating hot sun with no food or drink, in terrible pain, left to die. Her and the othes that laid there just prayed and prayed, & one by one people around her began to die off. She was the only one who survived. She was eventually shipped off to the Dominican Republic for surgery where she faced brutal conditions and had to have her head shaved. Her family thought she was dead and even had a funeral for her. It wasn’t until months later they knew she was still alive. When she was sent back to Haiti, SBHF met her and brought her here. It was here that she learned how to eat again, how to braid hair again, and take care of herself and regain independence. The hardest part for her was acceptance. When she first arrived here and saw a room of people in wheelchairs, she cried and cried, having to accept she was one of them. It was the reality she couldn’t hide from.

When she is older and ready, she dreams of living a very independent life, taking care of her household and providing for her family. She wants to have her own business and prove to everyone that they're wrong about what she's capable of. Her bliss is making jewelry and braiding hair, both of which she is extremely talented at.

Dieulitha is a 40 year old mother of three children. The morning of the earthquake she was taking care of her kids and getting ready to go to her job as a nurse. When everything started to shake in her house, she hit her head and lost consciousness. When she awoke, she couldn't move. No one understood why she couldn't just get up and walk. As the wife of a beloved pastor, many people in the community went to get her help. A group of Korean doctors sent her to a hospital in Santo Domingo. When she discovered the extent of her injury, she was devastated at the thought of not being able to take care of her kids. SBHF helped her regain confidence in herself. She said that after her time here, she doesn't feel sick anymore. She said she has creative ideas for projects and things she can do from home and feels confident that she can care for her kids. Her hobbies include sewing, making jewelry, and assisting the staff at St. Boniface with nursing prep.

She defines bliss as being stress free by thinking positively and imagining the future, making the choice to be happy, staying away from people who frustrate you, and spending time with friends who understand and support you. Being at St. Boniface helps her to connect with others who are in the same boat, and this has helped her get through many challenges.

Here is our SBHF team that is helping us establish and run our collaborative program:

Anita St. Onge, SBHF's Residence Coordinator

Betsy Sherwood, SBHF's Program Coordinator & Social Worker

Madame Zidor, SBHF's Psychologist 

In the evening, Victoria, Anita & I took a walk through the town. Everywhere you go, everyone greets you with a friendly smile. Everyone is welcoming. Bonjou! in the morning, Bonswa! In the afternoon, & Bon twit at night.

People gather in the streets until the sun goes down. They sell fried foods cooked on make shift grills, sit and play cards, and the kids run around together. I imagine the community is much closer because of this. Most of the houses do not have electricity. When the sun goes down, everyone is in the dark. Piles of trash are often burned on the sides of the dirt road at night to make coal. There is so much beautiful untouched nature in the countryside. There was one stunning tree we came across with delicate red floral buds, many of which laid scattered beneath it.