Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Surveys, Surveys, and More Surveys

Another great Tuesday here in Haiti. Tuesday morning’s breakfast is two rolls with peanut butter, a banana and a hardboiled egg, hence my excitement to start the day today.

After some preparation for the day, I headed off campus with Deacon Moynihan to one of his good friend’s business. Once there, I met with my translator and started surveying different staff members. In just under 2 hours we were able to survey about 25 members of the staff. A solid chunk of my surveys were done!

Our next stop was Catholic Relief Services, a little further across town, where I would be able to survey even more people while Deacon Moynihan was in a meeting. Before we went to CRS, we stopped to grab some lunch at Epidor. Epidor is a bakery and sandwich chain and is about the closest thing to fast food that exists in Haiti. Lunch was delicious and a great way to boost my energy for the second half of the day.

Once at CRS, my translator and I were set-up in a conference room, so that people could walk in as they pleased for about two hours. We had a total of about fifteen people stop and take the survey, which was great considering that many people were out at lunch.

I have become more comfortable in explaining my project and speaking about how cell phones fit into the daily lives of Haiti, however there is still one thing I will never get used to – the power goes out so often!! Although I have gotten used to waking up and my fan being off (LCS operates on solar energy), I could not imagine having to deal with power surges and outages while working at a business. While we were at CRS the power surged two or three times, and although I sat there unsure of what to do with myself, everyone else seemed to continue on with their daily routines. At home, everyone reacts like life without electricity is impossible, but in Haiti, life without electricity is a reality for many people. Being in Haiti, I have come to realize that many of the things that I would consider necessities are luxuries for a large portion of the world. I have been truly blessed for what God has granted me in life, and I hope that my service here in Haiti can help empower others to change the inequalities of the world.

My trip today also gave me more insight into the way that Haitians live. On our way home from CRS, I noticed many homes that were missing roofs or walls. Thinking these homes were destroyed in the earthquake, I asked Deacon Moynihan about them. He explained that instead of placing their money in a bank as savings, many Haitians would rather invest their earnings into something material. Therefore, the houses that I was seeing were instead the work-in-progresses of different families. Little by little, these families are collecting cash and using it to invest in materials to build walls or construct a roof. In effect, these half-completed houses symbolize the hard work of their owners and their savings thus far.


I wish I had my camera with me to take pictures of these houses and the mountains that surround Port-au-Prince! Next time I go off campus I am definitely bringing my camera so that I may capture a picture of the next group of goats I see on the side of the road or a packed tap-tap navigating the streets. 

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