Two Weeks In Haiti

The End

2010-03-23T16:05:00.000-07:00

My final work day in Haiti was leisurely by the standards of my trip. We were building shelves for the Notre Dame/St. Croix hospital. I was working with Jim again. My job was to hammer, and boy did I hammer. By our count, me and three other volunteers knocked in over 2500 nails. My forearms were bulging and aching by the end of the day. Luckily, there was a tarp over our workspace, so I wasn't sweating too much and I didn't have to apply and reapply sunscreen.

The workplace was very interesting. There were goats and turkeys all over the place. We packed up at the end of the day and went back to camp. There was a palpable feeling of accomplishment for me. I had made it to the end, and I was fine. It was a long journey for me. The dysentary, the heat, the hard labor and the food all combined to provide quite a challenge for me.

There is a tradition at HODR (pronounced hoder) where volunteers who are leaving the next day get up and say goodbye. I stood up and expressed my thanks. Everything I had done over the past two weeks were all new experiences for me. It was very challenging, and I learned alot of new skills, and I also learned alot about myself and the limits that I can push myself too. I was sort of proud of myself, at least by my own personal standards (which aren't very high when applied to carpentry and manual labor).

Afterwards, we went to the bar and I had a few drinks to relax and reward myself.

The next morning, five of the volunteers shared a shuttle to the airport. It was about an hour and a hald journey. We got to the airport and it was a mess. It was raining and there was a huge line outside of the airport. I paid two Haitians to expedidte our position in line. They essentially acted as social fullbacks and plowed a way through the line. I guess that is how things are done in Haiti.

The airport was a scene of pandemonium and disorganization. I had to go through three security checks before I got onto the plane. It was very frustrating.

I got on the flight, and I was off. I had a short layover in Ft. Lauderdale and made my way to Philadelphia. My girlfriend picked me up at the airport and we went out to dinner with my parents to Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza in Horsham. I sat at the bar and reflected upon the fact that about 12 hours ago, I was in Port Au Prince, Haiti. Being in a modern American restaurant after that was quite profound.

We got pizza and I was only able to eat about two slices. My stomach had shrunk because of the lack of work it got during the trip. I am still unable to eat as much.

This was a very valuable trip for me, and I am lucky to have been able to take it. I work for a great company, and I owe alot to it for allowing me to do this.

With that said, I probably wouldn't do this again. Strike that, I probably wouldn't do it in Haiti again due to the heat. It was great to learn some new skills and learn alot about a culture that I was completely ignorant of.

Back In The Swing of Things

2010-03-17T17:15:00.001-07:00

Today I woke up and felt, in the words of Larry David, pretty, pretty, pretty good. I had signed up the night before to do rubble at St. Martin. In the morning, people were coming up to me asking if I was the team leader. I said no, not that I knew of. They said "your name is in the first slot. The first slot means you are the team leader."

So, I was the team leader.

I think I did an ok job. We got to the site, and it was in a lot behind another house that we had to walk through an alley to get to. There was a creek behind the site. It was filled with trash. Kids were wading in it. Behind the creek, there was a farm. There were pigs and goats, and they were eating trash.

We got started with sledgehammers and bashed the home to bits. It was actually really fun. Everyone on the team took out whatever frustrations that they had on this home. We took the entire structure down and started to haul some of it out to the street to dump. We eventually ran out of room by the end of the day. There is alot more rubble to clear, but we don't have a spot to put it in, so we aren't going back tomorrow.

Tonight I signed up to build hospital shelves with Jim. I look forward to that. He's a good guy to work with. Additionally, it is my last day working at Project Leogane. I am very excited to come home. I've got alot of work to do when I get back to the office.

Tonight for dinner we had goat and hot dogs and white sweet potatoes. It wasn't bad, but I didn't like it much either.

Til tomorrow.

Another Day Lost

2010-03-16T16:50:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning feeling less than great, but I didn't want to spend another day laying in my bunk sweating. I went out back of the camp to help dig drainage trenches for the nursing school. It was literally the most ridiculous job that I've ever done.

Prior to my arrival, the Canadian Army had been leveling out the back field of the camp to construct two nursing schools. They did this by spreading and packing dirt and large stones. They didn't have the forethought to think that flooding season is quickly approaching and the buildings would need drainage.

So we were left to dig trenches. And we weren't digging up soft dirt. We were digging in hard dirt that was mostly large stones, so we had to go the length of the building perimter with a pick axe to loosen the soil up and then we could dig. I lasted about three hours doing that, and then my stomach bug kicked back in.

Another day in the bunk...

I didn't eat lunch, but I did have a Coke. It wasn't very cold, which was disappointing. But I was at least able to get some calories. I had a little bit of dinner tonight, which was more than welcome. I don't really care how I feel tomorrow, I can't stand being in my bunk another day. I signed up for a rubble crew and I'm going to get out there and work.

Two more days of work and then back to Philadelphia.

P.S.-Reason # 1,230 that I believe there is a God: Temple plays Cornell in the first round of the NCAA tournament at 12:30, which is ten minutes after my flight touches down in Ft. Lauderdale. My connecting flight to Philly leaves right after the game is over. Hopefully the Owls will win one or more games this year.

I'm Struggling...

2010-03-15T18:40:00.000-07:00

...to find something positive to say about today, but my stomach bug has gotten worse. I laid in my bunk all day and eventually got up to get a shower. I eventually went into the office and sat down at the computer to check up on what is happening in America. As I was sitting there, three kids about 5 years old and younger game up to the gate that separates us from the community and they were asking for something. I didn't know what they wanted on account of my ignorance of Creole, but they were rubbing their stomachs. I eventually deduced that they wanted some water. Luckily, I had my water bottle on hand, so I reached it out of the gate as far as I could. I poured it into the smallest boy's mouth but it ended up going all over his face. He started cracking up and his two friends did too. It still amazes me how happy these kids are.

Joseph came to the camp tonight looking for me. I can tell he is very anxious to get the laptop that I am going to give him. I understand that he probably is insecure about whether or not he is going to get it because of how unpredictable his life has been. I understand the feeling of wanting something very badly and worrying about not getting it, so I empathize with him. He's probably never received anything like that before, and he has built up the importance of the laptop in his head. I just don't know how many times I can tell him that I'll do whatever I can to get it to him. I had to walk over to the Notre Dame clinic with him to get the email of a doctor that I had spoken with last week who said he could possibly set me up with a doctor in the states who is cycling in and out of the clinic. The idea here is that I send the doctor the lap top and then the doctor brings it to Haiti with him and gets it to Joseph. We'll see how it works out.

On the walk back to camp, a bunch of young girls approached me and repeatedly asked me "what is your name". I must have said Andrew 7 or 8 times before I just had to walk away, because I realized that "What is your name?" is the only English they knew and they were just going to ask me that over and over again.

I got back to the base and immediately stepped into the ring for round 2 of Andrew Monaghan vs. his stomach.

Now I am just sitting in the office listening to Bob Marley's No Woman No Cry play in the courtyard across from camp. So yeah, it really isn't that bad. But after the stomach bug, I am more than ready to come home. I've got three more days of labor and I leave on Friday morning.

I Should Have Known I Would Get Sick

2010-03-15T12:00:00.000-07:00

Last night at dinner various people were talking about stomach bugs they got while in Haiti. I said, "I think I'll be fine, at least I have been so far."

I spoke too soon. I've got something right now, and it isn't very pleasant. I'll spare you the details.

Because of this, I had to take the day off. It hasn't been very enjoyable laying in my bunk in the sweltering heat. My only real interruptions are my intermittent trips to the bathroom. I took some anti-biotics. Hopefully they work.

I didn't have lunch today because I didn't want to add any fuel to the fire. I'll see how I feel around dinner time. I don't really have much to update given my sorry state. Hopefully I'll feel better by tomorrow so I can go out and do some work. Until then...

The Big Day Off

2010-03-14T17:51:00.000-07:00

Today I woke up around 7am and I milled about for a while. I surfed the web a bit and then we got together a group of about 10-15 people to go to Jacksonville Beach. We all piled into a tap tap cab (a pickup truck that you ride in the back of) and headed off. The ride was uncomfortable because of the amount of people in the back. It was about a twenty minute ride. As we approached the beach, we passed a large estate that overlooks the water. It was almost completely collapsed. From the looks of the rubble, the place was probably pretty cool at one time, at least by Haitian standards.

The beach was covered with rocks and a dark brown sand. The water was a very light blue, and it was very nice to swim in. I took a dip for about ten minutes and then went to nap a bit on a big concrete block. We stayed for about an hour and then took a cab back. I was very hungry, so when we got back, I had an egg sandwich (egg, a healthy scoop of MSG, lettuce, onions, ketchup and hot sauce on a baguette) and a bottle of coke. I hung around the camp for a few hours. An Italian NGO came over to our camp for a game of basketball. I didn't play, but I did cook potatoes for the bbq afterwards. I didn't stay to eat because we went to a local restaurant to eat some conch. It wasn't much of a restaurant in terms of accomodations. It was essentially an open field with working generators and tents and some tables. The meal was not very impressive, but I did get to try conch. We took motorcylce taxis to and from the restaurant. Essentially, guys ride around the streets on motorcycles and you pay them for a ride. Me and another guy got on a motorbike and drove through what looked like people's backyards and open fields. There were cows and goats everywhere.

I'm back at the base right now facebook chatting with some folks. I've got a full day ahead of me tomorrow, although I am not quite sure what I'll be doing. I think I'd like to go back to the hospital site to work and catch up with Joseph. I look forward to the next post...

Day 5

2010-03-14T05:19:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was really fun. I went to the same job site, but I worked on the fence around the hospital instead of the hospital. We were putting the paneling up. JT (another volunteer) and I were working with a crew of Haitians. I had been talking to Joseph (he's working with us) a bit throughout my stay, but we really talked alot yesterday. He's 26. He has a three year old daughter. He works for Hospital Sainte Croix. The hospital was destroyed during the earthquake. This is the hospital that we are rebuilding in a temporary state on a new site.

Joseph speaks English fairly well. He said his #1 dream is to come to America and live there. He has an uncle in Orlando. He told me that it costs upwards of $10,000 to hire a lawyer, etc. to get a visa to come over. He said that the lawyers are so corrupt that some of them just take the money and don't even work.

He said he will eventually come to America. He will not stop until he gets there. He was talking about how he needs a computer. I've got a laptop that I don't use, so I told him that I would send him mine. He then told me that last week he was asking God for some help (specifically a computer and a digital camera). Another volunteer gave him a used camera, so he got both of his prayers answered, I suppose. He was so happy. I can't describe how happy he was, because the English language does not have terms sufficient enough.

In the afternoon, we went and played with Haitian children in a field filled with cow-pies. We played duck-duck-goose and other games. The kids sang and danced. I've got a really funny video to post. I wish I had the bandwith to do so. I'll do it when I get back. The kids are so fun and happy.

We found a place that sells cheeseburgers. It is near the Canadian army base. We walked there during lunch. It was serviceable, but I wasn't impressed. I did get to have burgers and fries though, and that was a welcome respite from the Haitian food. I also had two Cokes.

Sunday is our day off, so everyone went out last night to the bar next door to relax and celebrate. It was a really good time. Joseph came out. I also made a new friend Peterson. He told me about an American Haitian that came home to visit his family and as soon as he walked in the door, he put his suitcase down and the earthquake struck. The home collapsed on him and he died. Another guy got offered $25,000 for his home on the day of the earthquake, but he wanted 30,000 so he didn't sell. His home was destroyed. He was understandably upset, but he survived.

Today we are going to the beach. I am very excited. I miss everyone in America. I am still thinking about Union Jack's buffalo wings.

Day 4

2010-03-12T17:07:00.001-08:00

I went back to the same site today. We had a really great crew and we got alot of work done. We finished all of the walls of the hospital and we finished the trusses as well. We got one wall vertical before we left for the day. There were some good events that are worth mentioning.

1. I rediscovered the greatness of Coca-Cola. I had been yearning for something American for the past few days. I decided to go buy a bottle of Coke. It was so delicious, and it gave me some comfort away from home while I was hammering trusses and walls. In fact, I'm drinking one right now.

2. Throwing rocks at Haitians isn't a good idea. While we were at the job site, a huge mob formed. Haitians were picking up pieces of wood that we were using to build them a hospital, and one guy had a machete in his hand. They were running back and forth screaming at each other. There were two camps, one from a shanty village, another from a shanty village up the road. I asked one of the Haitians working with us what was going on. He explained that someone threw a rock and it hit a girl in the head and put her in the hospital. The girl was from the shanty town up the road and the rock-thrower was from the other shanty town. Miraculously, nothing came of the scrum. It seemed like the cooler heads prevailed. For a minute there, I thought all hell was about to break loose.

3. I don't like Haitian food. At first it was spicy and ethnic, which are both qualities that I like. The monotony of rice and beans and the funky undertones of some of the sauces have really began to bother me. Tonight I took one bite of dinner and spit it back into the bowl. I felt bad because a Haitian named Jober was sitting at the table with me and I made a disgusted noise when I spit it out. I hope I didn't offend him. I had to toss out my dinner, the sauce was putrid. I got my headlamp on and walked down the dusty pitch black street to a street vendor who was selling egg sandwiches on baguettes with butter, ketchup, hot sauce and onions. It was very good. I think I may be eating these exclusively now. Additionally, I had another coke.

4. I am beginning to accept that I am here until next Friday. The first few days were really tough. I was mentally scheming ways to get out of this situation, but I slowly began to get over the shock of having to take bucket showers, sweat myself to sleep in a room with 60 people, and use non-flushing toilets, etc.

Don't get me wrong, I still loathe all of these things, but I am living in the lap of luxury compared to 99.9% of Haitians. So I deal...and I'll have to deal until the morning of March 19, 2010.

*Additionally, the female bathroom here has some unsound structural elements, so they have now made the bathrooms co-ed. So yeah...I'll deal.

Tomorrow I am signed up to help build the fence around the hospital that I was working on for the last two days. In the afternoon, I signed up for "playtime", which is essentially playing with Haitian kids. This is totally out of character for me (just ask my younger cousins), but I figure everything that I have done on this trip has been out of character, so I'll give it a shot. I'll bring my camera too.

In closing, it is the best of times, it is the worst of times, but I'll survive. I just wish I could find a place that had good buffalo wings and a nice beer selection.

Until tomorrow, ladies and gentleman.

Day 3

2010-03-11T16:53:00.000-08:00

I helped build a hospital today. I asked the aforementioned Jim if I could join his crew for the day, and he 0bliged.

I've never really built anything before, so I'm happy to get some experience with carpentry. My job was to assemble trusses for the roof of the hospital. It was actually pretty challenging to get everything flush and not out of whack. The heat today was unreal. In the first half of the morning I almost passed out. I sat down for a half and hour and then we had lunch. After we had lunch (I had very little because it was some weird fish stew with the heads, bones and eyes of the fish all still intact) I went to go exchange some money at the local bank. I use the term bank loosely. I had no idea where I was going, which probably wasn't a good idea with $100 (some of which was other people's money) in my pocket. But I asked a group of people where the bank was and they looked at me with blank stares and laughed.

Eventually, a guy on a bicylce approached me and asked me if I needed help. I was suspicious at first, but he put me at ease. He started by thanking me for being there to help his country. He told me that he would take me to the bank and he did. His name was Charlie. He was 27 and jobless. He asked me if I was married or single, and I said that I wasn't married. He asked me if I had any kids. I said no, and he said he had one. He said he wasn't married, but his girlfriend was the mother of his child. He said that most Haitian men prefer to have many girlfriends instead of just one (purely a Haitian custom, I assure you). He said he preferred to have just one and I said I thought that was a good policy. He said that he didn't think he was smart enough to handle more than one woman. I told him I felt the same way. He said he was humiliated because he didn't have a job and couldn't feed his child. He said that he wanted to die every time he heard his baby cry. I felt very bad for him. I considered the possibility that he was trying to get money from me, but he never asked. On the walk home from the bank, I gave him 20 Goude (Haitian currency) anyway. Maybe it could have provided a meal for his kid.

He wanted to get my phone number so we could hang out, but I dont have my phone turned on down here so I declined.

After lunch, we went back to the job site and continued to construct the trusses for the roof of the hospital. A couple of Haitians came over to help us. One of them, Roosevelt, was very good with a hammer. I have blisters all over my hands. I want to go back tomorrow to this site, but I don't know how much pain my hands will be able to endure. I'd like to see a finished product that I helped make happen.

I really love the kids here. It seems they have all adopted a universal greeting for Americans: "Hey You!", which is pronounced more like, "Ayooo". It is funny. I met a girl Julie today who walked up to me and demanded my name. The kids literally walk right up to you and start holding your hand. Considering what they've been through, their collective attitudes are nothing short of a miracle. When you contrast that with a bratty American kid on a leash in the mall, well, I think you get my point...

I'm going to head over to Joe's Bar right now to socialize with other volunteers. I look forward to tomorrow.

It Is A Small World

2010-03-10T17:46:00.000-08:00

As I was sitting on the back of a pickup truck yesterday, me and a few others were talking about where we were from, etc. When said Philly, one of the girls asked me where. I told her Northeast Philly, and then I asked her where she was from. She said Abington, and it suddenly hit me, I was in 6th grade at Glenside Weldon with her. She was in Haiti with her father and her younger sister.

This afternoon, I was talking with her father, Jim. His bunk is directly across from mine. We were discussing the projects we were working on and the subject switched to the types of people that work with us. I told him how the only reason I was able to go was because USLI generously allowed me the two weeks to do so. He talked about his own life. He previously owned a custom woodworking company, but three years ago he said he started to feel hollow. He made the decision that he was going to sell the business. He told his partner that he was either going to have to sell the business with him or buy him out. They chose to sell.

There was a certain serenity about Jim. He seemed to be totally happy with his station in life.

"I haven't worked in three years," he said, "If you asked me where I'll be five years from now, uh, I dunno...Angola maybe? I feel like I'm 21 again, aside from the aches and pains."

I look forward to more conversations with Jim. It is obvious that he has alot to say, and it would be stupid not to listen.

Day 2

2010-03-10T16:05:00.000-08:00

I woke up this morning and had some generic corn flakes and condensed milk. Note to self: mix the consensed milk with water before putting it in the cereal.

Last night we had a team meeting and I signed up for housekeeping duties with an Irish ex-pat named Sinead. I thought it would be a cake job that would give me some rest from the work done yesterday. I was wrong.

We are staying in an open air shelter, and I had to sweep the entire thing. I also did the dishes in the morning. The bathrooms were the worst of all. We have toilets, but they don't flush. We have to bucket flush them, which entails filling up a bucket with water, pouring it in the toilet and holding down the toilet lever. It can get messy in there, so I'll spare you the details.

After housekeeping, I did the lunch dishes with two other people. There are about 70 volunteers here, so it took us about an hour and a half to complete.

After that, I was on "tarp detail". We cut tarp, folded it and wrapped it for T-shelters (temporary shelters) for the Haitians. Oxfam is coming tomorrow to them up. The work itself wasn't tiring. It was the 90 degree temperatures that really got to us.

Everyone here is really nice. It is hard not to be. The Haitian people are some of the happiest people that I've ever encountered. If you say hello to them, their eyes light up. The children are so cheerful and eager to help. I don't understand their mentality. I've been so blessed in my life, and even the smallest things can sometimes get to me. One of the volunteers said to me that they can choose to be miserable in misery or be happy in misery. I'm glad that they chose happiness. The environment here is abominable. I can't imagine what it would be like if the Haitians attitudes matched the environment.

The internet connection here is very shoddy, so I'm not even going to attempt to upload any photos until I get home from my adventure, so please bear with me.

I really miss America.

I'm Not In Kansas Anymore

2010-03-09T18:08:00.001-08:00

I arrived in Haiti this morning at around 9:30am. American Airlines decided that I didn't quite need my clothes enough to put them on the plane that I was flying into a third world country on. I was told that they would arrive at 3:45 that afternoon.

After a 1.5 hour car ride to Belval Plaza, I realized that it would be a virtual impossibility for me to get back to the airport to get my bag. The drive was 28 miles from the airport, but the sheer ineptitude of everything in Haiti stretched the drive to an hour and a half. I paid my driver $80 U.S. (this is the going rate to hire someone to transport you over rivers of trash and fecal matter).

I got to the camp sans clothing. I explained my ordeal to the base manager Natalie and she told me she'd do the best that she could to get me my clothing. We had a lunch of rice and beans, goat, lettuce and hot sauce. It was actually pretty good. This was the first time that I've had goat. It was like a mix between beef and lamb. After lunch I set up my mosquito net and went out for duty on the "rubble team". We piled into the back of a white pickup truck like a bunch of Marxist guerillas in Nicaragua. We were off.

The home we were demolishing was a mess. There was rubble everywhere. Three people had died there, and what remained of the family milled about as we smashed cinder blocks. We loaded wheel barrows with the debris and transported it down the road to fortify the shanties for the "flood season".

Yes, we were literally smashing up homes and using the debris to build flood barriers for the shacks that people are living in. Small children were scattered everywhere. They even starting picking up shovels to help. The adults and teens just stood there and watched us work. I wasn't terribly bothered by their inactivity. I figured that they had endured enough already.

We tore apart re-bar and collapsed walls and ceilings. One particularly harrowing moment was when our team leader Neil's life flashed before our eyes. We were trying to bring down a structure that just wouldn't budge. We tied rope to it and tugged with all our might. Neil then got under the cement roof and started pounding on it with a sledgehammer. We all yelled out, "STOP!!!" but it was too late. The roof collapsed on him. I was sure he was dead. Someone, he slipped out from under it with only scratches on his back. He apologized later at a group meeting for his cavalier actions. He should have apologized to the people in the community. They were standing around watching us work at a property where three people had died previously under the crushing weight of ceilings and walls. Children were crying and the entire village congregated around the scene. We had to get our Creole translator Richardson to the site to apologize properly. What an ordeal!

We headed home and had dinner. We had spaghetti with goat hot dogs and hard boiled eggs. It was actually tasty. And somehow, another volunteer was able to get my bag from the baggage check. I had felt disgusting and sweaty all day, and the knowledge that I now had my clothes, deodorant and other toiletries was a great comfort.

In celebration, we went to the local tavern to have a few libations. On my way home, I was accosted by 5 boys who were younger than 5 years old. They were demanding money and cigarettes. Unfortunately for them, I had neither.

Stay tuned. There is plenty more to come.

I'm On No Sleep

2010-03-09T03:20:00.000-08:00

Upon arrival last night, I tried to scope a good spot to sleep. There really weren't any. I eventually tucked my three huge bags under a bench. I got my sleeping bag out and camped out in front of it so as to gaurd my belongings from any mauraders.

Did you ever have a sleepover when you were a kid, where everyone else was loud and noisy, and you just wanted to go to sleep? This is almost exactly what it was like in the Fort Lauderdale Airport. I suppose I get what I paid for, which is nothing.

I got to sleep around 12:30am and tossed and turned for the next four hours. I got up and went to the bathroom. There was no shower in there, so I figured I should start living as if I am in the third world. I took out the pre-moistened towels that I purchased and went to the bathroom. I wiped myself clean, put on deodorant and brushed my teeth.

It is going to be a long ten days.

En Route

2010-03-08T20:49:00.000-08:00

I’ve been very apprehensive about my trip to Haiti. The uncertainty of everything has weighed on me for the past few days and there were times where I said to myself, “I don’t want to go. I want to cancel everything before it is too late.” I had gotten caught up in preparation for my trip and the daily vagaries of my life, and I had lost sight of why I was even making this journey in the first place.

It wasn’t until I got to the airport and sat down to wait for my flight that I felt the same feeling that made me want to go in the first place.

I was listening to my iPod and Pearl Jam’s “Just Breathe” came up on the shuffle. It is a song about mortality and death. I had listened to the song alot while my Pop-Pop was in the final stages of his life with cancer.

My Pop-Pop was my idol. He was accomplished. He had life experiences that I’ll never have (some of which I am grateful to not have). He fought in World War II and cleared out Dachau concentration camp. He had six children and was married to the same woman for over 50 years. At my young age, I can’t imagine that.

The cancer beat him about two months ago. I gave a speech at his funeral and I talked about how it is difficult to feel like a man when I compare myself to him. I talked about how I wanted to be able to do just a fraction of what he did.

When I got the email at work that we had the opportunity to go to Haiti, I instantly scoffed at the idea. This was after I had heard that looters were roaming the streets with machetes. I thought, why would I ever want to put myself in a situation life that? Why would I want to witness human suffering?

I went home that Friday and went to a local watering hole with my girlfriend and a few other friends. I was talking about how I had the opportunity to go to Haiti. I was still scoffing at the idea. After a while, my girlfriend just turned to me and said, “Why wouldn’t you go? Why wouldn’t you do something like this?”

I went silent and got lost in my own thoughts. I remembered the speech that I gave at my Pop-Pop’s funeral and my way of thinking completely changed. I decided that night that I’d take a chance and see what happened.

A few weeks later, I found myself driving to the airport with my father. I was dreading the trip. There was so much that was unknown.

I’m sitting at the airport right now, waiting for my flight to Ft. Lauderdale. I will arrive there and have to wait until 7:20am the next morning for my flight into Port Au Prince. I’ll likely sleep on the floor in the airport, unless they kick me out. If that happens, I don’t know what I’ll do.

When I fly into Port Au Prince, I’ll step off the plane and look for someone holding a sign with “Andrew Monaghan” written on it. Then, I’ll get in a shuttle and head to Belval Plaza to meet up with Project Leogane.

I’m very happy that I heard “Just Breathe” on my I-pod. It made me refocus and realize why I was going in the first place, and it put me in a better mood.

This will be a great life experience, and I hope it builds a bit of character.

***Update***

I've set up camp in the Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood airport. This is not going to be a pleasant experience. I also forgot my toothbrush. Ugh. Hopefully I can obtain one before I get on my flight tomorrow.

Longitude and Latitude

2010-03-05T12:39:00.001-08:00

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Gearing Up For Haiti March 9-19

2010-02-25T08:30:00.000-08:00

I have finalized my plans for my volunteer trip to Haiti. I will be working on Project Leogane with Hands On Disaster Relief. I will be departing Philadelphia on Monday, March 8, 2010 and arriving in Port Au Prince on Tuesday, March 9th at 9:15am. I will then take a shuttle to base camp at the Project and I'll receive my assignment. There seems to be a wi-fi connection , so I'll certainly attempt to make updates every day with stories and pictures of my experiences.

Until then, I'll need to purchase gear and pack for my journey. I look forward to my experience.