Sunday in Haiti !

Today was a little more heart wrenching than I had anticipated. After staying home all day working on clinic inventory and helping the medical director with his mid-term report I thought I would go out and get some air. I asked the driver to take me to 2 camps I hadn’t been to.
He first took me to the ‘golf course’ camp otherwise known as the ‘Sean Penn’ camp. This massive camp is located at the Pentionville Club and houses about 50,000 people. At the gate are guards who allowed us in and waved vaguely in the direction of the camp. There is a huge red mobile clinic at the entrance, really fancy and new looking, Wow ! I thought as I turned to look across the way at two abandoned tennis courts. Then we proceeded down this really complicated stone road that seemed to head straight down a hill. To call it a bumpy ride would be a major understatement! Just when I was ready to stop bouncing there it was! Piece upon piece of plastic as far as the eye could see. Children running around, people selling small goods in front of their tents, hair being braided and just general busy-ness Wow, Wow, OMG Wow!
We made our way around the camp and I could sense the desire for normalcy. It is inconceivable how people are surviving and it is impossible to see an end to this.

Interestingly, along with the people vending on the main drag there are several lottery booths. In any other situation it might even have been funny, squatters investing in lottery tickets! After noticing the lottery booths in the camps I now see them everywhere sometimes 3 within a block of each other. It must be good business!
Also in the camp are churches and other facilities but everything is really cooped up and water is at a premium.

From this camp we went to Delmas 2 otherwise known as the old military airfield which at least had passable roads and thoroughfares, otherwise more of the same.
Each camp has a clinic but each one is run by a different NGO (non governmental organization). It was all very interesting and sad.

In the evening I went to eat at a Creole restaurant. The food was so so, the restaurant was showing the world cup game of Germany thrashing Australia.

I got a little email card from my daughter when I got back saying she was proud of what I am doing……. Nice!

Tomorrow will be busy. Bon Nuit!