We’ve scoped out our project at the orphanage so we wanted to go back to Port-Au-Prince to see the John Branchizio school and the C.I.T.I. school in Cite Soliel. PAP can be very dangerous so we employed security to do the driving and look out for us.
We toured the JB school. The playground there is not really functional. This may be the focus for a future project. Then we went on to the C.I.T.I. school. Citi Soliel is so dangerous that Phomphile, who is a dark skinned Haitian was uncomfortable. He said that he would immediately be identified as not being from there. There are cultural nuances that are not obvious and difficult to understand. It is summer break but the place was full of kids. We were greeted warmly and the kids sang us a welcoming song. I was asked to say a few impropmtue words. I basically told the children to work hard and study hard and their lives will be better. Afterwards, Pomphile said that I said the right thing and sent the right message.
We took a bit of a side trip to see the Cathedral and the National Palace that were destroyed in the earthquake. It is sobering. They were the two most impressive structures in Haiti and now they are destroyed. There is tent city across the street from the Cathedral.
The last stop was a visit to a place that manufactures playground equipment . It is basically a welding shop. It was a great find. We can purchase the playground equipment locally and it is very heavy duty. We don’t have to import Chinese junk or buy Sears backyard stuff that will fall apart under heavy use. We negotiated the prices. (When I say we, Mike is actually the negotiator.)
Tonight we stay at the Visa Lodge near the PAP airport. It will make it much easier for our departure tomorrow.
The Cathedral.
The kids that came out to greet us at the C.I.T.I. school.