Blog, Charity Work

Haven Haiti Diary 2015 -Day 4

Declan’s Haven Haiti Diary 2015 -Day 4

It’s Monday morning. We are 5 hours behind Irish time so already the emails are flying in. Among them more donations which I am really grateful for. They are going to a great cause.

One piece of news which is really great is that Dundalk RFC have won promotion to the All Ireland League. I was sorry I missed the game but was delighted with the result.

On the way to the site this morning we pass a fishingDeclan sawing wood-Haven Haiti Diary 2015 boat. As with everything else here it has no engine and is held together with plastic and string. The Haitian sailors though are really skilled as the have to sail up to nets and pots with no power and stop the boat with no brakes!

My first job when we get to the orphanage is to repair the doors of an office which are badly rotten and need some work. I am working with John another volunteer from Mayo, the heat is unbelievable even at 7 am. It’s about 32 degrees with 80% humidity. We have been told to drink plenty of water and by the end of the day I have consumed almost 10 litres and not gone to the loo once!

orphanage -Haven Haiti Diary 2015I take a walk through the orphanage, there are 70 children here and about 20 of these are disabled. They are lucky as over the years wheel chairs and other mobility aids have been delivered to give them somecomfort but its still really tough to look at. You wonder how many of these lovely faces will be still alive in a few months’ time. One little guy catches my eye as he is whizzing around on a little trolley. I had one just like it when I was a kid and used to wheel play blocks around in it. San San uses it to get around by pushing his hands along the ground. He has developed great upper body strength and is into everything.

We are getting through fixing the door,we cut the rotten wood off the bottom and put a new piece on. It takes a couple of hours but at the end I’m proud of the job we have done and my carpentry skills are coming back to me!

Lunch doesn’t come quick enough! Lunch time-Haven Haiti Diary 2015We don’t take a break in the morning so we work from 8 am to about 1 pm and we dig into the salad and bread that Franks team from Stellar Haiti have prepared.

John Boyle from Mayo is my partner for the day and we get through a fair amount of work! The afternoon gets tougher as the sun gets warmer. The idea is to keep busy though and its not hard as we know we only have a short time here and we want to get as much done as possible.

After we get the boat home I go for a swim with some of the other volunteers, its magic! That evening we have a really nice meal where we are staying and there is a great sense of teamwork around the camp. We are looking forward to tomorrow and no one really stays out late its just bed and get ready for the next days work!

Regards,

Declan

If you would like to help support Declan and Haven in their build, log on to the Haven website and see how you can help this fantastic organisation.