We're nothing if not flexible - April 11

OK. It's Thursday, the 11th at 7 pm and we're finally in Camp Perrin! We spent last night at Roody's Baptist Compound in Leogane. Ashley, from Solar Under the Sun, had recommended the place and suggested we think "summer camp" - an accurate assessment of Roody's somewhat ramshackle but welcoming compound! We slept in two tin buildings, the ladies in one room and guys in the other. Surprisingly there was air-conditioning, at least when there was electricity. At any rate, after our early rise and all-day travel, we all slept quite well. Except for the explosion of mangos that carpet bombed the tin roof off and on all night.

Roody's Compound, our "camp" cabins

Akeisha and Darenda relax

That was yesterday. We finally got started for Camp Perrin at 8 am this morning and were at Les Cayes by 11:30 and ready to head from there to Camp Perrin when Lucson got a phone call from Camp Perrin telling us we couldn't come today. Okaaaaaaay . . . So after a quick conference by the side of the road, we decided to go to Torbeck and Chaveneau to check things out there instead. We had intended to do that on Monday, but we are nothing if not flexible. And we called our friend Madame Franchette in Les Cayes to make sleeping and dinner arrangements there.

On to Torbeck and Chaveneau, where we found the systems being very well run, although not selling/giving away quite as much water as we'd hoped. It was wonderful to return to both Torbeck and Chaveneau and renew friendships from last year.

At Chaveneau, Darenda shares photos from last year

Rick and Tim checck out the system

Brian makes friends in Chaveneau and tries out his French

While we were doing all that running around, we got another call from Camp Perrin that we should meet Chavannes at 5 pm today in Torbeck and he would ferry us and the equipment across the river and up the mountain to the village. Okaaaaaaaay. So we called Madame Franchette back and cancelled our reservations for this evening. We're nothing if not flexible.

Tim and Brian ride in style up the mountain in the back of Chavannes' pickup truck

About 5 pm we did meet Chavannes and left the Kia in the town of Camp Perrin and Chavannes drove us on to our destination. Camp Perrin is both a town and something like a county and we were heading for a little mountain village in the "district" of Camp Perrin. We arrived in the village to a joyous crowd welcoming us with hugs and Creole voices and enthusiasm. We were overwhelmed! They took our backpacks and escorted us to the dining room on the compound where a sumptuous dinner awaited. Yumm!

We were expecting cots to sleep on - but these folks went overboard! They completely decorated 3 rooms including real beds with lovely bedspreads and beautful Haitian carved headboards and footboards. The women were soooo excited to show us the rooms they had prepared for us!

They built a new building to house the water system. The construction is complete, but the walls are not finished and the floor is in the process of being tiled. The water system room takes up one corner of the building, the rest of which will offer a market with soap, deoderant, and other sundries. Tomorrow we will just work around the construction workers finishing up! Okaaaaaaay! We're nothing if not flexible.

What the entrance to the water system room looked like when we arrived

After dinner, we met for prayers and mutual understanding with Chavannes (Director) and Franz (Executive Secretary) of MP3K (Peasant Movement of the 3rd Section of Camp Perrin). It is a farming cooperative started in 1990 that Akeisha and the group from George Washington U work with. They provide health care and health and agricultural education for the community in addition to providing seedlings for crops (yams, coffee, cocoa) and doing community improvement projects like roads.

Now for bed - we're all exhausted!

Looks really good!