La Gonave

After the best sleep I can remember in Haiti we woke to a resort-like scene outside the window, followed by a repack, breakfast and literally a 30 second cold, refreshing shower.

Haiti coastline

The “Breezy Sea” is as reliable as ever, proudly upholding her Bay of Fundy heritage of ferrying objects, whether they are lobster pots, people, or even a Land Rover driven onto large wooden boards laid across bags of food. This working boat was taken from Grand Manan along the Eastern Seaboard’s inside passage then across to Anse-a-Galets. Our crossing today was in typically fine Hatian fashion – bluebird skies, refreshing breeze and building whitecaps. There was surprise for us this time in the form of a playful school of bottle nose dolphins darting from side to side, over and under each and finally leaping and jumping for the sky. This show was followed by tiny flying fish that looked like aquatic offspring of dragonflies and hummingbirds.

Dolphin escorts

The marina in Anse-a-Galets was better kept and more bustling than I remember form the previous trips. Even the walk along the only stretch of paved road on the island, past the Saline and the cemetery up towards the hospital, revealed signs of rebuilding and some degree of wealth. Barry Gould, a missionary from Amherst whom I met in Petit Guave 2010 after the earthquake, says the population here really grew after the disaster as people from “the mainland” came to La Gonave. He is finishing a 4 year term this summer, and says that in spite of the emergence of youth gangs and such, things really are more prosperous and look much promising than when he first arrived.

Haitian fishing boat

Another surprise waited for us in the compound. I had seen the plans for the new guest house, but hadn’t visualized its final form. It is beautiful (in a practical way), safe (earthquake resistant to California building code standards) and well designed (with passive cooling facilitated by cleverly designed ceiling and wall vents and it’s half buried location). I asked Barry about the earthquake “resistance” of the building. He said they used 5 times the normal amount of rebar in the construction, and up to a Richter 7 earthquake the building would stand up long enough to get everyone out – though it wouldn’t look pretty at the end…

The surgeons started their consults today, the clinic staff were repackaging and labelling drugs, and I spent some time in the OR looking at the anaesthetic machine, the various drugs (many from Cuba and labelled and dosed in interesting ways), and plugging batteries into the things that needed them. Seems on the whole better equipped than previously, and the machine gives me enough faith that we may be doing a 5 year boy with bilateral hernias towards the end of the week.

I am struggling to upload photos now, but for now will continue to document parts of this amazing trip.

Team NB