Dear Everybody:

I have been living in Haiti for a month now, and I have come to realize that Haiti is like the Wild West. I think there might be laws here, but I'm not sure what they are. Everybody just does what they want. For example, if you need to go to the bathroom, you just go. If you have garbage, you just throw it on the street, in the ocean or in the stream. If you see somebody who looks different than you, you can just yell out your thoughts on the subject. The children in particular chant blan, blan, blanin unison as I approach (blanmeans white). 

I'm quite enjoying the freedom to pee anywhere, but there is a downside to not having laws. For example, every store has to have heavily armed security guards. Inside the store, there are items on display to show what the store may or may not have in stock. When you see what you want, you write down what it is and then take your list to a security window to pay for it. Then, another guy goes to find the item. If one of the items is not there, back to the security window for about 30 minutes of discussing the problem. No matter what, the process of buying something is quite involved. Returning an item can be an all day event. All these systems are in place to prevent myriad forms of theft. 

Another downside to anarchy is that there is virtually no clean drinking water. Unfortunately, with everyone relieving themselves wherever they please and throwing garbage in the stream, that is the result. There are also pigs everywhere, eating the garbage that is thrown around and keeping cool in the local stream/ open sewer. Almost every household carries water from outside the home. It is typically the children that fetch the water by carrying buckets full on their heads. The dirty drinking water causes Haitians to have all sorts of heath problems that North Americans never have to deal with, like intestinal parasites and chronic diarrhea which can lead to dehydration and death in children. 

There is a really great Canadian couple living here who are trying to bring clean water to Haiti and they seem to be headed in the right direction. They are trying to start a water filter industry in Haiti. The filter has a unique design that seems perfectly suited to Haiti (see the attached picture). It is made from concrete (hard to steal) and is filled with sand. Happy, healthy microorganisms live in the sand and eat all the angry, nasty bacteria (and parasites and other nasties) that are the leading cause of death in children under 5 years old. Pour a bucket of dirty water in the top, and 99% clean water comes out the spout. Haitian labor is so cheap that the filters can be sold at only $18 U.S. each, which is a price Haitians are eager to pay for clean water. Lots of people get clean water, and a Haitian is able to be self employed in a way that helps his country. Brilliant. The water I drink comes from one of these filters. 

The biggest problem in making this new industry grow is the concrete forms that are required to make the filters. The nice Canadian couple were unable to find anyone in Haiti who could build the forms, so they had two built in the Dominican Republic and brought here which was very expensive. Each form makes a filter a day, and there is a substantial waiting list to get filters at present. Two molds would take a long time to supply 8 million Haitians. Fortunately for Haiti, YWAM just got a new staff guy who knows how to weld. All last week I cut and welded steel in the tool shed and sometime next week there will be a new concrete form. A year from then, there will be 365 new filters supplying about 2000 people with water. I feel very excited to be a part of the project. After the first form is built, I will teach a Haitian how to make the form. That would be an important step towards exponential growth of the clean water industry. 

Being on staff here gives me the opportunity to get involved in any sort of ministry I am interested in. The is a grade school, an English school, a well drilling ministry, a church planting ministry and about a million other ministries. We are particularly interested in getting one of YWAMs mercy ships to come in to Saint Marc. YWAM has several large ships that carry a large staff with medical supplies and all sorts of other resources to help whatever community they arrive in. Much of what we are doing around the base is in order to prepare for a Mercy Ship to port here. Unfortunately, President Aristide has not agreed to let a mercy ship dock here for whatever reason probably trust related. That is a main subject when we have prayer meetings, and it would be great if you would pray too. Aristides heart needs to be softened towards YWAM and Christianity in general. A mercy ship could be a huge blessing to this country. 

I am adjusting to life in Haiti. In my last latter, I wrote that the creole word limeans he, she, or it. Well, I have learned that it also means him, his, Herand hers. What a great language. They tell me Im making good progress. I recently moved from the dorm into staff housing which has a stove, fridge and running water just like America. In the dorm, there was a rooster living next door that crowed at all hours of the night. Most roosters say cock-a-doodle-doobut this one says cock-a-doodle-aaaaaaaaaaaarrrggh!. I used to wake up from dreams when someone in the dream would start screaming only to hear the rooster screaming in real life. An interesting thing about Haitians is they eat chicken bones like I eat carrots. I tried it once and I dont see the appeal. 

I often have moments when I ponder what I have gotten myself into by coming here. One such moment was when I took a bus into Port-au-Prince a few weekends ago. As we passed through a particularly bad area, I saw a human corpse on the side of the road which had been there for a long time. It was at that point I realized Haiti has no law. Many of my preconceptions expired. Please pray for me as I continue to learn more about Haiti and its people. 

From the Wild West, 

Chris