Anse-Rouge

Thursday, February 13
Guest post by Daniella M.

Today we flew to Anse-Rouge, a remote village located in the north western part of the island. It was about a 45 minute flight in the MAF plane and Jason was our pilot. We loved the small six passenger plane and the amazing view of Haiti from above.

We could see small villages with donkeys walking back and forth and salt flats that looked like paint palettes.

Arriving in Anse-Rouge, we landed on a short rough runway that the villagers had made themselves. They had spent many hours clearing the area of thorns with only shovels, hoes and their bare hands!

At the mission we met everyone who worked for Lemuel Ministries and took a tour of the cactus fenced grounds. There was a church, a school still in the building process, homes and guest houses, a traditional Haitian kitchen with woven reads for walls and a tin roof, and a gazebo with a grass roof which served as the eating area. Everything was simply constructed but clean.

After meeting Ani, the daughter of the founders of Lemuel Ministries, the girls quickly got busy catching flies and geckos, collecting rocks and drawing with sticks in the dirt.

They soon became great friends, laughing, playing and jumping on the bed.

Many beautiful trees surrounded the area; we learned that the mission had initially planted and watered these themselves, as it is was too dry for them to grow naturally.

Currently the area is experiencing a severe drought since during Haiti's last rainy season they had not received a drop of rain.  Out of desperation the villagers even had to let many of their animals go to find their own food and water in hopes they would survive the drought. Besides that, the villagers children now had to get up at midnight every night to haul water on their remaining donkeys since the closest water source is quite a distance away.

A number of the villagers work for the mission to provide an income for their families and some of the woman cooked us a traditional meal of rice and chicken for lunch.

The guesthouse we stayed in was simple but nice. There was no power or water but there was an outhouse and shower house out back.

Dave got busy looking at the electrical wires in the Lemuel house and building the school roof.

Later in the day Lucson gave us a tour of the village. He had grown up there but now spent a lot of time in the Dominican Rebublic where he was studying to become doctor. His hope was to return when he was finished to be the village doctor since there were no real options for medical care right now.

The tour was a very humbling experience. We saw mud huts with grass roofs, scantily clothed children, and a few skinny goats, donkeys and chickens running around. Everything looked very dry and dusty.

The villagers had been feeding the animals they had left sorghum, dry stalks which filled their stomachs but had little to no nutritional value.  It costs $25HD a load ($3USD) and most only made one or two dollars a day.

As we toured the area we met a little girl and her sweet baby brother. I just had to hold him!

The people led hard lives, but were cheerful and friendly and happily let me take pictures.

I asked one man, through Lucson, if I could see inside his house and he agreed. Peeking in all I saw were some mats on the floor to sleep on, a string of clothes hanging up and a large knife by the door. Outside he proudly showed us his stockpiles of rocks which he hoped to use to build a new house one day. 

We also met an old, toothless grandma who quickly went to put her best dress on when she saw us and showed us her four grandchildren. "They all go to school," she proudly told us

As we walked, Lucson was very kind to the girls, holding their hands and saying, “Why shy? No shy. No shy.”

We walked all the way to the well where the villagers get their water and were told that the water is getting more and more salty and dirty. Many people were there filling water jugs, and washing! Lucson told us that the well is between 300 and 400 feet deep! 
 
On the way back we saw a mother grinding millet in a hollow log with her naked little boy clinging to her leg.

We learned that millet, which is kind of like rice, is pretty much the only thing they eat.

It was dark by the time we got back. After dinner we settled down for a good night sleep. It sure had been an interesting first day in the village!