HAITI: A grand week in Grand Goave

We had been told by Terre des Hommes how depressed the adults were, lacking in motivation and really needing our encouragement.  These individuals have all been affected by the earthquake and have lost their homes and their bearings, they are as traumatized as the children -- and yet they are tasked with the responsibility of leading a psychosocial support effort.   So I was amazed to see how engaged and expressive they have been, indeed there is such a spirit and joy, and so much singing and chanting, it's infectious.  Sure, sometimes they slack off in concentration and it's hard to get the group focused.  But mostly, everyone is fully engaged and committed.  There is great energy in the group with such a spirit of generosity and a wonderful camaraderie between us all.  It's truly been a gift to work with these individuals.  It's not a given that a group will work so easily together or that we, as teachers, will have such accepting and engaged students.  These adults all come from different centers, they do not even know each other from before and they certainly did not know us.  But we all have something that binds us together, I suppose, the common goal of bringing joy to the children for the future of Haiti!

What is funny is that the adults are more like children than the children -- in their playfulness and silliness and goofing off.  I think they are truly relishing the opportunity to just get to play! And forget for a week the responsibilities of being an adult and all that they face in their daily circumstances.

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 Little by little we have come to learn some of their personal stories.  The film crew has been interviewing the workshop participants and is learning so much more about individual circumstances than we are privy to.  The film director can ask more direct questions as it is the purpose of her documentary, but it's not really our place as clowns and teachers, I feel.  It is something that has to come from the individuals themselves if they wish to share.

At lunch one day, Rhonda and Winnie begin to talk about the earthquake.  They shudder and shake their heads as they think about what happened.  Winnie tells us her children are still afraid, they ask her if the "goudou goudou" will come again.  This is what they call it, an onomatopoetic term for the sound of a house shaking during an earthquake.  They also refer to the "event" as "January 12," same as we say 9/11.  Or, "what happened in January" -- the children mostly, they don't want to say the word 'earthquake.'   Rhonda was in church, she and her mother managed to get out, but her sister got caught in the debris.  She was lying next to a woman already dead.  Her sister screamed for help and then fainted, Rhonda tried to give her mouth to mouth resuscitation, and finally they were able to get her out. 

We learn that Michel now lives in a makeshift tent outside of his destroyed house together with five relatives.  They share one mattress.  His wife was hurt in the earthquake, and is staying in Port-au-Prince with their small child.  So, for now, they are separated.  Yet, every morning Michel shows up to our workshops with a great smile on his face and filled with such spirit.  Truly, this man is amazing.  He shares with us his great vision for the future.  He wants to open a school.  He himself has devoted  years to studying, and looks forward to yet more.  He says: "I will prepare another Haiti for the children -- with the children."  Haiti needs more men like him.  He'd be a better president than any of the 20 or so bozos they currently got as candidates.

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On the last day of workshops, we hand things over to the participants.  It is their turn to teach -- take it away!  Over the past week we have been working with 18 activity leaders ('animateurs') and four "trainers" ('formateurs', what one might call activity supervisors), two from each of nine child centers.  After our project with them is completed, the idea is for these 'animateurs' to return to their respective centers and share with the other activity leaders who work there what they have learned from us, and to implement it in their work with the children.  On this last day, all the adults from all the centers have been invited to take part -- 76 in total! -- and our 'animateurs' are given the opportunity to demonstrate what they've been up to all week.  We do a big warm-up together in a huge circle and after that we divide up into four groups which our original workshop participants lead in teams, focusing on four areas -- juggling/balancing, acrobatics, creative games and expressive movement.  It's a great culmination to a great week.

Throughout the week of activities we have taken moments to check in with our participants to see what they have absorbed from the workshops, what worked and didn't work, what do they enjoy -- and whether they feel what we are sharing will be useful to them in their work with the children.  The response is a resounding yes.  We ask them to draw what activity they enjoyed most, what was most challenging, and what was their greatest accomplishment -- individually and as a group. 

At our last session, Marielle tells us how the 'goudou goudou' has still been causing her a lot of distress, but that this week of play with us has really helped her and that she feels much better now.  It is affirming to hear such direct feedback of our work having an actual and real impact.

Bernard takes the opportunity to share with us his impression of the four of us clowns:  Anna is the crazy one (that's me!), Tim is the clumsy one, Selena the beautiful one who is very kind all the same, and Jan is the philosophical thinker. 

*all names fictitious*