An Adventure - An Enrichment

This is what the group experienced in June 2002 as they traveled to Haiti with VIP to work with seven of our nine 4-H clubs there. The group consisted of 4-H members, leaders, and 4-H alumni.

June 18th - "Wow, it's the first day of the Haiti trip. We had a smooth flight to Miami and Port Au Prince. The streets of P au P are crowded with small stands, houses made of brick, small shops and musicians. Goats and cows roamed te streets freely. The people, however, look happy with all that is around them.

June 19th - The alarm went off at 7:30. We drove to Mirebalais - a 3 hour ride up and down mountains to the village (30 miles). It is drastically different from P au P. Buildings are made of wood and thatch. The people are really friendly.

June 20th - After breakfast we went to visit the orphanage. There were about 30 children. The children were all cute and really liked the stuffed animals we brought (which had been collected by 4-H clubs in Sheboygan County.) Later in the day we went to the prison (a friend of VIP is Chief of Police). There were 5 cells -one for women and four men - there were 95 prisoners.

June 21st - We left for 4-H meetings after breakfast. An interesting fact is that some children walked four hours yesterday to come to this meeting - stayed overnight with a friend and will walk home this afternoon. This afternoon at 3:00 p.m. there were craft demonstrations teaching how to make hemp and bead bracelets. Andy did the goat project and provided medical care to to three goats.

June 22nd - We packed our bags and left for the Xaragua for the weekend. We checked out the pool, which felt great. We had a meeting which went really great. There were 4-H'ers from Mirebalais, Montrouix and a Young Women's Group. After dinner we had a dance. They put on a show for us with skirts and singing.

June 24th - We had a hearty breakfast and headed back to Mirebalais. Later that day we presented the child care lessons including Heimlich maneuver (all the sessions were taught to groups of 6 to 10 so they would be able to teach others in the club).

June 25th - After breakfast this morning we drove to a 4-H Club in Marche Canard. There we talked about leadership and 4-H activities. After lunch our activities were teaching the Haitian 4-H'ers how to grow and use sprouts and how to make compost.

June 27th - We left Mirebalais about 9:00 a.m. At about 3:30 we went to St. Joseph's Boys home to see Haitian dancing. Some of the dances showed what daily life on the street was like, one was about slavery, one about fishing, and there were others. When we got back to the hotel they had a birthday cake for Heidi.

June 29th - We headed to the airport for our afternoon flight and said good-bye to Haiti after 12 days of unforgettable adventure and enrichment and with many new wonderful friends.