As previously described, Chantal is a small village with a population of about 1,500 people (in pre-earthquake times). But even in the far southwestern reaches of Haiti, there is nothing The Google doesn't know or cannot see. It can see Chantal:
You can see that Chantal is indeed a small place, and like many small villages all over the globe, the church is one of the largest structures. It doesn't dominate like European cathedrals, but its presence is unmistakable.
The main road is paved, smooth and nice to travel on but the rest are gravel. The market place is crammed full of stalls that are just corrugated sheet metal roofs held up by tree branch poles. It's really pretty large. More on it in a later post.
Within this little village, we worked in an enclosed area that contained the clinic and the nuns' residence (please forgive me if there's a proper name for this, a la 'parsonage', but convent doesn't sound right to my simple Protestant ear). While we did venture forth from this area on a couple of occasions, it was our universe for the bulk of our time in-country. Here's a detailed picture of that universe:
The Barracks is the name I used for the men's dorm. I used the term enough that I did hear one other team member using it in conversation and whoever he was talking to knew what he meant. It was a smallish building (wild-assed guess here is that it's 20'x30' but I wasn't really paying attention) that was mostly open inside. There was a T-shaped divider that made three "rooms" but the wall didn't go all the way to the ceiling so we could all talk to each other (and hear each other snore, roll over, etc.). The rear few feet were also walled off to create a restroom area. These walls didn't go all the way up either so your daily ablutions were also audible throughout. The restroom had a sink with a mirror, a flush toilet and a "shower." It was a cold-water shower - a mixed blessing in the tropics - and didn't have a shower head. It was just an overhead 3/4" pipe. It was funny listening to others showering because you could tell when most of them stopped splashing water on themselves and actually immersed in the stream. It was an act announced with a tell-tale, "Ungh!" as cold water hit an overly warm body.
Our beds were simply a mattress on the floor. We took our own sheets (mine were treated with permethrin so that I would sleep unaccompanied by creepy crawlies). After a long day of hard work, I had no problems with the level of comfort being provided. But then again, it got to pleasant temperatures at night so the lack of A/C and fans wasn't a problem. Just open, screened-in windows for climate control, and for allowing us to clearly hear the dogs and roosters.
The roosters were really something else. They stopped crowing around dinner time. This break lasted long enough for them to catch their breath and then announce with a hearty "Cock-a-doodle DOOOO!!" that it was now 10 p.m. and time to go to bed. Sporadic crowing would go on throughout the night until about 3 a.m., at which time it would begin in earnest. All-out, full-throated rambunctiousness would erupt at 4 a.m. When the church bells tolled at 5 a.m. and again at 5:30, it was time for us to surrender, get up and start the day.
For those who were on the team, this picture (honestly unretouched) will explain something about the roosters, perhaps confirming a few suspicions:
Father Yves and the nuns made sure we were well cared for. We had a near-limitless supply of bottled water, which was very comforting. But we were also well-fed. Breakfast had scrambled eggs (which everyone seems to have loved), real oatmeal, bread, peanut butter, honey, bananas and mangoes. Dinners were equally generous with a different meat each night (fried), fried plantains or bananas, fried potatoes and rice and beans. It was all good food, if a little bit of a challenge for ones statins. The only problem noted by many was that when we had chicken, it wasn't one of the roosters.
Lunch was "on our own." We were told ahead of time to bring protein bars and that we would have to sneak in a bite when we could. It wasn't an easy thing for any of us to do when we were surrounded by people who were underfed, malnourished or starving. More than one person said they found it hard even to drink water in front of the locals.
So that's about it for our basic room and board. Next, set up and clinic day number 1.
