#30 Saturday and the Napkin Ring Gang: This morning started out very quietly, Delize was first of the artisan group to show up, and that was not until after 9:00. The group is supposed to start working at 9:00.Napking ring gang. Phenold did not show up until after 10:00. We ended up with six or seven artisans’ altogether. When Delize showed up, we got out the Generator and the scroll saw. When we went to start it, it sputtered and died. It was out of gas. We had put a gallon in last week and only used it less than four hours. I called Hemson, our moto driver and sent him to buy four gallons, with his fare of 100gds and the gas at 250 gds a gallon that’s about $2.00 an hour. Pretty expensive way to have electricity. After Phenold arrived, he was still not really training other of the groups to paint. He wants to do all of the painting himself. That is not going to work. Denise thought about it and explained to him that if he wanted to make more money he was going to have to let the others paint too. Yes, they were not as accomplished as he is, but they needed direction and practice. She then sat down at the table to observe what he was painting and began to duplicate it. Soon another one of the group did the same. I appreciate how she handled this situation and feel progress was made. By the end of the session we had a pile of pieces that need to be varnished. Phenold assumed I would do this. I will, but that is also part of what the group needs to do. Right now though I am just trying to get as many items ready to bring back for Christmas sales. While the gang worked, Kenly and three other boys came. Denise had asked Kenly to help build a compost pile. There is an abandoned garden plot behind the school that we are planning on redeveloping using the new techniques we have been learning. The students will run and work the garden themselves. The garden will not only be a learning experience, but also supplement the school’s lunch program with fresh vegetables. Denise asked Kenly if he needed any help getting started and he said “No”. When she went to check on them a short time later, Kenly had taken the knowledge he gained at the bio-intensive workshop and was teaching the other boys what to do. They constructed a compost pile exactly the way it was taught at the workshop. Denise fixed them each a peanut butter sandwich and gave them free passes to the cinema we are showing tonight. They were thrilled with their reward, but more so with what they accomplished. When we finished and everything put away, I aired up the tires on the Gator. Then Denise and I headed down the mountain to Gros Morne. Slowly the road is improving. The steepest parts are being paved in concrete and rocks. First the workers are constructing a three and half foot apron of concrete on each side of the road, then they are filling in between with rocks, and mortaring them in place. Where they are placing the rocks the road is not very smooth, but it is worth it because until now these areas erode very quickly when it rains and become impassable. The road continues from Gros Morne all the way to Limbe, a total of 16 kilometers. So far they have completed work on the steepest grades for about two and a half kilometers. I am not sure if they will continue all the way to Limbe, probably only until they run out of money. Our first stop in town was at Denise’s friend Marie Noel’s auto parts store. With road construction in town we could not get there, so I parked a little ways away and stayed with Sadie in the Gator while she walked the last fifty yards. Marie’s store is really just a small room, around 7’ x 7’. It is located near the moto stand on the way to Kalabat. Denise was dropping off a couple of messages. Moto drivers deliver messages to and from the remote areas for free where there is no phone service. We had one message for Fr. Gracia, checking on plans for him and me to go to Port au Prince to buy a generator. The other was to Johnny. The last time he was here he wanted to borrow my miniature screw driver set, when he left, he took them with him. It might have been an oversight, or he might have thought I gave them to him. Communicating the idea that we are only loaning something to someone is often not understood. Our Creole dictionary doesn’t even have a word for loan, and the word for borrow only relates to borrowing from a bank. Not much help. Once Denise returned I took my favorite gal out to lunch at our favorite restaurant. For only 150gds we each got a huge egg sandwich and drink. $3.34, that’s me mister big-spender, nothings too good for my gal! From there we went to the sister’s house. Denise’s computer is back from the repair shop in Port au Prince. Mine was fixed a couple of weeks ago. When we tried it back home it was still dead. Ouch! While we are at the sister’s, Denise asked about updated demographics of Riviere Mancelle for a grant she is writing. Sr. Jackie gave us some maps and told us where to go in town for the information. We will post the maps when we have the opportunity. The day was getting late and so we headed home. When we got back home it was time for Denise to start supper, she does the cooking on the weekends. Tonight she made tostados’. I sliced and diced while she fried shells and prepared the refried beans. We have Taco Bell sauce, so we really had a taste of home. We have always thought that Taco Bell is so wasteful with the amount of sauce packs they give you, but now we save them up and bring them to Haiti with us. It does not take long to accumulate a pretty big bag, and they keep well. I left the dining table before the others. I had to get the cinema set up before it got dark. We have a cinema on occasional Saturday nights. We use the largest classroom, if we really crowd it we may be able to fit 75 people in. That is the number of paying attendees needed to pay for the gas for the generator. We charge 5gds per person. That’s about eleven cents. Tonight we had 33 paid attendees. It takes about a half hour to get everything ready. We use a laptop with external speakers and a projector. It takes more power than our solar system provides so that is why have to run the generator. Kenly had asked for the cinema night, so I let him pick out the movie. He chose “Rocky”. Once I had everything set up, his friends convinced him to change to “Rambo”. Language selection does not make any difference to the crowd, as long as there is plenty of action. When I have the option of choosing French, I do. But even though French is the official language, few of the peasant population can understand it. After starting the movie, I returned to our apartment. There was only one glitch, and I was summoned with great haste. At one point a popup window on the laptop obscured the movie. It was a notice to update a program. The crowd was in an uproar over the interruption. The problem was quickly remedied and I was a 10 second hero. Bob
Posted on: Fri, 31 Oct 2014 10:49:12 +0000
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