Destination: Haiti
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ Haiti, on the west coast of the Hispaniola, shared with the Dominican Republic, is a country that suffers from political instability, food riots, bad water, and poverty. It is a place that few people know much about, much less that could point to it on a map, but for Kristin Duncan, Robin Duncan and Karly Kattenbraker it is a place that they know first hand.
In May, 2008, for ten days, the group went on a volunteer trip to Haiti with the Haiti Connection through the Newman Catholic Center at Eastern Illinois University. Their goal was to work to provide some of the populace with clean drinking water with the Water for Life program. The program builds ten by ten by ten concrete basins to collect water and test it to ensure that it is safe to drink.
During their trip, they lived Barasa in a home without running water or electricity and at a location that had no telecommunications (cell phone reception). Communications are limited to scarce internet access at a few of the stops, if any. Communicating with the locals is also difficult as the people of Haiti speak a dialect of French, called Creole. Creole was formed when the slaves of Haiti were freed but had no formal teachings of how to read or write French. The Duncan sisters had four years of high school French under their belts, but still require an interpreter to be able to speak with many of the locals.
The trip was not without its harrowing experiences. None of the roads are paved in Haiti and are made up of loose rocks. For trips across the mountainous terrain of the region, the roads are a dangerous sight, adding in the fact that there are no "rules of the road" either.
"One time our driver was trying to pass a guy in front of us to stay with the other driver and we came face to face with a UN tank. With no rules vehicles can drive on either side in either direction," Kristin recalled.
Their trip began by landing in Prot-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, where they visited an orphanage that had been founded by Mother Teresa. From there they traveled through nearly all of Haiti, from Barasa to Tibo and Cap Haitien. Including a lack of resources, various gas stations in the area sometimes go dry.
"We were in Cap Haitien and we had to wait in a long line for gas since they were running so low," Robin said. "Gas prices here also hurt them there, since people have less to donate to the cause."
The group was able to experience such things as open markets and sleeping on open roofs to relieve heat from inside. Caution had to be stressed however, as 1 in 5 children die in Haiti from various causes such as AIDS and malaria that run rampant in the country. Mosquitoes of the region carry certain diseases which must be warded against.
Although Catholicism is predominant in the region, nearly half the population also believes in Voodoo, many of which are able to accept and practice both beliefs. The group was able to view parts of a Voodoo ritual before a ceremonial feast at a nearby church before one of the volunteers familiar with the region had them move on.
The group not only helps build cisterns, but they also sponsor school children and employ many of the locals as teachers and masons. As part of the reward for volunteering for the project, the group is allowed to visit historic sites such as the Citadel, a fortress build for protection against the French.
Kristin is a graduate from Eastern Illinois University majoring in psychology, Robin, a current student at Lakeview College majoring in nursing, and Karly, a sophomore at Vanderbelt, paid $1,100 to go on the trip, partially paid for via scholarship and volunteer work. All three were interested in Haiti and the Water for Life program. This trip was Robin's second trip to Haiti. After returning from her first trip she succeeded in rising the interest in the trip for both Karly and Kristin. The group said that they plan to go again when they have enough money.
"You can't go and then not want to go again. It has that kind of effect on you," Kristin said.