'Construction' Work and Communication - Gwendolyn

Jessie, Nick, Nikki, Steve, and I went to the construction site today. The materials weren't all there, so there wasn't much to do requiring physical labor. In the morning, we moved some cinder blocks in a 'chain', but mostly we sat on cinder blocks in the area that was to be Rosita's house and talked. It wasn't very eventful, but it was very relaxing. It was actually quite nice out. There were a few instances that I think are worthy of mentioning, one being involving a man that was likely Rastafarian. He was wearing a Bob Marley shirt, and he had dreadlocks pushed up into his hat. He was talking to Philip, and we were discussing his hair. Philip then asked if we could see his dreads, and the man explained that in his religion, they don't typically show people their dreadlocks. I didn't exactly understand why, but I think it had to do with not having pride about it. He seemed very interesting, and he did take off his hat to show us his hair. They were probably the best dreads I've ever seen, and he whipped them around as he showed them off to us. When he left, Philip explained that in Haiti, it is difficult to get a job when you have dreads. He actually had some when he came back to the country from Boston, but he cut them off. The police get very suspicious, and no one really trusts you. It takes a lot of dedication to have them. He also revealed that the man was a reggae artist, and he is releasing a video soon. We didn't learn much else about him, but that was pretty cool. We learned that Philip also had a big beard at one point, but Robenson made him shave it off before we came so he looked more professional (or at least that's what I understood from what he was saying to us).

We had some Haitian Cola with our lunch, which is a beverage similar to cream soda. It's fruity, though. We drank it out of glass bottles, and I finally got to eat a banana on the trip. Marco showed us his drawings, and they were really good. He is incredibly talented. After lunch, Philip told us that there was some work that we could be doing. They were filling buckets with rocks for us to carry down to where the little stream is. It wasn't bad at first, but every time that we went to get more rocks, the men filled it even more! It got to be pretty heavy, and it was difficult to carry down. This was in the early afternoon, in the hottest part of the day. I started to feel sick, so I had a seat in between the houses, where it was cool. Eventually the others joined me. As we sat there, these little girls were hiding in the back of the small space. They slowly creeped up and began to touch Jessie's blonde hair. They were amazed by it. They braided it and made it look all crazy, and I started taking pictures. They took an interest in my camera, which was entertaining - eventually they started taking pictures with it, and they were enjoying our sunglasses and gloves. We played some other games with them, and it was a wonderful time. It was probably the most beautiful experience so far.

But the thing that interested me the most about this, and that was just amazing to me, was how well we could communicate. We didn't speak the same language; Marco speaks English, but the girls (and the little boy that joined them) only spoke Creole. Yet we were able to interact with each other and teach each other. While we were playing, we didn't notice the language barrier. We were able to figure each other out through our actions, and we learned a lot from each other that way. We took pictures and played games without needing words. It shows how much actions speak; communication isn't always about using words. It's about showing compassion and love.

We didn't do much construction work today. It was probably only about an hour of the time we were at the construction site. But I think that the time spent there today was important, with the children and with each other. We were able to both learn and teach, and I think that's a big part of this experience.

(also, hi mom :D)