A Quiet Day

For today and tomorrow, there most likely will not be much to write in this blog. I attended most of the day to the necessary paper and organizational issues. These need to be in place prior to my departure on Monday. Now comes the execution piece and attention to detail. All critical to succeeding and not letting these entrepreneurs down. We will formally have 5 people on our Fondespwa staff. So responsibilities, reports and plans need to be established. Everyone appears to be excited as we have grown somewhat quickly and they all believe in our mission: Developing Independent Women Leaders. To date, they have seen some positive returns on our efforts so that has been encouraging. So in short, today, I just put the infrastructure in place. Tomorrow, we are going to the opposite side of the island, about 2 hours away to supposedly a nice beach, for a little relaxation, sight seeing, and a good meal. Probably rice with something, I'm sure. I'm looking forward to seeing another part of the island. It is Friday night at 8:45 and this evening is no different than every night in Haiti. In the US, kids stay up late, watch TV, have sleep overs, go to a mall, play sports, go to movies. Parents hang with friends, take their kids out, also watch TV, go to movies, or go to a restaurant. Here, there is no difference between Monday night and Friday night. Kids play in the streets till 8, go home and sleep. Parents, talk to one another in the street till 10 and then sleep. No TV, no movies, no restaurants, no sports, no reading ( no electricity) each and every night. Up at 4:30 and the routine begins again. Long, long working days for the women and not much different for the kids. You realize there are no organized sports for kids till about 15 or 16 and even then, it is isolated to larger towns and only one sport is played, soccer. For girls, there is nothing except to be sure her brothers have their clothes washed and food cooked. Boys are treated royally by the family members. Girls are raised to support the brothers and mothers. So tonight, the girls sweep the house, pick up the clothes, wash the dishes and clothes, and in the morning get the water and bring it back in a large pail. They grow up to become the back bone of this country. When I first began interviewing women, here in Haiti I would ask the question: When did you start your business? They looked at me with a fairly surprised expression because the answer is obvious and always the same: "Since I was a young girl". I no longer ask it. The women have worked their whole lives. The majority of boys, when they become men will do what they did when they were young. Play.