An afternoon at the saline

Well, I had wanted to spend some time down there ever since we arrived on La Ganove in January.

The saline is where the action is on a Sunday afternoon!

Last week-end I traded my nap for the adventure - finally made it.  I joined another family and several short term mission team members and walked the distance from the Wesleyan compound to the saline, a housing area that buts right up to the sea.

 Looking across the channel to the mainland of Haiti.

The saline at Anse-a-Galets has some of the most beautiful views of the caribbean blue sea.  But it is the least desirable land - and thus the cheapest - because it will completely flood  when the weather turns foul. 


 The plots offer little in the way of fertile land; the wee front yards are sand and there really are no back yards.  Most have walls or fences made of sticks, around each bit of property as a sign of ownership.

A typical house

It is an area full of activity.  Because Haiti is a country of the six-day work week, Sunday is the day not only for church, but also for getting the things done scheduled for a day at home.   Haiti is an outdoor culture:  most activity happens outside the small box houses.

  

Men lathering up the heads of their sons for the weekly shave.  Women washing and then braiding the hair of their girls.  Or, sitting on the ground with legs wrapped around large pans with soapy water, washing out the family clothes and draping them over the fences to dry.

And children everywhere!  Running around us in a frenzy, touching our white skin or reaching for our smooth hair; some crying out, "Banm dola" (Give me a dollar) or, more likely, "jwe boul?" (play ball?).  Soccer stars everywhere!  Some of the little ones wearing t-shirts and that's all - or wearing no t-shirt at all!  Everyone wants to hold hands and have you run with them ..

....and big ole grins stretched wide, everywhere!

"Poverty is relative; joy is universal,"

shared my good friend Martha Sue.  What a great summary of what I was seeing and experiencing.

We decided to call this little man "The Boss" .  He was definitely an "in control" guy!  He walked and ran and kicked the soccer ball with one foot in half of a pair of old soccer slides and no bottoms on under his shirt.  That  huge grin never left his face!

There were two boats on the beach in the process of being built.                                                                                                        In the meantime, the wooden skeleton worked well as a clothes hanger for those playing in the water

This man was melting resin and painting it on the bottom of his dug out canoe, to seal it.

Kate, the teacher for our primary-age missionary kids, talking to one of the vendors who brings crafts for sale to the mission.  Kate and Ben, the teen in the picture, go to the saline almost every afternoon to play with the kids there, building relationships and bringing much joy.  The kids know and love them and miss their visits when they don't get there.  In her pack on this day, Kate has some candy left by a team from SC, so there was much excitement!  They learned some English:  "Just one piece!"

Kids of all ages love to have their picture taken in Haiti.  These have their game faces on!                                                    Then, they break into grins when they look at the resulting photo!

             

When the time came to stop wading in the sea, 

to stop kicking the soccer ball, 

to stop taking and sharing photos, 

to stop "teaching" one another's language to each other, 

to stop picking up and swinging around, 

to stop racing, 

to stop splashing, 

to stop sitting together in the shade of a house, 

to stop picking up shells and the perfect stones to skip across the water, 

to stop walking hand in hand together, 

to stop giggling, 

to stop blowing bubbles, 

several of the children walked up to the road with the group of "blancs", past the community fountain with clear water piped in from the mountains, past the double concrete latrine, to our compound gate.

It was hard to say good-bye.

But, then again, we will return to the saline!

Another Sunday afternoon.  

Seems like a good thing to trade a nap for.