November 21, 2008

so a few days ago we went to Rousseau, a small mountain side (top?) village a few miles south of St. Marc. it is in a really beautiful setting, with a view of a valley below it, with mountains around it. the first pic is going up the mountain. while it isn't a huge mountain, even by Haitian standards, it is amazing to think that the people regularly walk up and down this to get where they are going and what they need. at the turn off from the main road there are a few houses, one of them belonging to the local witch doctor, who sells magic charms, herbs, etc for healing of sickness, and of course provides curses and the normal services of said witch doctors. the road up the mountain is barely a mountain bike path, crossing a stream at the bottom and filled with rocks, crevices, etc. this is the better part of the road, the rest is bad enough you have to hold on a lot so pic's are hard to get. once at the top it is beautiful. we had a church service with some adults and mainly children and teen's. the village is said to have about 250 people, but Gary and Caroline doubt it has that many and from what I saw I would be surprised it had 150. the setting of the village itself is not as picturesque with huts built against the background of dirt. it was getting late and we were beginning to lose light so I did not have lot's of time to get more pic's of the houses, will try for more next time. we had a church service with mostly kids as stated. it really was good, they were responsive and enjoyed it. this is one of the places that Gary and Caroline go to provide Christmas dinner for the people. the church is a small building apart from the rest of the village, no power so we had to get going so Caroline could still have enough light to read her sermon! I got a few more pic's in low light so I hope they post ok. this is the kind of place a developer in the states would put a road in, put some expensive homes on top and let them enjoy the view. here it is still beautiful, but it is for the poor because it is not convenient to get to. when it rains or hurricanes come they are isolated, it is pretty impossible to get in or out except by walking if even that. I have some more pic's that are in low light I'll have to work on to see if they can be used. The people are friendly if shy, and they appear to appreciate the attention, I guess is the right thing to say. this is the place where materials are being donated to help rebuild houses damaged by the hurricanes, hopefully before it gets into dry season and it gets REALLY dry and dusty. Just a day in the life of a guy in Haiti.