Super MateoJanuary 29, 2010
Jordi and I say goodbye this morning to Mateo, the unbelievably adorable son of Clarens, whose house we stayed at for our time in Haiti. “Super Mateo” would show us his Spider Man and Super Man life—sized (for Mateo) action figures. I think they were pillows and a sleeping bag. Also his Transformer, helicopter and Spider Man toothbrush. He enjoyed playing with our flashlights and cell phones/Blackberries.
Our flight is not until the afternoon, so I set off with reporter Ruth, Patrice and Angelo to the Russian hospital. Turns out they are leaving today, taking down tents and all patients are gone. On the way back to the office we stop at a demolition site, meet a Haitian man from Brooklyn who came Dec. 11 for vacation and stayed to help clean up. Angelo has a flat tire, but changes it in a matter of minutes, like a Nascar pit stop.
The president of Ecuador is scheduled to arrive at the airport this afternoon, so Jordi, Warwick and I leave early in case of traffic. We’re booked on a small charter plane through a company charging way too much, but it will be much easier and better than driving to Santo Domingo. We are wisked through the entrance, which is guarded by a US soldier who just checks passports. A bored looking security agent at the only x-ray machine sends our bags through and in about 30 seconds we are standing outside the terminal facing a row of giant cargo planes. We are told to wait there for the charter plane, which the company said will be waiting on the grass, whatever that means. After about 40 minutes we see the plane just sitting on the grass between the cargo planes and runway. So we walk out under the wing of a Canadian Forces jet, cross a taxi way and out onto the grass. Very odd, just wandering around the air strip like that. The pilot, a young fellow, asks who weighs the most and Jordi gets in the front seat, Warwick and I in the middle 2 seats and a woman in the rear of the 6 seat Cessna. On to the runway we go, the pilot not talking to anyone in the control tower and off we go to Santo Domingo. The flight is uneventful as they say and we are now in the Renaissance Santo Domingo Jaragua Hotel & Casino. I believe Warwick will have his first shower for 8 days, having been at a Port-au-Prince hotel with no water.
My time in Haiti is over and the AFP team will continue there. The main worry is for the hundreds of thousands in the makeshift tents and what will happen when the rains come. Words like horrible and awful seem to loose meaning in this situation, life was rough before the earthquake and the Haitians are made to suffer even more now. Though everywhere I went Haitians were very resilient, trying to get on with their lives. So Haiti will survive somehow.
Jordi and I say goodbye this morning to Mateo, the unbelievably adorable son of Clarens, whose house we stayed at for our time in Haiti. “Super Mateo” would show us his Spider Man and Super Man life—sized (for Mateo) action figures. I think they were pillows and a sleeping bag. Also his Transformer, helicopter and Spider Man toothbrush. He enjoyed playing with our flashlights and cell phones/Blackberries.
Our flight is not until the afternoon, so I set off with reporter Ruth, Patrice and Angelo to the Russian hospital. Turns out they are leaving today, taking down tents and all patients are gone. On the way back to the office we stop at a demolition site, meet a Haitian man from Brooklyn who came Dec. 11 for vacation and stayed to help clean up. Angelo has a flat tire, but changes it in a matter of minutes, like a Nascar pit stop.
The president of Ecuador is scheduled to arrive at the airport this afternoon, so Jordi, Warwick and I leave early in case of traffic. We’re booked on a small charter plane through a company charging way too much, but it will be much easier and better than driving to Santo Domingo. We are wisked through the entrance, which is guarded by a US soldier who just checks passports. A bored looking security agent at the only x-ray machine sends our bags through and in about 30 seconds we are standing outside the terminal facing a row of giant cargo planes. We are told to wait there for the charter plane, which the company said will be waiting on the grass, whatever that means. After about 40 minutes we see the plane just sitting on the grass between the cargo planes and runway. So we walk out under the wing of a Canadian Forces jet, cross a taxi way and out onto the grass. Very odd, just wandering around the air strip like that. The pilot, a young fellow, asks who weighs the most and Jordi gets in the front seat, Warwick and I in the middle 2 seats and a woman in the rear of the 6 seat Cessna. On to the runway we go, the pilot not talking to anyone in the control tower and off we go to Santo Domingo. The flight is uneventful as they say and we are now in the Renaissance Santo Domingo Jaragua Hotel & Casino. I believe Warwick will have his first shower for 8 days, having been at a Port-au-Prince hotel with no water.
My time in Haiti is over and the AFP team will continue there. The main worry is for the hundreds of thousands in the makeshift tents and what will happen when the rains come. Words like horrible and awful seem to loose meaning in this situation, life was rough before the earthquake and the Haitians are made to suffer even more now. Though everywhere I went Haitians were very resilient, trying to get on with their lives. So Haiti will survive somehow.
No comments:
Post a Comment