Written by Jivenson Joseph one of the students who learned English with Vicki
Friday afternoon at about 4 PM after getting together Mackenzy, Elie and Johnny and I at Delmas 31( at Mackenzy’s) for the last meeting to go to Pignon on Saturday (September 8, 2012).
We planed to meet on the bus station early at 8:30 in order to leave at 9 o’clock. In the morning, Mackenzy called me to tell me that his friend came from Pignon told him that buses leave the station at 7:00, so we have schedule our departure for earlier. Saturday morning I woked up at 4:00, I took time to pack, I was gearing myself up for leaving home at 6:30, then I was done really. At 6:30 when I left home I sent a text message to them to let them know that I left home. My little brother named Smith helped to carry my bags to Delmas 3 in order at take a tap tap to take me KAFOUR AVIYASYON which cost 1 Haitian dollar. Since I didn’t know the station to Pignon, which is next to kafou aviyasyon, I asked someone and he said to me: cross the street and the corner of the next block is the station to Pignon. After getting the station, I texted them to let them know. Ten minutes after I didn’t see them I got in a four-tire little bus. I took a place close to the window on the left side and saved three other places with my bags for the guys. The bus was filled so Mackenzy, Eli and Johnny still didn’t appear The driver told me to call the guys since it was the time to leave the station, by the way, texting them on their cell was not necessary, I should have to call them right away.
Well, I say hey! to a seller of pappadap so as to refleat my account for two Haitian dollars because I didn’t have credit on my cell phone, when he saw that it was a five dollar bill , he said : I have no small change ,for that I bought for five dollars. After that I tried to call them one at a time, I couldn’t reach any cause they were in traffic couldn’t hear the phone.
Seeing that I couldn’t get them to know if they were near of far, then I got off the bus.
After a while, Mackenzy called me, I picked up and said: where you are? In the station, said Mackenzy. This is where I’m, I replied. He said near the pump, the gas station. Once I was told that, I could hear him on the phone and behind me too and I could see Eli, Mackenzy and Johnny. Now we were all four together at the bus station to Pignon and 8:00 was the time,
Johnny and Mackenzy, near by the station, went for breakfast since they didn’t take it at home. They let Jivenson i.e. me and Eli to keep an eye out on the bags. At this time Eli and I took a bus and saved two places for them.
Eli had fried banana prepared by his mother. Me I bought a sandwich for five dollars. A few minutes before they were back, the bus was about to fully filled.
When they were back, we were all four together on the bus. We bought different drinks like: robusto and toro, they are all energy drinks.
At 8:38, the bus left the station. Me personally, I ignored the exact time we got to Hinche because Eli felt sick.
I have to tell you that there are three different ways to go to Pignon, either you take plane to get there directly or you take bus from port-au-prince to cap-Haitian and from cap-Haitian, a tap tap to pignon. Or you take bus from port-au-prince to Hinche and from Hinche you take a moto to pignon. It was the last one we have chosen cause by passing by Hinche and costs much less than the others.
Some days before, we went , we called Rachel for directions and she told us that once we arrived at Hinche take a moto and tell the taxi driver to take us to l’hopital bien faisance de Pignon, and don’t worry because we will be welcome.
Well, at 11:40 we arrived at l’hopital bien faisance de Pignon (-------------)
We talked to a security agent we saw in the yard and he told us: wait a minute. After a while, two girls came to us and said: follow us. And we did. When we reached the floor, by passing close to the kitchen we could see a pile of plantain, and all sort of legume which can make good food in the Haitian cookery.
The ladies invited us to see the dormitory to choose the room. In the room , we could notice three beds in a room equipped with a nice mirror , a desk with three drawers, a big ceiling fan , on each bed, there was a soft pillow and a bath-towel , we didn’t even us those we had brought.
To me I thought when I arrived at Pignon; I was going to see Rachel. Behold, I called her to tell her that we arrived, a big surprise .I’m not in Pignon, don’t you see anyone to welcome you? Said Rachel. I said don’t worry somebody did it already.
At about 1:00, the ladies who have received us, called us to have lunch and that was when I noticed that the ladies were the cooks.
I have to tell you that I heard about Rotary before but I never knew that Rotary was so powerful to such an extent that we were given the program for free during such a long period of time and provided us everything besides very good food every day during the sessions; we had breakfast at time, juice, coffee and sandwich in the break, lunch and supper every day. Power and water is provided twenty for seven.
The bathroom equipped with hot and cold water, mirror and sinks, that’s unusual in HAITI and not accessible for most of the households, all most every student had the same comment
So let me seize the occasion to relate you an anecdote:
In my first session, I had a little cyst that appeared between my cheek and my neck some day before I moved to Pignon, when I arrived there, it begun to hurt me a lot and the part was swollen. And the student advised to not hold that cheap because that can worsen if it lasts so long, but what I intended to do was so: wait when I came back to port-au-prince to see a doctor. Suddenly, an idea came on my mind to report that to someone in the Hopital bien faisance de Pignon. So Mr. Evenel the interpreter in bio med class was the person to whom in the hospital I have reported that first and he gave me the direction for a check up. After that I could meet Dc Dominique, a surgeon. When I say that I a student of bio medical repair training in the program of rotary in the hospital and I’m from port-au-prince, he gave me a prescription to buy equipments such as: Bistoury, surgery gloves etc. I went straight up the nursing and the equipments were provided, the operation was done for free. To put it bluntly, this kindness to me won’t never fade from my memory.
Guess what! The only problem that we had was so: they didn’t give us even a second to be hungry
So that’s perfect for, thumbs up for rotary Houston.
We have a Billy the very good teacher and he really knows what his doing, the class room is so nice we use the devices of the hospital to make practice when some are broken they brought them in class and we repaired them,
Thanks to rotary, because devices we could only see in operating room become common for me like anesthesia machine, steam sterilizer, oxygen concentrator and so on. Not only see those, but we took them apart and fixed them.
At least. I have no word to express good statement to you rotary for your kindness to HAITI my darling country that I love so much,
Keep up the good word my God bless you all the members in the name of Jesus.
Jivenson JOSEPH
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