Alumni Spotlight: Joe Paté

I have a hard time coming up with an answer when asked what I liked the most about Haiti or what the highlight of this trip was. I can honestly say that I enjoyed every moment from the time I stepped off the plane in Port au Prince to the time I stepped back on the plane nine days later. The entire experience was simply amazing. Every individual I encountered—from our volunteer group, to our hosts, to the locals—were friendly, welcoming, interesting, giving, and good hearted people. During our many walks into neighboring towns it wouldn’t take long for others to share a smile, wave a hand, or even walk alongside us and visit. While at the schools the kids lit up their classrooms with their smiles and laughter. The moments spent during meals and group activities were engaging, lighthearted and very seldom dull. Not once during my stay in Haiti did I feel I needed or wanted to be anywhere else but exactly where I was in that moment.

Any given morning one awakes to a chorus of animals “talking” to each other, including roosters crowing, donkeys hee-hawing, goats blatting, dogs barking, and cows mooing. Mornings began with breakfast that was made up of our volunteer group as well as a few of the locals who would likely be with us for the day. The breakfast was a light and always included homemade hot cocoa, coffee, and ginger tea. It was a time to share our own stories or listen to the stories of the locals who were with us. We also took this time to go over the plans for the day in regards to where we would be going and what everyone would be doing. Generally, most of the mornings were spent together as a group. For example, one morning we all worked together planting coffee plants and plantain trees while another morning we worked together on projects for the schools we would be going to.

Each day we would gather again for a simple meal at lunch time. We would enjoy homemade soup, rice, or noodles along with fresh bakery bought breads and rolls. Lunch was another time for sharing with each other, learning about and from each other. On our first day we shared this meal with a local youth group whose focus is on clean water projects and hygiene education. After eating, the afternoons usually found our group split into smaller teams who spread out to work on different projects. Examples include working in the garden, going into the schools, staying with our hosts to help in the kitchen to prepare our evening meal, cleaning up the grounds of where we were staying, traveling to the market, and completing fence repairs and installation. It was great to work alongside the people of Haiti; a chance to learn and teach.

After spending the afternoons split up from the main group, we would come back together to kick off our evenings with the large meal of the day. Our hosts spent a large part of their day, with the help of a couple of us volunteers, to prepare this meal for our group and whoever else showed up to join us. Typically during this meal we would be joined by at least a half dozen others. These meals had us eating rice, beans, corn, cabbage salad, beet salad, chicken, goat, and plantains. After eating we would simply relax and enjoy each other’s company. Some nights included music, such as when a local band came to play as a way to celebrate our group leader’s birthday. We would also engage in games, team building activities, and cultural exchanges. We often received impromptu lessons in the local language and reciprocated by giving lessons or our own. It was a pleasure to hear the many stories shared by our hosts, visitors, and fellow volunteers.