Haiti service trip changes perception

Phil Penepent, Rob Ryer and TJ Rosetti stand atop a pile of rubble in Leogane, Haiti.

Image courtesy of Rob Ryer

Three students left their iPods and labeled clothes behind and journeyed to Haiti earlier this month, learning there is more to life than material objects.Rob Ryer, Phil Penepent and TJ Rosetti spent their spring break volunteering and providing disaster relief for the children in Leogane, Haiti, 20 miles outside of Port-au-Prince. They spent a week, Saturday Feb. 27 to Saturday March 6, living and working with the Haitian community.

They began planning to travel to Haiti immediately after news broke out that the Jan. 12th earthquake had struck, while they were on their winter break trip to Atlanta, where they helped rebuild the United Methodist Children's Home. Originally they had planned on returning to Atlanta for Spring Break.

Preparations for the trip included receiving four vaccinations: Hepatitis A, typhoid, H1N1 and the seasonal flu. They also had to take medication for malaria one week prior to the trip, during the trip and three weeks following the trip.

Overall, the three found the trip affordable. The flights cost $450 roundtrip, and they only needed $30 for spending money, according to Ryer, a junior physical education major.

Originally, three others were supposed to be accompanying them, including St. Bonaventure business professor and faculty advisor of BonaResponds Jim Mahar.

"They had full intention of coming," said Penepent, a junior marketing major. "It was never supposed to be just Rob, me and TJ. The others' flights got canceled because there was that really bad snow storm."

Luckily, Ryer, Penepent and Rosetti took a different approach with booking their tickets.

"When we booked our tickets we were like, 'We're going to book them out of JFK because there is the direct flight from JFK to Port-au-Prince and it's like $200 cheaper, and my dad will just drive us down there (from Ithaca)," Penepent said.

During their time in Haiti, safety was not a concern.

"I felt 100 percent safe 100 percent of the time," Penepent said.

The three stayed with a Hands on Disaster Response group and worked with them and the Haitian community.

"(We stayed) in an abandoned community center, like a basketball court," Penepent said. "It was like a gathering place for the community. It lost its roof in the earthquake. So we were basically sleeping in open air the whole time on this basketball court on a plank of wood."

The group worked on concrete demolition, shoveling, wheel-barrowing, sledge-hammering and removing rebar. The 90-degree temperatures and humidity made their work tiring and difficult at times.

"We were praying for overcast and rain," Ryer said.

During their trip, they experienced two aftershocks.

"I thought a train was going by," Penepent said. "Then I was like, 'Wait a minute: There's no trains in Haiti.'"

Showering was much different in Haiti than it is in the United States. Just a tarp separated the outdoor stalls.

"Our showers were like a 5 gallon bucket, and then you had a small bucket that you poured on top of that," Ryer said.

The food they consumed everyday consisted of rice and beans.

"It's like our hot dogs and pizza," Ryer said.

Not only do Haitians consume a minimal diet, but they also live in meager conditions.

"Few had homes," Penepent said. "We built a home while we were down there. There is so much rubble and stuff you have to clear that stuff before you can even start building. That's the biggest problem. So they are basically just sleeping in tents."

In addition to their rebuilding work, the group spent a lot of time with the Haitian children, organizing games and activities.

"We were influential in setting up a Saturday fun day," Penepent said. "We suggested that they have activities with the kids like one day a week. They had a big soccer game."

Half of the children did not own shoes, while the other half wore flip-flops while they worked, according to Ryer. Also, their clothing was an eclectic mix of different styles.

"Take every Salvation Army in the world and give them all the T-shirts that nobody buys," Penepent said. "We saw T-shirts for the (2010) Colts Super Bowl. My favorite shirt I saw was, 'Vote for Wal-Mart.'"

Some of the children had suffered severe injuries during the earthquake and its aftermath.

"There was this little girl who couldn't play with all the boys when we were running around," Ryer said. "She couldn't play so I asked her and she had stitches all up her leg."

Most children spoke Creole, the main language.

"The ones who spoke English were sad to talk to because you could actually hear their story," Ryer said.

Even though the group went on their own, not in affiliation with St. Bonaventure or BonaResponds, the Bonaventure school spirit was in the air.

"We started the Bona's clap with the Haiti kids," Ryer said. "They didn't quite get the rhythm, though."

According to Penepent and Ryer, the Haitian community was helpful and unified. They helped the relief workers with the rebuilding.

"It was just such a community," Penepent said. "Everybody just took care of each other."

Ryer, Penepent and Rosetti handed out Power Bars and the bags of food students and faculty donated to the Haitian people.

"They'd share it," Ryer said. "They'd break off a piece of (Power Bar) and pass it along."