When I did the CWP in Lonavala, India in 2006, we stayed at Velvett Country (life is cheap in India; spelling is cheaper). Velvett Country is a resort, with meditation paths and tennis courts and a masseuse on-staff. Of course, we left before 6 every morning and returned after dinner every night, so we partook of none of that, but there was a lovely deck around the pool large enough to accommodate all of the volunteers as we reviewed the day’s events after sunset. I could catch Sabres highlights on CNN World Sports in my room.
For the CWP in Los Angeles in 2007, we stayed at the LAX Marriott. There were 6 pillows on my bed, and I still use Bath & Body Works Orange Ginger products after using the samples we got as toiletries every day. There was a Starbucks in the lobby and Wifi all around.
In 2008, I went instead on a mission trip with the Lovely Lane Methodist Church, to build a dental clinic in San Juan La Laguna, Guatemala. We stayed in lovely cabins right on the lake, and had homemade dinners with a family who lived nearby every night. The hot water setup was questionable, but the view was fabulous. A little boy I sponsor in Guatemala draws me a picture of the mountain we were looking at with every letter he sends.
The CWP in Chiang Mai, Thailand in 2009 involved a long bus ride to the site, which gave us a chance to wake up before arriving at the build site, marking our time in the sun’s rise over the pictures of the King which were affixed everywhere along the route. The hotel had in-room internet so I could argue with my publisher, beautiful teak wood everywhere, and, well, a mall attached, which also included a Starbucks and was showing “2012.” Massages were $11. Hot oil massages were $13.
Haiti is going to be different. Muuuuuch, much different.
My friend Karen Haycox works for Habitat for Humanity International, and has posted a bit on Facebook about the conditions there. First and foremost: security. Karen wrote about how she was always met at the airport by someone to take her where she was going. It wasn’t the royal treatment – it was a necessity. Whereas on all my other trips I have gone early to see the country (and acclimate to the heat before the build), there’s no traveling alone in Haiti. The volunteers will meet in Atlanta first for the Opening Ceremonies, then take charter planes to Haiti and be shuttled directly to the campus together. No shopping, no wandering into town for a beer after a hard day. We’ll only know we’re in Haiti because we won’t actually get to see Haiti (nightly entertainment brought to the campus aside).
Second: pillows. We may or may not get pillows, but we certainly won’t get six of them. Or maid service. Or Starbucks. We will be sleeping in 6-person tents, which I expect are actually a lot nicer than the tents our homeowners were living in before they were accepted to the project. Now, I’ve had powerful good luck with roommates on these builds (Tammy Stines three times, solo once), but Tammy puts up with me being a slob and there’s no guarantee that the other four people will. And six people sweating all day in the hot sun sleeping in an enclosed area with a single fan… well, that brings up…
Three: water. In India the hot water lasted for about 45 seconds and in Guatemala the hot water heater controls were suspended inside the shower, held up only by bare, live wires. Thailand had no hot water problems, and LA of course had Orange Ginger bath products. Haiti will have — a bucket. Portajohns, to be sure, but no running water. We will each get a bucket of water every day for bathing. Not my preferred form of hygiene to begin with, but after a day of working on a build in the hot sun, crusted with mortar or paint flecks, covered with several layers of sunblock and sweat… I may pack a scrub brush. Certainly we’ll all be in the same boat, and will all smell equally bad, but the problem comes on the trip home. After we take charter planes back to Atlanta, people are going to get on connecting flights. And sit next to perfectly innocent, bathing people who are not going to like this one bit. I’m planning on asking my friend Sue to pick me up in Atlanta (after covering her car seats in garbage bags) and let me spend a couple of hours in her shower before I’m fit for sitting next to anyone.
Four: Wifi. This was kind of a surprise. Turns out you can’t go anywhere without Wifi. This is a blitz build let by a former US President, with a couple more brave celebrities backing him up, and great publicity for Habitat for Humanity International. There won’t be as many members of the media present as there were in, say, Los Angeles, but media will be there, and they’ll need the internet. So there will be a computer tent (I expect, along with the First Aid tent, one of the few air conditioned places to be found). And we’ll have some power strips for charging iPhones and iPads. So, if I can bear to touch my favourite electronics with my grimy hands, I get to blog from the site. And maybe even catch some Sabres highlights online.
This is going to be a challenging build, reminiscent of the early days of Habitat when volunteers would be put up in churches and schools for the builds, but without the convenient plumbing that those facilities proudly boast. Given the fundraising requirement (India’s registration was $800; Haiti volunteers need to raise $5000), only the most committed volunteers will be there. The challenges are what make this build so enticing: pushing myself to physical extremes; bonding with a new house crew and tent-mates; learning enough Creole to converse with the homeowners and learn about their experiences with the earthquake (note to self: learn “earthquake” in Creole, or this could get confusing); packing what I’ll need without overpacking like an idiot. Only four more months to work on that packing list…
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