Life at the Orphanage

From the blog Gordon Gang News

Most of us have seen the clean, groomed, well dressed people of Haiti emerge from simple homes with no power or running water. I have always been impressed by this and it shows the pride of the Haitian people and their level of motivation.

So here is the drill after having lived it for a few days. I have mentioned a few times that we have water. I hope you didn't make the assumption that I was referring to running water! We have drinking water, and bucket water. Both are only running water if you pour them on the floor.

We are staying in the Mardy's family home. It is a good sized two-story building about four thousand square feet. It has a larger water storage space near the front door. A water truck comes by on occasion and fills the tank. From there it runs via bucket power. There is a 3 gallon bucket on a rope in the tank. This hauls the water up to the army of 5 gallon buckets that transport the water around the house.

Personal hygiene -
Brushing teeth - pretty straight forward, bottled water in the sink. However there is another bucket under the sink that catches the water from the bottom of the sink. It magically remains maintained by the teenage girls running about the home all day.

Bathing - or should I say bucket bath? So, you stand in a large tile bathtub/shower and scoop water from a bucket with an ice scooper and pour it over one part of your body at a time. The water is a little below room temperature and feels wonderful because it's stinking hot here! Start at the top and work your way down with the water followed by the soap followed by the rinse cycle.

The other main thing we take care of in the bathroom -
This home has a regular toilet so the first part needs no directions. However you can't just leave it there! Once you have taken care of your business you need to quickly dump enough water from the bucket to get the toilet to flush. (not too bad). Unless the person who was there last left you with a prize.

Face and hands - baby wipes and lots of them!

Clean and pressed clothes -
The buckets haul the water to the laundry area, which doubles as the bathing area for the bigger children (another post). There are about 5 women taking care of the cooking, laundry, and hygiene of the older children. The clothes are washed in large shallow stainless steel basins about three feet wide and twelve inches high. They move the clothes from one bucket to the next going through the same pattern your whirlpool would. The waste water heads down the side of the walled lot to the street. I didn't investigate beyond that. Once the clothes are clean they have an elaborate system of hanging a crazy amount of clothes out to dry.

Pressed and looking new?

Hard to believe but check out this charcoal fired iron! This baby is hot hot hot! I don't know how they keep from burning right through those white Sunday shirts.

Hair - guys, you may skip this section as it does not apply to you. Girls, this is practically a national past time. Washing and conditioning is done in the driveway close the main street drain clean water by bucket power. Then the never ending braiding process. It's a good thing that the braids last for two weeks because it takes hours to do.

So I hope that clarifies a few of the unknowns about the daily task of personal care.