Mole Accepts A New Brother

Haiti Trip; Day Six: I have just returned from my third trip to the rural Northwest section of Haiti, and the fishing village of Mole Saint-Nicolas. I am filthy, exhausted and covered with so many mosquito bites I look like I have the measles. And do you know what? I couldn’t be happier!

While there is so much that I would like to share with you, I will leave you with these highlights: The community of Mole has accepted me in an unprecedented way and they go to extremes to refer to me as one of their own. In fact, I am never referred to as a “blan,” which is term used throughout Haiti to label foreigners; especially white foreigners. Instead, they call me “Jim,” or “Mr. Lange,” and then they remind me that they didn’t call me a blan. This is an exchange that they punctuate with a big smile and a nod of their head, and each time that this happens I cry inside.

Aside from the warm embrace given to me, great progress was made in the areas of fishing, agriculture and small business. In short, I have set the inhabitants of Mole on a vigorous regiment of continuos improvement, which for those of you who have worked with me you know that this process is not easy nor is it especially fun. In any event, they are quickly adopting to new ways of thinking, and their levels of confidence continues to grow at an impressive rate.

Well, that’s it for now. I’m off to take my first shower in days and then I’ll sit down and enjoy a hot meal and a cold beer. Goodnight…