I’ve been sitting here watching the screen for our blog trying to load for several minutes. I finally gave up and decided I’d start this in Word, then copy and paste it into our blog editor later. Friends, the struggle is real! It’s 2022 and our internet is like a roller coaster of emotions. In case you weren’t aware of it, our internet system is, shall we say, complicated? Yes, let’s call it “complicated”.
When we moved to Camp Marie, there was no available option for internet, other than what we could get through our cell phone data plan. And that, that was 2G, if we were lucky. After we moved in and got settled we realized that if we propped our phones in the window above Chris’ desk, on a stack of 3-4 rolls of toilet paper or random small boxes, we could actually get 3G. We’d then hotspot our computers to our phones and do what we could. A couple of years in, Chris saw a set up at a friends organization where they had a dish system that then bounced the signal from one part of the compound to others through repeaters. Chris did some research and contacted the internet company to see if they’d be willing to sell us the equipment and help us set it up for Clean Water for Haiti. They were, and we were excited. Sounds simple right? Let me explain…
In order to set this up, the provider needs to have the dish within sight line of certain parts of the country to get the signal. We needed a high place, but we essentially live in a bowl in the valley. Chris saw the two cell towers on the top of the mountain between us and the ocean, and hiked up to check things out. He noticed there was a radio receiver on one of them. He talked to the guard of the tower and found out that a local radio station now used the old cell tower (the company hasn’t worked in Haiti in over a decade) and gave Chris the info so he could ask them if they’d be okay with us mounting equipment on the tower. They said yes, and for a small monthly fee the guard said he would watch our equipment too. Chris went back to the internet company and bought the equipment and made plans to have the technician come help set it up. This also meant ordering the repeaters from the US, and setting up a small solar system on the tower to power the modem. The dish receives the signal, sends it through a cable to the modem and wi-fi router in the guard house on the mountain, which then connects to the first repeater up on the tower, and the repeater sends the signal to the next repeater on the top of our house, so we can have internet. Our internet literally travels from the top of the mountain to our house.
Earlier this year we upgraded our repeater system, after months of really bad internet, and it was a game changer. Way faster than what we’d been getting. That is, until about 3 weeks ago. It progressively got worse until it wasn’t working. Chris hiked up the mountain and all of our equipment checked out, so he called the internet company and they put us in the que with the technicians. Eventually the technician called and was able to reset things. It worked for a couple of days. Then we had a big wind storm move through the country, and it stopped working. Chris talked to the technician and was told some of their equipment got damaged and they were trying to fix it. We’re now on week three of cruddy internet and having to hotspot off our phones. Which isn’t terrible, under normal circumstances, but our 3G (yes, we’re still on 3G over here…) has barely been working, too.
So why did I just spend four paragraphs telling you all about our internet issues? Because I feel like it’s a good way to share about life here. For those of you that have followed along with us for many years, you probably noticed that we went from writing regularly on here (or fairly regularly) to nothing for a very long time. Years, actually. Oof. It’s frustrating to want to write something and not be able to actually post it because the internet is too slow and the pages won’t load. So we (well mainly me) would move on and do other things. When I first moved to Haiti most of my admin work was general office stuff, but over the past 16+ years, so much of our work has moved online. When you’re in a country where the internet is a constant, that’s easy. It can make things more efficient. When you’re in a place where the wind might mean you have no service, you struggle. In this world of Zoom meetings, social media being the life line for many, and having to do so much work remotely, it’s hard to not get frustrated when it just doesn’t work. It’s also hard to get anything done.
If this just affected us on a work level that would be one thing. But it doesn’t. In mid-July the kids and I started our new homeschool year, and I was really excited because our new internet equipment meant that we could finally do more things online and use those resources. But guess what? That was right when things went down, and it hasn’t really happened because our internet is barely working, three weeks later. Our oldest is in high school this year, so we’re in the stage where everything counts. Thankfully everything she needs to do can be caught up, but it’s been a good reminder to me of why I’ve mostly chosen book based curriculum. It’s frustrating because there are so many wonderful resources out there for homeschooling families, and we struggle to access them consistently and make use of them. I want our kids to enjoy school and learning, and that’s a challenge when things feel monotonous.
On a personal level, Haiti is hard right now. We rarely get to go out because we’re trying to be mindful of security, we don’t have fuel, or there just isn’t anywhere to go. Our area isn’t a thriving metropolis with lots of entertainment options. We live in the middle of a rural farming community in between small cities where there are things like street food, but not much in the way of things like sit down restaurants or anything like a movie theater or mall (ha!). The internet is our entertainment, but it’s also how we stay connected to people both here and outside of the country. We might not see our fellow expats on a regular basis, but I’m constantly chatting with them whether they live in country or are abroad right now. When that’s not available in an easy to access way, it can make the loneliness creep in even more.
I know many like to know what life is like for people like us, living in a place like Haiti, especially in times with so much uncertainty. It’s things like this that can be incredibly frustrating for us, because we have no control over them and there’s nothing we can do to fix them. But, it’s also things like this that have helped us learn to be more flexible. I’m so grateful for that. It’s also these kinds of things that teach us to be more grateful for what we have. I think it’s so easy to get reliant on services and resources, to the point where we think they’re a right. When they’re removed we can feel like our rights are being infringed upon, or that we’re suffering. The truth is, most of the time we’re not. It may be inconvenient, it may be frustrating, it may even disrupt life a bit. But, something like internet is a privilege and a tool. I always appreciate it more when it comes back and I can do the things I want to. But, I can survive without it. Considering that we’re here to help provide access to clean water, something that people don’t have and truly is a need to survive, so many things seem petty when I really step back.
Times are incredibly frustrating right now, especially here in Haiti, because we see no clear way that the issues in country can be resolved. It’s hard to look at each day and feel discouraged, and to think of the future and not know what to expect or if things will ever get better. But, I know that my personal outlook on life is what affects a lot of that. I can choose to only see the hard, the negative, and be discouraged, or I can recognize that I feel those things, sit with them for a bit, and then also look for the things I’m grateful for in the midst of it. People often ask us how we keep going through all the things we’ve been through and experienced in our years here? Honestly, for me, gratitude is one of those things. Practicing gratitude even when things feel impossible is such a gift. It helps me remember that little in life is guaranteed, that I have very little control over most of it (even though I might like to think I do), and that the things I do have are a gift. Taking a few minutes to think about the things I’m grateful for, even specific things within hard situations, can completely change my perspective. I highly recommend it.
And now, I’m going to attempt to post this and see what happens. If you’re reading it then you’ll know it worked, and for that, I can be a bit grateful today.
~Leslie
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