Konbit Shelter : Blog

Thus far our typical transportation, in the form of our daily commute, has been anything but typical. The route we traverse begins on the busy highway in front of the house where we are staying and soon turns on to a crowded, bumpy narrow city street that leads to a river which must be crossed several times before reaching the village where the building site is. Because of the frequent rains and topography, the river rises with surprising rapidity that makes crossing it a dangerous and often time consuming venture. When the river rises we wait, if it does not go down we wait some more. So far we have had successful crossings in jeeps, pickup trucks and in the back of a box truck. One crossing attempt we were a part of revealed the danger of crossing and the value of patience when the “tap-tap” (haitian pickup truck bus) got stuck in a deep trough a few feet from the far shore and had to be evacuated. This lead to an eventful backhoe rescue and ride down the river and to the house, tap-tap in tow.  While it seems easy to conceptualize the river crossing as an adventure or an inconvenience it is imperative to remember that this is an incessant issue the the people of this region have no choice but to deal with on a regular basis.