Dear Diary III

In the afternoon we held a second meeting that included some other local leaders, including the mayor (who is probably my age), a number of teachers, businesspeople, and priests/pastors. We discussed their concerns for Pestel.

From the Mayor's report the government has promised a number of things, including two new school buildings, internet access for the school by the coast, and a paved road up to the main road.
Yet, the Major agreed with the sentiment that it is best not to wait for the government.

There is a story I heard on my last trip that a local deputy for Pestel was given $30,000 for the school in Pestel. The money promptly made its way to Port-au-Prince where it went to help his kids (and his friends' kids) who lived there.
The shame is that this not uncommon. There is a reason that Haiti is ranked as the Most Corrupt nation for 2007. Grrrrr. More on this later.

From the meeting with KPA and with the local leaders two clear priorities emerged:

1. Clean safe water
2. Education--both primary and secondary schooling as well as health education