About Danielle Hoegy

Danielle Having completed my MA in April and not required to start work until September, I decided to take off on a bit of an adventure and travel to Haiti for the month of July to volunteer. I am excited, nervous, and curious about what this month will bring and will try and share a bit of that adventure with you all through this blog.

Danielle's Posts:

Love/Hate Haiti

July 28th, 2010 by Danielle

Dedicated to my dear and wonderful friend Hafiz who needs to get back to writing his blog. P.s. still working on the tan lines.
I have three full days left here in Haiti and it was inevitable that at this point I would really start to reflect on things that I will dearly miss about my adventure here and things that I really have not enjoyed here. For those here with me in Haiti right now and others who were here before, you will probably understand where most of these are coming from. Those who are Haiti-bound, perhaps this will give [...]

Posted in Haiti

More than the “twelfth”

July 20th, 2010 by Danielle

Emmanuel walked around for three days after the “twelfth,” which is what the January 12 2010 earthquake is frequently referred to as by Haitians. Cell phones weren’t working, Port Au Prince was in chaos, rubble filled the streets, injured people cried for help, bodies were everywhere, and he was trying to find his family members. Six months later, he took us on a tour of some of the most devastated areas of Port Au Prince. He has yet to hear from his mother.
I was surrounded by children: grabbing my arms, trying to hold my hands, tugging at my shirt. Their [...]

Posted in Haiti

Who is he?

July 15th, 2010 by Danielle

I had started this blog then took a break to go to lunch. before coming back, we had a brief detour (more on that) and i guess to much time lapsed and I lost the first part of this blog. oh well.
Anyways, the lunch story. Had a delicious grilled veggie panini at the deck. i love my vegetables! When heather and I returned to the UNICEF area at MINUSTAH, there was a crowd of people holding up their cameras and cell phones trying to take pictures. There was also a lot more security guards than usual. Turns out there was [...]

Posted in Haiti

UNICEF and databases

July 6th, 2010 by Danielle

Volunteers in Cx-des-Bqts have a number of opportunities for volunteering: Dr. Roberts’ orphanage where kids who lost their parents in the earthquake live; the Good Samaritan Orphanage which is in desperate need of everything; a special needs orphanage; helping an organization construct a building to house medical supplies; working with Provide to clear land to initiate a sustainable agriculture centre; teaching adult english classes; a wednesday women’s day at Ecole Shalom (where all the volunteers stay); a medical clinic that runs a couple times a week; and UNICEF.
By far, the UNICEF placement is the most luxurious as it is located [...]

Posted in Haiti

Welcome to Cx-Des-Bqts!

July 5th, 2010 by Danielle

It’s been a few days since arriving in Haiti and it feels time to post my first blog. The past few days have been good as I have been settling into the GVN compound in Croix-des-Bouquets (Cx-des-Bqts) and just getting comfortable being in a new country, from the heat, food, language, people, sights, sounds, smells, etc. Already much can be said about my experience so far here but I think it would make this entry far too long! Instead, I will provide a few highlights and pertinent details about the first few days of my month-long adventure.
First highlight: encountering an [...]

Posted in Haiti

Four weeks to go!

June 2nd, 2010 by Danielle

Is it to early to start a countdown? Even if it is, I’m starting mine anyways simply to remind myself that I now have less than one month before boarding a plane bound for Haiti where I will spend one month volunteering. After spending the past six years studying development and humanitarian issues, I am looking forward to getting my hands dirty, so to speak, since it has been a couple of years since my last “field” experience. I am getting more and more excited about this adventure but at the same time am starting to become a bit overwhelmed with [...]

Posted in Haiti

A Global Volunteer Network Initiative: http://www.volunteer.org.nz