November 2020 - 16

all ages, including the very young and the very old. A woman
patiently braiding another woman's hair is a common scene
everywhere.

Days five and six

I teach Jean and Jimmy some basic techniques of card
play using the Audrey Grant version of the Bridge Master
software. We have a lesson on finesses. Of course in Bridge
Master level one, all finesses work, but I tell them in real
life, it's 50-50. So far, I think Jimmy quite likes what he has
experienced, but I am not so sure about Jean.

Day seven

blackboard at the end of each deal. It
feels like everyone has a good time and the winners
are cheered generously.

Day four

On the way to Hinche, the highway is blocked and tires are
being set on fire. Jimmy explains: "We all want the president
of the country to leave. He is corrupt and doesn't do any
work. Last year, schools were closed; this year, they are open,
but now who knows. Big trouble starting again."
Jean decides to return to Mirebalais. I wonder if there will
be roadblocks going in the other direction and about the future of the workshop. Jean doesn't seem too bothered. Back
home, Jean makes a series of calls to Hinche and then moves
the workshop to Mirebalais.
After the calls, Jean, Jimmy and I visit a nearby neighbor's property. Behind the main house, there is a large floor
open to the sky and a raised floor with a tin roof held up by
graffiti-covered posts. A solitary goat is tied to one of the
wooden posts.
"The place used to be a disco," Jean tells me.
I like this rustic place much better than the concrete hall
in Hinche. "But where will the participants stay?" I ask
Jean.
"We will find a house for them," he says. "Like that one."
But what about the owner's family? "Oh, that's no problem, they can move to the smaller house in the back."
I got it. Suddenly, a business opportunity has arrived
for this family, and to earn this extra money, giving their
house to 20 odd strangers for three weeks is the way to
get it.
Jean negotiates with the owner's son, who is meticulously attending to his hair - razor in one hand and a
broken piece of mirror in another. Amazingly beautiful
hairstyles abound in Haiti, especially among women of

16 Bridge Bulletin November 2020

On Sunday afternoon, five participants from Hinche arrive in Mirebalais. The other participants are expected to
arrive tomorrow. "How many are expected?" I ask Jimmy.
"Never know," replies Jimmy.
Jimmy's answer more or less encapsulates my weeklong
experience. Haiti is a beautiful country with desperate
people and a dysfunctional government. People just have to
somehow manage for themselves. And the only way to survive, it seems, is to be some sort of roadside seller or hustler.
In the evening, Jean, Jimmy and I are walking home from
the rustic workshop place. It rained a lot and puddles of
water fill the numerous potholes in the street. A car approaches. It deliberately goes over a puddle very close to us,
splashing water on Jimmy. Jean and I are spared.
"No education, man," says Jimmy in an anguished tone.
On our regular way out of the house, our car has to briefly
stop at a checkpoint on the road every day. The checkpoint
has nothing to do with the government, I understand; rather,
it's an entrepreneur who blocked the road using big stones.
Each time, he demands money for the stones to be moved so
that our car can pass. But so far, our driver has only chatted
with him.
Will we ever have to pay him? Never know.
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November 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of November 2020