No. 80: Next time I go to Haiti, come with me….

If you read my last Note you will know that I have spent this weekend in Haiti. The highlight was a 6.5km open water sea-swim. We all survived. No shark attacks, but there were a few jellyfish.

Last year (the first year they held the event) there were just 4 swimmers. This year there were 11 of us. It took three hours and when I left the water, exhilarated but completely knackered, I looked like an angry red panda, such was the sunburn pattern caused by my swim-cap and goggles. Fortunately 24 hours later the previously unburnt bits of my face had caught up with the burnt bits. I now look like a ripe plum with eyes. It’s a particularly attractive look. Mrs Clark is a lucky woman.

There are many reasons why you should come to Haiti too:

• The Sea Swim: Do the 6km swim on the Saturday morning, or do the 1km swim on the Sunday morning (suitable for children). Or do both (we did). You will have a local fisherman who canoes next to you. My Creole (a sort of lazy French) has improved dramatically over the weekend. 3 hours in the ocean with just you and your fisherman does that. Alternatively just be part of the support crowd and enjoy the sun, the sea, the pre event party, the mid-event party, or the post-event party. I suspect there is probably a party celebrating the fact that some of us have left.  Haitians are like that.

• D’Lo Haiti: If you are from the water sector (and most people who get these Notes are) then you can’t visit Haiti without visiting the inspiring D’Lo Water Kiosk business. They get clean cheap water to some of the poorest slums and rural villages, using a model that attacks the usual problems right at their heart. D’Lo is entrepreneurship at its rawest. Changing the world for the better while doing something spectacularly brave and radical. If D’Lo can prove the water kiosk model in Haiti then others will copy. The impact around the world from this brave little business will be phenomenal.

• Art and culture: Haiti is full of surprises. Yesterday afternoon some of us made our way into the hills to visit a community 10 miles from the main road. Centuries ago this village was populated by Polish soldiers, following some local battle. Generations on the Polish link has all but died out. Yet 5 professional opera singers from the Polish national theatre were visiting. They performed a 90 minute opera, in Polish, in full operatic dress, right in the middle of the main village street, in front of 150 captivated locals (plus a goat). It was art how art should be. Not for the elite in a posh theatre, but for free performed where people live out their day-to-day lives, even if it meant competing with the stray dogs and odd motorcycle. I felt honoured to be part of the audience. See attached photos. Spot the goat?

Think of Haiti and images of earthquakes, aid relief and abject poverty come to mind. These are all true, yet Haiti also has many wonders: a beautiful Caribbean island with crystal clear waters, perfect for diving. Mountain ranges that just cry out for exploration, on foot or horseback. Creole cooking in any one of the numerous artisan family-run hotels on one of the most beautiful coastlines in the world.

Haiti is undoubtedly a country in recovery. Tourism is an important part of the recovery process. I will be back again. Why don’t you come with me? I will happily help organise a trip.