Before I bore people with the projects I am currently working on I will introduce you to my 'home.' It has been affectionately called the 'Maison,' not really original as that means house in French.

It belongs to the Uncle of one of the design fellows working with us. It is very common for most Haitian's, with some money, to leave Haiti as soon as they can. This doesn't mean they don't want to come and visit, so most still own properties here.

The Maison is very basic, there isn't much in ways of luxuries apart from the TV, Wii and a Playstation. It is massive. It is a 2 stories with a double basement, as it is situated on the hill edge.

The house has around seven rooms. The largest is called the Rumbus room, which most of the volunteers stay in. There are ten beds there, four of which are bunk beds. I have situated myself on the top bunk, above Stacey, who is a year long design fellow.

Notice the mosquito nets? Well it is such a huge issue here, that three people have suffered from Dengue Fever and Malaria. So the main smell of the house is usually insect repellent, deet, citronella. No perfume here!

Every evening we collectively have dinner around the dining table. It usually crams in around 15 to 21 people at a time. Food is simple, though the longer term volunteers had the raw deal, with only rice, beans and chicken for weeks on end. Now we have more variety, with fresh steamed fish, broccoli and carrots, mash potatoes, mango chutney, cooked pork with spinach, lamb or chicken curry etc. So all in all I am not complaining about the food.