Today was such a difference from the last week. For me it was like returning home and revisiting friends I have missed for years. For the newbies, it was a time for them to experience first hand what they've heard about from our previous trips. This morning we woke up at the crack of dawn and made our way to the bus stop. The last folks we got to see were Minush, Tony, Silda, and Donna. They all were so sweet to wake up early with us and wait until they knew we were safely on the bus. Even more selfless was Carlo who rode the whole way back to Port-au-Prince just to make sure we got to our next vehicle safely. That is eight hours or more of just pure kindness and selflessness. Carlo finish his visit with us by saying our favorite Q and A that he taught us which sounds like "Saque pas seh" which mean "how are you" and the response is "Nabuleh" which means "I'm burning." The bus ride was probably the most evil necessary part of the trip because it was such a long, rocky trip. What we didn't know was that the trip between the bus station in Port-au-Prince and Villa Mamika was almost another hour because of traffic and swerving pot holes.
After being in the country of Haiti, it actually was quite jarring to turn up the dial on the smells, sounds, and sights of the city. When we arrived to Villa Mamika we were so happy to see Gerard waiting for us and return to a place we knew would be calm and secure. So many elements have changed since I was last here including an additional Air conditioned seating area and a restaurant that serves hot dogs and ice cream. We were given our rooms and then met downstairs for our last PB&J, this time with the highly acclaimed raisin bread and Haitian cookies.
After a brief rest it was time to go to Ryan Epps and Boaz's Orphanage. We piled into the truck (minus Katrin and Kayla who decided to stay back) and we went to Ryan Epps first. I was happy to see some of the children I met from before. They had all grown so much. We didn't have much time and so many only had time to order some pre-made metal work. I opted to sit at the table and take out a fun game called Spot It. This kept many of the kids occupied and having fun for the duration of our stay. I also heard that Kathleen and Dana had easily found friends to play with while we were there. It felt like we were there so short a'time and we were saying goodbye.
We moved towards Boaz's Orphanage which I was very excited about because I sponsor a little boy there. For those that don't know Boaz is the man behind all the help that we have been giving to the village of Colton. He was adopted by Helen Little (who was at the Villa Mamika at 87, post-stroke) and he has started a school in Cotin, brought food and water to the village, and opened an orphanage that was moved from Cotin to Croix de Bouquet for many reasons including zoning issues. We got to the gate of the Orphanage and several of the children were already excited about our arrival. As soon as we crossed the line into the property, children flocked towards us and hugged us and held our hands and smiled such delightful smiles! It was very much like a whirlwind when we got there. I was simultaneously looking for Berlin, saying hello to old friends, and getting a grand tour, so I am sorry to say that my observation skills were a little shaky at this point. All I know is that every one of us was enjoying our time with the kids around us and they were having a blast. I was really happy to have a sweet boy introduce himself as Berlin and he held my hand everywhere I went. I also had a hilarious and vivacious girl who loved that both our names are Abigale. The worst feeling was being there for 15 minutes and being told we had to go. It was very hard for me to say goodbye and I definitely feel our time was cut short but there is nothing we could do with such little time.
When we got back to the Villa we had a meal that we shared with all our old friends, Claudel, Boaz, Rolin, and Markenson. We even got to say hello to Jimmy! We were able to donate all our children clothing to Claudel for his VBS camp! This was so special! At the end of the night we were faced with the fact that we would leave in the morning! It is a bittersweet feeling, but the sweetness of seeing our loved ones is quite a lovely thought.
~Abigail
Photos
Tuesday, July 18, 2017
Monday, July 17, 2017
Day 7: Saying Goodbyes
What a day! Today was our last day with the deaf community in Cayes and I can't speak for everyone, but I was barely able to leave.First let me start by telling you everything before the goodbye. We had our regular morning routine. We all knew it would be the last time we would wave at the children in our neighboring houses and the last time we would see the street vendors and buildings and billboard and farm animals and bull with one horn going to the job site. When we drove up to the site, we immediately noticed that there were less people working today than on Friday. We were told that the workers needed to switch off weeks so that all of them could get paid. That being said we realized that many of our friends such as Evans and Beer (yes we called him Beer) were at the site even though they were not scheduled to work. They stuck around all day just to get one more conversation in.
Our job for the day was to complete the concrete floor in the kitchen and the hallways. For some reason this process was a little slower going. We had so much down time that we ended up doing new jobs that we assumed were needed, but not necessarily asked. Tyler put himself on the duty of going to the water pump and getting water for the concrete. We found that Tyler was not just getting us buckets and buckets of water, but he would stay at the well and pump everyone else's water too for women and children. We also noticed that there was a lot of trash around their property so almost the whole team went around the surrounding area picking up trash. The Haitians looked at us like we were crazy, but in the end the space looked so much nicer. Jim also made it his mission to save a poor little goat from a choking rope around its neck. Miriam was so relived that she could cry! I got a lesson from about four of the guys on every word in the Haiti sign language dictionary. We also worked on our ability to say no as we had several speaking Haitians loitering around the site asking for us to buy their merchandise. We are looking forward to Madame CheepCheep's customer service. At the end of the day, we looked around at all of the concrete floors and the steps and we realized we had accomplished a lot. When it was time to leave we took a group picture in front of the sanctuary and I linked arms with the friends that I had so easily fell in friendship with. We all gave a huge hug to the people we had bonded with and Tom even picked up Edner and threw him over his shoulder which got the whole group rolling with laughter. When we piled in the truck we reached a record for us with 18 people sitting in the bed of the truck with many of our friends hoping to steal a few more minutes with us. The last person we let off was Kola, who was one of the most enjoyable people we met in Cayes. We waved goodbye and went back to SEED.
~Abigail
Sunday, July 16, 2017
Day 6: Surely the Presence of the Lord is in this Place
We started today by getting ready for church and doing our best to dress up while also anticipating sitting in the church building on one of the hottest days here. We arrived to the church and met Alma and his wife who are also missionaries. We all entered the church and were quickly separated into boys on one side of the church, girls on the other. The atmosphere was hard to comprehend and access at first. There was no need for opening music, microphones, or loud conversation to start the service. All was quiet and my friends that I had been working beside all week, sat in their Sunday best in prayer. When the service started, I noticed, there was a relationship to the way we worship, they started in song which was enthusiastically signed by the deaf community. The hymns would be translated to us, but they had to be translated from a French\Creole hymnal into English and then Sign Language to English so most of the time there was a silence that was filled with the verbalizations every now and then from our deaf friends, the clap of the hand, or the cry of a baby that Tony said was an orphan that was being taken care of by the pastor of the church. There was also announcements just like we have at our church. One of the announcements was that the pastor had just finished a camp for deaf people and it turns out that at this camp several guys that we had met with that week had just recently accepted Jesus into their hearts at this camp. How exciting! The leader Emile invited us on stage and we all introduced ourselves in sign language. Butch needed some guidance, but he got through. After we introduced ourselves, I sang "I love you, Lord" with signs that I had practiced all week. On the second round, I invited the whole church to sing and that was a great moment because it was the only time that everyone was signing together during the service through voice or sign. Jim preached this morning and it was a beautiful message based in the scripture of the good seed vs the weeds and how we can stay in God's garden. He made the word accessible to all and really brought a wonderful message to the people there. Now here is my favorite part, Silda, who was interpreting said that the Pastor and the men that attended the camp had prepared a special song for us. I am not sure what this song was called, but it was so beautiful! Boy, was it amazing watching young men sing praise to God! There was one man who would sing "Delivered? Delivered?" And another leader would respond "Yes, I am set free from my sins forever" and they repeated this chorus until we could sing/sign with them! I could hear and see the gospel influence in their expressions and I just loved their enthusiasm for the Lord. After greeting everyone after the service, we went back to SEED to rest for afternoon and have our lunch. I even got to take a nap.
In the late afternoon we were taken on a special adventure, we visited the Cayes Botanical Gardens! I really enjoy flowers and gardens so I was very excited about this. When we arrived there was a steep incline down to a river without a bridge and we were a little hesitant at first. Our botanical guide lead us through each rock to step on and we managed to make in through. I was about to slip down the incline, but Butch caught me. We went to different sections of nicely maintained gardens with herbs and medicinal plants. It made me very hopeful and proud of what Cayes has done and it was a really nice area. The only shady part was a stray dog that refused to leave our side the whole time and would give us close shaves of touching him which was not desired AT ALL.
When we got back to SEED, we invited Carlo, Minush with the gold tooth, Tony, and Donna up for food. We ate a delicious casserole and we enjoyed sharing a meal with our new friends. We got to see Donna's video she was sending back to Her church in Jamaica about being a missionary. She is truly a wonderful gal. After dinner it was time for ICE CREAM! Our journey to downtown was simply to go to Mushi's Ice Cream. My favorite part of this was on the way for ice cream we had a conversation with a man who had his wife and three kids on a motorcycle. We also saw a man with a whole refrigerator on his motorcycle and he jut smiled with pride as we pointed in astonishment. The ice cream was super sweet and we were happy to share each other's company with that special treat. Once we returned we enjoyed playing charades as a huge storm came through and moseyed off to sleep after a great day off in Cayes.
~Abigail
Saturday, July 15, 2017
Day 5: A Day in Paradise
First I must start with an addendum to the first entry. When I began the story of our adventures I forgot to mention Debbie White with us when I talked about gathering together at RDU, which was intentional since she was already in Haiti with our friend Paula Heidrick. What I didn't mean to do was to omit the excitement and joy I had when she met us in the Port-au-Prince airport! She had waited for us for many hours and we were so happy to have her. So to be clear, our Haiti team cannot be complete without the most dedicated gal to grace our team! We are so happy to have Debbie with us (especially because she is the best photographer ever).
Okay, so, on to today. Today we visited paradise! We were so lucky to have a restful, relaxing, and rejuvenating day. The morning was especially relaxing because we were able to sleep in until 10am. We did have breakfast, however it was the perfect, leisurely breakfast that could last for a long time, and we could sit on the rocking chair of the porch, slowly sip our coffee. I was just about to take a siesta in the rocking chair, when Tony, Carlo, Silda, Donna, and all were here in an AIR CONDITIONED van to take us to the beach.
First they wanted to show us the downtown area of Cayes as we sat scrunched together and bug eyed at what we witnessed. There were vendors on every inch of pavement and the area had so many sights, sounds, and so much to take in that we practically had whiplash looking from window to window. We have some great pictures to share including about 40 men working with concrete just like us, but with much more efficiency. They worked on a 2 or 3 story building and passed the bucket up the ladder and then slid it back down a line to the ground in seconds. We then made our way to the beach which was about an hour trip. We went through about three small towns that all seemed to have their markets open and flourishing with customers. We also saw beautiful rolling mountains that stretched to the sea. In fact there were many points in which you looked to your left and saw mountains and looked to your right and saw the waters of the ocean.
Soon we turned off the road and first unsuccessfully tried to squeeze through the front entrance, then were given the backdoor treatment as we off roaded into the private beach area. The beach had its own shaded tables, changing/shower/restroom area, and a catered meal. The lagoon that we saw when we walked out to the beach was gorgeous. It was something that Tyler stated "could be used as a setting in a movie." The surrounding palm trees, mountains, and blue waters provided great scenery. We ate our meal of chicken, lobster, rice, fried plantains, and cole slaw and looked around at the delightful scene, it didn't take long before some of us were jumping in the blue waters while others opted for seashell surfing. As I floated out with the waves, I enjoyed the rejuvenating feeling of being submerged in warm and refreshing water. When I got back onto the shore I saw all of the lucky finds that Kathleen, Anne, Miriam, Dana, and others had found on their look for shells. We soon met with several young Haitian boys that sold large conch shells that were eye candy for sure. We all walked away with a prize and gave these boys compensation for their awesome finds. The day was filled with a variety of wave surfing, sun bathing, shell finding, and straight up chilling! It was fantastic and we truly felt like we were vacationing. It was also nice to see Tony, Silda and their team enjoy themselves because they work so hard and they definitely deserved this relaxation. When it was time to go we all were in a daze of bliss as we piled back into the car for the drive home.
Tonight has been especially enjoyable because there has been a steady breeze all night. I look around and everyone seems content and peaceful. We all are enjoying watching the guys who play soccer beneath our balcony and others chatting like a family. Haiti has a tendency of making me always have that feeling of being very close and happy with the people I work with. This group especially clicks very nicely and the company is making this trip all the better. Tomorrow we will go to church in the deaf community! I can't wait to see my buddies again!
~Abigail
Okay, so, on to today. Today we visited paradise! We were so lucky to have a restful, relaxing, and rejuvenating day. The morning was especially relaxing because we were able to sleep in until 10am. We did have breakfast, however it was the perfect, leisurely breakfast that could last for a long time, and we could sit on the rocking chair of the porch, slowly sip our coffee. I was just about to take a siesta in the rocking chair, when Tony, Carlo, Silda, Donna, and all were here in an AIR CONDITIONED van to take us to the beach.
First they wanted to show us the downtown area of Cayes as we sat scrunched together and bug eyed at what we witnessed. There were vendors on every inch of pavement and the area had so many sights, sounds, and so much to take in that we practically had whiplash looking from window to window. We have some great pictures to share including about 40 men working with concrete just like us, but with much more efficiency. They worked on a 2 or 3 story building and passed the bucket up the ladder and then slid it back down a line to the ground in seconds. We then made our way to the beach which was about an hour trip. We went through about three small towns that all seemed to have their markets open and flourishing with customers. We also saw beautiful rolling mountains that stretched to the sea. In fact there were many points in which you looked to your left and saw mountains and looked to your right and saw the waters of the ocean.
Tonight has been especially enjoyable because there has been a steady breeze all night. I look around and everyone seems content and peaceful. We all are enjoying watching the guys who play soccer beneath our balcony and others chatting like a family. Haiti has a tendency of making me always have that feeling of being very close and happy with the people I work with. This group especially clicks very nicely and the company is making this trip all the better. Tomorrow we will go to church in the deaf community! I can't wait to see my buddies again!
~Abigail
Friday, July 14, 2017
Day 3 & 4: The "Chain Gang"
Sorry everyone! I was super exhausted yesterday and I decided to combine yesterday and today into one post. It's been a fantastic adventure to say the least! Yesterday, the day started with moving cinder block from the front of the church to upstairs of the back of the church. This is when we learned the power of the "chain gang" as Miriam affectionately calls our system. We quickly moved on to shoveling rocks from the floor of the hallways and working on our main mission which was finishing the stairs into the sanctuary. Essentially this was a repetition of waiting for a while as the Haitian workers mixed the concrete and then quickly constructed an assembly line to get the concrete to the stairs. We strategized on the best way to strengthen this system and ended up with a very efficient process.
The best part of the day was the down time when we would get to sign with our Haitian friends. We would laugh, play throw-the-rock-into-the-can (which was invented by the teenager in lieu of their cellphone games), and learn new signs. The day flew by, but it was very rewarding to see the completed stairs. We also found that there had been a lot of progress made in the way of electrical work and plumbing (mostly through Butch and the contracted Haitian workers).
Today, we got to the site knowing that we would mostly work on laying concrete in the rooms in the back of the church. Tony gave us the order to rest while they mixed and work hard when the concrete was ready. The assembly line turned out to be the soul purpose of the day, we would switch around placements, but essentially worked on laying concrete. There were some in our group that did other tasks, like Butch who continued to work on construction and Jim who worked on painting the bathrooms, but the rest of us were concrete kings and queens. Many of us had joyful interactions with our new friends. We communicated much better than the day before. I was especially excited to talk with a man named Edner for about 20 minutes in sign language. Dana had a great time with a little boy who was waiting around for his parents. He was shy, but soon Dana was playing with him and giving him high-fives. This community is so loving and thankful!
We also had a chance to buy some of their goods today and some of us have bracelets now. The day flew by and we enjoyed our homemade pizza at home. We've had our newbies tell us that they love this trip and they are so glad they came and that is so special to me! Tomorrow we are going to the beach and we are all very exciting that this venture starts at 10am! We're sleeping in! Here's to enjoying the real Haiti waters tomorrow
~Abigail
The best part of the day was the down time when we would get to sign with our Haitian friends. We would laugh, play throw-the-rock-into-the-can (which was invented by the teenager in lieu of their cellphone games), and learn new signs. The day flew by, but it was very rewarding to see the completed stairs. We also found that there had been a lot of progress made in the way of electrical work and plumbing (mostly through Butch and the contracted Haitian workers).
Today, we got to the site knowing that we would mostly work on laying concrete in the rooms in the back of the church. Tony gave us the order to rest while they mixed and work hard when the concrete was ready. The assembly line turned out to be the soul purpose of the day, we would switch around placements, but essentially worked on laying concrete. There were some in our group that did other tasks, like Butch who continued to work on construction and Jim who worked on painting the bathrooms, but the rest of us were concrete kings and queens. Many of us had joyful interactions with our new friends. We communicated much better than the day before. I was especially excited to talk with a man named Edner for about 20 minutes in sign language. Dana had a great time with a little boy who was waiting around for his parents. He was shy, but soon Dana was playing with him and giving him high-fives. This community is so loving and thankful!
We also had a chance to buy some of their goods today and some of us have bracelets now. The day flew by and we enjoyed our homemade pizza at home. We've had our newbies tell us that they love this trip and they are so glad they came and that is so special to me! Tomorrow we are going to the beach and we are all very exciting that this venture starts at 10am! We're sleeping in! Here's to enjoying the real Haiti waters tomorrow
~Abigail
Wednesday, July 12, 2017
Day 2: What's in that Peanut Butter?
Oh, I love it here! Today was so exciting and rewarding that we are all a'buzz and yet completely tuckered out as we recount all the stories of what happened today. Last night, the whole group had an array of sleep patterns that ranged from the toss and turn to the stone of slumber. We all started to wake at around 6:30 and moseyed to the breakfast spread that was simply delicious. Shout out to the army of ladies who make us fresh squeezed fruit juice, homemade dishes, and a wide option range. We joyfully ate our eggs, mangos, bacon, and biscuits.
Suddenly there was an all aboard signal from Butch and our hayride like truck took us through the streets of Les Cayes. We arrived at the Community's area and were welcomed inside by Silda and Tony (the leaders of construction and education of the whole deaf community). We started by hearing their story which was an absolutely beautiful testimony of God's call on their lives to completely sacrifice all of their comforts in Jamaica and their dream of this community. An interesting side note of this testimony is that it was being spoken in English and translated to Creole AND Sign Language. It's amazing that so many different people were coming together for a united purpose. Tony and Silda's goal is to build a full community for the deaf with a school and church and other community buildings, but today we just focused on the church.
We quickly were given the task of moving cinder blocks from one side of the church to the other. We came to find out that Tyler had moved a cinder block that he didn't realize til later that it had a tarantula inside one of the holes AND when I say tarantula I MEAN tarantula! The woman who worked in the kitchen very matter of factly took a stick and slew the giant as if it was nothing. We separated into different tasks for the majority of the day, so some of my information is sparse or secondhand.
Many folks on the team sanded down the window bars and primed them a happy orange. I noticed Kayla was sifting rocks to make concrete. We noticed how quiet the work was because the folks around us were signing. For most of the time, I was with Tom, Tyler, and Dana taking a pick ax to the rubble floor base and preparing it to pour concrete. It was absolutely the kind of work I get excited about (the ones where Tom gets delegated, but I try to pretend I am She-Hulk and volunteer as tribute).
It was while we were doing this work that we started to click with the folks we were working with. I knew how to ask their names and a man named Evans was more than eager to communicate. I realized that knowing the alphabet in ASL was pretty helpful. These Haitian guys were were so willing to teach us the signs and it was helpful that they were being taught in English for the most part. We could spell out "AGE" and look unsure or confused and they would see we were asking their ages and teach us that sign. We ended up joking, conversing, and enjoying each other throughout the day and every moment was filled with new vocabulary. We would joke and call each other "lazy" (an L on your shoulder) even though it was clear we were all busting our butts. The more we signed the more the guys gathered to talk to us and the more we connected. By the end of of the day we were standing in the sanctuary to be and learning our name sign and their name signs. Even though we didn't do a vast amount of tasks, the tasks we did complete were quite an undertaking and Tony was impressed with us. He asked "what did you guys put in that peanut butter, cause I want some".
We climbed into our hayride and made our way back at about 3pm. We spent the afternoon cleaning off the thick layer of grime we had acquired and enjoying each other's company. At one point we got everyone together for a game of Heads Up. We laughed and watched as each of us acted out a pat down and a "column dance". Soon it was time for dinner. We ate at 5, but the day had made us ravenous. We scarfed down our supper and enjoyed the rest of the evening, snapping our froggers, learning the ASL alphabet, knitting, reading, discussing childhood and Haiti, and what would happen if we got bit by a tarantula. I wonder if God is working through our lack of wifi to bring us closer together in these first few days. At the end of the night, Tom taught us the importance of being a sponge and not a rock and we ended the night munching on peanut M&M and pulling each other's leg. It's been such a lovely day and we welcome a good nights sleep! As I am writing this, I have to share that Anne, Miriam, and Kathleen have all agreed that they are happy they came, and just hearing that makes me so happy. I am so ready for Day 3.
~Abigail
Suddenly there was an all aboard signal from Butch and our hayride like truck took us through the streets of Les Cayes. We arrived at the Community's area and were welcomed inside by Silda and Tony (the leaders of construction and education of the whole deaf community). We started by hearing their story which was an absolutely beautiful testimony of God's call on their lives to completely sacrifice all of their comforts in Jamaica and their dream of this community. An interesting side note of this testimony is that it was being spoken in English and translated to Creole AND Sign Language. It's amazing that so many different people were coming together for a united purpose. Tony and Silda's goal is to build a full community for the deaf with a school and church and other community buildings, but today we just focused on the church.
We quickly were given the task of moving cinder blocks from one side of the church to the other. We came to find out that Tyler had moved a cinder block that he didn't realize til later that it had a tarantula inside one of the holes AND when I say tarantula I MEAN tarantula! The woman who worked in the kitchen very matter of factly took a stick and slew the giant as if it was nothing. We separated into different tasks for the majority of the day, so some of my information is sparse or secondhand.
Many folks on the team sanded down the window bars and primed them a happy orange. I noticed Kayla was sifting rocks to make concrete. We noticed how quiet the work was because the folks around us were signing. For most of the time, I was with Tom, Tyler, and Dana taking a pick ax to the rubble floor base and preparing it to pour concrete. It was absolutely the kind of work I get excited about (the ones where Tom gets delegated, but I try to pretend I am She-Hulk and volunteer as tribute).
It was while we were doing this work that we started to click with the folks we were working with. I knew how to ask their names and a man named Evans was more than eager to communicate. I realized that knowing the alphabet in ASL was pretty helpful. These Haitian guys were were so willing to teach us the signs and it was helpful that they were being taught in English for the most part. We could spell out "AGE" and look unsure or confused and they would see we were asking their ages and teach us that sign. We ended up joking, conversing, and enjoying each other throughout the day and every moment was filled with new vocabulary. We would joke and call each other "lazy" (an L on your shoulder) even though it was clear we were all busting our butts. The more we signed the more the guys gathered to talk to us and the more we connected. By the end of of the day we were standing in the sanctuary to be and learning our name sign and their name signs. Even though we didn't do a vast amount of tasks, the tasks we did complete were quite an undertaking and Tony was impressed with us. He asked "what did you guys put in that peanut butter, cause I want some".
We climbed into our hayride and made our way back at about 3pm. We spent the afternoon cleaning off the thick layer of grime we had acquired and enjoying each other's company. At one point we got everyone together for a game of Heads Up. We laughed and watched as each of us acted out a pat down and a "column dance". Soon it was time for dinner. We ate at 5, but the day had made us ravenous. We scarfed down our supper and enjoyed the rest of the evening, snapping our froggers, learning the ASL alphabet, knitting, reading, discussing childhood and Haiti, and what would happen if we got bit by a tarantula. I wonder if God is working through our lack of wifi to bring us closer together in these first few days. At the end of the night, Tom taught us the importance of being a sponge and not a rock and we ended the night munching on peanut M&M and pulling each other's leg. It's been such a lovely day and we welcome a good nights sleep! As I am writing this, I have to share that Anne, Miriam, and Kathleen have all agreed that they are happy they came, and just hearing that makes me so happy. I am so ready for Day 3.
~Abigail
Tuesday, July 11, 2017
Day 1: A Long & Adventurous Day of Travel
WOW! Today was a whirlwind of planes, no trains, and automobiles. I'm looking around at everyone's faces and there is an array of droopy eye lids, slumped shoulders, and lounging bodies. It's funny how the act of sitting seems to wear a person out so quickly. The day started for most of us between 4am and 5am as we traveled to the RDU airport to meet at 5:15. As I walked up to the assembling group, Butch was already assigning bags and getting everything in order. There is always a sense of security and reassurance as you witness Butch easily move through the check in process. He was even shaking the hands of airport workers as if they had seen him a thousand times over.
Our band of brave missionaries gathered one by one with the Pros (Dana, Tom, and Katrin), the how-in-the-world-did-I-get-into-this gals (Anne and Mariam), the youngins (Kathleen and Ty), the West Virginians (Kayla and Jim) and me (I like to consider myself in all above categories, but the last) commiserating on how early it was. We moved through security as effortlessly as one does in RDU and moved towards our gate with a pit stop at Starbucks for one more pick-me-up. Soon we were on our first flight to Miami! There was a playful rivalry between the privileged business class folks and the poor coach passengers as our group was split up between different spots on the plane. While on this flight, many of us saw the most beautiful double rainbow; as if God had painted his blessing on our trip. With a quick up and down we made a speedy transition to our next gate to Port-au-Prince.
When we arrived to Port-au-Prince there was a short exchange with immigrations and then to baggage claim: the thrilling moment where we had to reclaim our 16 bags. With a little effort we were ushered out of the airport and through the Haitian airport parking lot. We met our helper and guide for the day, Carlo, and he had set up a van to drive us to the bus station. We watched as our 16+ bags were hoisted above the van and watched as the tires got smushed into the pavement. As we drove through the Familiar streets of Port-au-Prince all the sites, smells, and sounds came rushing back to me. The chaotic traffic patterns, the street vendors with cloth awnings, the panhandler moving from car window to car window, the smell of delicious cooked meat, the smell of the trash piles, the Haitian salesmen with their merchandise resting on their head, the goats and dogs running through the crowds and streets. In a way, this environment that may seem hostile or strikingly different to some, was filled with wonder for me. It's such an alive atmosphere and there is so much going on that one can only gawk at the sheer metropolis of it. There seems to be a mentality of the daily hustle for these strangers on the street. Whatever their avenue, each individual, even down to the children, had a task and a way of working to assist their own survival.
There was a lot of time for "people watching" because once we were off our van we waited 20 minutes and were ushered into our bus. Folks, we are blessed with unexpected luxury! We were on a charter bus with air conditioning for our 5 hour ride to Les Cayes. This charter bus was the best situation we could have asked for and we zoomed through city, town, coast, village, and country. The most distinctive element of driving on this bus was the 30 second long blast from our bus driver's horn that seemed to yell "I am driving a large multi-ton vehicle and I am going 60+ miles around this turn, if you walk/drive in front of me you are risking your own life". In the latter portion of our trip we enjoyed seeing the real country-side of Haiti with vast mountains beside bays and coast lines.
We finally arrived to Les Cayes at around 8 and were greeted by three lovely individuals! They loaded us onto an open truck bed and drove us to SEED (the compound where we are staying). When we arrived we were tuckered out, but we managed to warf down fish (don't eat the bones), rice, and vegetables. With a Devo by the ever so articulate Dana, we finished the evening off with a huge sigh of relief and a plop on our beds. We are so excited to see what tomorrow brings!
~Abigail
Our band of brave missionaries gathered one by one with the Pros (Dana, Tom, and Katrin), the how-in-the-world-did-I-get-into-this gals (Anne and Mariam), the youngins (Kathleen and Ty), the West Virginians (Kayla and Jim) and me (I like to consider myself in all above categories, but the last) commiserating on how early it was. We moved through security as effortlessly as one does in RDU and moved towards our gate with a pit stop at Starbucks for one more pick-me-up. Soon we were on our first flight to Miami! There was a playful rivalry between the privileged business class folks and the poor coach passengers as our group was split up between different spots on the plane. While on this flight, many of us saw the most beautiful double rainbow; as if God had painted his blessing on our trip. With a quick up and down we made a speedy transition to our next gate to Port-au-Prince.
When we arrived to Port-au-Prince there was a short exchange with immigrations and then to baggage claim: the thrilling moment where we had to reclaim our 16 bags. With a little effort we were ushered out of the airport and through the Haitian airport parking lot. We met our helper and guide for the day, Carlo, and he had set up a van to drive us to the bus station. We watched as our 16+ bags were hoisted above the van and watched as the tires got smushed into the pavement. As we drove through the Familiar streets of Port-au-Prince all the sites, smells, and sounds came rushing back to me. The chaotic traffic patterns, the street vendors with cloth awnings, the panhandler moving from car window to car window, the smell of delicious cooked meat, the smell of the trash piles, the Haitian salesmen with their merchandise resting on their head, the goats and dogs running through the crowds and streets. In a way, this environment that may seem hostile or strikingly different to some, was filled with wonder for me. It's such an alive atmosphere and there is so much going on that one can only gawk at the sheer metropolis of it. There seems to be a mentality of the daily hustle for these strangers on the street. Whatever their avenue, each individual, even down to the children, had a task and a way of working to assist their own survival.
There was a lot of time for "people watching" because once we were off our van we waited 20 minutes and were ushered into our bus. Folks, we are blessed with unexpected luxury! We were on a charter bus with air conditioning for our 5 hour ride to Les Cayes. This charter bus was the best situation we could have asked for and we zoomed through city, town, coast, village, and country. The most distinctive element of driving on this bus was the 30 second long blast from our bus driver's horn that seemed to yell "I am driving a large multi-ton vehicle and I am going 60+ miles around this turn, if you walk/drive in front of me you are risking your own life". In the latter portion of our trip we enjoyed seeing the real country-side of Haiti with vast mountains beside bays and coast lines.
We finally arrived to Les Cayes at around 8 and were greeted by three lovely individuals! They loaded us onto an open truck bed and drove us to SEED (the compound where we are staying). When we arrived we were tuckered out, but we managed to warf down fish (don't eat the bones), rice, and vegetables. With a Devo by the ever so articulate Dana, we finished the evening off with a huge sigh of relief and a plop on our beds. We are so excited to see what tomorrow brings!
~Abigail
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