As soon as we touched down, we were shuttled off to immigration. Yes, I was an immigrant. Processing was surprisingly easy. We only had one hick up in which one of our team was on file for still being in the country since the earthquake. He explained his case and was released. Now we await arrival of the Mayor, which will be escorting us to the rental car dealership.
The mayor arrived along with a couple local pastors. After introductions, we proceeded to load 15 passengers into two luggage packed vehicles [traffic laws are much different than in the states]. Luckily the dealership was only a few miles away.
Directly across the dealership was our first real glimpse of Haiti. It was one of many sections known as a "tent city." These are families that may have had homes before the earthquake, or those that can not afford homes. They live in these hand built tents sometimes numbering in the thousands.
Once we got our vehicles, we loaded up and began to work. Our first stop was a school. Only a few of the kids knew how to speak English, but they all knew how to look good for the camera. We were greeted by smiles and laughter as they gathered around. They were very interested in our beards and tattoos. All students in Haiti are required to wear uniforms.
Our next stop was an orphanage. It was heartbreaking at first glimpse, but once you see the hearts of these kids you are filled with hope. Here, they are lining up singing "we are getting ready to wash our hands, so we can be clean and eat." Their diet, as is most Hatian families, is mainly rice and beans. Our main purpose here was to deliver baby formula. Just next to the orphanage lie the ruins of an old Voodoo Temple, seen below. Notice the snakes wrapped around the column.
After a couple more stops, we arrived at Children's Lifeline. This is where we would sleep. Children's Lifeline is a mission that feeds close to 7,000 kids, every day. It's main group consists of a family of three, and their niece. On campus, they also provide schooling, medical attention and a playground for the kids. Upstairs there are 5 guestrooms. Throughout the day, we survived by our own bottled water and misc health snacks. We had sandwiches for dinner. This was a great time to charge batteries.
I was up at 5am EST each morning. After delivering more baby formula, it was time to travel through the mountains. We would end up about 1,000 feet above see level, in a small town outside of Mirebalais. Here, Jeff, Mike and Bishop led a water unit demonstration.
We did not have much time to spend here. We were to travel to a remote village over three hours into the mountains that night, and it would be nearly impossible to do this after sundown. We did a small question and answer session, and after traveling about an our out of the town, we determined it was no longer safe to go to the village. However this leaves us without a place to sleep. Bishop directed us to a couple hotels, in which they were full, but we finally got a lead on an area mission house located in Jacsonville [Haiti]. The house was still under construction, having only a front door, and no windows, but it had six empty bedrooms with mattresses. Here is a photo of the building the next morning.
And it seems no matter where we were, the sunrise was amazing.
Since we were now half a day behind, it became more important to stick to schedule. Our first goal today was to visit the village. We gathered our stuff and headed deeper into the mountains. After about a 2.5 hour drive, we made it to a dead end. Here, we are greeted by a few Hatian workers, and the mules that some of us will be traveling on for the next hour and fifteen minutes. I had no idea what was on the other side of that hill.
The hike was tedious. We were not prepared, most of us wearing old tennis shoes. Many parts of the mountain was loose sand, rocks and tree roots. We are now 7,000 feet above see level. The sun was bearing down on us and at times it seemed like a journey impossible to complete. I couldn't imagine someone making this hike on a regular basis.
However just when I could barely look up, we arrive at the village. There are people everywhere, smiling and talking. Some kids here have never seen "Americans." Above is my new friend Joanna [right]. The journey was well worth it. While at the village, we ate with the community and worshiped in a wonderful church service. The place was packed, having some people propped through the windows. Their praise was one of the most heavenly sounds I have ever heard. And the children were so beautiful. Here you can see people pouring in the entrance.
After service, we did a water unit demonstration and a feeding. Everyone was so grateful and I met many friends here. Most of the kids I spoke with were between 17 and 19 years old. We still had an hour and 15 minute hike ahead of us, so sadly, it was nearing time to depart. At least 3 or 4 of the kids asked when we were coming back.
After driving back down the mountain, once again nightfall was near. We decided to spend the night in Mirebalais, at Le Mirage Hotel. This was a beautiful place very close to the Riviere de la Artibonite or the Artibonite River.
The next day was a little different, we all knew it was our last full day's work and we had much more that we wanted to accomplish. Our main goal on this day was to attend the Pastors Conference, in which Rick would be presiding, and to deliver the remaining water units. Travel times got the best of us in Haiti, and we arrived at the conference about 10 minutes before start time. There were only 4 or 5 there at first, but as 3:00 rolled around others started gathering in.
Rick spoke mainly about the importance of taking care of your people, and working with each other. Helping and educating each other. He emphasized the point that by yourself, you are vulnerable, but with the help of another, you are much stronger. This directly relates to the water unit training. In Haiti, not only do you have to be careful with the water you drink, but also keeping your hands clean and being mindful of the environment around you. And being that the units are delivered in zoned areas, it is the responsibility of the person with the unit to help educate others. This demonstration in particular was very special as a local Doctor joined us, and informed us that the water we purified was found to be cleaner than most bottled water.
We did not have time to go to Cap Haitien, there were a few communities there that we were going to deliver water units to, and perhaps spend any spare time we had. Being that we had a scheduled dinner that night, and would be flying out the next morning, we had to make sure everything was in place. We enjoy Haiti, but not missing flights. We gave the remaining units to one of the Pastors as they would be traveling to Cap Haitien the following week.
Our final night in Haiti was interesting. We ended up staying at a Lodge that looked reminiscent of a military base. There were UN vehicles everywhere and guards at the gate with shotguns. We actually tried to back out but the vehicle ahead of us went in! So of course we followed. Once we got in, two of our team went into a bunker, we had no idea what was going on. Seven or eight minutes later, they walked back down and said get your stuff for the night, we are going to see the rooms. The inside looked just like the outside, like a military camp:
The accommodations were actually quite nice. The rooms are just small enough to sleep in, which is all we needed, and we got hot showers and fresh prepared breakfast in the morning. The trip was a success. The only thing I could asked for was more time to spend there. The people are very, very polite and thankful for your help. I look forward to going back.
This document is a summary of a full length article, to be released.
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