Haiti Day 1: Monday

As many of you already know, our family spent a week in Haiti on a missions trip with a group from our church. It was life-changing for all of us, and I don’t say that lightly. God really broke our hearts for the people of Haiti and there will be changes made in our lives as a result of what we have seen and done.

I wish that everyone I knew could have had the same experience I had on this trip! But since that isn’t possible, hopefully the Lord will speak to you through these blog posts and the photos we share. Most of what you read comes straight out of my journal with photos mixed in.

(July 23, 2012)

Wow! We’re finally on our way after months of preparations. Yesterday we had our prayer send-off at church. I don’t think I’ve ever been hugged that many times before! J We said goodbye to Josiah and he left with our grandparents to go to their home in Ohio for most of the week.

I went to bed around 9:00 p.m. I think I only got about 2 hours of sleep before getting up at 1:15 a.m. I showered and ate some toast before we left at 2:00 a.m.

All dressed and ready to go!

We met the team at 2:30 a.m. and left at 3:00 a.m. The ride to Detroit was a bit long, but that’s ok since we still got there in time.

Our entire team before leaving from the church.

It took a long time to get everyone checked in because of all the bags. We went through security after another wait. When we got to our gate, several people went to the bathrooms while others bought breakfast. On our flight, we met several other people going on missions trips. One group is going to Haiti and another to Belize. The flight was smooth, but the landing hurt my ears. We finally made it to a bathroom! (As you can see, this was a big priority for us. J) We found our gate and everyone scattered to find lunch. Our family ate at Wendy’s. Part way through lunch, Mr. A arrived! (he was our leader from World Hope, the ministry that hosts these trips.) He’s a lot younger than everyone expected. We relaxed for awhile before we boarded the plane.

We panicked for a minute when they announced that there was a problem with the engine. But after a few minutes, they resumed boarding. The plane was very crowded and filled with children. I was able to witness to a Haitian/American man on the plane.

The views of Haiti from the plane were stunning! We landed and went to immigration and customs. It was very hot and crowded. Getting our bags was a bit chaotic. We had a hard time finding them. On our way out, everyone kept trying to “help” us with our things. (outside the Port-Au-Prince airport, there are lots of taxi drivers who want you to take their taxis. They try to take your bags so that you will follow them. Our team was literally running through the mob of people to our bus yelling “no merci!” J) We made it to our bus and van. I rode in the van to Jacmel.

This was the tap-tap that our luggage and half our team rode in. The rest of us rode in a van that was much more comfortable.

Photo Credit: Roma.

Port-Au-Prince was large, crowded, smelly, and heart-wrenching. The further we drove, the cooler it got. Some of the places were very rural and picturesque views were seen quite often.

The government building in Port-Au-Prince still in ruins. The evidence of the earthquake is still very prominent.

One of the views of the mountains outside of Port-Au-Prince.

We arrived at the American restaurant in Jacmel and met Pastor D, President of World Hope. He’s a really nice guy! I wish we could have gotten to know him better. We all used the bathroom and bought some water bottles. Then we all piled into the back of two pick-up trucks for the drive up the mountain. It was an adventure to say the least!

We drove over a river delta where we saw lots of people bathing. I clung onto the truck for dear life! I nearly ended up in Mr. A’s lap a few times from all the bumping around. We saw a lot of people walking as we drove, who waved to the “Blan” (a name the Haitian people call foreigners. It’s not derogatory at all, just a name similar to “gringo” in a Spanish-speaking country.)

Driving through the river.

Heading up the mountain.

Photo Credit: Roma.

The views as we neared the top of the mountain were stunning. Mr. A said we would know when we reached the compound. He was right! There were at least 30 people there to greet us as we drove up. It made me feel like a celebrity! J We unloaded our things and went upstairs for dinner. Mrs. F (the missionary’s wife) had made us delicious chicken, cole slaw, mixed vegetables, and black beans and rice.

After dinner we relaxed on the porch. I could have rocked out there forever! It was very pleasant. We slowly made our way to the showers. Taking a shower out of a bucket isn’t as bad as I thought. As soon as I got out of the shower, I started sweating again. I slept without any sheets. A cricket kept jumping around our room and scared the twins. The power went out around 11:30 p.m. I can’t wait to see what happens tomorrow!

To be continued. . .