10. Visiting a 3rd world country
9. Speaking Creole (even if it was just a few words)
8. Taking a bucket shower
7. Sleeping under a mosquito net
6. Enjoying an entire beer from start to finish
5. Spending a week without seeing or talking to my husband
4. Being the “minority” (and not minding)
3. Praying out loud in front of others
2. Holding an orphan
1. Eating spam!
Ten best moments of the trip
10. Drinking hand-squeezed passion fruit juice
9. Listening to Hank’s emotional prayers
8. Doing my nails with a sweet Haitian girl
7. Going through an entire Haitian-Creole – English picture dictionary with a boy named John
6. Three-year-old Fresmica voluntarily sitting on my lap during church service
5. Receiving hugs, words of appreciation, and the gift of a papaya from the families we installed water filters for
4. Praying with and for the families we installed water filters for
3. Seeing 6-year-old Obison’s huge smile every day
2. Holding an orphan
1. Realizing (with Curtis’s help) that we were the answer to someone’s prayers
Even though there weren’t any animal noises throughout the night, I didn’t sleep well and woke up before 5, probably since it was our last night before traveling home. We all woke early and ventured to the roof to watch a gorgeous sunrise.
The sunrise on our last day in Haiti.Curtis spending a final moment with the orphans showing them photos of his own kids.
We had toast and fruit for breakfast and left for the airport around 7. Saying good-bye to Patrick and Robenson was harder than I expected – they’ve become good friends to all of us this week. Tons of Haitians surrounded us as we got out of the van at the airport, trying to sell us last-minute cheap souvenirs. We had to go through security scanners 3 times, and our passports and boarding passes were checked at least 5 times. Two people did get their peanut butter (flavored with hot pepper) confiscated from their carry-ons, but otherwise we made it through without a hitch.
A gorgeous view of Haiti from the airplane.
Flying in to Fort Lauderdale was such a culture shock from where we’d been – from above it looked as though every house was a mansion with an in-ground pool, and the streets lined up so perfectly. We went through customs and grabbed our bags, but my bag was flagged. I still had the mango Kinsey had given me a few days prior, and there were fruit-sniffing Beagles in the airport that detected it. I had to go through a separate “agriculture” line, where my mango was confiscated. The man was actually very sweet, saying, “I’m sure you just forgot, but next time be sure to declare any fruit you bring into the country. You could’ve been charged $300, but I’m not going to fine you.” Um sure…I forgot…that’s right! I’m normally the one who never gets in trouble for anything, so I was a little embarrassed. Luckily we had a 2-hour layover and I didn’t hold up the group too long.
We all started making phone calls to loved ones, and I talked to my husband, sister, and parents briefly before grabbing a chicken salad sandwich. The flight to Chicago seemed like it took forever – we were all so ready to be home. When we landed at 4:30, it was already dark and gloomy outside. We had a quick layover there and boarded a tiny plane to Kansas City.
The Chicago airport was decorated for the holidays. Christmas seemed a world away while we were in the 90 degree weather in Haiti.
Curtis and I had a good conversation on the way home about ways our church can hopefully continue to support Haiti and the water project, which really helped pass the time. I kept envisioning my husband waiting for me when I arrived, with me jumping into his arms when I saw him. When we finally did land at 7:30, several others had their families waiting for them, but Jerod was nowhere to be found. As I started to call him, I saw him exiting the bathroom. I guess not everything happens as you imagine, but I was still happy to see him. It was the longest we’d been apart (and not talked) since we’d been married. One last hiccup before we made it home – none of our luggage made it to Kansas City. Apparently it was sent through Dallas rather than Chicago, so they delivered it to us the next day. After spending a week with my mission team and growing so close to them, it was a little hard to go our separate ways. I know we’ll always have a special bond, and I hope that our friendships continue. I’ve grown in so many ways from this trip. I appreciate what I have in life, I try to be more patient and friendly toward others, and best of all, I feel closer to God.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my blog posts about Haiti. Please feel free to leave your comments below.
Since it was the last night in Arcahaie, naturally I slept the best all week – straight through from 9:30-5:30. Apparently I finally got used to the roosters. I got up and had a little Haitian coffee, then we all got ready for the church service and packed our bags. This morning’s breakfast was a little unusual – spaghetti! It had oil & onions rather than marinara sauce. The kids were at the church early, probably aware that it was our last day.
Matt playing a string game with sweet little Fresmica.
Obison, one of our favorite little 6-year-old boys, was there in an oversized shirt and no pants, but several other kids began to arrive in very nice looking church clothes, including his older sisters. Whitney gave him her cutoff scrubs, hoping he’d be presentable enough for church. Unfortunately his sisters still shooed him off, so he didn’t get to come inside.
Obison was proud to show off his “pants” – Whitney’s cutoff scrubs.All dressed up for church in Haiti.
The entire congregation was in their Sunday best – an indication of how seriously they took church. Several of us took photos with the kids we’d been playing with all week so nicely dressed up. At 9 we filed in through the back of the church as the congregation started singing. Even though I didn’t understand the lyrics, I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the music. A few minutes into the service, Patrick introduced our group and we stood in front of the congregation while Scott told the church how much we loved them and their country, and how we appreciated their hospitality and planned to come back soon. His speech was very impressively spoken in Creole. The service was about 2 hours long and consisted of lots of singing, several readings, chanting prayers, and a 30-minute sermon by Pastor Moles. I didn’t understand any of it besides a quick happy birthday song in English to 2 members of the congregation, but it was still great to worship with the community. Two of the little ones sat with Ryan right when he said he was missing his own children, and Fresmica, Obison’s little 3-year-old sister, sat on my lap toward the end of the service.
A full house at the Methodist church in Arcahaie.
After church we quickly gobbled up some chocolate cake the cooks had made for breakfast, loaded up the van with our luggage and supplies, and said good-bye to a few of the kids. I don’t think any of us wanted long, emotional good-byes, because we weren’t sure if we’d ever see these amazing children ever again. We were all pretty solemn and quiet on our way out of Arcahaie. Along the drive we stopped at the mass gravesite from the infamous January 12, 2010 earthquake. Many thousands of bodies (debated between 45,000-316,000) were dumped and buried there, most never identified. There was only a small monument and a couple of crosses, including one at the top of the hill for ~7,000 cholera victims following the quake. For the first time during the entire trip, I really lost it. I was already missing the children, so standing on the gravesite and remembering the media coverage of all the victims was just more than I could handle. We said a prayer and continued on to Port-au-Prince.
The mass gravesite from the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.
When we arrived in Port-au-Prince we got a flat tire, conveniently right next to a tiny street-side tire shop. James fixed the valve stem and got us going again within 20 minutes. While we were stopped, Patrick got his shoes shined on the side of the street for the equivalent of 12.5 cents by a small, elderly Haitian man. Ryan decided to get his shoes shined too, and believe it or not, the man made his shoes look brand new within a matter of minutes!
A very talented Haitian shoe-shiner.
We continued on to lunch at an Epi’Mac, which was similar to McDonald’s, with American food on one side, Haitian food on the other, and a bakery in between. We had to exchange our American money for Haitian money, so we didn’t eat lunch until about 2. I got a “Royal Burger” meal with fries and & tropical punch for about $3.50 (American). If there’s a middle class in Haiti, this was it. We very much enjoyed the AC and bathrooms with running water, soap, and working toilets.
We stopped by the Methodist Guest House to grab our items from their safe, then we went to an Expo to check out the Apparent Project booth. The Apparent Project is an organization for Haitian women to make money by designing jewelry, ornaments, and other items out of paper & recycled materials. We would have just visited their store, but they were closed due to the Expo. The Expo was similar to the Holiday Mart in the U.S., except it was in a fancy hotel on a big hill overlooking shacks and tents. You had to pay $6 to get in, and every booth but the Apparent Project was selling exquisite merchandise like sushi, alcohol, vanilla, and fancy artwork. Most of the group had a really hard time with how the wealthy were living right next to people who didn’t have clean water or know where their next meal would come from. Many of us bought several things from the Apparent Project, then we quickly escaped to Gertrude’s Orphanage, where we had arranged to stay in their guest house.
A view of Haitian shacks, seen from the exquisite Expo hotel. It really shows the separation of classes.
Gertrude is a Haitian woman who takes in children who’ve been abandoned at the hospital. She has about 40 kids, many with disabilities, and only a few staff to take care of them. Two American & Canadian friends were also staying there a month and helping out. When we walked in, the kids were immediately drawn to us. They were very well taken care of – fed and nicely dressed – but they desperately craved attention. One little girl handed me her shoes, and once I put them on her, she motioned to be picked up and clung to me like a little monkey until dinner. Another boy did the same later in the evening.
We had tasty spaghetti, bread, and made-from-scratch lemon cake for dinner. (And sat at a real table!) We ventured back downstairs to check out a cabinet full of local art donated to Gertrude’s for income. A few people bought more souvenirs; I bought an engraved stone plate for $20. We played with the kids, including 3 babies that staff pulled out of their cribs for us, until their bedtime. A few of the older boys were absolutely fascinated with my point-and-shoot camera and my watch, so they surrounded me while I was holding one of the babies. The sleeping quarters were very nice, with multiple rooms with several beds, fans, and running water in the bathroom. There was also a nice rooftop deck, so we watched the sunset and later had our evening devotional there.
Our view from the Gertrude’s Orphanage roof.
During the devotional there was a lot of negative talk about the Expo and positive talk about where to donate our remaining trip funds. It was hard to decide between the Methodist Guest House, Pastor Moles, the church in Arcahaie, the school in Arcahaie, or Gertrude’s – so many good causes. We took turns showering in the only bathroom and stayed up “late” until 10.
I woke up promptly at sunrise, as usual. For breakfast we had really hot cream of wheat in red solo cups. I added corn flakes to mine (kind of like granola). I’m not a big coffee drinker, but I did have it on a couple of sleepy mornings; it was thick & strong. We headed out around 8:15 to install more filters – each group did 4 in the morning and 3 in the afternoon. I joined Robenson’s team today (with Hank, Gwen, Matt, and Scott), and I quickly found out that his process was a bit different from Patrick’s. The first house had two rooms, and we installed the filter in the back kitchen area for a very sweet lady and her adult son. The 2nd installation was for a nice younger lady. We walked through a scenic field to get to the 3rd or 4th house, where the family really enjoyed having their photos taken. I forgot to take photos at a couple of the houses, so my memory of all the installations has already begun to fade.
Robenson explaining how to use the water filter we installed in this woman’s home.I wish I did a better job of capturing their smiles – many of them looked so serious or sad when I shot the photo, but they lit up when they saw their picture.
We went back to the church for lunch of tuna sandwiches around 11:30, then we rested for about an hour before heading back out. The 5th install was at a house so small we couldn’t all fit, so Gwen and I stayed outside. There were a couple of adult men and about 3 boys waiting outside with us, so we tried to communicate with them without much luck. They did motion to us to stand in the shade, because the sun was beating down on us. The boys enjoyed having their photo taken there, too.
Matt and Robenson inserting the tubing into a water filter.A little boy curiously waiting outside his home while our team installed a water filter.
We installed a couple more filters – one at a house with a beautiful elderly woman outside. I took her photo and told her she was “bel” (beautiful), and she gave me a big smile and said thank you. It might be my favorite photo of the trip.
A beautiful Haitian woman outside her home.
The others installed a filter at Oldi’s father’s house, and they were each given coconuts, sliced open for fresh coconut milk. A short time later Fred got sick, although I don’t know if it was related. Unfortunately he felt bad for about 2 days and barely ate anything. (We later heard that he took his servings of food to the street to give away to passersby.) After the day’s hard work, we stopped at a bar/barbershop for Cokes (in glass bottles, which you must return). Yes, there was a barbershop in the back of the bar. I passed on the Coke since I haven’t had soda for years. We were happy to see the kids waiting for us at the church when we got back. I got out some nail polish, and one little girl in particular really enjoyed painting my and Gwen’s nails. A few other kids picked up on it, and the boys painted their own nails with the clear polish. The girls even convinced Scott & Matt to let them paint their nails clear, too! (Shhh…don’t tell them I told you.) My original vision of cleaning their feet and painting their toenails didn’t quite work out, but it brought smiles to their faces, so I’d call it a success.
This sweet girl spent a great deal of time painting my nails. (Thanks for taking the photo, Gwen.)
We had a tiny bout of rain, then dinner around 5. Tonight we had rice with chicken & Congo beans in sauce, mango, and a delicious (pumpkin?) spice cake. Once it started to get dark we headed inside. The evening devotional was great again, with several tears shed. It’s always a great time to share feelings and experiences with the group. To bed by 9 again – hard to believe the trip is almost over.
Photographic Rhodes 