Soooo...yes, I'm finally getting to this.... Haiti!
First, some fast facts...
*Haiti is one hour behind us currently, but only half of the year. They think day light savings is silly.
*Our travels to and from Haiti were thankfully uneventful with only minor delays.
*Our travels (by bus) in Haiti were very eventful: no paved roads, often very narrow roads, loads of traffic, and maneuvers I never thought a school bus could pull off!
*It was very hot and outrageously humid!
*We had showers every night!
*The food was delicious! Did you know a tree ripe pineapple turns red on the outside and is nearly white inside...and the taste, ohhh, the taste is glorious!
*We did visit the beach and it was crystal clear!
*I had no clue how gorgeous the geography of Haiti was....mountains!
*The media portrays Port-au-Prince as a crime-ridden city when in actuality we felt quite safe.
*Every person we passed on the way to and from our job site had a purpose: going to the market, selling goods, cleaning something, taking care of someone...all hard working people.
*Nothing could have prepared me for the realization of truly how little the average Haitian has....we are so blessed and take so much for granted!
*Those who know English are eager to use it and want to teach you French/Creole.
*The second question, after "what is your name", that we were commonly asked was, "are you a Christian?" We learned that this is because of the influences of Voodoo practiced in Haiti. They now guard themselves and will not accept gifts from those who are not Christians. Why we here still feel the need to actively choose to dabble in ways clearly led by Satan, but claim "we can handle it"?, I still don't understand....
*Church in Haiti is lively...I loved it!
A Typical Day...
We'd often wake up when the sun came up (5:30am) or when the roosters started crowing (5:35am) and had some individual quiet time. Breakfast was always at 7am and by 8am we were on the bus for the hour drive to our job site. We were asked as a church to adopt the project of demolishing and rebuilding/expanding the first of the 34 churches that Pastor Rene Joseph has started. It had some damage during the earthquake and they drastically needed the extra space. So, our job site was Delmas 31, the church, and we worked mainly on clearing out the building, taking the tin roof down, bringing down the walls with some help from a less than optimal excavator, moving rocks, and manually breaking apart the cinder brick/concrete to remove the rebar. We were so thankful to have lots of man power on the team! The ladies helped where we could and often spent time with the children that curiously hung around to see what we were up to. Our work days typically ended around 2pm when we would head back to Pastor Rene's home (where we were staying). Dinner was prepared anywhere from 3-6pm, and we simply ate when it was ready. We'd have a group devotion/debrief in the evening and then some down time to just hang out. With the sun going down earlier there, it wasn't unusual to head to bed by 9:30 on some nights.
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