Haiti Trip 2014 Friday

Bonjou. Wakey, wakey.

It had been quite some time since I had slept in a tent (Amy and I are not really camping people), so I was pleasantly surprised to wake up having had a good night's sleep with little trouble from the roosters. The earplugs definitely helped, but I do that that I had acclimated to their crowing during last year's trip and now they were just a familiar part of the atmosphere for me.

I went about the morning routine as best as I could given that I hadn't had any coffee yet as more of the team emerged from their tents. The morning started quietly as we had a little bit of breakfast. We then started to get ourselves organized for the day's events. We would use part of the team to carry out day two of VBS covering the story of Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace. The rest of the team would tackle our primary construction job for the trip and help put a roof on the school.

Tom & Shawn getting their man cards stamped

This was definitely Tom's time to shine and he quickly took charge of things. A makeshift ladder was quickly built that would span the gap between the building's walls so that the guys could walk across from one side to the other as they positioned trusses and nailed boards into place to hold the trusses and support the tin.

In what seemed like no time at all, we had five Americans and about a dozen Haitian youth on top of the school helping to get trusses in place. Tom was a great field general helping direct traffic and make sure that the project kept moving forward. It was great seeing Tom, Nelson, Jeff, Scott, & Shawn mix it up with so many of the youth and help them make a contribution to the efforts. I felt a little less than helpful, but managed to carry some boards and trusses to make something of a contribution. Mostly, I just hung out, had conversations and stayed out of the way knowing that my gifts would be better used on other days. Things kept progressing through the morning and eventually we had the skeleton of the roof pretty much in place. A Haitian crew was going to put the tin on, so after half a day of work, the heavy lifting was done.

Aubrey Dale shows her strength. #crossfit

Of course, it wasn't all work & no play. At one point mid-morning while everybody took a break, guys started showing off how many pull-ups they could do. This escalated to Nelson showing off his core strength by displaying some gymnastic prowess. Of course, the Haitians decided they needed to try to show up the old man to (usually) unsuccessful ends. The coup-de-tat was Aubrey who had bragged that she was able to do five pull-ups and then had to prove it. #crossfit

There were also plenty of indicators that it had been another successful morning for VBS as well. The most visible sign was all of the glitter on the faces of the kids after their craft for the day. The glitter was gold in color and was absolutely impossible to miss on the faces of the kids. At the end of the morning I was talking to Aubrey when a girl walked past. Aubrey stopped her and tried to help her wipe some of the glitter from her face with Aubrey's skirt, but the effort proved fruitless.

A little bit of glitter w/ a side of unintentional photo bomb

We took a break for lunch and the early part of the afternoon was spent tying up loose ends on the morning projects, prepping for Saturday's festival to wrap up our time with the kids in Jabouin, and plotting to figure out showers. A small tent had been brought and set up that we could take bucket showers in with water drawn from a nearby pool. The only option to a bucket shower at this point was baby wipes and most of the team members were looking for something to make them feel a little fresher.

The best was when, later in the afternoon, Aubrey decided to hit the shower tent. Once she was in the tent, a group of us were standing 20 yards or so away having a conversation. I was standing next to Art and picked up a small rock to throw at the tent knowing that Aubrey would blame Art for throwing it. I threw it and, sure enough, Aubrey yelled, "Art! Stop it!" We sat back and laughed, but also saw that the gentleman "trimming" the tin work was trying to get our attention. They had finished laying the tin on both sides of the roof and he was hacking back the tin sheets where they met at the peak with a machete. He was needing to drop the first sheet to the ground and wanted to know if the coast was clear.

Hacking away the tin. The shower tent is on the left.

The shower tent was near the end of the building that he was working on and we indicated that he should toss the tin off to his left so that it wouldn't land near the tent. He did so, but it landed on the cement of the portico which made enough noise to startle Aubrey. We, of course, found this hilarious and Art seized on the opportunity to terrorize Aubrey by yelling things like, "Look out, Dale! Here comes another one!" each time a piece was dropped. The worker was being very careful to miss her and obviously knew that we were having fun at Aubrey's expense, so he simply continued doing his job while laughing at the crazy Americans.

There was one sheet that caught a little wind and hit the side of the cement and landed just a few feet from Aubrey. Art took advantage of the near miss to escalate things by grabbing a softball sized rock and yelling, "Oh no, here comes another one!" and then throwing the rock at the tin on the ground. By this point, we were all in tears from laughing so hard, but the boss that was doing the job was less than thrilled with Art beating up the tin scraps with a rock since he intended to use it to finish the job. Art picked up on this pretty quickly and tossed the rock to the side and walked away like a seven year old caught doing something he shouldn't. He said, "I think he's mad at you, Dale." as he left the tent for the safety of the rest of the team.

Gretchen w/ a crew of kids in their Ambrase Lekol shirts

We spent the time right before dinner getting chairs set up for a showing of The Jesus Movie that night. The plan was for Julie to give a message while popcorn was being prepared under the big tent for us to serve to the folks that came out for the movie. Mike set up a portable screen that was hung from some rebar on what will be the portico for the first school building. We had a little something to eat while people began to fill the school yard. Julie did a great job with her message. The night before, she had shared what a stretch it was for her to speak and to lead stories for VBS. I was super proud of her for putting herself out there like that and for doing such a great job.

After Julie was done, it was time for the movie. They were able to get the projector and DVD working after a few mis-starts, but the biggest issue was sound. They tried a couple of different things out, but they just weren't able to kick out much volume. They also had to compete with our team hanging out in the compound and the youth having conversations even closer to the movie while they made popcorn. I wound up in our tent for a little while just to pray. I prayed against distractions and that even if the sound continued to be an issue that those that needed to hear the Gospel would hear it and respond.

I came out of the tent for popcorn and a little conversation until the movie ended. After the movie, an invitation was offered, but I honestly can't remember if it was the pastor or Pam that gave it, but two young men responded to receive Christ.

After things had cleared out a bit, we gathered as a team in the corner of the compound for high/lows and a time of worship. Aubrey led us in several songs and even after we adjourned for the night, the songs kept coming. I was pretty beat, so I called it a night and climbed into the tent, but I could hear Aubrey and Shawn taking turns sharing some songs. It had been another long day, but Saturday would be our last day in Jabouin and we had a festival to put on for the kids, so rest was definitely needed.

Haiti Trip 2014 Thursday

After sleeping relatively well on our first night in Haiti, I woke up at about 5:15 and forced myself to stay in bed until 5:30 before grabbing a shower. A new shower system had been installed the week after we left last year with a large tank on top of the shower house and I decided to take advantage of it instead of treating myself to a more traditional bucket shower.

I had also brought my French press with me which wound up being a good thing since we couldn't find the Mission's press that first morning. The compound gradually came to life and the team had breakfast before hopping on the Mission's Mitsubishi for transport to the market at the base of the climb that started our real journey to Jabouin.

Our plan was to camp at the school in Jabouin Thursday-Saturday but there was a little bit of doubt as to whether we would be able to stay the first night or have to hike back down to the Mission. The rain made it harder to get a truck all the way to the school and unless it made it, we wouldn't have tents or any of our other supplies. We packed our backpacks for the truck and carried only what we would need for the day in case we would have to come back.

We arrived at the market and climbed out of the truck. Things were bustling at the market as we made our way past tables of produce and bread as well as a few mules and other livestock. We crossed a small creek and began what would prove to be a slippery, somewhat muddy climb.

We met several of these guys on the hike up the mountain

The path up the mountain was fairly clear, but initially resembled more of a rain gully than anything else. We made our way up, occasionally passing people headed down to the market. It wasn't a big deal until we encountered our first mule being led down. We did our best to make our way past, but the footing wasn't great and we found ourselves doing our best to stay upright.

We finally reached a point where the path met up with the road and the going got significantly easier, although we were still walking uphill more often than not. I was a sweaty mess by the time we reached the school, but the walk hadn't been nearly as bad as I had feared.

The sign at the school in Jabouin

We could see the tents the team had set up in September from the road as we approached the school. The foundation that had been laid for the first set of classrooms now had cement walls and the kids were already in class. The pastor from Jabouin greeted us and helped us get our things settled while we prepped to get day one of VBS underway. The theme for the day was Daniel & the lion's den. We broke the team down to three tasks and sent Tom and Jeff up the road a little farther to get some beams for the next day's construction project.

I wound up as a part of the storytelling crew where Julie shared the story for the day while Art (playing King Darius), Pam or Jeff (playing the lion) and I (Daniel) acted the story out. We wound up acting it out seven or eight times as we went to each of the classes. We learned after the first few classes that most of the kids had no idea what a lion was. We (i.e. Julie) worked that into the story as well. We had another crew that was doing a craft with the kids and another doing a game on the road where kids ran past members of our team who pretended to be lions trying to catch them.

Aubrey the Lioness ready to catch a kid

The older kids were in the classrooms which had tarps for covers that we planned to replace on Friday with a tin roof. The younger kids were under the tents with tables, chairs, and chalkboards to separate the classes. It was great to finally see the kids we were building the school for and to have a better sense of what the layout will ultimately look like. We could see the footprint for the second building and some rebar was already in place to allow for construction to continue.

One year ago, all that was on this piece of ground were three guys digging a well. This was the same place the team had encountered the well being dug. Unfortunately, they never did hit water and by the time the team showed up in September, it was being used as one of the deepest toilets in Haiti.

As the morning continued, Tom and Jeff eventually returned. Tom was carrying two 16 foot 2x4's and looked completely shelled. He said he had started with three boards, but just couldn't do it. It had been a long, hard walk and his shoulders were killing him. Jeff tag teamed his boards with one of the youth and they carried them in tandem. Jeff said the kid was half his age, so no matter how badly he wanted to put them down, he wasn't going to let the kid outdo him.

Art and John

The morning went well with only one exception. Pam had brought John, a deaf boy from the mountains, with her and even though she tried to tell kids to treat him well, he was punched by one of the boys. His cries brought a huge reaction from the other kids and some of the girls, in particular, continued to mimic and make fun of him for quite awhile after.

John was a kid that had just wandered the mountains without a real home when Pam first came across him. Those with defects like deafness are often mistreated and viewed as less than human in Haiti, but despite his poor treatment, John was always quick with a smile and generally joyful. Pam had tracked down a living grandmother after learning that John's parents were dead and she arranged so that John would go home to her at night no matter where he might have spent the day. Pam had also arranged for private tutoring for him in the hope of giving him a better life. Seeing John hit and mocked was definitely a low point in the day for all of us.

The younger kids were let out at about noon and the older kids at about 1:00, but with us visiting, there were always extra people hanging around. During a little break in the action I also got to try my first coconut in the mountains. One of the school's neighbors (who would help with the roofing the next day) offered them to a bunch of us. He would hack a part of the coconut off until he exposed a hole you could drink the milk through. I'll readily admit that the mustache/goatee combo was not exactly ideal for the task, but it was well worth it. Once all of it was gone, he chipped a little piece of the shell off and then split it in half. You could then use the small piece to help dig out the meat. The coconut was wet and warm, unlike any I'd ever had before. It made a good late morning snack as we waited for Mike to arrive with the truck.

When Mike arrived, he had Nelson, our bags, tents, food, and the trusses for the school. We unloaded and went about setting up tents. I was staying with Art, Jeff, and Scott in a fairly sizable tent. We each had a mattress and sheets and the tents were put up in the middle of the school compound.

One of the homes we visited in Jabouin

Once things were somewhat settled, a group of us went to do some home visits. Pam wanted to get as much info about the families of Jabouin as we could, so we went from door to door asking to know a little about who lived there, primarily so that we knew if there were any kids that we should know about for the school. During each visit Pam would ask if the family was Christian, if we could pray for them, and then we would leave a hygiene kit for the family.

We were welcomed warmly most places we went and it was an honor to be welcomed into their homes. I even saw the only hummingbird in my two trips to Haiti on these visits.

Near the end of our visits, we encountered a girl with very short hair along the road. Pam asked if any of us had hair bands or anything of that nature that we might be able to give to her so that she wouldn't be made fun of. Barline (Aubrey's Haitian sister) was particularly burdened for this girl and Pam and Aubrey had to console her because she felt so sad for her. It was beautiful to see her heart for this child.

The final house visit was one of the strangest encounters that I have had so far. We entered a yard where a couple of men were pouring something in a bowl with two large sticks. A third man (older, very thin, and shirtless) was talking very excitedly to Jeff when I got into the yard and was very animated throughout our visit. At different times, he would lock in on different team members and talk to us. It was unsettling since we didn't know if he was drunk, crazy, possessed, violent, or all of the above. We managed to finish the visit and got out of the yard. Pam said he was making no sense and that she had seen him before but had never had a chance to speak to him.

We made our way back to the school for some lunch (prepared by Kehno) and made some plans for youth group which was supposed to start around 4:00. Pam had been asked to go to a meeting in Ti-Riviere at 3:00, so we were on our own to carry the meeting.

Haiti Trip 2014 Wednesday

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

We arrived in Port au Prince at about 9:00 and did the scramble to grab luggage carts for our checked bags which all had a familiar, spray painted orange X on them. The bags were filled with supplies for Mission Haiti and we only had a backpack and carryon bag each for our own items. It took eight carts to grab all of the bags and any team members who were not pushing a cart also had one or two carry on bags in addition to their backpacks.

Once we had everything and cleared customs, we started the parade out of the airport and to the trusty Mission Haiti bus for our 135 mile, four+ hour ride to Ti-Riviere. Mike & Ronald were there to meet us and it was great to see a few familiar youth with them as well.

Things looked improved as we drove through Port compared to a year ago. There were less tents & tin shacks than last year and traffic seemed a little better due to less blockages and some road repairs. I took in sights recalled from last year with Art sitting with me in the back of the bus as we began to leave the crowded roads of Port for the countryside.

One of the many valley scenes from the bus

Other than the sights and a bit of conversation, not a lot was notable about the drive. We were encouraged to see some work crews that are currently running fiberoptic cables to bring internet access all the way from Port au Prince to Ti-Riviere. As the drive continued, we began to see kids getting out of school and more people out and about by the roadway. I think the highest number of people confirmed on a single motorcycle was six as kids were picked up and driven home. No helmets, of course.

We arrived in Ti-Riviere and the more familiar sights of our main stomping grounds from a year ago. Most things appeared little changed with the exception of the basketball court that had been much more visible from the road a year ago.

We arrived at the Mission compound and began to unload and say our hellos to many of our friends including youth, staff, and Pam's kids. Our sleeping arrangements were different than last year with the men's & women's rooms reversed. I grabbed a bottom bunk in the corner farthest from the windows and got a few things settled before finally joining everybody else outside.

There were a few other folks that had arrived before us that I knew as well. Liza (from last year's trip) was there doing sponsorship photos with Grace and Tate. Tate looked familiar and it turned out that I had met him at the Tea Campus info night. Grace is from the Worthington, MN area and works for a vet clinic doing ordering. Grace had been down several times before and we hit it off well as she also rides bikes. The other familiar face was Nelson Van Den Hoek who I know from LifeLight. I really hadn't expected to see Nelson in that setting, so it was a nice surprise.

Photo courtesy of Julie Babb

We had our first (of many) dinners of beans, rice, chicken & plantains along with some tomatoes & cucumbers which we hadn't had at all last year. I had also brought a good number of fiber bars to supplement the diet and to make sure that I didn't suffer some of the same intestinal distress as last year.

After dinner, we settled in for youth and saw many more of the young men we had connected with last year. Surprisingly, I only had one of the kids making fun of my mustache throughout the night (that I was aware of, anyway). I caught him laughing and pointing me out to his friend a few times. I made sure to sit by him during youth. Patchuoko led us in worship with Junior playing djembe. We worshipped in both english & creole before Pam gave a message followed by more singing. I'll readily admit that I was pretty tired from only sleeping for two hours on the trip to that point, so while I enjoyed the time together with our Haitian brothers & sisters, it was somewhat of a blur to me.

Afterwards, we met and discussed the plans for the next morning and settled in to sleep. I slept well compared to last year. The earplugs definitely helped, but I think I was more accustomed to the sound of the roosters and other noises of Haiti. The one sound that wasn't as welcome was the rain that came. Pam said it's been a particularly rainy February and since the area needs the rain so badly, it was hard to get too upset. It didn't last a long time, but we knew it would make the climb planned for morning a much messier affair.

Haiti Trip 2014 Tuesday (Departure)

I recently returned from my second trip to Haiti. On last year's trip, I journaled extensively. So extensively, that I didn't finish the journal of that trip until the midway point of this year's trip. I am hoping to post some of those journal entries here in the weeks to come in a "Throwback Thursday" style post so that I can finally finish telling that story, but I'm getting enough questions about this year's trip that I'm wanting to begin to tell that story even though I haven't finished writing about it yet. I'm hoping that by starting to post this year's journal entries that it will encourage me to wrap up the journaling process in less than 12 months. We'll see how that goes. Anyway, here's the first entry from this year's trip.

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

So, here we go again. This trip was a little more last minute for me than last year's as Travis Waltner was slated to go, but as things with the Embrace Tea Campus started to gain some traction, it looked like he would need to bow out. Amy was alright with me going again and it happened to fall immediately after a family vacation to Arizona, so although the turnaround would be fast, it was totally doable.

The team was a mix of folks from our trip last year (Gretchen, Aubrey, Scott, Julie & me), people from the September team (Jenna & Jeff), friends that had been with Mission Haiti before but not with Embrace (Art), and first timers (Tom, Kristen, Cara, Gina, Shawn, & Kayla). Some of these folks I knew well going in and others I was really looking forward to getting to spend some time with so that I could get to know them better. While I was really happy for each person on the team, I was especially happy that Art was able to make it the first week as he was originally supposed to come the next week with a few other guys. Art is a good friend, a bandmate both at Embrace and with Rachelle Hope's band and is also one of the funniest, least predictable, otter personalities I have ever met and he's always a joy to be around. You can always rely on him to inject a good deal of humor into any situation.

When we left Sioux Falls, the weather was nice at about 40 degrees. Since my bags were already packed to overflowing (everyone packs their French press for a missions trip, right?), I opted to leave my jacket home, trusting that Amy would come through with a jacket for me on the other end of the trip if it was needed (and with this year's weather, it would almost certainly be needed).

Flights were fairly uneventful with good conversations all the way through to Miami. Conversation with Shawn was particularly fun since we discovered that we had a lot of favorite bands in common. I knew that he was a musician from the few conversations we had been able to have prior to the trip, but I definitely picked up on some new artists from him and had fun thinking of music that I needed to share with him as well.

Really the only issue we had in Tuesday's travel was when Aubrey wound up in a little bit of a bind because she had been asked to check a bag through from Dallas to Miami. When she went to baggage claim to get the bag and then came back through security, they wouldn't let her through because her bag was too large. I was walking beside Gretchen as the team searched for a gate to camp out at for the night when she received a text from Aubrey telling her about her predicament.

When we found a place to camp out, I immediately unloaded about half of what I had in my backpack in the hope that we could transfer some of her things to my bag and get her through security. We weren't sure whether it would work or not, so I kept only the things I would need if I wound up sleeping on the cold tile floor near the check in counters with Aubs until they opened for ticketing the next morning since there was no way I was letting her stay out there by herself all night. Thankfully, we were allowed through and were able to rejoin the team where the carpeted floor of Gate 25B awaited.

I was able to get about two hours of sleep with the help of my sleep mask, ear plugs, and the blanket I borrowed from my friend Aaron (acquired on a previous trip through Delta airlines). Other than CNN blaring at 100 dBs and a visit from the vacuum brigade of the MIA cleaning corps there was little else to disrupt our sleep. We were at a gate right across from a security checkpoint, so when the TSA shift changed at 4:30 there was enough activity to keep us up for the day.

I grabbed a little breakfast and a lot of coffee as we prepared to board our flight to go on our way.