Haiti Trip 2014 Saturday

Our final morning in Jabouin had us running right away. We needed to get things set up for the festival for the kids and there was a lot to do. We had several carnival games (though we couldn't call them that as Carnival has a completely different, darker connotation in Haiti) and each team member was going to be in charge of a game while the youth were responsible for taking groups of kids to each of the games. I was responsible game where the kids try to knock down a pyramid of cans by throwing a bean bag. It seemed simple enough, so I set up my station and had my buckets of prizes (candy, bouncy balls, and necklaces) ready while kids started filling the school yard.

Our little green friend

As we were still setting up, we watched a small, bright green lizard climbing one of the poles in the big tent that helped support one of the peaks of the tent. Someone had said they would need to keep an eye on it so that it wouldn't drop down on them, so a little while later when Jenna was standing under the spot it had been climbing earlier, it was too tempting an opportunity to pass up. I talked Art into making her think it had jumped onto her shoulder. Worked like a charm.

Also as we were setting up in one of the other classroom areas under the same tent, I caught sight of a small scorpion. I stepped on it, but the thought of the preschoolers that had been sitting right there the last few days, some without shoes, made me even more thankful for the classrooms that were being built.

photo courtesy of Gretchen Shafer

We got into position as the groups ranging in age from probably 3 to 12 (or so) started coming around. I had underestimated how involved my game would be as every kid there knocked down the cans. I had to reset the cans, locate where the bean bags had gone, and grab a prize for each kid which meant I was constantly on the move. For most kinds, it wasn't much of a challenge, but some of the youngest kids couldn't hit the cans on any of their three throws (from just a few feet away). When that would happen, I'd reach over, sweep the cans off of the table with my forearm and give the kids a prize anyway. By the time I was done, I was sweating more than I had on the hike to Jabouin on Thursday.

To my left was Aubrey's station where they had to pick a rubber duck from a small pool to win a prize. Aubrey had her game usurped by Joshua (Patchuoko's son) who was giving the instructions and directing the activities so that all Aubrey had to do was hand out prizes. It was fun to watch this four year old kid owning that game and telling everyone what to do.

Joshua and his helper Aubrey

There were a couple of great moments near the end of the festival. Darline had found the girl from the road on the home visit day (Thursday) and her hair was done up in a bunch of hairbands. The smile on Darline's face was a delight as she picked the girl up for Aubrey to take her picture.

The other moment was after nearly all of the kids had been through the games. There was a grandmother and grandson (about 3 years old) who obviously had a developmental issue and they had been standing off to the side watching the other kids play the games. The grandson didn't have a goodie bag of his own which meant that he hadn't been a part of the festival and hadn't received any of the candy, necklaces, bouncy balls, or other treats like the other kids. Julie obviously noticed as well as I caught her approach the grandmother to see if she could give him some bubbles. She was very grateful for the kindness shown and I was blessed again by the hearts of the people I was serving with.

Things wrapped up pretty quickly and we were soon headed back down the mountain to Ti-Riviere with the intention of returning for one more day of VBS with the kids in Jabouin on Monday. It was much easier going headed down the mountain and there was more conversation since we weren't having to work as hard to catch our breath. Art even got to kill a small tarantula on the road with Lucy egging him on. "You do not want it to grow to be big or it will bite you." she said, very matter of factly.

We made it back to the compound and had a little bite to eat before hitting the showers. I hadn't showered since Thursday, opting instead for baby wipes, Gold Bond, and a lot of deoderant. It had made the last few days a little uncomfortable (with all the activity we had going on), but at least I didn't have Art terrorizing me while I took a bucket shower in a tent while tin sheeting rained from the school roof.

There wasn't a lot of downtime for me as Pam had arranged for a bike clinic at the coffeehouse at 3:00. I worked on a few bikes at the compound that Liza had picked up for her sponsored girls prior to leaving (with a little help from some of the youth) and assessed what we had for parts. After finishing Liza's bikes, we had a few tires and tubes, two chains, two sets of brake pads, and some break cables and housing. I packed these up with a few tools and hopped on a motorcycle with Patchuoko and Joshua to head to the coffeehouse. Several team members decided to come down as well, but were stuck walking with a few of the youth. When we got there on the moto, I had to laugh a little at the 25 or so "bikes" that were there and decided that they probably needed a faith healer more than a bike mechanic. I knew we'd be pretty limited in what we could do, but we would take it one bike at a time.

A quick tutorial before we started tearing into the bikes

We started with a little tutorial on changing a tube and chain with Patchuoko translating and then we launched into fixing what we could. Patchuoko was helping some, one of the youth who had come along had proven helpful with Liza's bikes and took charge of helping another group, and I was hopping from bike to bike trying to fix bikes without the right parts or tools. There was a lot of improvisation going on which meant that there really wasn't a lot I could have the team help with when they arrived. I felt bad about that, but at least I provided them with a little entertainment not only by scrambling from bike to bike, but through displays of clumsiness as well. I had left my bag of supplies with the team so that I wouldn't have a ton of people grabbing parts and tools. At one point, I went to fetch something from the bag and was climbing the poured concrete seating up to the team when I missed a step that was poured at a different height and went down. I caught myself with my left hand, but thankfully didn't hurt myself. Ten minutes later, I did the exact same thing, only this time, I felt and heard a pop in my wrist. I froze for a second fearing I had broken it, but I was able to move it. I knew it would hurt later, but I got back to business and kept working on the bikes while the adrenaline kept the pain at bay.

Some bikes had more hope than others

All told, we worked on bikes for three and a half hours without a break. One of the bikes that I got to do was one of the bikes that we had given away last year at Millenium after the classes I had done with some of the students there. It had definitely been ridden. A lot. Hard. I replaced one of the brake cables and a set of brake pads that I had replaced a year earlier. The bike was also missing the rear derailleur that I know had been on the bike (and working) when I had seen it last.

I had to tell a lot of folks that I didn't have parts to take care of some of the issues the bikes had. I hated to turn them away, but they are so used to doing without that instead of being upset or expressing any frustration, there was acceptance. One team member told me that they didn't see anyone that left mad. I think that if we did something similar in the US  and had to send people away empty handed, the response would be much different. There is definitely something to be learned there.

As we wrapped up the bikes, the screen and projector were being set up for movie night. Pam asked if I'd be willing to give a short message before the movie since we'd be watching "Mr. Bean's Holiday" and she wanted to make sure there was something of a spiritual nature that happened that night. I gve the same message as I had given in Jabouin, only with Patchuoko's translation and a few less details for the sake of brevity and clarity.

The movie was a big hit with so much physical comedy and it was a great night to spend in the company of the youth of Ti-Riviere. When it was over, we headed back to the compound for highs/lows and I was finally able to take some ibuprofen for my wrist and put a brace on that I had brought with me.

As we prepared for bed, some were making preparations for the next day's activities which would include a trip out to the island for a little recreation. Art managed to get his hands on some flippers and a scuba mask and was walking around the mission house talking about how he was going to wear his "Scuba Steves" out to the island. As usual, he had everyone rolling. I was laying on my bunk listing to his antics in the store room which also doubles as the entrance to the mission house. He was mid sentence when Mike walked in. Without missing a beat, Art stopped what he was saying and said, "So, what happened was..." which was Art's battle cry throughout the week anytime he had to explain his antics or was caught doing something questionable. It became easily one of the most quotable lines of the whole trip because we heard it from him so often.

It was a great way to cap a very busy day and I had no trouble at all falling asleep that night.