Riots and Politicians in PAP

We ended up having to get up way earlier than originally expected due to riots in Port Au Prince. I am really not sure what they were about but I think it had something to do with electricity or something. Francky seemed really anxious to get going so we loaded up and took a back way in to PAP. About 3/4ths of the way there something was wrong with the Patrol. So we pulled over by some UN soldiers and the drivers went to take a look.apparently it wasn't a huge deal because we were back on the road in like five minutes. We reentered PAP and went to the airport but somehow we were the only car there. Adias called Tompi and had a short heated argument with him on the phone. Because Tompi outranked Adias we turned around and went to this incredibly lush hotel. The whole thing felt a little sketchy walking in because this wasn't on our schedule. We met one of the Haitian directors of 410 bridge there and he acted like we should have known about this all along. He introduced himself and told us that he ran for president of Haiti. He talked to us about leadership but I took everything he said with a grain of salt just because the whole thing didn't seem right. I just felt very uncomfortable with the whole situation. We asked some questions and then left for the airport again. The problems with the Patrol ended up coming back and we had to get out and push it to pop the clutch to get it started again. This wouldn't have been noteworthy except for the fact that we were in the middle of PAP with cars everywhere. The flight after that went off without a hitch to this point but now we are delayed for about an hour. As I write this in the Miami airport, I am like 5 gates away from the one we are leaving from since there are literally no other open outlets. This is kind of rediculous with how many people come through this airport but what can you do. Overall this trip has been incredible, eye opening, emotional, and fulfilling. I truly believe that all of us would say we were changed forever by this trip. I want to thank all of you who read this blog, I hope it wasn't too long and boring. I also want to thank oakbridge church on behalf of the team for helping to augment the cost of the internship, because I know there was no way I would be able to do this without you. And thanks to my parents as well for helping me specifically out. I am going to keep the blog updated in my personal life and the internship as a whole on the off chance anyone is interested as well. Thanks again for reading, it's nice to know do many people care about what the interns are doing.

American in the middle

Getting up this morning knowing that it would be our last full day in Haiti was a little deflating but we all knew it was coming. We had really good eggs and toast for breakfast again and were out the door pretty quick. Team black Hilux (our car) traded Drew and Rachel to team silver Patrol for Ethan and Alissa, as well as some draft picks and a player to be named later. That was a pretty good trade since this was the only time this whole week that my entire car didn't fall asleep on me going up and down the mountain. Having someone to talk to was a good change.  We turned on a different road before we got to the place where we had been working and this road was super rough. No pavement, crazy angles, blind turns and 4 wheel drive, it was a blast. We reached true place I thought we would be working and it looked pretty much like the last place except there was a gigantic tree and the views from this place were spectacular. Unfortunately we didn't get to work there but went on about a mile hike to where we would work. It was full of the same little bag thing that we filled the days before but there were weeds in the bags as well as coffee plants. Our job was simply to weed them and we finished that in about an hour. Apparently they thought it would have taken way longer, so they really had nothing else for us to do. Francky decided to just show us around this new place. This was slightly more like farmland than the place we were before in that you could actually tell where forrest started and crops ended. We saw chili plants, avocado trees, cabbage fields, guava trees and some kind of weird plant that grows in rivers. It was so beautiful it was unreal. We went to where we always parked after that to play with kids for the rest of the day. My same little kid found me and wanted to blow bubbles again so I grabbed the wand thing and did that for a long time with him and other kids. He was so funny, he was maybe 4 and would get so excited when ever he blew a big bubble. Jonesey who was another driver an Brett were jumping rope with a stick held with both hands so that distracted pretty much everyone. This lead to a jumping competition which ended with Sean jumping super high over the stick that Oscar (other driver) and I held at like chest height. We played some more and there was a very emotional goodbye when we had to leave. On the drive back we talked to Adias about his life and life in general in Haiti. He asked about the states and we answered him the best we could. We stopped at a road side stand to get some sketchy knock off Haitian redbull (the same stuff as last year if you read back that far) called toro. I bought 1 and Sean bought 4. It still had a really odd taste that is like apple juice but with like grape added. Honestly I'm not sure but it was good. We got back a little early and hung out on the beach. I got a really long walking shot with the help of Matt smith that I'm sure I'll find a use for in the video. After a while the local kids showed up and wanted to play soccer so I went and got the ball. We played keep away on a concrete pad a little ways down the beach. A better way to phrase that would be keep away from the American. There was about 6 Haitian kids playing and maybe 3 adults watching, and me. Considering the last time I played soccer was in high school, and when I did play, I was a goal keeper, my time spent on the outside of the circle was short lived. Occasionally I would get a touch on the ball and get out of the middle. But I would soon get back in after having no ball control compared to these kids. We played for like two hours and I was soaked and very out of breath by the time we were done. I really wish I could have given them the ball but I think it would have hurt more than it helped so it killed me to keep it. I did give some money to Francky for shoes for some kids so maybe that will see it's way to them somehow.  Right after dinner this guy who has kind of been bothering us all week to buy bracelets came up to me with a bunch more that said oak bridge on them. He said Tom ordered them but I know for a fact he didn't. I looked closer and there was more writing on them. Every single one had "oak bridge chunch" on it. The "r" in church had been changed to an "n". I told him he needed to talk to Tom about it then so I'm really not sure what happened after that.  Dinner was great, shrimp gumbo, pork chops, plantains, okra and the requisite rice. We had a 9 song worship set after debrief and all of our drivers came out with us. It was an awesome experience, doing this with the Haitians. Tomorrow we leave for PAP at 7 because we have to take a longer way back. It's gonna be a long day, here we go.

Goat, crayons, and prayers

Today began much the same as saturday. We woke up and had eggs, pineapple, mango, and toast. We went to the mountain again to work on the coffee thing and met all the kids we have grown close to this week on the walk up. I bounced around from job to job starting with passing dirt bags, then placing them, then digging another plot of land to place them, then poking holes in the dirt to make planting more efficient. Tom kept the mood light his usual way, by making fun of literally everything he could. We had a great time for the few hours we worked and got over 1000 plants in the ground. We walked back to the trucks to grab a snack before we played with kids. I thought we were going to go down the hill again to the place we were before but we ended up just staying in that driveway thing. Everything started off cool, we all kind of broke off and hung out with kids. I did the bubble wand thing again  for a while and it was a lot of fun. I got in to a soccer game but stepped out so that newly arrived kids could play. That was when I started to notice how crowded it was getting. A lot of the kids were dressed the same so I guess they just came up after school. It got a little intense for a while over by the trucks where kids were coloring with crayons and such. There were a ton of kids with crayons sitting in the truck bed, on the tail gate, leaning on the tires all coloring but when one kid wanted a different color they would just grab one from someone else and a few scuffles happened that I had to step in to. More and more little kids kept showing up at the trucks to color and we were a little overwhelmed. I soon figured out that a lot of the kids were just pocketing the crayons and markers an that there was no way we could get them all back. The situation kind of got out of hand and eventually we just got what we could and left. Back at the hotel we played soccer with the guys who think I look like Messi and had a really great time. Especially Drew, he had a fantastic time. Eventually it was just myself, the two Haitian kids from before and another kid. I was so tired midway through that game that they could tell I needed to quit so we cooled off in the ocean. I really hope I get to play with them tomorrow too, it's a great time. Dinner was good, some kind of meat, cheese, eggplant concoction which looked gross but was pretty good, chicken, rice and goat. I had never had goat before but honestly it wasn't bad. It tasted kind of like beef but was a little more gamey an chewy. I liked it and would probably have it again even if I knew what it was before eating it. I should mention we all had no idea what we were eating until after the nice Belgian hotel owner asked us how it was. For dessert we had oatmeal cookies and cupcakes which were also awesome. After dinner we debriefed and Tom lead us in an hour and fifteen minute prayer session nonstop. I had never done anything like that before but it was pretty cool. We broke off in to groups of three and we would each pray for a few minutes and then switch. I was fortunate enough to have Ethan and Tara in my group. It was a really cool experience overall. Tomorrow we work in a different place "in the fields" so we will find out what that means.

Church, and beach soccer

Today we went to church in the village that we are working. We walked to the building that we visited the first day and there were three girls singing and one little boy playing a drum. We sat down and they sang a couple more songs. Then Francky (I've been spelling his name wrong) asked if we would sing. So we all got up and went through a couple verses of Oh! Happy Day, then we did lift your name on high and the Haitians started singing it in Creole. I think I remember the same thing happening last year but it was still pretty cool.  Tom gave the John 3:16 and 17 message while Francky translated, and then their pastor gave a message. We then split up and went to a few different houses to get a feel for day to day life for these mountain farmers. The houses are pretty much what you would expect. About 15x15 with 3 or 4 rooms, the kitchen is outside, and there is an area to hang clothes on a line. We visited about 4 houses and more of the kids from the previous days would show up wherever we were. After the houses we hung out with the kids for a little bit and taught them tag and hopscotch. We saw a few mature coffee plants when we left so it's cool to see what we planted will turn in to one day. We went back to the hotel and on the way Drew discovered that our driver Adias actually spoke pretty good English so we talked to him for a bit on the way back. He is just really quiet so I thought he didn't speak much English. We had a really relaxed day after that, hanging out at the beach, swimming and just having community together. Drew, Ethan and Sean have all been playing soccer on the beach with some locals every afternoon, they are the same kids that think I look like Messi and now that is what I am known as to the Haitian kids around the hotel. The first kid I talked to here at the hotel came to play soccer with the guys again but the left side of his face was really really swollen. When we asked him about it he explained with motions that he got stung by a bee. He didn't seem to make a big deal out of it though and he got the point across that he would be alright. Dinner keeps getting better every day, shrimp kabobs, rice, pork and fried plantains were on the menu tonight. We had a little worship session in the rain with part of another missions group here from Knoxville TN after debrief and a few of us stayed after to really share whats going on in our lives. We get back to work tomorrow so I am so pumped to see what we get to do

In full swing (shorter post than last night I promise)

Having air conditioning last night was great. I got up and took the coldest shower of my life at around 6:30 to be ready for breakfast at 7. We had some sort of pancake crepe hybrid, fresh mangos and pineapple and toast. I bought a coconut from a dude selling them outside out hotel and ate and drank that as well. Today was also Franky's birthday, he turned 38 and we gave him 38 dollars as a gift. We went back up the mountain taking in incredible views from the day before and pulled in the same driveway. I use the term driveway loosely since it was really just dirt tire tracks. We walked back up to the fields that we passed yesterday and Franky sent five of us to go get fledgling coffee plants from a different field. I elected to go with that group to shoot video and Matt stayed to get footage of the other group. We walked basically through villagers' back yards and at least one Sara McGlaughlin humane society commercial to get to the field where we picked these seedlings one by one until all were in a big tub thing and walked back to the other field. It was covered with a black mesh like the blue one from the day before to protect the seedlings from the sun and to sort of regulate the moisture. When my group got back, the other group had already started filling these little black bags with really dark dirt and arranging them in rows about 3 feet deep and 12 feet long. Then we started planting the little seedlings one per bag in the rows while the rest of the crew kept filling bags. To pass the time we played a few games that I knew from baseball like the cities game, black magic, the rocks game and a few I hadn't heard of before. We ended up filling over 3000 bags with dirt and coffee plants that will apparently produce coffee in two years and then continue producing for 38-40 more years. So essentially we weren't just helping this current generation but the next one as well. So that's a really good feeling. After we had put everything away, we started to walk back towards the cars and my same little kid who ran with me up the mountain appeared right next to me and motioned like he wanted to run so we ran down the road about 300 feet to the cars and loaded up. Unfortunately I think my boy thinks I like to run now so I will definitely be getting my cardio in for the week. We got back to the hotel and I discovered that to Haitian kids I look like Lionel Messi. A few of us attempted unsuccessfully to repair the horrendous farmers tans that we had acquired today while the others went down to the beach and played soccer with some locals. We had a little worship session on the deck and Franky told us a little more about himself. Those of us who went last year really learned how much these people rely on God to meet their needs and how thankful they are and Franky's story really shows that as well. Tomorrow we go to Franky's home church and do a couple home visits. Last year we split up to go to church so this year it is cool that we all get to go to one.

Cardio nightmare

Last night was an interesting night. It was hot but I like sleeping in the heat so I did fine. With 3 fans going I slept like a rock and that was the general consensus of the group.  The only time I woke up was when the generator ran out of gas and made a huge bang which scared me half to death. We were awoken by the worlds most overachieving rooster who started crowing before the sun came up at about 4:30 and didn't stop the rest of the time we were there. Breakfast was amazing as I had hoped. Fresh pineapple, eggs with hot sauce, toast and coffee gave everyone a good kickstart at 6:30. We loaded up the trucks again except we replaced the Nissan Urvan with a much, much more offroad capable Nissan Patrol, thus completing the list of offroad vehicles that I want to own in my lifetime but that is for another post.  We took off in to town to pick up our translator for the day who I hope we keep for the week because he was really cool. From there we left for the hotel where we are staying now to drop off our bag before we made the trek in to the mountains. When we arrived, I couldn't believe what I saw. We went through a gate in a high wall and saw a very nice looking 4 story hotel. Inside was better. Through floor to ceiling windows in the back of the open front lobby we saw the Haitian west coast.  A huge in ground pool greeted us when we went through the sliding glass doors and a balcony overlooked the ocean. I will post a picture if the wifi lets me. The beach is short, less than 20 yards from the end of the balcony and it is really rocky.  We could only hang out for a minute but the place is so nice that I could hardly believe it.  We began the trek in to the mountains by saying goodbye to Ronald. He said he would try to come see us before we leave for the states but he made it sound like a longshot. The first part of the journey was really easy.  We took paved roads till a little ways in to the foot hills. The real fun started when that all stopped. The road up the mountains was "paved" with rocks imbedded in concrete but only for about two feat under each tire. So to paint a picture for you, this is a one lane road going up a mountain, "paved" under each wheel, angling up in some places what had to be over 55 degrees. All that aside the beauty of this country took my breath away for the millionth time. Matt Noblitt, Rachel, and Drew rode in the back seat and somehow along the ride on paved ground we got on the subject of vertical cell phone pictures and videos vs the correct way (horizontal) and Matt and Drew got in a competition about who could take the most artsy cell phone pictures, so look for those two Facebook albums in the coming weeks. The views out of every window could have made it in national geographic but no picture, cell phone or DSLR will ever come close to doing it justice. After about an hour we made it to where I thought we would be working. Over 3/4ths of the way up the mountain we stopped and backed in to what looked like someone's driveway and then hiked about a half mile to the water project that was actually pretty much finished. According to Franky all it really needs is a filter and a reservoir tank. Basically the way it was explained made it sound like there was a well there, the 410 Bridge tapped in to it, built the piping system and concrete base and laid the foundation for a reservoir tank and left an opening for the filter. He said it should be done in like two weeks. From the well/spring/water project (which I forgot to mention was operational, just constantly watering surrounding fields) we could see banana tree groves, corn stalks and a big blue mesh roof. The mesh was covering coffee seedlings which apparently need a very specific humidity and temperature. We didn't get to go down there but Franky said we would probably go tomorrow.  We walked from there about another half mile to the community's church were we held a slightly awkward Q and A with the community leaders. This led in to singing some of our favorite worship songs and they sang theirs. One Ethan recognized as a Michael W. Smith song, sang in Creole but I forgot which one. We took a quick break to get a quick snack in before we went down the mountain a little ways to play and hang out with the local kids at another church. Franky was in a very in depth discussion with Tom so we followed one of the community leaders and our translator who told me later that he had no clue where we were going. We walked down this path for a ways and I immediately understood why we could only drive part of the way. Memories of running hills during summer training in high school hockey came rushing in to my head, only this was my nightmare of a training session. After carefully walking to the bottom, we were all convinced that the only way we were getting back up that hill before dark (or at all) was a miracle from God. But more on that later. We made our way to the bottom and entered another church/classroom. There we set up camp to play with the kids. The VBS team did a great job coming up with supples. We had nail polish, face paint, giant bubble wands, crayons, coloring books, and jump ropes. I chose my weapon wisely in the form of a giant bubble wand. I would blow bubbles for the kids and it got to the point where they were swatting them out of the air almost before the bubbles came off the wand. Now I say I chose wisely because explaining the concept of blowing bubbles has to transcend any and every language simply in the form of gestures. Turns out that thought was way off but most of the kids got the general idea when I let them give it a shot. So with incredibly soapy hands and an empty soap container due to a few over zealous bubble blowing attempts by both myself and the Haitian children I put it away and began getting a little video footage since Matt Smith's camera died. I tried swinging a jump rope for some kids but as it turns out the only guy who can do it right is Sean, who come to think of it was the only guy to pick up nail polish too... Turns out that just made him all the more desirable to hang out with though because from what I could tell he had the biggest group of kids around him at any given time. I spent a little time with a kid who looked to be about 14-15 but he didn't speak English or Spanish so the communication was difficult. He did ask if we were coming back though so I think he enjoyed us being there. When it was time to leave, drew led us in his favorite camp song "hey burrito" and we made our way back to the world's steepest hill.  For whatever reason Ellie decided to run up the hill so I did too. I heard footsteps behind me and I thought they were Drew's but they belonged to a little kid who couldn't have been more than 6. I slowed a little so he could catch up and we ran to the top of the hill together nonstop. At the top of the hill, out of breath I look down at the little boy who is also out of breath but who also has the biggest smile on his face. He reached up and gave me the most triumphant high five I have ever received.  I was no longer tired. From that one high five I had all the energy I would ever need for the rest of my life so the kid and I went back about half way down the hill to cheer on our group. Matt Smith and Brett stayed with Tom and Tracy to make sure they were all good getting back up the hill, and Brett also was dragging the giant bag of stuff we brought for the kids. Tom asked me to give Brett an hand with it and as I was pulling it up the hill it suddenly became a little lighter. When I looked down, the same kid was pushing it from behind. We got to the top and said our goodbyes, but I really hope I see the kid again. I had asked his name in Creole a couple times but he either ignored me or I was making an idiot of myself by mispronouncing everything and he had no clue what I was saying. This country had one more incredible view for me as we started back down the mountain road. The whole way up we got pieces of the view out the back and side windows but seeing this panorama through the windshield was just unreal. I need to remember to use my Photosynth app tomorrow and post it here. Our driver Adias and I were the only ones awake in the truck on the way back, and since his English is about as good as my Creole I had a lot of time to enjoy the off road adventure and the scenery. When we got back to our hotel, Drew and I got in our room and changed in to trunks to hit the ocean. A few of our group was already out there and nearly everyone else came out later. The water is very, very warm and the only down side is that there is some trash and debris in the water, and that there are quite a few sea urchin. There were three local kids who swam with us out there who would pick the urchin up off the ocean floor and throw them on shore. I didn't try this but I'm sure I will before the week is done. We ate dinner after that which was fantastic. Cajun jerk chicken with grilled onions and peppers, fried rice with that same great sauce from last night, potatoes and conch. I had no idea what the conch was when I got it but I figured an open mind about foreign food was a good thing to have so I dug in. It had a really weird consistency, like tougher mushrooms but it had a very distinct shellfish taste. Overall I was a fan. I made the mistake of thinking that the hot sauce they have here would be on par with the stuff we normally have in the states so a few bites I was in for a rude awakening. We debriefed after that and we learned more about Franky's story. He went to Bible college (slightly different than seminary) for 3 years after secondary school and has a wife, two kids of his own, and two orphans he takes care of. He told us that he has a dream of starting an orphanage here and you can really tell he has a heart for his people and community. Tomorrow I believe we are going back to the same place we were today but I am cool with going anywhere at this point as long as I get to see the one kid again. Side note: if my parents are reading this since I know they are wondering, my poison ivy/oak/whatever is slightly better than when I left

...And we're back

Arriving a little later than last year proved to be a pretty good idea. We really only had to wait about a half hour until we boarded and got in the air. The wait in Miami turned out to be a little longer than expected due to unexplained issues with the plane but we made it to PAP in one piece. After landing and meeting up with two very brave college freshman girls who flew here by themselves and are staying with a group for 6 weeks, we lead them through the absolute chaos of the airport and jumped in a Nissan Urvan, a Toyota Hi-lux and a Toyota Landcruiser FJ80 and were on our way. Walking out of the terminal I was the first one to recognize Ronald from last year. We said our hellos and he lead us to the cars.
The city looked just as devastated as the last time we were here. There are still tent cities all over the place and people living in extreme poverty. We all drove by and stopped at the Haitian National Palace which looked like a bomb went off in it. Honestly it looked like something out of an apocalypse movie. This is their White House and I'm sure seeing it in the shape it is over a year after the fact does nothing to boost morale in the people. We began to be hounded by people selling pretty good looking paintings so we got out of there pretty quickly. The paintings were cool but I'm sure if we would have bought one then we would have never made it out of there. One guy started talking to me (in pretty good English) about where the money goes in this governmental system but he gradually shifted the conversation to buying his paintings. When we got out of there we drove north and went a little in to the mountains to the place where we are now. The guest house is a newer 410 Bridge guest house that sits right across the street from a soccer pitch that is totally covered in rocks. It is crazy, I'm fairly sure that people have placed these lighter colored rocks where the paint lines would be on a soccer pitch because from where we are we can see the center circle, midfield line, goal boxes, and out of bounds markers. There were some people playing a half field game but it was kind of hard to tell how old they were. We ate some pretty good bologna sandwiches for a snack and then hung out on the balcony for a while while we waited for dinner.
Dinner consisted of the expected rice, beans and chicken with fried plantains and this incredible sauce stuff that you poured over the rice. After dinner Ronald explained that he would be leaving us in the very capable hands of Franky, another guide because he was going back to lead another group in Bohoc, where we were last year. We each read a chapter of Proverbs and found a verse or string of verses that said something to us and read them aloud. The last thing to happen was the worst shower I have ever taken. The temperature was nice but the water felt like it was gravity fed from 3 inches above the faucet. No matter though we are all going to smell by the end of the week anyway. Also Tom now has a phone with international minutes so contacting our family will be a little easier. This guest house doesn't have wifi but the next one will so I will post this when we get there. Tomorrow the real trip begins.

There and Back Again

Here we go! Okay so Thursday we will be going back to Haiti and I am pumped. Ronald will be our guide again, we are going to be doing water and coffee missions and may even get a beach day out of it.  As of now I have packed nothing, aside from my Camelbak which is drying and a few tee shirts and such but I will have plenty of time for that tomorrow. The plan is that we are going to be working in two communities, Chadirac and Fond Baptiste, both are a few hours north of Port Au Prince (PAP) and are both apparently stunningly beautiful. I will be taking some video with my phone and another camera so be on the look out for photos and stuff.
Unfortunately we won't be in for the long treks across the country that I looked forward to every day last year, but I am pretty sure that I was the only one that looked forward to them. My definition of fun is a little bit off the norm.
I can't express how excited I am to go back to the island. It blows me away that this time last year, I didn't even care if we went or not. The whole adventure aspect of it is right up my alley and I never saw it coming. It's amazing how God can grow us in ways we never expected.

If this ends up being the blog that people read to find out what's going on in Haiti, this is our contact info in the worst case scenario:

June 14th night - Cabaret Guesthouse

June 15 - 20 - Le Xaragua

Stacy Williams is the 410Bridge staff person on call. She can be reached at (770)330-9547 if you need to be reached while we are in Haiti. She will get emergency messages to us.

Wish us luck