January Medical Trip Day 2

Today began with a great breakfast of fresh mangos, pineapple, and watermelon with eggs, bread and of all things spaghetti with a slightly spicy sauce. It was a little interesting eating it for breakfast but I didn't mind.

Going up the mountain we used the same route as always, going through the semi-controlled chaos of the cities and towns juxtaposed against the relative serenity of the mountain roads. We were told that they had improved some of the roads up the mountain. We were lied to.

Although, in my opinion, paving over the rough paths we have to take would further spoil the raw purity of this place. It still amazes me the difference in Haiti and the Dominican Republic even though they are on the same island.

Where the D.R. protected its rainforests and really has a tourist industry, Haiti's natural resources are nearly depleted now and it doesn't seem like Haiti does much for tourists. I will say that there are actually tourists staying at our hotel with us though, and that it makes exponential progress every time we come.

The road on which we traveled was stunningly beautiful as always, and the people go from staring distrustfully at us in the cities to smiling and waving at us in the mountains. When we got to the village the first person I saw was Tiwil (complete guess on spelling, it's pronounced like tuwee) the kid from both previous trips. He was smiling and being a goofball.

We got to see where we will be having the clinic and much to my surprise it will be 90% indoors. I'll take pictures when we do it so you can see what I'm talking about.

After checking out the future clinic we had a hike to the place where we met with the village leaders last year to have another meeting involving all of us. They gave us a bit of a progress report of what has been happening and gave those who haven't been before a brief run through from when the 410 Bridge first came to Chadirac.

We introduced ourselves and the leaders introduced themselves. They told everyone in our group to please play with the kids as if they were their own and that they were so excited for us to be there to put on the first medical clinic. 

When the meeting was over it was time for a quick lunch in the trucks. While everyone was eating I had a chance to observe the kids for a little bit. I wish I would have gotten pictures of this but I didn't think about it. They got two sticks and fenced. Like actually fenced. I took a fencing class in college and they all used the same form and some of the same steps that I was taught. It was so cool. I guess it makes sense as fencing is a largely French sport and Haiti was a French colony.

After lunch we got to play with the kids. We blew bubbles, painted faces and finger nails, danced, and jumped rope. I got to play soccer for hours with the kids. We played keep away, and had a short scrimmage where the goal was a rock the size of a grapefruit. The biggest hit was taking free kicks between two trees. I haven't played goalie since high school but it was fun to do it again and I didn't do too bad.

When it was time to leave we loaded up the trucks again and went back down the mountain. We got back to the hotel at about 3 and had some down time which I spent in the ocean and by the pool. We had a lesson in Crèole which stuck with some of us better than others and did our Pictures Of The Day and devotionals on the deck by the ocean listening to the small snappy waves roll on to the beach as the sun set behind the island a couple miles out. 

We had a very island-y worship session with Rich who brought a ukulele along. For dinner we had really good rice and beans with salad, beets, beef kababs and baked chicken. And now the day is winding down and coming to an end with the group gathered around the long dining table just talking and having fellowship.

Tomorrow the plan is to go to two different churches because our group is so big and to play with the kids some more. So far the only difference between this trip and previous ones is the sheer amount of stuff we brought, but I know that will change on Monday.