Last Thoughts as We Prepare to Come Home

This morning started off with trips to two more guest houses to check out their accommodations as we prepare to see what a trip to Haiti would look like for a small group of people at our church. The first guesthouse was also an orphanage, which consisted of primarily children with special needs. It was heartbreaking to see these kids, some of whom were sick and most of whom were malnourished. I would say that this sight, and knowing that it can be replicated thousands of times around the country, was one of our personal lows for the week. It is very easy to be overwhelmed with the needs in Haiti and to see any work done as a mere drop in the bucket. However, by concentrating on small, strategic areas where one can make an impact and allowing God to work through us to make an even larger impact; we believe that we will see change that is evident of the Kingdom.


The second Guest House we went to was called Matthew 25 (not related to M25M in Cincinnati). The nun, who ran the guest house, appeared to have been traumatized by the quake and told us that she only recently stopped sleeping in a tent two weeks ago, even though the guest house was completely sound and intact. The guest house did have, however, an incredible gift shop made up of wares from various artisans in the PAP area. Ashley was particularly happy about this stop and it shows with her extra bag to check in, which she credits as a contribution to both the local artisans and the Matthew 25 ministry. Matthew 25 has a number of programs in the area including hosting a tent community of 700 (previously 2,000), primary school serving the tent community kids and surrounding area, basketball court, and previous emergency medical clinic immediately following the earthquake. Note: The picture of the colorful table was previously the surgical table used post-quake. 

We then went to an area of PAP, down a back alleyway known as the metal market. We entered small tiny houses made up of 2 rooms no bigger than our closets or half-baths displaying from floor to ceiling their beautiful metal wares. Our group purchased several things here as well. The team agreed that this area would be a great place to take a small team prior to departing Haiti.

We then came home and began debriefing the week. We went through all the things we had seen and what the needs were. We then brainstormed as to what each of our visions were of a small team week. Then we packed for the trip home in the morning.

We’ve seen many disheartening things this week: a severely impoverished and devastated nation, mass malnutrition, unmet medical needs, intense driving conditions, continued deforestation. While all of these have affected us, it has been our one on one encounters with children and families involved in restavek or in orphanages that will stay with us. This is not a place for the faint of heart.

However, there were also many positives: the five churches led by Pastor Leon, and its many programs in the poorest areas of the city. He has developed effective and efficient programs with minimal costs. Another bright light was the faces of the children, when we waved at them. Children are considered to be the lowest on the totem pole in Haiti, and rarely get played with. It was refreshing to see children play in Sous Savanne with Catherine and Ashley on an impromptu basis. It was really the only time I saw children play as a large group. It was also uplifting to see the people of Sous Savanne be excited and chip in to put up the Hope Force tents. Last, but not least, was all the great programs that the Restavek Freedom Foundation (RFF) had put into place. It was clear that Ray and Joan Conn, the founders of Restavek Freedom Foundation, had clearly invested in many if not all of them. Watching women, who were happy to have a meeting place, or people who were thankful to have a school to go to (because their tuition was paid or because their school had been reopened), due to the RFF. All of these were things that guided one to the truth that one can make a difference in Haiti, especially if their hearts are open to giving of themselves and allowing God to work through them.

Lovin' Logistics

This morning Ray and Joan left to return to Cincinnati. They have been very gracious hosts and very generous. They are models of how Christians can change the world, and I mean that literally. The programs and relationships that have built on behalf of the Haitian people is amazing. We got up and prayed with Ray and Joan before they left. We then waited for Jean Marie (one of the Restavek Freedom Foundation’s employees) to come back from his errands, and then traveled to the Restavek office to drop off some supplies we had brought down with us on the plane. Jean Marie was our interpreter and driver for the day.

We picked several packs of the English version of “Restavek No More” books to bring home with us from the office, and then headed to the Transitional Center to drop off medical supplies. We then spent the rest of the day, checking out hotels and guest homes, car rental rates, and preparing for a possible future SWAT team trip. We also stopped by the Hotel Montana, which fell during the quake. Many foreigners, including many Americans died in this hotel.

Traffic seemed heavier than normal as one of the roads was blocked in anticipation of the announcement of the ballot of Presidential contenders. The announcement was supposed to be made earlier in the week, but was postponed until Friday afternoon, in all likelihood, to minimize any possible demonstrations. Wyclef Jean is a popular possible candidate, but may not be on the ballot. As a result, any travel in the city tomorrow may be greatly limited.

As our week is winding down, so is our energy level in the evenings. We had funny things happen throughout our day, and we laughed regularly…but at this hour we are struggling to come up with cute stories to share. One note: it is “acceptable” at Hertz Rental counter at the PAP airport to take a break from your job, remain at your desk, refuse to answer any questions, and drink a beer. Who knew? Also, if you plan to get married in Haiti we did find a nice location for a wedding reception called The Ritz. We were looking for a particular hotel, but wrong directions sent us to this facility. Let us know if you need contact info!

Visiting with a Restavek Family

Today we started our day in Port Salut on the hotel patio overlooking the Caribbean. After a fantastic breakfast of ham and cheese omelets, coffee, and fresh juice, we visited the English school sponsored by Joan and Ray. The program consists of 4 levels, with each level consisting of 1 year of English teaching. We shared with the students a little bit about ourselves and then let them ask questions of us. Catherine and Ashley spoke with 4-5 students each from the level 3 and 4 levels while David, Stu, and Ray talked with approximately 20-30 level 2 students. This was extremely fun and allowed the students to practice their English. As many as 14 students will be graduating after this year with their certificate as the first students with 4 years of English class completed

After leaving the school, and on our way out of Port Salut we made two more stops. The first was a stop to see Mary Lou and her five children. Mary Lou had two daughters that were previous restaveks in PAP, but with the help of the Conn’s a house was built for Mary Lou so she could get her 2 daughters back home from PAP and out of the restavek system a couple of years ago. As we visited and began to talk with Mary Lou she shared that she had sent her youngest daughter to PAP because she could not feed her. She also told us her other daughter had contracted TB and been very sick earlier in the year. After a long discussion with Joan, Mary Lou agreed to get her youngest daughter returned from PAP and make sure they attended school beginning in October. On the ride back to PAP it was heartbreaking to hear the plight of Mary Lou (she was a child restavek) and her children and her inability to provide food, leading her to send yet another daughter away to become another abused restavek.

Our second stop was to view another piece of property, on the outskirts of Port Salut that the Conn’s hope to build a transition home on to further build into the community in and around Port Salut. This piece of property was back off the main road and similar in size to the property in Port Salut that will be used for the community center. We joined with local community members and prayed on the property. Before we departed we passed out shoes, some clothing, underwear and anti-parasitic medicine to the community who gathered.

After viewing the property we continued our journey back to PAP. As we passed through the multiple towns and markets we were taken back by the constant barrage of malnourished children with thin arms and legs, and distended stomachs. The need is immense and everywhere you look.

We entered into PAP about 2:30. Joan and Ray had a meeting at pastor Sheeba’s church, aka the “big yellow church”, regarding some restavek students and their report cards. We all sat around in one of the temporary school classrooms that were built after the earthquake, and rested after our long drive. There are 12 classrooms that had over 800 students in session this year. This school is to replace the one that collapsed during the earthquake killing approx 30 students, 8 of which were restavek children that Ray and Joan were serving. Ray & Joan are working with the church to find a property where the school can be rebuilt.

At the conclusion of the meeting at church we picked up Nadine, one of the child advocates for the Restavek Freedom Foundation. We dropped her off at home and proceeded back to the house where we all crashed and rested before dinner.

Ray & Joan were unable to join us for dinner so we invited Louise, the house manager, to sit down for dinner with us. Louise led us in prayer and during dinner Ashley and Catherine led us in practicing Creole. Dinner was great as usual, and to bless Louise the guys cleared the tables (I know…very weak) while Ashley and Catherine washed the dishes.

Tomorrow Ray and Joan will be headed home and leave us on our own for a couple of days. We plan to go to the metal market and we will also begin looking around town for accommodations and other resources for support future trips.


Ray humor for the day:

As we were taking Nadine home we saw the strangest thing. A group of 10-12 guys were trying to carry a 15-foot I-beam across the street, when out of the blue Ray says, “That’s interesting, those guys are trying to salvage that piece of iron. That should be interesting trying to get that in their living room.”


For the Haiti Team,
David

Highway....what highway?

Out our bedroom window

Lunch with students in the English program

We woke up early this morning in Port Au Prince to a beautiful sunrise around 5am and a piping hot cup of Haitian coffee. We packed a tiny bag and filed into the vehicle for a four hour ride to Port Salut. By the way, four hours does not include the full hour plus it takes to get from our home base to the outskirts of PAP. Luckily, we were able to drive much of the four hours on the ‘highway’. The highway is simply a nicely paved road with one lane going each way. The space that normally would display a double yellow line is defined as an ‘optional third lane’, of which Ray is a card carrying member.

The purpose of today is to see the way of life for the 6 million Haitians not living in PAP. The rural countryside is spotted with small community markets that line the roads or bridges with people selling and bartering goods, mostly food. We saw many women and children walking alone up and down mountainsides in barefeet with 5 gallon buckets of water on their head. Ray pointed out that many of these women have walked over an hour from their water source to obtain water. Bridges led us over rivers where children were playing, people were bathing, and women were washing. Winding roads brought us into valleys with rice patty fields and to beautiful scenic mountain vistas.

We arrived in La Calle, which is the third largest city in Haiti. Another 25 kilometers brought us into the town of Port Salut. Joan and Ray have built into this town significantly through an English program, which has developed employment opportunities for some of these students as interpreters. These students have been able to utilize their English skills as interpreters for a medical clinic in PAP soon after the disaster. We were able to have lunch with some of these students, and we’re looking forward to seeing them tomorrow.

This afternoon our team gathered to do devotions and debrief on our experiences thus far. In the evening we toured several developing areas in Port Salut including a medical clinic and a community center site. We prayed together with several community members and the Conns regarding this community. We continued our conversations regarding potential projects in Haiti over dinner. Before bed, our team gathered together to discuss the rest of the week’s plans.

On a side note, we did a rescue mission! My flip flops (my only shoes for this leg of the trip) attempted to escape across the sea to Cuba, but thanks to David’s keen eye, they were rescued.

Peace!

Ashley

Today the question was asked, “How do you spell monsoon?” :o)

Today the question was asked, “How do you spell monsoon?” :o)

All is well, no worries! Here is a little about our adventurous day. We began with devotion/prayer that quoted I Corinthians 13:4 –13. This was a powerful start and we were out the door by 7:15 am. We drove to Cite Soliel to visit Pastor Leon. He is the pastor of 5 locations in the most oppressed areas in the PAP (Port au Prince) area. His church has 3 priorities:
1. a church building for evangelism
2. school to promote education
3. medical clinic

We visited 3 locations. Two of the locations are very well developed “compounds” containing all three of the above priorities. Above and beyond they also included water purification, power generators/solar panels, multiple classrooms for each grade, and facilities to host incoming medical teams. The “main location” also had dorm like facilities to house volunteers.

The other location was called Re-Patriot. The best way to describe this location is an under-developed subdivision with a structure every block or so. Funny thing, most of Haiti does not have street signs, but this area was clearly marked. The church was completely destroyed by the earthquake. The congregation is made up of about 600 members that used their church up to 4 days a week and are currently meeting in a tent. (Incidentally, the roof of the tent is currently rotting after just 3 months) New construction is underway to build the security wall around the property. Another building (classrooms for school) was damaged beyond repair on this property.

Pastor Leon is a very dynamic man who has accomplished a lot in his last 22 years with these churches. A favorite quote of the day, “If you want to get something done, ask someone who is busy.” ~ Pastor Leon

From here we headed out to meet a community leader named Pastor Runner. He originally founded a school in Route Nef with his wife. The Restavek Foundation came along side of Runner to help support the school and keep it open for the last 3 years. After the quake this was one of the first schools to reopen. Part of the school was heavily damaged, but the rebuild is almost complete. About 125 children attend school, and a large percentage are restaveks. Joan introduced us as members of the community that helped provide food after the earthquake (the Crossroads community). Pastor Runner expressed his deep thanks and offered to pray for us. This time of prayer was touching and we offered to pray for him and his community as well. God was present during our time together.

For lunch we stopped at a restaurant that didn’t have anything available from the menu. (Not quite, but that is what it felt like)

After lunch we stopped by the transition home to tour/visit and meet some of the Restavek staff. We picked up Dejean and Shanida (don’t copy our spelling, it’s probably wrong) headed out to Fontamara to see the literacy program. Before we tell you about the program, we should probably tell you about the drive. It was about 1.5 hours up the side of a mountain with a large stream running along side the “road”. (More like a sort of road/dirt pile with large gullies and lots of people walking) The program serves about 50 people (mostly women with about 4 men) ages 27 – 85 to teach them to read/write Creole.

As soon as we arrived and started the program the clouds darkened, sprinkles began. Then rain came down sideways – like a monsoon. Our team gathered next to a concrete wall with a tarp using David as an anchor for the tarp. While we waited out the storm, we found out a tree fell in front of our parked car. No worries, a local went to get his machete. Seriously. :o) He chopped it up and Ashley and Dejean tossed the branches into the river. Pigs came and ate the fresh leaves. We definitely experienced a Haitian rainstorm first hand.

After the rain, our drive home consisted of running into a traffic jam that included a UN truck stuck on the side of the road blocking traffic. The fearless men in our group (ALL the men) jumped out to help the UN truck – after all traffic wasn’t moving anyway. (Bet you haven’t pushed a UN truck before, huh?) After Ray finally got out to direct traffic we were able to move through the congestion and get home.

What will tomorrow bring? Stay tuned we are excited!

Pics and one more Quote

<> 

<><>

Tent Assembly

Before we head to bed, we are trying to get a couple pictures up.  Enjoy these pics for now.  Maybe more later.

"Mirrors on a car - it's good to have them out there.  They are like whiskers on a cat."  Ray Conn

Starting the journey

Starting the Journey

We are pleased to announce that we arrived yesterday! Our flights and connections were smooth. We were pleased to see that all of our bags arrived as well. We can confirm what we had heard before we arrived: it is hot here.


After Joan and Ray (from Restavek Freedom Foundation) met us at the airport we traveled to the house. That was a great opportunity for us to see some of the driving skills necessary for survival here…and we were told that traffic wasn’t that heavy because it was a Sunday. We spent the early evening and dinner listening to and sharing stories. It was wonderful opportunity hear background and to prepare us for the week.


This morning started very early – 5 am. We thought we had plenty of time before our 6 am departure, but we ended up leaving about 5:20. We were blessed with light traffic – which was in part due to the early hour and also school is out for the season. Our first stop was the location that will become Restavek’s transitional house.


Just up the road (literally just a few doors up) we met up with Jack Minton and his team from Hope Force International. This is when we realized we were about an hour early. Of course it is better to be early, rather than late, but we also ask Ray to adjust his watch so we don’t run an hour early for the whole trip. :o)
We met the Hope Force Team and headed out of town. The drive was about an hour and we traveled through some very interesting areas that gave us a taste of Port au Prince. Damage from the earthquake is apparent, but not all damage you see is “post-earthquake”. Piles of debris are in the road, the side of the road, and buildings are rubble…but life is moving on and the roads are relatively “passable”. At one point it was mentioned that we were driving through the area that was considered the epicenter, but it was interesting that that area did not seem more devastated than other areas. We also drove by the presidential palace, and as reported on the news, it looks as though the earthquake happened yesterday.
We traveled on to Leogane to pick up the tents that Hope Force was storing in a warehouse. From there we traveled about 45 minutes up to Sou Savanne. During this drive the earthquake damage was very apparent, but we were now in the country and heading up into the foothills. Once we entered the community some of us jumped out and helped families erect their new tents. The families had already prepared the site, dug trenches around the tent footprint, and some had even assembled a ring of rocks. Others in our group continued to the site for the 700 square foot community gathering tent. While the men put up the tent, Ashley and Catherine entertained about 30 kids that gathered around. We played “red light green light”, counted, let them touch our arms (and watch it change color) and hair, and did the chicken dance. They tried their English on us and we attempted French/Creole or anything we could think of…overall a lot of laughs were exchanged. Once the tent was erected, we spoke with Jack, his team and Pastor Joseph.

We headed back towards town and stopped at a few sites along the way. These included a couple of schools that have started to rebuild post quake and a micro-enterprise making beautiful wooden items.

We have had a very successful day in Haiti. In addition to everything above, we have learned that Ray has a great sense of humor and some good one liners. One of the favorites from today is, “Port au Prince is like Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates – you just never know what you are gonna get.”

Off to rest now. We hope all is well in the states! Thank you for your support and prayers!