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!