Mike and Brenda's Viewpoint

We teased our hosts all week that we were their best volunteer group in 2011. That's an easy accomplishment since we came on January 5th. Check out their blog at http://mchbjh.blogspot.com/ and continue to pray for their ministry in Haiti. We are so thankful for their leadership.

Heading Home

The local alarm, the rooster population, got our team up and out by 5am. Mike, Brenda and Jenni were gracious enough to come over and say goodbye with a prayer for safe travels. We hope to see them again one day.

We enjoyed a chilly ride under the early morning stars back to Port-au-Prince. I don't think you can ever get use to the smells here. Burning trash and plastic is not pleasant. Even in the early morning hours people are out and about. We passed large memorial services along the way as they remember the quarter of a million people that passed away a year ago today.

We arrived at the airport safely and ahead of schedule. We said goodbye to Jeanson. We will miss him dearly. We enjoyed the Reno Express coffee shop at the terminal while sitting in air conditioning. Putting on makeup this morning was a real treat!

Boarding soon for Miami. Bon Voyage Haiti...you will always be a part of our hearts. We will keep you in our prayers.

Last Day in Haiti

We are one tired group. While Texas is enjoying real winter conditions, we enjoyed the sun and working in 90 degree weather. It was hard work, but worth the effort. We were a lucky group since we didn't have to do that type of work everyday.

I took a picture of the tent community outside our house. It is still hard to grasp that they live in these tents. In Port-au-Prince, they seem to go on forever.

Tomorrow is the year anniversary of the earthquake. While many news articles will talk about the lack of progress in Haiti, we will remember all the lives that were lost in reverence. We will think of our friends here that work everyday to rebuild Haiti. Yes, it's slow and overwhelming. Haiti has a long way to go and the cards are stacked against them right now. But they are resilient and hard working. They have unshakable faith in God.

We know for sure that in Grand Goave at Siloe school, progress is being made and they have hope in a better tomorrow. We have faith in them and will continue to keep them in our prayers. God is working here in Haiti regardless of what you hear. We had a special good-bye with our Haitian team tonight. We learned more from them than they will ever know.

We have so much to share with you on January 19th during Wednesday night bible study. Different people will speak and we would love for you to join us. This blog was just a glimpse of our experience. Thank you for joining us on our journey. We look forward to seeing our families Wednesday night! We miss you all!

Ba aaa.....

That's the sound that our dinner made before he was our dinner. Goats are everywhere, but they don't drink goats milk. Some people thought it tasted like beef jerky. Most of us could go for some Tex-Mex right now. None of us have gone hungry. They are very generous in the portions they serve our team.

Remember Pig Pen on Charlie Brown and the cloud of continuous dust? That's us. I feel sorry for the people that have to sit near us on the plane from Miami. We had a hard day of work and the shower at the job site (see previous posts) was almost comparable to a Westin Heavenly shower by the end of the day.

School was suppose to start today, but they delayed until tomorrow. We finished all the benches and new chalk boards. Then the fun began. We started digging a foundation. We took turns using a sledge hammer, a pick ax and shovels. We broke a few handles, but made some progress. The Haitian workers didn't like the girls helping at first with this project. After we proved ourselves by moving rocks for them, they enjoyed some good laughs when I used the sledge hammer.

That's all we are going to do all day tomorrow...dig and break up old concrete and rock. Maybe we can loose a pound since we all think we have gained weight in Haiti.

Haitian people love to ask your name and practice saying it over again. We realize that Haiti gets a lot of bad press, but I don't know if I have ever met nicer strangers. They are hard workers and eager to learn. They sit by the street lamps to read and study at night because most of them do not have electricity or running water.

We have a new appreciation for government in the US. To have utilities and sewer systems and nice roads is something we take for granted. Too often all we do is complain. I am thankful for trash pickup companies and cities that provide that service. I wish the Haitians were so lucky. Trash disposal here is either burning the trash or throwing it down the river.

We look forward to our last day of work and seeing our families soon. We will miss our new friends in Haiti.

The Beach

Before I tell you about our beach trip, I will mention our house so you don't think we have it all easy. The house is incredible though considering that earlier groups had to stay in tents.

12 of us plus Jeanson stay in 1 house. The rooms have bunkbeds with air mattresses. We share 2 toilets and 2 showers. It is a bit of a challenge when the water runs low. We use a generator, but it gets turned off at night. We have used a lot of batteries in the small camping fans we brought.

The beach was a nice treat. Mike and Brenda took us to a private beach away from town where the water was safe. It was beautiful and we got to eat spiny lobster (a welcome change from beans and rice). I must say though that the food has been good. A family from Canada came to volunteer for a week in an orphanage. They brought 80 kids to the beach while we were there. I took a picture, but then realized a baby boy had no clothes on, so I can't post that picture.

When they arrived, they were so excited. It was sweet to watch them splash and play in the shallow water. Then I quickly remembered we were in Haiti and these kids are just a handful of the orphans here. I admit I broke down for a moment. I couldn't hold back tears as I sat on the sand watching them. Things have affected each of us at different points. We also saw UN soldiers at the beach in uniform-another reminder of our location. Jeanson said he had never seen them there before.

As we end day 5, it gets harder to be away from our families. A hot shower is starting to sound nice. Tonight we are having to conserve water at our house since our tank is low, so only a few enjoyed a cold shower. We still are enjoying each other and know it is worth it. The kids start school tomorrow and we get to work on a foundation for the next classroom. Two good days of hard work ahead and then we return home on Wednesday.

Please continue to pray for strength and health as our trip nears the end. Please pray that what we have learned here is not soon forgotten.

Worship in Haiti

Today we got to worship in Creole at Temple Baptiste. This church owns the school Siloe that we have been working on. I am attaching a picture the original church. Now they worship in tents since the earthquake.

Jeanson, prounced Johnson, is our local translator and project coordinator. He lives in the house where we stay. He is kind, gentle and smart. He speaks multiple languages. He also leads in worship at church. He is 25 and teaches at the school. He is wearing the orange shirt with a tie in the picture of the church under the tent. I left my phone during church, so I missed a picture during worship.

Worship was wonderful. They love to sing and every word is sincere. They sang "Showers of Blessings" in Creole. We recognized the tune. It seems surreal that they can be so thankful for "blessings" when we consider our blessings at home to be material things. I wish I could have that type of faith and gratitude. This is one thing I would like to take home from the Haitians.

Meet Our Hosts

Mike and Brenda Harwood are our CBF field coordinators. They are very gracious and patient hosts. Originally from the UK, they lived in Florida before committing to 3 years to work in Haiti. We enjoy visiting with them and asking tons of cultural questions. They are inspirational and strong in their faith. They treated us with a hamburger cookout Sat night at the volunteer house. We all have a deep appreciation for them.

Editorial correction: John is also known as Robocop. Apparently the Haitian workers were watching this movie on their phones during a lunch break and they think he looks like Robocop.