Haiti Trip Day One Journal

Bonswa!  I know or hope that all of you are excited to see pictures and hear stories of Haiti.  I thought it would be fun to relive and retell each day as I was in Haiti, because I would journal each night.  I did not want to rush telling you my time in Haiti as well, so sorry for the delay.  I wanted to really capture everything I experience and show you that beauty and LOVE as well.  I hope you enjoy!  Feel free to ask questions as well!



Here is a picture of our team!  I will not put people's names, but it was a blast getting to know these wonderful people and Sean and I are excited to continue our fellowship at Brookview Church in Lynnwood, WA.

Saw a Vandal plane and it was awesome to start our journey!

This is where we stayed in line waiting for customs.

6/22/2011

It is our first official day in Haiti.  They call it Ayli (Ah-yee-tee), they just do not pronounce the H’s.  So obviously, my name was Ayley.  It was awesome!  We arrived at 8 am Haitian time so (6 am Seattle time, they do not recognize day light savings).  It was already blistering hot at 8 am!  We also stuck out pretty easily, being a big group of Americans.  I did not mind sticking out either, it was kind of fun to experience something different being the minority.  I just do not want to give the Haitians a false hope of security in money being in American.  It kills me not being able to provide for all of the poor children.

Right away, we got all of our luggage after going through customs.  One of our leaders left their passport in the seat back in front of their seat.  And Haiti was going to let them in the country without a passport.  They said, no, I need to get it.  How would they have gotten back into the country?  Crazy!  They called the airline and they did get their passport back.

People were trying to help us with our luggage for a fee, but we had Alexa, someone hired from World Wide Village to help us with our luggage and keep everyone away from assisting us, because they would literally take it ten feet and want money. 

Got into our vehicle called a Tap Tap and right away people were staring at us.  There was an immense about of trash in the streets, drains, rivers, etc.  It is pretty nuts and when it gets too large, they just burn it right in the street.

We are staying in a village called: Theodat in Haiti.  We saw a soccer field and it is awesome!  I guess it is pretty nice compared to Haitian standards of just a dirt field.  We played a lot of pick up soccer games, it was so much fun.  We went to the guest house we are staying in and dropped our stuff off so we could help and explore Haiti.  We then went to a tent city, this was pretty shocking to see people living out of a tarp.  They were even trying to sell anything they could get their hands on inside of the tarp.  They were so happy to see us.  We went to the tent city to assist a medical team staying at the guest house with us from West Virgina.  They were giving out prescriptions to Haitians and medicines.  They also were giving people Novocaine and pulling out infected teeth.  They examined different Haitians that needed to see a doctor.  I really wish I had a medical talent to help.  Half of our team helped count prescription pills into plastic bags to hand out when needed. 



Sean and I got to help size little children for shoes, and not just shoes, but TOMS shoes!  I bought a pair of TOMS as you have read before my trip and by purchasing a pair, it gives a pair to a child in need.  I got to see that process, how cool.  So we sized little children’s feet for TOMS.  They handed them out the next day, and we did not get to see them, because we were in a different village doing our soccer clinic and teacher training.  It was still so cool and there are no words to describe that experience. 

The picture above is what a typical Haitian home looks like. 

We had some time to hang out with the children and they are so happy.  I cannot believe that their parents just let them hangout with crazy Americans!  They loved talking to us or trying to in broken English.  They also liked when we tried to speak Creole.  It sounds a lot like French.  We had our little word tags that helped us say in Creole hello, how are you, etc.  The kids loved it and would laugh a lot.  They started dancing and singing, and even rapping.  And they were good!  They even knew a Justin Bieber song lol.  I would dance and try to sing and I was totally in my element.  I felt normal there, all my crazy pent up energy I have in the States was used for something.  I felt right at home, despite the extreme poverty and blistering heat.  I loved every minute of it and did not want to leave. 

After playing with the kiddos we went to the presidential palace to see the damage in Port-Au-Prince.  The earthquake definitely hit it pretty bad.  We could see some people still picking up the rubble from the quake at the palace.  We took some pictures and then went to the market to get a soda to cool off.

The picture above is right across from the presidential palace and used to be a huge grass park.  Now it is filled with Haitians living in tents because they were displaced from their homes. 



That is a picture of the soda I had.

Everyone thought I would have a lot of trouble with the Haitian food because I am such a picky eater and hate anything spicy.  But we actually had a Haitian cook at the guest house that was really sweet.  Our meals were amazing.  For dinner we had mashed potatoes and in the gravy had meat mixed it.  So delicious.  Even the peas and carrots were a blessing.  It was not what I expected at all. 

After dinner we had a teachers meeting to go over our supplies that we were taking to the village of Luly the next day for our teacher training.  Our main objective in going to Haiti was to go to Luly and train the local teachers there and to love on them with a lot of school supplies.  They do not have any supplies and we brought maps, math tangible items, different lessons with materials, and a lot of knowledge to share with them.  During the time we were training the teachers, the other half of our team was putting on a soccer clinic to allow us to be with the teachers without the distractions of the children.  The soccer clinic not only helped us teachers, but they taught the children about good sportsmanship and after each day, each member choose a boy or girl that exemplified good sportsmanship and gave them a cross necklace.  Also, each day a person would share their testimony: story on how Jesus has changed their life.  It was pretty awesome.  So the soccer team was pumping up the balls and we were preparing the teaching materials.

Each morning and evening we have a Devotion where a team member (different each time) will ask a question or just allow time for us to reflect on our experiences in Haiti.  Our pastor led the first one by saying, “What surprised you today?”  Most responses were that the Haitians were happy and not sad or upset like they thought.  That the Haitians were filled with joy amongst the poverty.  Some said overwhelming.  Others that the Haitians are really well dressed and take pride in their appearance. 

Overall, it hit me that despite their circumstances and everything that has happened to the Haitian people, they have cheerful hearts.  They are making do with what they have and are hopeful.  I wish I could say this about me sometimes or America in general.  I am really excited to share my journey with you and am thankful for all the Blessings God has bestowed upon me.  Thank you for reading, for everyone that supported me and for your prayers!