Thankful

Since this week was Thanksgiving, I have decided to take a break from my normal storytelling and blog about how thankful my summer trip to Haiti has made me. Going to a third world country really opens people’s eyes to see how blessed we are here in the USA, and it definitely made me more appreciative for a lot of things I have and realized how much I take for granted.

Here is a short list of some of the things that I am more appreciative of now since going to Haiti:

-paved roads

-seat belts

-road rules

-traffic signals

-warm showers

-having clean water/not having to worry about the water I am drinking

-a good home with a bed that doesn’t get soaked when it rains

-air conditioning!

-plenty of clothes

-flushing toilets

-good health

-plenty of food/I don’t have to worry about when my next meal is or how I will get it

-how accessible it is to go to a doctor or go to the store (ex; I don’t have to walk 45 min. to go to the store, the nearest doctor isn’t an hour away)

-a good education

These are only a few things I am thankful for! Just remember; it’s important, especially during this time of year as we are busy hurrying around trying to get things done, to keep in mind what we are thankful for and what is truly important to us. What are you are thankful for this year? Take some time this week to appreciate all the things you have to be thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving!

Camp out +Tropical Depression= A Soggy Situation

When my team left to begin our mission trip to Haiti, we were expecting Haiti to be really hot and extremely humid. We were really surprised when we got to Haiti and it rained pretty much every day. Later, we learned that the reason for all the rain was because of a tropical depression that was passing through. When the eight of us girls finally got our tent set up at Northwest Haiti Christian Mission (which is a completely different story in itself), we thought the worst was behind us. It wasn’t until that night when the eight of us piled into the tent, that we realized how wrong we were. We had set the tent up right next to the one of the walls of the dorm. Unfortunately, it was also near where the water poured out of the gutter, causing water to pool under our tent. Which caused everything in the tent to become wet. Then, because we were unable to use the metal stakes on the concrete patio when we were securing the tent, the tent wasn’t fully stretched out. This caused us to have an occasional leak, due to water pooling on the roof of the tent. By the end of the week we went from having eight people in the tent to only four. The fourth night we spent in Haiti was the last night the four of us spent in the tent. That night it rained really badly and we ended up sleeping in about an inch of water with water pouring on us from the roof. The following day, we took down the tent (which was a whole lot easier than putting it up) and spent about one to two hours getting all the water out and then we packed it up for the trip home. That night we all slept in the dorm which was so different to the four of us who had stayed out in the tent. It was so hot and stuffy compared to sleeping in the tent but it was definitely a lot dryer!

Eight Girls vs. A Tent

While we were staying at Northwest Haiti Christian Mission we had the choice of either sleeping in the “dorms” or we could set up the tents we brought, on the flat concrete patio right next to the “dorm”. The “dorms” were these big one room cinder block buildings that were filled with bunk beds lined up in a row, a couple of twin beds, and lots of mattresses. The eight of us girls, decided that we were going to try and set up a tent on the patio because we weren’t sure if there were enough bunks in the dorms for all of us. It looked like it would rain soon, so we wanted to get the tent up as soon as possible.

 We started taking the eight person tent out of the bag and realized that the instruction booklet had disintegrated because of all the rain on the bus ride. We decided that if we all worked together we should be able to figure out how to put up the tent. It looked like it would be pretty simple; lay out the tent, put the four tent poles through the loops, raise up the tent, and secure. Little did we know that the challenging task before us would not only test our patience, but our team work, and communication skills as well. We had no problem laying out the tent and we didn’t seem to have too much trouble putting the poles through the loops. It was when we were trying to raise up the tent that trouble struck. We ended up having to take down the tent because we had mixed up the poles. To make things worse, the rain had finally caught up to us. So there we were, scrambling in the rain, tying to figure out what poles go where and how to put up the tent. Finally, we got things straightened out and the tent started going up. It was looking good. As the rain stopped, we finished securing the tent. We had done it. Together, we had conquered the task of putting up the tent and were ready for whatever else would come our way.

 Even though we had to take the tent down the first time and put it back up in the rain,   we finally got the tent set up and learned about the importance of team work…. all in time for supper!