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!

Tortuga

This is a picture of the kids at the VBS we did.

We made it to shore and were finally on Tortuga. We left the beach and started walking down a well worn path which took us to the village where the rest of our group was. In the village we did a VBS, which was where we sang some songs with the kids and did a skit then we gave the kids a snack and as the kids left we would give them a goodie bag. For snack we gave the kids these peanut butter sandwiches that we had made before we left Northwest Haiti Christian Mission. We had put them all in a big trash bag so they wouldn’t get wet when we were on the boat. When we opened the bag to start passing the snack out, everything was covered in peanut butter. It was a pretty messy task to try and get them out of the bag and pass them out to the kids. It was interesting to watch the kids as we passed out the snacks. None of them looked questionably at the sticky peanut butter sandwiches we were giving them but they gratefully took them. Some immediately began chowing down on the sandwiches while others held onto theirs to be able to share with their family. After the VBS we went down to the soccer field, which was clear dry dusty field, to play a game of soccer (or football, as the Haitians call it) with some of the Haitians. Let me tell you it was a really intense game! After the game it was time to go back to the boat and head back to Haiti. Because it was smoother sailing on the way back to Haiti, a lot of people spent the 1 ½ hour trip taking cat naps and resting. So it was a pretty quiet ride back to Haiti, except for the sailors having a rather intense argument about whether fish can fly or not.

This was a picture I took on Tortuga
looking back at Haiti.

Tortuga: getting to shore

We reached Tortuga and the anchor was dropped. We had to wait for a little wooden boat to come and pick us up and take us to shore. Since the little boat didn’t have a motor, there was a Haitian guy that had a long, thick stick that he used to pole the boat in the water. It kind of reminded me of a gondola. Because they were so many of us, the little boat had to take a couple trips. The first boat load of people left and while the rest of us where waiting, some of the guys decided that they didn’t want to wait for the boat to come back. So they decided they were going to swim to shore. The shore was a good ways away from the boat, but after swimming a little bit, you could just stand up and walk the rest of the way to shore. So they set off swimming to shore and had the rest of us take their shoes and shirts ashore. The boat came back and took the last of us to shore. As we were heading to shore we noticed that some of the guys who had decided to swim to shore, were walking pretty funny and they kept looking in the water. As we got closer we asked them what was going on. They replied by telling us that they were trying not to step on of the many sea urchins that were scattered all over the place. A lot of the guys that decided to swim to shore ended up with lots of sea urchin spines in the bottom of their feet. For those who don’t know, stepping on a sea urchin is almost like stepping on a piece of glass. The night before we left I remember someone who worked at Northwest Haiti Christian Mission telling my group to make sure we wear our shoes, it’s too bad that those guys had to find out why the hard way.

Tortuga: The Boat Ride



I took this picture on the boat
on the way to Tortuga.



During the walk to the boat I wondered why we were even being carried in the first place. As we got closer to the boat, I realized that the reason why we were being carried was because when you reached the boat the water was too high. You could still stand in the water OK, but by yourself it would be very difficult to get into the boat. I climbed on board the tiny wooden sailboat and found a seat on the deck as I waited for the rest of my group and a couple other groups to get on board. Once everyone was on the boat it got pretty crowded. We set off across the channel for Tortuga; we had been told it was only about 5 miles. It shouldn’t take too long to get there, right? Well, it probably wouldn’t have taken that long if the boat had a motor, but since it didn’t, it took us 1 ½ hours of being propelled by the wind and sailing against current to get there. For some, it was 1 ½ hours of lackadaisical sailing with a gentle breeze and the sun shining warmly on the picturesque blue-green Caribbean. For others, it was 1 ½ hours of pure torture spent with heads drooped over the side of the boat as you puked your guts into the ocean. Thankfully, I was one of the people that enjoyed the boat ride. I couldn’t get over how blue the water was!

I took this picture on the boat looking back at the Haitian shore.

Read my previous blogs to hear more about my many other Haiti experiences.

Tortuga: Getting to the Boat



This is a picture of a couple of people being carried to our boat

While my group was in Haiti, we got the chance to visit Tortuga (an island about 5 miles from the coast of where we were staying). In order to get to Tortuga, we had to take a boat. I was a little hesitant to begin this journey because the only boats I had ever been on were canoes and paddleboats; I wasn’t sure what to expect, or worse yet, if I would get seasick. When we reached the beach we saw the boat a little ways of in the water. It was a plain wooden sailboat, nothing really fancy, but it would work. We had been standing there for a little bit just looking at the boat when a thought came to my mind: How are we going to get on the boat? There wasn’t a dock and the boat was a little ways off in the water, were we just going to walk out to the boat? Not quite. My question was answered a little bit later when I noticed a big Haitian guy go up to someone and I watched as he picked the person up and put them on his shoulders and start carrying the person out to the boat. Next thing I knew, I was the one that was being picked up and carried out to the boat. At first, I was okay but when we got further into the water where the guy was walking against the waves, I got a little nervous that I would throw off his balance. My first reaction was to cling to his head but in doing so I was making it so he couldn't see which he naturally didn't like. So I concentrated on keeping my balance as we slowly made it to the boat.