Haiti Mission Trip - Sunday Recap Part 2

In yesterday's post, I wrote about the first half of our first full day in Jacmel, Haiti with the team from Forward Edge International.  Our FEI team was partnered with Restoration Ministries, an arm of Restore Haiti.  Restoration Ministries started the church and meal program that we worked with during our time in Jacmel.  Their aim is to minister to communities in Jacmel by providing needed services like construction, the meal program, church programs, English classes and a medical clinic.  Most of the work in country is being done by Haitians with a few long term missionaries. Forward Edge has been providing short term teams to come in and provide extra support for projects that need it, as well as love and service to the people of Jacmel.  Our goal on Sunday was a simple one: attend church, meet the children and families being served at the church "compound" (this word wasn't used but it's the easiest way to describe it since the church, adult educational opportunities and meal program are all in the same location), let the Haitians get to know us a little bit.

Sunday, July 11, 2010
4pm
Loving Light Hotel room, Jacmel, Haiti

After lunch we took a tap tap back to the hotel.  There aren't really clocks here.  I think it was around 1:30pm.  I changed clothes and cleaned up.  Six of us walked about a half mile through town to get ice cream.  We were not allowed to leave the hotel alone or without someone familiar with Jacmel, so on this occasion, Jennifer, who had been in Haiti a few months at this point, offered to take us out to walk around.  White women get a lot of notice on the street here, but everyone was nice and not inappropriate.  We had been warned that men might blow us kisses, but that did not happen.  There weren't many people out. The World Cup final was on TV and the streets were pretty empty. There were about 15 people in the ice cream store watching the game in Spanish while we were there. 

The normally crowded streets of Jacmel, during the World Cup soccer final.

I've been taking a break in our air and fan conditioned room.  There is so much here to see, smell, experience - I am a little overwhelmed in an over-stimulated way.  I needed a mental break.

We are having dinner at 6pm-ish (we pretty much were surprised every evening when it was time for dinner. We ate whenever dinner was ready and someone could drive the food and serving ladies over to the hotel. Sometimes that was early, sometimes later. On all the nights except our last night, we ate dinner at the hotel).  After dinner we will get info about our work jobs for the week (hopefully).

Things in Haiti change a lot as a rule.  Things aren't fixed or structured the way they are in the States.  Just because our tap tap drivers came today doesn't mean they will tomorrow.  Just because they plan jobs today doesn't mean it will turn out to be those jobs tomorrow.  It makes things more difficult logistically, but I sort of find it fascinating.

Sunday, July 11, 2010
9pm
Loving Light Hotel room, Jacmel, Haiti

Dinner was good. Rice, some kind of meat (beef? goat? wild turkey?), noodles with carrots and peas.  It is funny that I am definitely in the "old" group of our team.  I am not the age of the other "old" women (who have college aged kids), but I am also not a college aged kid. Weird.

After dinner we got our itinerary.  Mornings will be hard - painting and sanding buildings, it looks like - and then in the afternoon we will help with the feeding program.  Evenings there will be meetings or debriefings.  I was so sweaty (and dirty!) today, I can't even imagine how gross I will be tomorrow when I actually do some work!

So far: 4 mosquito bites (which turned out to actually be ant bites) on my right ankle, sore right knee (lots of hotel stairs), otherwise feeling good!

After our meeting, we broke into small groups for prayer.  It was cool to do all of that on the rooftop deck with lightning flashing in the distance.

   We had a great time singing praise songs on the roof deck after prayer requests.  The Texas group brought a guitar and bongo.  Ben is the worship leader of their church and has a really nice voice.  More than once I got goosebumps, even in the heat. 

Up tomorrow for 7am devotions!