Haiti-Day Seven

Yesterday was the last day in Haiti. I knew that I would be getting up this morning and heading home. It really was bitter sweet. I was glad to be heading home and seeing my family, but I also wanted to stay in Haiti. There is just so much work to be done there. There are so many ways that I could use my skills there to help the people. It is always that torn feeling when returning from a mission trip.

Anyway, yesterday we got up and had breakfast. John came in and gave us the plan for the day and gave us some very exciting news. Liona gave birth to a healthy baby girl who weighed 7 lbs and 3 ozs and was 20 inches long. It was the healthiest babies they have delievered so far. Liona is a young girl living in the teenage mom home. This is truly a testimony to how well the program is helping the girls.

After breakfast and the plan we headed out to a traditional Haitian market (ie where the Haitians buy their food). You really need to experience this for yourselves but I will try and describe it. You walk in and up this narrow little pathway with people pushing and trying to get buy. There are narrow stalls and you can find just about anything there, from shoes, to bibles, to books, to clothes, to suitcases, to tolieteres, to fresh vegetables, and to meat (including goat). John loves to play a joke on groups saying that he is going to get some meat for lunch and then having one of the butchers to cut up a goat head. That is just his sense of humor. The smells and sights are intense. We were not allowed to take pictures, but I think that everyone should be able to experience that at least once. While we were there a woman came up to a young lady in our party who was adopoted and told her she was this lady's mother. The poor girl was visibly shaken and while it might not have been her intent to do so I just really got upset. I can just put my boys in her place and I would of been so mad at someone doing that. I understand it was a different culture and the lady probably just wanted someone to take care of her but the mama bear side of me wanted to protect the young lady in our group. While there I bought a Bible in Creole. I hope the boys and I both can learn to read it. It would be a neat experience to have together.

After the market I went to the Harbor House and Ron and I waited on Troy to show up to go buy some plants. When you are in Haiti there is something called being on "Haitian Time" This means that five minutes could be anywhere from six minutes to an hour or two later, or leaving at 6:30 means you will be lucky to be out the door by 7:00. It is just the way things work in Haiti. It is kinda nice for time to be relative for someone like me, but I can see how it would drive some people bonkers.

So Troy showed up and we went to a "nursery" (ie a bunch of people with plants lined up beside the road). Troy had his three year old with him and so I got to babysit (much more appealing than plant shopping to me anyway). His daughter is so cute I could just eat her up. It was precious to spend time with her, even if it was about a 100 degrees outside and we both were sweating horribly. After another stop to get some planters for the flowers we went to meet up with the rest of the group that had been at the sewing center.

We went out to the Ok "Corral" for lunch. This is where they are building a new school, some new homes, a new medical center, and a new maternity center. The ladies out there cooked the food really, really, really spicy. I ended up only eating the rice and beans, however they were delicious.

After lunch we went to a place where tin artists work. I bought a few pieces from people I knew were Christians because I wanted to be careful about what I brought home. I also had some "ice cream" that was a mixture of a bunch of different flavors, every bite had a new taste. The tin work in Haiti is ornate and beautiful. It was just awesome to be able to see them at work. I took several pictures.

We then went back to the guest house and started packing and getting ready to leave the next day. I was on one of the early morning flights. We took some group pictures and then loaded up to go out to dinner with John and the Heartline staff. As we were starting to load up one of the guys in our group told this joke. It goes like this, "This man was in construction and he started building a house. However he kept bragging that he was so good that he would order materials and not leave one scrap. So he kept bragging and bragging and day after day this group of men would come over and watch him. So finally one day when he was finished he invited the group in to tour the house and they kept saying to one another that they had to find something to keep the guy from bragging so much. So they went and looked and finally in the back yard way in the corner they found one brick. The man took the brick and threw it up in the air." We all stood around looking at him like he had lost his mind. We had no clue what the point of the joke was. It was just one of those random moments I thought I would share.

So we loaded up and went off to a time of great fellowship and just enjoyed time with each other. We spent time laughing and spending time together. I ate some delicious beef kabob thing. It was some of the best meat I have ever had. We thanked John and Beth and Rebecca and Barry for their hospitatlity. Finally the meal was over and we headed back to the house.

Dwan, Aaron(who is like an annoying big brother), Michael, and I rode up top. This was fun and exciting because I had never seen Haiti at night. It has a totally different pulse at night. It is alive and jovial. There are several bars and clubs and casinos. Also the street vendors are out, some of them with candles lighting their wares and some of them with lights. It was just a beautiful sight to see and the sounds of the music were filling the air. It was quiet exciting.

Back at the guest house we packed up, said our goodbyes, made our final purchases from the gift shop, and settled in for the night. I think some of us lingered not wanting to let the experience end. There is just something special about being on a mission trip.