Haiti 2014, Part 2

If you missed it, here is Part 1 of the Haiti mission trip.

Each morning, VBS wrapped up around 10:30. The guys stayed up at the church to work on the electrical. The have a generator that they run during church services and everyone brings their cell phone and charger to charge their phone while the generator is running. The had it set up at the front, beside the keyboard, speakers, microphone, etc., so the guys ran a cord to the back and had  small two tier shelf made for the power strips. They also put up lights in the middle beam and wired light switches. They worked all week in the late morning and on Friday morning, Mrs. Lynn and I took the camera to take pictures of them working, so it looks like we actually worked all week with them too. They wanted to be sure that everyone knew we didn't really do any of the work. :)

Jean Elden and Caleb did a little singing as well.

 We weren't just sitting around though (although I did take a nap one day), Mrs Lynn and I painted fingernails and toe nails for the girls, then they braided our hair. FOR AND HOUR AND A HALF!!! And it HURT! So, we suffered while they worked. Ha!

They didn't realize that our hair wouldn't stay braided together at the end if it did't have a ponytail on the end, like theirs does. I ended up taking mine out that night before bed because I had a headache and knew it wouldn't be very restful to sleep on.

Lunch was served to us around 1:00 each afternoon. I can't believe we didn't take any pictures of all the delicious food! We had goat every day with a variety of sides, including peas, okra, rice & beans, fried plantains, sliced mangoes, and more!

Around 1:30 in the afternoons on Monday-Thursday, we ran a basic medical clinic. We were able to take a medical kit with a variety of medications, mostly OTC medications and a few antibiotics. Pastor Accilien's nephew is a Dr. and was planning to be with us for the week, but wasn't able to make it to Maissade. So, Ms. Ann, the village nurse helped me and Caleb was my translator. Jared, Jean Elden, and Bro. Freddy did the intake information and vital signs, they came in to see me, Mrs. Lynn distributed the appropriate meds to me for the patients, then they went out to hear the gospel from Pastor Accilien and his associate pastors. 

Intake information and VS were taken out on the right side of the porch. 

 This was the waiting area, out in the yard.

Here's the 'pharmacy'.

The funniest part of the clinic was when Jared was trying to tell an older man to put the thermometer under his tongue. The man finally bit down on the thermometer and broke it. And that was the end of taking temps. Ha!

We saw nearly 200 people in the 4 afternoons. We worked from about 1:30-5:30 or 6:00. It was the most exhausting part of the week, that's for sure. There were some really sick people coming through the clinic....tonsillitis in a 14 year old, awful sounding chest/pneumonia, ear infection, etc. We did have one older man (he didn't know how old he was) who was very obviously in heart failure. His 2 adult children brought him on a moto. He could barely walk, was very swollen, was breathing heavily and his heart sounded like a valve was leaking.  Obviously there was nothing we could do, so we discussed his options, go to a Dr. or go home and be with his family.  He told pastor Accilien that he was a Christian, but his children were not, so they heard the gospel of Jesus before taking their father home. 

There were a large number of people coming through with symptomatic anemia (rapid heart rate, weakness, etc.) and we gave out all the vitamins and iron supplements we had. All the kids were also given a 30 day supply of a multivitamin. We were able to leave a few doses of antibiotics with Ms. Ann and the rest of the OTC meds. She was seeing patients on Friday when we left. 

So, Caleb was the translator for me, as we saw the patients. He is 14, so he learned A LOT of things about females that he never wanted to know! He was SO calm and professional about it all and did an amazing job. He is such a special kid! 

As exhausting, mentally and physically, the medical clinic was, I think this was the biggest part of our mission trip. We saw so many people who had no idea who Jesus was and why he came and each one of them listened and were prayed over. So many people who probably wouldn't have ever chosen to go to the church! 

After clinic and supper, we sat on the porch until dark and bedtime. Crispin kept us entertained. He was just playing around us and walked over to the post and did this, without bottoms on. Yes, he's licking the post. 

Crazy kid!!!!

Mrs Lynn and her footless chicken! She fed and played with this chicken in March, when they were there for revival and it was still hobbling along. They tried to give her the chicken to bring home, but I don't think customs would have appreciated that very much.

We didn't take very many clothes....we just washed them out and dried them. Jared washed a lot of his clothes Thur. night, then it rained for HOURS, so he had to rig up a clothes line up stairs to dry them. Too bad they didn't dry all the way because they STUNK when I took them out of the suitcase on MONDAY morning.

Friday, we had an early lunch and left Maissade at 12:00 for the drive back to PAP. After my experience in the truck on the way up to Maissade, I knew I wanted to ride in the back this time. This time, Pastor Accilien, Caleb, and Bro. Freddy rode in the truck and Jared, Mrs. Lynn, Jean Elden, Mrs. Alouda (pastor's wife), and I rode in the back of the truck. Fortunately we had less luggage, because we left a few suitcases that were broken and put some smaller ones inside larger ones, so we had 7 suitcases + Mrs. Alouda, Caleb, Jean Elden, and Pastor Accilien's bags. 

Let's see, we had several 'incidents' on the drive back. First we stopped for a cold drink, then stopped for gas, then the truck skipped a gear and shut off, then the truck overheated, then the tailgate flew open and the spare tire went bouncing down the road and up the side of the mountain (fortunately no one fell out!). So, it took us 5.5 hours to get back to the Florida Baptist House in PAP. It was hot, crowded, and uncomfortable and I have never been so glad to get out of a truck in all my life! 

The Fl. Baptist House had us rooms with air conditioners and bathrooms with running water, so it was AMAZING to take a shower and have a 'real' toilet.

We also had the internet, so we were able to Skype with the kids that evening!

The traffic in PAP was actually a bit smoother this year. People were actually following the few traffic lights they have around the airport. Here's a short video of our drive from the Fl Baptist House to the airport in PAP. 

We flew out of PAP around 1:30 to Maimi, had an interesting time collecting our suitcases and getting through customs due to a rainstorm and several international flights arriving at the same time, and flew back to Atlanta. We got back and collected our bags around 10pm and made it back home around 2:00. It was a long trip back, but we were so thankful to be home safely! 

A big thanks to all of you who made donations and prayed for us as we traveled and ministered to those in Maissade! 

Haiti 2014, Part 1

As you know, Jared and I went back to Haiti July 27-August 2. We had an amazing time!

We flew out of Atlanta on Sunday the 27th. Our flight was early (6:30?), so we were up and at the airport before 5. We had a TON of luggage. Between the 4 of us, we had 3 suitcases each and some were up to 70lbs! We flew First Class because the cost of the ticket was less than the luggage charges flying in coach. It was NICE!!!

In case you're wondering, you CAN carry a lighter on the airplane (but you can't have it in your checked luggage), but you CAN NOT carry a jar of Nutella with you. Haha! Jared bought some and stuck it in his carry-on backpack and it was confiscated in Atlanta. Luckily I had a jar in my suitcase. :)

We had a short layover in Miami and made it to Port au Prince (PAP) around 2:30 p.m..

We made it, but all of our luggage didn't. We had 8 of the suitcases and soon were told that the other 4 pieces were supposed to be on the next flight from Miami. 2-2.5 hours later, the rest of our luggage arrived and we were ready to go! Going out of the airport in PAP is a bit crazy. There are tons of people right outside. I guess they are waiting to pick up people or looking to carry luggage for people to earn money. We each had our 2 carry-on bags + 3 suitcases, so it was a bit hectic! Pastor Accilien was waiting for us and led us to the truck.

So, this was the truck. 

12 suitcases, 7 carry-on bags, and 6 people travelling from PAP to Maissade. Yep. So, on the drive up, Mrs. Lynn, Pastor Accilien, and I rode in the truck and Jared, Bro. Freddy, and Caleb (one of the translators) rode in the back with the luggage. The problem was that the stick shift was right in the middle, so I had to keep my legs to the side (squishing Mrs. Lynn) or on the dash board. For 4 hours and 20 minutes. We did end up following a rain storm once we were in the mountains, so it cooled off and we weren't quite so hot. 

We arrived in Maissade (well, the village is just past Maissade) after dark. Maybe around 9:00? I was so glad to be there and out of that darn truck that I didn't even care what time it was. Obviously, there's no electricity, so we rummaged around with flashlights to get our stuff settled and the air mattresses blown up. We ate and went to bed pretty quickly after. 

Here's the guest house we stayed in. This entire area was a pasture when we visited in 2012, so seeing the progress the village has made was great! The bottom area was used as our medical clinic and the top was our rooms. 

The blue tarp area was the 'waiting room' for the clinic.

This is just inside the door on the bottom level, the day we left. The ladder on the right was how we got upstairs. There was the same amount of room on the left. Pastor Accilien, Caleb, and Jean Elden slept downstairs there on the left.

This was Bro. Freddy and Mrs. Lynn's room, but ours was identical. Pretty basic, but plenty of room. I don't even want to think about the critters that were around when I was sleeping.

Beautiful view from outside the church. 

This is looking down from the church towards their garden and new chicken coop. They haven't put the chickens in yet.

This is the view to the left of the guest house. You can see the truck there on the right. The house on the left is a family who lives there on the grounds right now. They have 5 children from ages 14 down to about 1 year old. Their little boy, Crispin reminded me of Bo. I'll talk more about him later. :) The building in the middle, behind the trees/flowers is Pastor Accilien's house and the house of the village nurse and her husband (who is a travelling pastor). The kitchen is on the left of the house and there are 2 bedrooms on the right side. They have two 'bathrooms', one on the front left and one around the back.

The toilets are composting toilets. I won't go into more details. Ha! Our baths were 'bucket baths'. We pretty much decided it wasn't worth the trouble. Jared took one bath and I took 2 in the 5 nights we spent in the mountains.

Here's a shot of the pastor's house.

 This is a picture of the church from the road with the guest house, etc. behind the camera.

The front of the church, Missionary Baptist Church, Maissade Haiti.

I am SO glad I took ear plugs because the animals were LOUD. I don't know what time the roosters started crowing, but I know it was well before the sun was up. We were up around 6 each morning because you can only lay on an air mattress for so long. Considering we went to bed around 9-9:30 each night, we did get a lot of sleep! 

We had breakfast around 7:30 each morning. Haitians don't eat breakfast (they usually just drink coffee), but we were served bread from the bakery (that we topped with Nutella!), spaghetti once (yep), fresh fruit, coffee, juice, etc. 

Monday through Friday we had Vacation Bible School (VBS) for the kids and adults and got started around 8:30 each morning. We used Lifeway's VBS materials from this year, Agency D3. The kids LOVED the music, as usual! We started with low numbers each morning, but as the music played, the church filled up. Each day Mrs. Lynn led worship with music, I taught the lesson, Jared led recreation, we followed with a craft, and snack. 

 The smallest children sat on the front left of the church and the older ones sat in the back. It's amazing to see how the little ones just sit where they are put and listen, sing, etc.

These two boys were so sweet! They just always had a smile and loved playing the games at recreation.

This mother is expecting her 2nd child in 4 months. Her little boy is nearly 3 (although he's about the size of an 18 mo. old). He was adorable! He danced and danced to the VBS music!

Here he is dancing one of the last days. This was his one dance move. ;)

We took around 700 of the VBS t-shirts from last year's VBS (Roller Coaster World theme). Bro. Freddy and Mrs. Lynn hunted down a BARGAIN on the shirts and got them for like $0.50 each! And that's why we had so many suitcases!

They did so well learning the VBS verse for the week, "Always be ready to tell what you know about Jesus" 1 Peter 3:15. We spent the week learning truths about Jesus and how to share that with others. 

Caleb in the red shirt and Jean Elden behind him. Caleb is 14 and is as smart as a whip. I kept forgetting he was 'only' 14 because he seemed so mature. You'll hear more about him when I get to the medical clinic part. Jean Elden is almost 18, I think? and is the pastor's son. They were both such big helps and there's NO WAY we could have done any of it without them translating!

This was the last day....hadn't washed my hair in 6 days or seen a mirror. Ha!

Mrs. Lynn had packed some of these mustaches as rewards for answering the review questions and they thought they were hilarious! Well, the ones who weren't wearing them did. ;)

People of  all ages came to VBS!

 They all really enjoyed coloring. We had the little 4 pk of crayons and coloring sheets related to the Bible story. They were so meticulous with their coloring and careful to pack up their crayons in the paper to take home.

Each day for recreation, we went down the hill, crossed the road, and walked through a path in the corn field to the pasture behind it. The pasture was owned by a Methodist church group (I think that's right?), but they graciously allowed us to use the land to play. 

The recreation area, complete with goats!

Everyday the older girls jumped rope the entire time.

The first day I took the little ones and tried to play a soccer game with them all in a circle kicking it back and forth, but that didn't seem very fun to them, so we played "duck, duck, goose" the rest of the week and they LOVED it!

The boys split into 2 groups, older and younger, and played soccer.

Heading back to the church trough the corn field.

Lining up one morning to go to rec.

I learned another word playing 'duck, duck, goose'....the grass was wet, so instead of sitting (chita) the chose to squat down (koupi). Some of the older girls kept trying to cheat and stand up instead of squatting, so I said "koupi" quite a bit!

Here's a video of "duck, duck, goose". 

The path through the corn field. They had pumpkins planted in the corn too.

Playing with Crispin. He wore clothes to VBS, but stripped them off as quick as he could after and ran around naked as the day he was born. Haha! 

This is Michelda, the oldest child living in the house on the guest house grounds. She's holding her youngest brother. I didn't realize they had a baby there until this day (Thursday?). I could tell Michelda wanted to go jump rope with the other girls and was trying to get the baby to squat for duck, duck, goose, but he wouldn't let her put him down. I took him and laid him on my shoulder and he went right to sleep. And I loved every second of it!!! I figure he must be around Mae's age because he was cutting his one year molars.

Jared's group of soccer kids.

You can look back at our trip to Haiti from 2012 here. We were in Maissade the end of our week there. It's amazing to compare the pictures and see how God has provided for the people in the village and how the area has grown! 

And that's part 1 of our trip! Part 2 will cover the medical clinic and our trip home. 

*Because it took me forever to do this, I'm not going back to proof-read or fix typos, so sorry. ;)