It’s 7:30 a.m. and I am wandering through the Toronto Pearson International Airport. My overnight flight has just landed and I now need to find out where to go next. Since there is no gate number on my ticket for my next flight, I find an information booth and get the information I need. It’s a long walk from where I am but since my next flight doesn’t’ leave till 2:30 p.m. I have lots of time.
Finding the gate I alternate between dozing off and reading my book. Just after noon the team arrives from Calgary and we take a little time to get acquainted.
That afternoon we fly to Fort Lauderdale where we overnight before taking the first flight out to Port au Prince the following morning.
Thursday, July 6
My alarm buzzes at 5:25 the following morning. We catch the free shuttle to the airport and then find out gate, only to come to the conclusion a little later that it probably has changed. Sure enough when we google our flight number we find a new gate has been assigned to our Port au Prince flight. Surprisingly enough all the announcements done by Jet Blue are in Creole so I’m thankful I know the language and can understand the directions of the desk staff.
Inefficiency and misunderstandings soon lead to our flight being delayed by thirty minutes, but thankfully we eventually take off. Once in the air, I get to work switching my Canadian Sim Card with a Haitian one. My brows furrow as I concentrate on completing this task correctly. Jason is a master of technology which has lead to me depending on him entirely for these types of tasks and now I wish I had paid attention more. Thankfully I get it to work and it doesn’t take long before Haiti’s coastline appears beneath us. I marvel at the mix of poverty and beauty as we slowly descend.
Emotions stir but I force them down; Haiti will always have a special place in my heart.
As we deplane straight onto the tarmac, we are hit by a thick, familiar wave of heat and humidity. As the team exclaims in amazement over a climate so different then theirs, I soak it in. It feels good.
My next task is to make sure everyone makes it through Haitian Customs and to contact the driver that will be taking us to the guesthouse we will be staying at that night. Since our usual driver is busy, he has recommended someone else “Pierre” but I’ve never seen him before and he doesn’t speak any English.
Hoping my Creole isn’t too rusty for lack of use, I get out my phone. Just as we are about to exit the airport I see a Haitian man with a large white paper that says “WILL KULL”, through the glass. That must be our driver, I decide, quickly slipping my phone back into my backpack. Sure enough, after verifying that he is in fact Pierre, we follow him through a maze of people and vehicles.
Haiti shows no mercy to her visitors as we are once again bombarded by heat and humidity and now on top of that, dust, fumes, funky smells, masses of people, and crazy traffic.
After paying a baggage handler, who keeps demanding more money for helping us load our bags onto the top of our minibus, we begin the bumpy journey to the Apparent Project Guesthouse.
Looking back I catch a glimpse of the wide-eyed expressions of the team as they absorb their surroundings.
Pulling out my notebook full of Jason’s instructions, I get to work transferring money on my phone to an internet plan so I can contact Jason and let him know we arrived safely. Once that task is successfully completed, I direct the driver to make a stop at a familiar grocery store.
Armed with shotguns guards mill around the parking lot as we pull up. Disembarking we head in and I quickly get to work shopping for staple food items for Anoud and Denise. Once I’ve paid for those I head over to the main counter to purchase a phone card only to find out later, much to my chagrin, that the code has already been scratched and I’ve just been scammed out of a 1000 Gds (apr 17USD).
I then direct Pierre to Anoud and Denise’s house where we have a chance to quickly get reacquainted and give them the food staples. It is great to see them again and this time I am thankful to see they are doing a little better financially then they were when I seen them last, 4 months ago.
Our next stop is the guest house. At this point I pay the driver and he heads on his way. After depositing our bags, we take our valuables with us and are escorted by the guesthouse staff to the Apparent Project, a few block over.
Here I have a chance to greet old friends and show the team the difference employment is making in the lives of the people in the surrounding area.
Since our MAF Flight to Anse Rouge doesn’t leave till early tomorrow morning we take the afternoon to acclimatize, get to know each other better, and get started on the daily Hungry for Life Blog.
That evening the streets are dark, as city power has not been turned on and it’s difficult to not stumble over the rocks and ruts as we are lead back to the guesthouse.
At the guesthouse we gather for our first official team meeting and share our most impactful moments. I do my best to answer all the team member’s questions, before leading a devotional time with them. At the end of the devotional time I share a poem about how God doesn’t use the most bright or smart or beautiful person but the one who is humble and willing; the one who spends time in God’s presence and in and in so doing reflects Him to others. We close in song and I am struck by how beautifully the Psalter resonates in the dark night.
No comments:
Post a Comment