Counting Airplanes

Thursday, June 6.  The day we leave Haiti and head back to Fernandina Beach.  We will be on the ground at Jacksonville International Airport around 7:00 that evening........well that's what our itinerary said!  It was to be much, much more than that.

The day started as all the other days.  Awaken by our favorite rooster around 6:00 a.m. most everyone started to stir and make their way down to the dining area to get coffee and breakfast before starting to get everything together to leave.  It was already beginning to get hot and we were all looking forward to getting to the airport and starting the trek home.

We spent the morning doing last minute packing and saying our goodbyes to the people we had met during our stay.  Some last minute projects were still needing attention in the sewing lab, but with Linda staying behind a few days longer we were confident this project was going to be left in very competent hands.

About 10:30 we all gathered for one final picture before getting in the tap tap truck to head to the airport.  One more trip down the rough road outside the school and past "Walmart" and the Ravine on onto the craziness that is Haitian driving.  Sherrie followed our tap tap driving the smaller pickup truck, and watching her it was evident she certainly knew how to drive Haitian!

We made it into the airport and through immigration and security with nary a problem.  There is only one gate area for departure and it was filling quickly.  Many of the passengers were just like us, mission groups looking forward to heading back to the states after working in country.

The flight to Miami was uneventful.  We had about a two-hour layover in Miami, and a good chunk of that was taken up with clearing U.S. customs.  It is amazing to see the throngs of people coming to into the U.S. at this immigration point.  The custom's line for U.S. citizens was very long, but the line for non-citizens was even longer, giving everyone a vivid picture of just how many people want to come into America.

We finally cleared customs, got Chinese food for all the youth, and made it to our gate for what we thought would be a short wait for our plane.  The televisions inside the terminal were tuned to CNN, and the scroll at the bottom provided updates to Tropical Storm Andrea.  A few minutes before we were supposed to begin boarding we got word our plane had still not arrived and we were going to be delayed.  About that same time we heard on the TV about a tornado spotted near Mayport and moving north to Amelia Island.  We were beginning to get a very bad feeling about the last leg of our trip.

After several announced delays the flight was officially cancelled around 7:00 p.m.  American Airlines uses an Embraer regional jet for the Miami to Jacksonville flights, so the number of passengers affected by this cancellation was as bad as it would have been had it been a larger aircraft.  Unfortunately that is the only aircraft American uses for this flight, so getting us all booked as a group on another flight was very difficult.

The next scheduled flight that evening, and the last one that day to Jacksonville, was at 9:45 and it was completely booked.  So were all the flights the next day, and our only option for a direct flight to Jacksonville would be Saturday morning.  However the gate agent was very patient and managed to find a way for us to get in that night, so long as the weather would not be a problem.

She booked us all on a flight from Miami to Atlanta where we would change plans and take a Delta flight from Atlanta to Jacksonville.  The Miami to Atlanta flight was supposed to already be boarding and getting ready for departure, but as luck would have it the plane had been delayed and was still waiting to begin boarding.

We all sprinted for the departure gate leaving Forrest and Alex Enlow behind to gather all the new boarding passes for everyone.  The Atlanta flight began boarding and Forrest and Alex were still not at the gate with the new boarding passes.  The gate agents were getting ready to close the doors when the co-pilot came out to see what was holding up the flight.  Sally spoke to him and explained our situation and how we were all trying to get back to Fernandina Beach.  God must have been watching out for us because the co-pilot said he lives on Amelia Island and he would make sure he would hold the plane until we all got on board.

Alex finally arrived with the boarding passes and we quickly ran onto the plane and found our seats.  We made it out of Miami without any further delay and the crew found an altitude with a favorable wind which put us into Atlanta in enough time that we didn't have to run to our next flight.

We made it to the departure gate for the flight from Atlanta to Jacksonville, and boarded with the other regularly scheduled passengers.  We were a bit scattered throughout the plane, but at least we were finally on our last leg to JIA and left Atlanta a bit after 11:00 p.m.

We encountered some very choppy air on the way from Atlanta into Jax, and the pilot kept the fasten seat belt sign on the entire flight and instructed the flight attendants to remain in their seats.  We started our descent into Jax and just as we were about to touchdown, the pilot was forced to apply full throttle and execute a missed approach.  We were told they had to due this because of a separation problem, but it certainly added a tension in the air.  However these guys are professionals and practice this in simulators all the time, and about ten minutes later we safely touched down and taxied to the gate.

Finally back in JIA sometime after midnight, and everyone had just about run out of gas.  Once again Roger Martin stepped up to the plate and had driven the church van to the airport to pick up anyone needing transportation back to the Publix parking lot where we had left our cars a week before.

Our luggage had not followed us and was still in Miami.  The folks at Delta were very helpful and promised to get them to us as soon as they could, which was fine with all of us.  We were just ready to get home, get a hot shower and sleep in our own beds.  It was good to be home.

I will try to post an report on the LaGonove group's activities later this weekend.

Interlude

It seems the comments settings for the blog post were only allowing those with Google accounts to post comments.

I have changed the settings to allow anyone to make comments.  I have a few more posts left to close out the trip, including the youth's trip to LaGonove and the details of a whirlwind of a trip home.

Be sure to look for those posts shortly and please leave comments on earlier posts.

Thanks.

Larry

Time Has Come Today

Up to this point I have tried to stick to posting on a day by day timetable.  I wanted you to give you a sense of how things progressed chronologically.  Today is Wednesday morning and rather than detail the specific projects the mission team is working on that specific day I thought I might discuss some of the broader aspects of what is going on around us.  Time is the theme, and there never seems to be enough time to do everything here that needs to be done.

I know in my first posts I spoke briefly about the Christian Light School, who are our hosts for this trip.  Sherrie Fausey started the school in 2000 and today she has more than 250 Haitian children attending classes on a daily basis.

Students line up before school to salute the Haitian flag and sing the national anthem

Students line up in the courtyard as they prepare to go to their respective classes.

Many of these children would not have had the opportunity to attend school, and the majority of those who did attend would not have continued to complete high school.  Sherrie’s mission is to provide a Christian based education to Haitian children so they can become the future leaders who can work to solve the many oppressing issues facing this country.  You can learn much more about the Christian Light School and the Christian Light Children’s Home orphanage at http://www.clshaiti.com.

In 2004 Sherrie recognized that the most malnourished children were infants and toddlers too young to attend school.  She began the Little Angels Nutrition Program that sends workers out daily to the surrounding community to give these very children food and vitamins as well as weigh them and attend to their medical needs.  The workers go the children’s homes, which is a highly compact area of makeshift structures surrounding an area known as the Ravine.  Below are some pictures of the surroundings and workers providing food, vitamins and care to the children.

Below are some pictures of the Ravine area where school workers take food

Along with the ever present maintenance projects, several of our team members have had the opportunity to interact with the students, and in some cases actually teach in the classroom.

Here you see Janine Cazell teaching the the 10th grade biology class.

Time has passed quickly while we have been here, and our time here is rapidly coming to an end. Today ends the time the youth group is spending on LaGonove Island.  They boarded the 7:00 a.m. ferry to go back across Port-au-Prince Bay and rejoin us here at the school.

Today also marks our last full day in Haiti, and we are hoping we can get the entire group out of the compound for a few hours and visit a few sites up in the mountains just to our southwest.  There are several tourist spots there and we are looking forward in seeing some of the beauty of Haiti to contrast the poverty conditions we have been surrounded by since we first arrived.

It will be good to have the youth group back with us again.  We have missed having them around and the children here have been asking when they will be back.  They should have some great stories about their time on the island, and I hope to get that posted sometime later today along with pictures, and I am anxious to get these stories posted.

Until then, good morning from Haiti.

Interlude

Good evening everyone.

Just wanted to post a quick note about this blog.  While we enjoy providing you with updates on the activity of the two mission teams, your thoughts and comments are important to everyone here.

As you read the posts, please take a moment to comment on what you read.  I will be happy to share these comments with the other members of the mission team.

Thanks,

Larry

They Call Me The Breeze

Monday started with quite a stir, from the wind that is.

Sometime overnight we must have had a small weather system move over us that sent in stronger winds than what we have experienced to date.  We saw some rain in mountains to the west, but that rain never made it down to us.  While the increase in the wind velocity may have helped move air through our sleeping areas during the night, it made it very uncomfortable to be in as the rest of the day unfolded.

There are a few trees here and there, but not ground vegetation.  The main roads are paved, but the side streets are full of potholes and the road itself is composed of a hard packed mixture of sand, rock, and dirt that gets blown around by the wind.

Typically it does not tend bother you much but merely leaves a constant layer of dust everywhere you see.  However today the stronger winds turned the dust into blowing sand and rock and added to the challenge for the day.

Immediately following breakfast the staff and teachers gathered for devotion.  The school focuses on teaching the bible to the children, and the daily devotionals help them with their bible lessons with the school children.

By now we have mostly settled into a routine of breakfast, work, lunch, work, dinner, devotion, bed.  The work needed around the school is never ending, and the mission teams that come down work alongside staff in a whatever needs to be done.

As with any mission trip, there is always something that needs painting.  Here Doug has heeded the call and got to work to painting the walls along the third story.

Several of the ladies took on the project of establishing a sewing classroom.  They cleaned out and cleaned up a room that was being used to store numerous bolts of material and donated sewing machines.  After moving out everything that did not need to be in a sewing room, they moved in shelves and organized the room so that one of the teachers could hold a sewing class.

As our team works on their projects, the school day goes on.  Classes are taught in small rooms usually with one window that has no screen.  The children all wear uniforms to school each day including shirts that include the school name.  With the classrooms so close together and being as close as they are, and being so open, there are sounds coming from every different direction.  It is a busy place to be so small.

We haven't heard much from the youth team other than they had travelled to La Neuvelt today where they had completed fluoride treatment for 180 Haitian children.  We are certain they are enjoying their time on LaGonove and are doing good work.  Bill Gingrich has promised more pictures and I am hoping to get them posted soon along with details of the work being done on LaGonove.

Tomorrow we have some more folks going to the Ravine to check on the children there.  I hope to bring you information and pictures of these area nearby the school.  We are also looking forward to the youth team getting back here Wednesday and the opportunity to get the entire group out into the country to see some of the areas of Haiti outside of our small compound here in Port-au-Prince.

Until then, goodnight from Haiti.

Easy Like a Sunday Morning

This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!

Sunday is a big day in Port-au-Prince.  The buildings are so close together where we are in the inner city you could can literally jump from roof to roof.  Some of these smaller buildings that surround the school will hold a worship service in the evening, and we can hear praise singing throughout the evening.  However Sunday is still the big church day.

Sherry had made plans for us to attend a small church about 2 blocks from the school.  The church was actually a small upstairs room that seated about 75 people shoulder to shoulder.  There was a makeshift sound system made up of four old speakers, an old amplifier and powered by some very suspicious looking electrical wiring.  There was an electric guitar, an electric bass guitar, an electric piano and one microphone hooked into the system, and the volume was turned up as loud as it could go.  As guests we were given seats right beside the stage, as you guessed it right in front of the speakers!

The service was conducted in Creole so it was impossible for us to understand what was being said, but we could make out a hallelujah Jesus or hallelujah Father as it was shouted in unison.  The hymns were also sung in Creole so we couldn’t recognize the words, but the rhythm and the beat of the music was infectious and it was easy to see that the those who were singing were caught up in the spirit.

Sherry had arranged for Doug to deliver the message using one of the older students here as a translator.  Doug’s message centered around all of us being in God’s firm grip, but he did have a bit of trouble finding the correct translation for fastener.  Some words just don’t go easily from English to Creole.  However his sermon was very well received and solicited a number of amens from the church pastor and the congregation.

After church we walked back to the school for lunch and to unwind a bit before getting back to work.  There are plenty of work projects around, and everyone on the team has migrated into projects that fit their particular skills and talents.   Since it was Sunday there were no school children around so there was much less chaos to deal with.  However there are still many small children who live in the orphanage on the grounds, and they are quite curious about what we are doing and kept wanting to hang around the rooms where we were working.

It was cloudy for most of the day, which did give us a brief respite from the heat.  The predominant southeast breeze was steady throughout the day, but It was still quite warm and humid.  Since we did not have to contend with the sun constantly beating down on the building the rooms on the first floor were relatively cooler than the past several days.  It also made a small difference in the sleeping rooms on the third floor as they seemed a bit cooler by bedtime that they had each of the other nights we have been here.

We didn’t hear much from the LaGonove team other than they had arrived safely and had already started interacting with the local children.

We did get a picture sent over to us from Bill Gingrich entitled, “Street Scene on LaGonove.”  Not exactly the same street scene we have seen over here on the mainland, but these is a more common sight on LaGonove.

We are hoping to get more pictures as well as details on what this group is doing.

As the day ended we gathered for dinner and later devotional.  The main course was BLT’s and pasta salad. The tomatoes were locally grown and sold at the market area on the road outside of the school and were very good. Many of us had them both on our sandwich as well as on the side.  Once again a great job by the staff here.

After dinner we again retired to the Starlight Palace for devotional and to close out the day.  The devotion centered around Ephesians 2:10, we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.  We discussed how as God’s handiwork we all bring different talents and gifts to this mission trip, and that God had already made preparations for the work we would be doing here.

Following devotion most everyone drifted back downstairs to start getting ready for bed.  With the cooler day, and hopefully the cooler night, most everyone was anxious to retire a bit earlier than usual to sleep a little more comfortably.

More to come on Monday, so for now goodnight from Haiti.

I'm Moving On

On the PGA tour, Saturday is known as moving day.  So it was with the First Pres mission team as the youth along with Forrest and a couple of other adult team members prepared to leave the main group and head over to LaGonove Island for several days.

The morning started as usual with a wonderful breakfast prepared by the school staff.  Plenty of pancakes and fresh fruit, and some very strong coffee.  The coffee was welcomed as the nights still seem to be restless ones as we deal with the heat of the night and the coming and going of electricity to power the fans in the room.

Shortly after breakfast the LaGonove team gathered their belongs to begin their journey to the island.  Claire had secured a van to take the team and their luggage to the ferry for the trip over to the island.  As we did when we flew over, the group was taking more than just their own personal items as several large suitcases were filled with numerous items needed by the families on LaGonove. This made for one loaded vehicle.

Once the van was loaded up it was time to say goodbye, for now.  This group will be returning to the school Wednesday to talk about their experience and prepare to leave Haiti on Thursday.

This group loaded onto the van and headed for the ferry that would take them to LaGonove.  This ferry looked like it would be able to transport one vehicle in addition to the passengers, but when they put a second truck on the boat it gave a new meaning to the word faith.

But the team had faith and climbed on board for the trip to the island.  The communications from the island over to the school is going to be difficult, and we are hoping we can get an email from them at least once a day with an update on their activities.  I will post their adventures here if we are lucky enough to get updates, otherwise I will get out a catch up post when they return Wednesday.

After the LaGonove team left the compound, Doug began a workshop for the English speaking teachers at the school. Each of the teachers has a responsibility to teach the bible to their students. Doug spent the day focused on the gospels of Mark and Luke. He gave an analogy for the four gospels being like the four speakers in a quadraphonic stereo system. Each speaker is providing a different piece of the music that is able to stand on its own, but only when the four speakers (gospels) are listened to at once can you get the full effect.

During the workshop one of the teachers provided the team with a very personal and deep inside the practice of voodoo. Some of the other teachers in the room also contributed to the discussion with their own experiences and insights. Roman Catholicism is the official religion of Haiti, but voodoo may be considered the country's national religion. The majority of the Haitians believe in and practice at least some aspects of voodoo, and most voodooists believe that their religion can coexist with

Catholicism

. The members of our mission team were quite moved by the discussion and the personal insight shared by these individuals. It provided a very personal insight into the Haitian culture and the people we have been working with for the past several days.

As Doug was conducting the workshop, other members of the team were assisting staff in various projects around the school.  As one can imagine there is always more things to do than there are people to do it.  The staff Sherry employs is very small, but wonderfully committed to the work here.  They do the cooking, teaching, building maintenance, just about anything that needs to be done.  Sherry gave us several projects she asked we help her get done, and we are helping make and hang curtains, make shoulder bags for the school children, rework some plumbing, and other odds and ends around the compound.

After a very busy day, the staff once again provided a wonderful and unique dinner.  The main course was goat (yes goat), accompanied by rice with black bean gravy and plenty of mango.  It was different not having the youth around.  We miss the hustle and bustle that seems to follow them around, and the children are missing the attention from them.  We are looking forward to seeing them again in a few days.

We finished the evening with a devotion up on the Starlight Palace.  A few of us stayed afterward to enjoy the breeze, unwind and wait for the heat from the day to dissipate before heading to bed.  It is quite nice sitting on the roof and listening to the sounds of the city.  There are ever changing sights, sounds and smells (some good and some not so good) that define this part of Port-au-Prince.  We are hoping for a day next week to get out away from the school to see some of the outer edges of the city.  I look forward to writing about that.

Until next time, good night from Haiti.