I made it...

I made it.  And the lesson that I learned yesterday is that God always takes care of you.  The only real part of this journey that I was actually afraid of, was getting through the Haitian airport, collecting my bags, passing immigration and customs, and finding my driver – by myself.  I was really worried about that part of the trip.  I had detailed instructions from the GLA volunteer coordinator, but even still, I was alone.  And I was going to have to get through without knowing any of the language.

When I got on the plane in Chicago, I ended up next to a nice man named Erik who – as it happened – had a final destination of (wait for it…)  Port Au Prince.  Wow, God!  You were listening!  He was on his 5^th mission to Haiti.  He helped me navigate the swarm of people, pass the checkpoints in the airport, find my bags (that story in a minute) and get to my driver.  Without Erik, I might still be there.  To say that the airport scene was chaotic doesn’t do it justice.

When we got inside, our bags were just tossed randomly about the room.  There were a few on a baggage carousel, but the rest were just everywhere.  You had to walk around this warehouse room, with 200 other people, all shouting and pushing, looking for the bags.  Erik stood at the back because he found his bags first, and waited for me.  (Thank you, God – Erik is 6 foot 3, so finding him in the crowd wasn’t too hard.)  After that, we went out and met our driver’s and said goodbye.  He was going one way along the coast, and I was headed for the mountains.

This is the first time I have been among the minority.  It is such a strange feeling.  I have met most of the volunteers and staff, and everyone at the mission is extremely nice.  I have met friends now from Alaska, Michigan, Canada and Ohio.  And the food is really good!

On the 1 hour drive up the mountain from Port, I saw 6 tent “villages,” a collapsed parking garaged, and trash everywhere.  There were goats, pigs, dogs and cows along and in the streets, and in people’s “yards.”  It was a devastating scene.  The amount of garbage that is piled up along the roads and in the creeks is staggering.  It is so sad to see.  There are children everywhere with ratty clothes and well-worn (or no) shoes.

I slept okay last night.  The tree frogs are really loud, and there are people everywhere.  The sounds of kids crying, roosters, tree frogs, dogs barking and the generator are the sounds you hear all night.  Even though, I actually did sleep a few hours.  This morning I got up and went to the computer lab with 7 of the older kids and helped them with their lessons.  Then I spent 3 hours in the preschool working with Miss Kiki and the 15 or so preschool kids that take lessons from her.  We worked on letters, counting, songs and coloring.  After I get done here I am going to spend the afternoon with two babies on the play balcony.  The small wading pool is out, so perhaps we will get a chance to let the kids swim!

Day 2 is halfway over…