This is from several of the missionaries at Northwest Haiti Christian and their trip to Gonaives after the hurricanes.

The day before we left - we were making final arrangements for Wisley, Jose and I to travel to Gonaives. We were going to bring some supplies - food and clothing. Magdala and Roselande said they had family there and wanted to go with us. We laughed because as we got into the truck that next morning we found: Magdala, Roselande, Jacques, Pastor Jean Claude, Ceremone, Francis, T-man, and Benna. Apparently EVERYONE wanted to go and see for themselves.

LAUGHTER
We had a great trip down - even though the roads were so bad. I don’t want to hear about the summer people’s horrible bus trip - you wouldn’t even recognize the road now. Wisley who lives in Gonaives who knows the road like the back of his hand said he doesn’t even recognize it anymore.
As we bumped are way there - it was almost a game. I felt like I was with a car full of kids. We had to stop for someone to use the bathroom, buy a drink, buy bread, someone’s hat would fly off, someone dropped their glasses - I bet we wasted an hour just having to stop every 15 minutes for something. It was rather humorous though.
So we get closer to Gonaives and we can no longer find anything to drink. Well Magdala surprises everyone and has a cooler of - not coke, not sprite, not even water - but ICE COLD ENSURE! LOL! I don’t think I’ve ever drank ENSURE as a refreshing drink on a hot afternoon - but we’re in Haiti!

FRUSTRATION
We had not one, not two, not even three - but FOUR flat tires! Wisley said that might be a record for traveling to Gonaives. The road was blocked in some places - not even a bike could pass through. Parts of the mountainside had just washed away. We saw 20 large trucks with food and diesel who were waiting to head up north but were stuck. We went up another mountainside area and got our own vehicle stuck. We had to get 30 guys to LIFT the truck out of the mud. We had the same problem coming back. We were going to spend the night but it was beginning to rain again and they were afraid more of the road would wash out and we wouldn’t be able to come back.

SILENCE
It was like being at a movie - everyone is talking through the previews and then the show comes on and it’s quiet. That’s the only way I can explain the silence. We were joking and laughing the whole way there and then we arrived and everyone just got quiet. The adventure was over and we were at our final destination and no one knew what to say - no one knew how to react - so instead of saying anything for nearly 30 minutes we just looked in awe.

TEARS
This was Wisley’s home town and almost everyone in the truck had been here dozens of times. We drove slowly through some of the streets and the silence broke when I heard Wisley cry out to God. Tears streamed down our faces - and while the men tried not to show their emotions - it was too much.
We first met Roselande’s family. They told us that the mayor had said a hurricane was coming and so everyone headed for the hills to be safe. But then later he said the hurricane was over and everyone went back home. The hurricane headed back though - and caught nearly everyone off guard. He said they were sleeping in their home when they got a phone call from Port-au-Prince that said the hurricane was coming back and to get out of their home. The phone call woke them up and the water was already two feet high on their porch. They went out their window and went to higher ground. Their neighbors didn’t have windows they could get out of though - they were concrete. He said they yelled and yelled for people to come out of their homes but they never saw their neighbor or his children again.
A lady told us that she was sleeping and she heard the noise of a house that had blown literally right beside hers. She had a concrete home and their house was wood. She said in the morning when it was light enough to see some of the damage - although the rain was still coming - she saw several bodies floating in the water - three of them were children she knew from down the street.

There was a point where we could no longer drive. I’ve never in my life seen so much mud. The streets themselves were completely covered with a solid foot of mud. Then you had areas - much like snow drifts - where there could be as much as 5 feet of mud. We entered into a house that had 10 feet of mud. It was so dark the pictures didn’t turn out. Everything - gone.

He had over 9 feet of mud in his house - he stayed in the mountains when the hurricane came…
I talked to a little boy who lives with his uncle now - he said his dad died a long time ago and he hasn’t seen his mom since the floods. He is digging out his home right now - praying she’s not in there. He was staying with a friend that night.

Our guide took us by foot to the houses on the beach. He shows us a place where 10 children along with 8 adults had drowned right along the beach. While we were walking through the areas - we had another lady come to us. She told us she was asleep when the storms came and that her baby had been on the floor. She woke up from the noise of the wind but the baby was gone……she’s never seen her since. The baby was 14 months old. Her house was right on the beach.

Read this story in the national news about life in Baie des Moustique (Far West branch of Northwest Haiti Christian Mission).

Despite high food prices, Haitians reluctant to head to US

By ANDREW O. SELSKY Associated Press Writer
BAIE DES MOUSTIQUES, Haiti—When soaring food prices sparked deadly riots across Haiti, many expected that people along the cactus-studded northern coast would do what they traditionally do in times of crisis: take to the seas and head for the United States.
So far it hasn't happened.
In this hamlet overlooking a pristine bay that Christopher Columbus once admired, Gary Boloney has no job and no money. But the rail-thin 38-year-old says that after two failed attempts to flee by boat, the food crisis won't make him risk it again.
Elsina Joseph, lovingly cradling her granddaughter, is also staying put. She says she can't abandon her family.
And the mayor, Pierre Belizaire, says people should give President Rene Preval a chance.
In the early 1990s, political violence sent tens of thousands of Haitians toward Florida aboard rickety boats, forcing President Clinton to send in troops to stabilize the country. Now the price of rice, beans, fruit and condensed milk has gone up 50 percent in the past year, while the cost of pasta has doubled.
But the U.S. Coast Guard says its cutters have interdicted 972 Haitian migrants over the past seven months, about the same number as a year earlier. That's a fraction of the 31,000 intercepted in 1992 after a military coup.
That said, analysts warn that unless Preval tackles the rising food costs, more Haitians will chance the dangerous trip by sea.
"It will probably rise markedly, unless
the food subsidies can stabilize prices in Haiti," said Henry Carey, a professor at Georgia State University.
There are no signs of increased boat-building on Tortue Island, a traditional migrant-smuggling center 10 miles across cobalt waters from Baie des Moustiques. An alleged leader of a migrant-smuggling ring, conspicuous with gold chains around his neck and wrist, declined to discuss whether rising food prices have brought him more customers. Thuggish young men followed journalists visiting the island, intimidating villagers into silence.
In Baie des Moustiques, a village of thatched-roof huts of sticks and dirt, people were more willing to talk but no more eager to set out for America.
In December 1492, Columbus wrote in his logbook that the bay was free of shoals, meaning "any ship whatsoever can anchor in it without fear."
Arriving overland in Baie des Moustiques, whose poverty stands out even in a country as poor as Haiti, is much more challenging. The unpaved road to the village of 5,000 is so rough it can rupture tires and axles. A U.S. missionary group provides some aid, but not nearly enough.
Many residents considering leaving are deterred by stories of migrants drowning, suffocating or being eaten by sharks. Two weeks ago, 24 Haitians died when their boat capsized off the Bahamas.
Boloney tried to sail to Florida in 1994 in a stolen boat, but landed in Cuba instead. While Cuban officials processed deportation papers, his family gave him up for dead.
"I came back to my own wake," he said. "They were drinking rum, so I joined them."
His second trip ended when the boat, with about 40 people on board, ran aground on an uninhabited island.
"We lived on what we caught in the sea and on food we had on board," Boloney said. They built fires at night to summon help, and after a week a passing Haitian boat took them home.
Boloney said his five children need a father.
"I've had it with boats," he declared.
Joseph, 49, said food prices need to come down.
"We cannot buy enough to feed ourselves," she said.
But Joseph is staying put for the sake of her seven children and her granddaughter.
Belizaire, the mayor, voted for Preval in the 2006 election. He says the president hasn't sent any help, and that is bringing restlessness to the village.
"There's no jobs, no food. That's why people want to leave," he said.
But he's clutching to the hope that life will improve. He says it's a sign of progress that two years into his second presidency of this coup-plagued country, Preval hasn't been overthrown.
"I am not discouraged because he is still around," the mayor said. "His mandate is not over. Maybe he can still bring factories here to create jobs, build roads and bring down the high cost of living."

US Role in Haitian Food Crisis

30 Years Ago Haiti Grew All the Rice It Needed. What Happened?The U.S. Role in Haiti's Food Riots
By Bill Quigley
Riots in Haiti over explosive rises in food costs have claimed the lives of six people. There have also been food riots world-wide in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Guinea, Mauritania, Mexico, Morocco, Senegal, Uzbekistan and Yemen.
The Economist, which calls the current crisis "the silent tsunami," reports that last year wheat prices rose 77 percent and rice 16 percent, but since January rice prices have risen 141 percent. The reasons include rising fuel costs, weather problems, increased demand in China and India, as well as the push to create biofuels from cereal crops.
Hermite Joseph, a mother working in the markets of Port-au-Prince, told journalist Nick Whalen that her two kids are “like toothpicks” because they’re not getting enough nourishment. "Before, if you had $1.25, you could buy vegetables, some rice, 10 cents worth of charcoal and a little cooking oil. Right now, a little can of rice alone costs 65 cents, and is not good rice at all. Oil is 25 cents. Charcoal is 25 cents. With $1.25, you can’t even make a plate of rice for one child.”
The St. Claire’s Church Food program, in the Tiplas Kazo neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, serves 1000 free meals a day, almost all to hungry children – five times a week in partnership with the What If Foundation. Children from Cité Soleil have been known to walk the five miles to the church for a meal. The cost of rice, beans, vegetables, a little meat, spices, cooking oil, propane for the stoves, have gone up dramatically. Because of the rise in the cost of food, the portions are now smaller. But hunger is on the rise and more and more children come for the free meal. Hungry adults used to be allowed to eat the leftovers once all the children were fed, but now there are few leftovers.
The New York Times lectured Haiti on April 18 that “Haiti, its agriculture industry in shambles, needs to better feed itself.” Unfortunately, the article did not talk at all about one of the main causes of the shortages -- the fact that the U.S. and other international financial bodies destroyed Haitian rice farmers to create a major market for the heavily subsidized rice from U.S. farmers. This is not the only cause of hunger in Haiti and otherpoor countries, but it is a major force.
Thirty years ago, Haiti raised nearly all the rice it needed. What happened?
In 1986, after the expulsion of Haitian dictator Jean Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loaned Haiti $24.6 million in desperately needed funds (Baby Doc had raided the treasury on the way out). But, in order to get the IMF loan, Haiti was required to reduce tariff protections for their Haitian rice and other agricultural products and some industries to open up the country’s markets to competition from outside countries. The U.S. has by far the largest voice in decisions of the IMF.
Doctor Paul Farmer was in Haiti then and saw what happened. “Within less than two years, it became impossible for Haitian farmers to compete with what they called ‘Miami rice.’ The whole local rice market in Haiti fell apart as cheap, U.S. subsidized rice, some of it in the form of ‘food aid,’ flooded the market. There was violence, ‘rice wars,’ and lives were lost.”
“American rice invaded the country,” recalled Charles Suffrard, a leading rice grower in Haiti in an interview with the Washington Post in 2000. By 1987 and 1988, there was so much rice coming into the country that many stopped working the land.
Fr. Gerard Jean-Juste, a Haitian priest who has been the pastor at St. Claire and an outspoken human rights advocate, agrees. “In the 1980s, imported rice poured into Haiti, below the cost of what our farmers could produce it. Farmers lost their businesses. People from the countryside started losing their jobs and moving to the cities. After a few years of cheap imported rice, local production went way down.”
Still the international business community was not satisfied. In 1994, as a condition for U.S. assistance in returning to Haiti to resume his elected Presidency, Jean-Bertrand Aristide was forced by the U.S., the IMF, and the World Bank to open up the markets in Haiti even more.
But, Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, what reason could the U.S. have in destroying the rice market of this tiny country?
Haiti is definitely poor. The U.S. Agency for International Development reports the annual per capita income is less than $400. The United Nations reports life expectancy in Haiti is 59, while in the US it is 78. Over 78% of Haitians live on less than $2 a day, more than half live on less than $1 a day.
Yet Haiti has become one of the very top importers of rice from the U.S. The U.S. Department of Agriculture 2008 numbers show Haiti is the third largest importer of US rice - at over 240,000 metric tons of rice. (One metric ton is 2200 pounds).
Rice is a heavily subsidized business in the U.S. Rice subsidies in the U.S. totaled $11 billion from 1995 to 2006. One producer alone, Riceland Foods Inc. of Stuttgart, Arkansas, received over $500 million dollars in rice subsidies between 1995 and 2006.
The Cato Institute recently reported that rice is one of the most heavily supported commodities in the U.S. -- with three different subsidies together averaging over $1 billion a year since 1998 and projected to average over $700 million a year through 2015. The result? “Tens of millions of rice farmers in poor countries find it hard to lift their families out of poverty because of the lower, more volatile prices caused by the interventionist policies of other countries.”
In addition to three different subsidies for rice farmers in the U.S., there are also direct tariff barriers of 3 to 24 percent, reports Daniel Griswold of the Cato Institute -- the exact same type of protections, though much higher, that the U.S. and the IMF required Haiti to eliminate in the 1980s and 1990s.
U.S. protection for rice farmers goes even further. A 2006 story in the Washington Post found that the federal government has paid at least $1.3 billion in subsidies for rice and other crops since 2000 to individuals who do no farming at all; including $490,000 to a Houston surgeon who owned land near Houston that once grew rice.
And it is not only the Haitian rice farmers who have been hurt.
Paul Farmer saw it happen to the sugar growers as well. “Haiti, once the world's largest exporter of sugar and other tropical produce to Europe, began importing even sugar-- from U.S. controlled sugar production in the Dominican Republic and Florida. It was terrible to see Haitian farmers put out of work. All this sped up the downward spiral that led to this month's food riots.”
After the riots and protests, President Rene Preval of Haiti agreed to reduce the price of rice, which was selling for $51 for a 110 pound bag, to $43 dollars for the next month. No one thinks a one month fix will do anything but delay the severe hunger pains a few weeks.
Haiti is far from alone in this crisis. The Economist reports a billion people worldwide live on $1 a day. The US-backed Voice of America reports about 850 million people were suffering from hunger worldwide before the latest round of price increases.
Thirty three countries are at risk of social upheaval because of rising food prices, World Bank President Robert Zoellick told the Wall Street Journal. When countries have many people who spend half to three-quarters of their daily income on food, “there is no margin of survival.”
In the U.S., people are feeling the world-wide problems at the gas pump and in the grocery. Middle class people may cut back on extra trips or on high price cuts of meat. The number of people on food stamps in the US is at an all-time high. But in poor countries, where malnutrition and hunger were widespread before the rise in prices, there is nothing to cut back on except eating. That leads to hunger riots.
In the short term, the world community is sending bags of rice to Haiti. Venezuela sent 350 tons of food. The US just pledged $200 million extra for worldwide hunger relief. The UN is committed to distributing more food.
What can be done in the medium term? The US provides much of the world’s food aid, but does it in such a way that only half of the dollars spent actually reach hungry people. US law requires that food aid be purchased from US farmers, processed and bagged in the US and shipped on US vessels -- which cost 50% of the money allocated. A simple change in US law to allow some local purchase of commodities would feed many more people and support local farm markets.
In the long run, what is to be done? The President of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who visited Haiti last week, said “Rich countries need to reduce farms subsidies and trade barriers to allow poor countries to generate income with food exports. Either the world solves the unfair trade system, or every time there's unrest like in Haiti, we adopt emergency measures and send a little bit of food to temporarily ease hunger."
Citizens of the USA know very little about the role of their government in helping create the hunger problems in Haiti or other countries. But there is much that individuals can do. People can donate to help feed individual hungry people and participate with advocacy organizations like Bread for the World or Oxfam to help change the U.S. and global rules which favor the rich countries. This advocacy can help countries have a better chance to feed themselves.
Meanwhile, Merisma Jean-Claudel, a young high school graduate in Port-au-Prince told journalist Wadner Pierre "...people can’t buy food. Gasoline prices are going up. It is very hard for us over here. The cost of living is the biggest worry for us, no peace in stomach means no peace in the mind. I wonder if others will be able to survive the days ahead because things are very, very hard."
“On the ground, people are very hungry,” reported Fr. Jean-Juste. “Our country must immediately open emergency canteens to feed the hungry until we can get them jobs. For the long run, we need to invest in irrigation, transportation, and other assistance for our farmers and workers.”
In Port-au-Prince, some rice arrived in the last few days. A school in Fr. Jean-Juste’s parish received several bags of rice. They had raw rice for 1000 children, but the principal still had to come to Father Jean-Juste asking for help. There was no money for charcoal, or oil.
Jervais Rodman, an unemployed carpenter with three children, stood in a long line Saturday in Port-au-Prince to get UN donated rice and beans. When Rodman got the small bags, he told Ben Fox of the Associated Press, “The beans might last four days. The rice will be gone as soon as I get home.”
Bill Quigley is a human rights lawyer and law professor at Loyola University New Orleans. He can be reached at quigley77@gmail.com People interested in donating to feed children in Haiti should go to http://www.whatiffoundation.org/
People who want to help change U.S. policy on agriculture to help combat world-wide hunger should go to: http://www.oxfamamerica.org/ or http://www.bread.org/.
[published April 2008]

BBC NEWS | Americas | Hungry mob attacks Haiti palace

BBC NEWS Americas Hungry mob attacks Haiti palace

The situation is getting worse in Haiti right now. Hunger and soaring prices are driving the people to desperation.

BBC NEWS | Americas | View from Haiti: Aid worker

BBC NEWS Americas View from Haiti: Aid worker

Excellent very recent article from an aid worker in northwest Haiti. Desperation is starting to set in. Remember the mission and the country of Haiti in your prayers.

Day 7 continued - The orphange

We finished eating at Jerry's about 1:00. The orphanage is only one block away. It houses about 150 kids and is a two level building with 3 wings forming a sort of "U" shape and an open courtyard in the middle with a playground. The kids range from 6 to 18. The kids absolutely swarmed us. It was a little intimidating at first but they get so little one on one attention you can understand it. The 150 kids are split into 5 different "families" each headed up by a Haitian couple. These couples are truly giving everything for the Lord and these kids. Can you imagine being the parent for 30 orphans?! These couples need your prayers!

After we got settled, we gave our VBS skit one last time :(. It went very well and the kids enjoyed it. After VBS, we tood the kids swimming in the ocean. This was turn out to be another of those "Haiti" moments that will forever by burned into my memory.

So many ironies stuck home again. To get the two blocks to the ocean, we and the kids walked through a garbage strewn alley to get to the "beach". Keep in mind the view is spectacular. The beach itself is narrow, with the gutted, decayed buildings that squatters occupy right up against it. The sand is black / gray and absolutely littered with garbage and broken glass and flies swarming about. A pig was tied up on the beach and had no shortage of garbage to consume. Some of what pigs leave behind was seen as well. Several of the kids peed right after getting the water. Some had suits, some didn't.

The water appeared clear but the bottom had a very large concrete "shelf" submerged there and several other obstacles underneath. Only Neal (from our group) and Curtis Rogers from the mission dared to get in with about 50 of the kids. The kids were having a blast.

Later that night, Penny made a tearful comment that struck like a hammer. When she got to the beach and saw these kids running barefoot through the garbage and glass. She imagined it was her 5 year old son and said she wanted to rush out and pick up every one of these kids and keep them safe.

I had not thought of that while I was there and I feel SO guilty for not noticing that. We are no better! My kids are no more important than these kids! Yet my mind is creating this unconscious "seperation" that keeps me from fully understanding these conditions and empathizing with these people, our fellow children of God.

I pray for this "seperation" to go away.

After returning to the orphanage, we handed out peanut butter sandwiches and gift bags for the kids. The little ones were especially excited. My wife Lisa spent a good deal of time talking to Tigans, who is sponsored by one of the families in our church. A very bright, intelligent boy. He is almost 18 and soon will leave the orphange and enter the world.

We left the orphange about 4:00 and made the last trip to St Louis du Nord. After returing we started our final packing preparations as we would leave at 4:30 am to head into Port de Paix to the airport. We ate pizza for supper. I didn't like it and ate little. At 7:00 our group gathered for our final nightly devotions. Each person got up and shared our highlights, feelings, and things learned from our time here. MANY laughs were had and MANY tears were shed. It was awesome.

For me, it is the "images" I will never forget: the "miracle" at Le Bay as we ministered to over 300. The lifting up of 50 simultaneous prayers from the workers at the mission each morning to heaven and marvelling at how God hears and responds to each one of us. Walking down by the ocean delivering food to the utterly destitute. The image of the poor old lady bent over like a crab. The joyful praise of Sunday morning.

All of these great memories involved praising God and obeying his command to love one another. Living as Jesus would and did!

Why, why, why is it so hard to this on a daily basis in our lives!? Lord, please help me to keep my eyes and heart open.

Day 7 - the orphange in Port de Paix

Well here it is. Our last full day in Haiti. My emotions are SO bittersweet. I really miss my 3 kids and want to see them so badly. Yet I have treasured every minute here. Despite the difficulties encountered, I love this country and its people. What makes it truly awesome is that our group of 14 has spent the entire week serving the Lord and not ourselves. Why is this so HARD to practice at home?! All the work deadlines, the cell phone ringing, the bill paying, the upkeep of everything distracts us. These are perhaps Satan's greatest tools against us in the supposedly "developed" world.

Woke up at 6:30, my third straight night of really good sleep. Man, I am actually going to miss those roosters! What a great way to wake up, really (I believe I am in the minority on that). I thought it was cool anyway.

The morning pace was a bit slower as we wouldn't be leaving for Port de Paix until 9:00. Our first stop would be to visit Waves of Mercy, a home and mission for street boys started last year by the former director of NWHCM, Larry Owen. After that we would visit the childrens orphanage in Port de Paix. Once again, we had 20 people crammed on the bed of the pickup as we headed out. One of our group became sick on the way there and shortly after we got there. She never complained though. She is a strong woman with a strong emotional makeup. My wife and I really appreciated getting to know her better. We just hadn't interacted much before the trip and travelled in different circles.

After the usual one hour + bump and jump to Port de Paix we stopped at the home of a Haitian doctor and friend of the mission who had provided a home for Larry now that we was no longer with NWHCM. Larry took us from there to the far end of Port de Paix, right before Trois Rivieres. Here was the home for 12 of the orphan boys ages 8-16 or so. They lived with Fritz, who grew up in the NWHCM orphanage and now worked with Larry to help these kids. The boys go out and do odd jobs during the day such as washing vehicles (mostly mopeds and tap-taps) to earn a little money. But now instead of sleeping on the streets, they had a place to go. They are fed nightly and once they return to the mission to eat, they cannot go back out til morning.

Larry told the story of one boy there who was about 14 and had been sleeping on porches in the area at night. One night the people of the house whose porch he was sleeping on caught him, threw kerosene on his legs him and lit him, burning him badly. It makes me sick to think someone could do that to another human.

They also had started church services. The previous Sunday they had 93 people attend, their highest ever. Larry then took us on a 30 minute walk from the house to the river and back. We were swarmed by neighborhood kids as usual. One boy of 7 or 8 named Vladimir stuck with me. He is the boy in the yellow shirt in front of me in the photo above. He was a precious boy and reminded me of my sons, which only deepened my wanting to see them.

We walked past the roadside market sellers selling food, charcoal, booze, and second hand clothes. Another dusty, smoky, fetid street. We left at 11:30 to eat by the ocean next to the orphanage at a restaurant called Jerry's. It was an open air restaurant with a GORGEOUS view. I have attached a photo of the view here. We were the only ones there. The usual fare, rice and beans, fish, some soggy fries. The food wasn't great but the view was! I talked a good deal with Henry again. I am going to miss him the most of the people we met there. Such a godly young man. We hope to be able to fly him to the States at some point. We''ll see.

Next up, the orphanage.

Day 6 continued - Face to face with Haiti's harsh reality.

After lunch a small group of us accompanied Maureen on a brief trip down the street outside the mission to visit a family with 3 blind members. Maureen wanted to make sure they were getting along and if they needed any help. The house was small, messy, stale, and dark. It had 2 rooms, better than some there. It was very humbling to see the grinding poverty of their everyday life. And 90% of Haitians are in similar circumstances.

Along the way we were swarmed by several kids, including a few older ones who were very persistant in asking for dollars. They weren't rude, but they were persistant, which made in a little tough to just enjoy their company.

It really is hard NOT to give out a dollar to these kids but the missionaries were very clear that it is a bad message to sen to these kids. They are right of course. The mission has feeding programs for these kids and any others of need. We were told the mission feeds 2000 per day. But perhaps the wisest goal of NWHCM is to try and give a hand up to these people, not just a hand out. Handing out money would never be enough and it would not foster a work ethic among these kids. In all ways, this mission has the people of Haiti in their best interests!

At 4:00 we got togther another group for a walk down to the shut-ins of St Louis du Nord, led by Seramone. About 10 of us went down to the city. The images I saw I will never forget. The crushing, filthy, and abject poverty these poor souls survive in....my mind can't even start to comprehend.

The third stop was down by the ocean through a stinking, smoking, filthy day market. The oceanside is where the poorest of poor live (so opposite the USA!). The building by the ocean are crumbling and un-owned, thus providing shelter for the squatters. One of the ladies we stopped and gave rice and beans to was missing half a leg and sitting on a filthy stool. Her shack had holes everywhere and a torn blanket for a door. A couple of rats were by the doorway. Just after we stopped there a woman who was literally bent over and walking like a crab came up for her food. She couln't have been more than 3 feet tall anymore. She was literally bent over in half and walking with her feet wide apart like a crab. We were told she had Mott's Disease, essentially TB set into the spinal column. TB eats away the spinal stucture, thus causing the severe disability. It is unheard of in the states and entirely treatable, though too late for this women. I wanted to take a picture but I couldn't bring myself to patronize her like that. My heart breaks for her.

The alleys and market nearby are filthy and smell of smoke, rot, and urine. EVERYTHING is the image of poverty: the destitute charcoal sellers, trash everywhere, run-down decrepit building everywhere that were homes to these people. Rancid water running in rivlets everywhere you look. Dried fish, meat, and veggies for sale, covered with flies and fermenting in the heat. People in worn out clothing all with a look of quiet desperation.

Dave Simmmons had a great point during devotions! Even though we directly fed only 12 or so that afternoon, we were seen representing Jesus to countless others. Sometimes it seems like we can only do so little. But the important thing is to be the hands and feet of Christ!

After dinner, I was emotionally and physically exhausted. Lisa and I hadn't had any alone time in days to we both went up to the tent about 8:30. It was good to to be able to share our experiences with each other. Unfortunately the wind was very strong again that night and we slept in the "dorms".

I got up for prayer time about 1:45. At first I prayed outside, the voodoo drums and chanting present but definitely farther away this time. The wind often drowned them out. It was downright chilly with the wind. I slept well that night, until 6:30, the latest on our trip.

Up next, Day 7, our last full day.

Day 6 Ansefoleur

Well, I woke up this morning and got a Valentines card from my very thoughtful wife. Her not very thoughtful husband did not have a card :( It slipped my mind in all the preperation until we were already in Haiti. There is a severe shortage of Hallmark stores in Haiti!

I felt so bad for her because I could tell it stung her some. She really deserved better from me. She is a WONDERFUL wife.

We had an early morning today. Breakfast was served and then we left at 7:45 for VBS at the school in Ansefoleur, about 10-12 miles east of St Louis du Nord. After the VBS, we were to have a prayer time at a spot called Voodoo Mountain a former voodoo sacred hill just outside of Ansefoleur.

Our morning got off to a rough start as just outside the mission, our tire started going flat. We stopped on the edge of the road in the town square and had it repaired by a roadside tire vendor. It took him a lot of mud scraping to find the source of the flat so we were delayed 30-40 minutes.

Of all the rough roads we travelled, this was the most brutal. The roads, if you want to call them that were atrocious. There were 18 of us sitting on the bed of the truck along with 6 (100lb) bags of rice and beans. We were jostled and bumped something fierce! It was the most scenic drive we had as well. Shortly after crossing the river where the market sets up we were going through Laforge and drove up to a huge, deep, long, wide waterhole. There was no way around it, only through it!

Everyone held their feet up and the diesel started chugging through. Very soon, water started filling up the bed of the truck as we were driving through nearly 4 feet of water. Right in the middle he got held up momentarily on a rock and we thought we would stall our and be wading through the muck for sure. But steadily the driver drove through and out of the mudhole. We immediately stopped to let water out of the cab and bed of the truck! We Michiganders think we have pothole problems. We got nothing on Haiti!

The remainder of the 70 minute drive was through gorgeous countryside up and down cliffs along the ocean. The view was spectacular! The road was not so we had PLENTY of time to soak in the sights.

We arrived in Ansefoleur about 9:30. It is a beautiful little town, hard by the ocean across from the far east tip of Tortuga. The school was well run and we presented the program to 100 kids ages 8-10. It went very well. The kids were very excited and well behaved. They really liked the program. Once again, Roland led them in a raucous worship song time to get them fired up.

Before we left for Haiti i had wondered "why VBS programs"? I thought there were much better ways to serve than this. However, I now understood how important this was. The kids (and Gran Moun) really responded to it and it showed them that God is the Father of the white man and the black man. All men are equal and we are here to serve and praise him! We had touched over 700 kids, the future of Haiti. Thank you God for allowing me to be part of this!

The ride back was equally uncomfortable to seemed a bit quicker and the water hole a bit shallower, though we had to stop again to drain water out of the cab and bed of the truck. After we got back, Mom, Lisa, and I had dish duty.

That afternoon I made a couple of brief sojourns into St Louis du Nord that I won't forget! That's up next.

Day 5- Witnessing the scope of Northwest Haiti Christain Mission

The previous night's voodoo ceremony continued until at least 5:30. The roosters were in full chorus by that time too. It is a constant cacaphony every morning by dozens of roosters in every direction, starting in the deep, dark of night. I will never hear a rooster crow again without thinking about Haiti!

We got a much needed reprieve Wednesday morning. We had been on the go constantly since we got there. We were tired but a good tired. We had seen and done so much. The missionaries had been awesome about exposing us to as much of the mission activities as possible. Today was to be a closer more intimate glimpse of daily life on the main compound in St. Louis du Nord.

I started by going with Seromone and watching as people were let in the gates starting just before 8:00. There was a very large crowd gathered outside as there is every day. Seromone and the two guards "sorted" through the people coming in. Several people went to the Triage area to either be treated for either minor injuries or sickness. Many came to get appointments for surgical, dental, or eye procedures that would be performed when the appropriate medical missions were present from the states. They were given an appointment time for when the teams would be there. I saw several people who definitely did not look well and one boy about 10 holding a very bloody towel to his head.

Also arriving were women who were receiving pre-natal help. The NW Haiti mission is the only place for many, many miles that provided such help. It also is the only place for birthing. Since the hospital in Port de Paix charges for birthing, the mission is the only place to have children besides at home in the huts and shanties. The mission helps with 4-6 births per day! No one is turned away.

Others arriving were there for feeding programs for both kids and adults. Also, some women were there to pick up our laundry. As a part of the mission's empowering of the Haitians they serve, we as American visitors were encouraged to have our laundry done by local Haitian women for $3-5 per day. This is a very good wage for these women and work is so hard to come by that the women will start lining up outside the mission at 4 am in order to get this work. They take our laundry home and wash them (usually in the river) and then lay them out on rocks to dry. We really were glad to help out and daily put out clothes, even if we only had a few to wash.

One of my most vivid moments was observing the morning devotions they have with many of the workers. At the end of the devotion time, these 50+ workers all started their one prayers out loud. The sound of 50 different prayers being simultaneously uttered (in a foreign language to boot) was AWE INSPIRING. God hears millions of these prayers everyday in hundreds of languages. This one event may have shown me God's awesome power more effectively than anything else I have ever witnessed!

Lisa and I went with a few others and spent some time in the baby orphange on the grounds that morning. Lisa was holding a baby girl named Angela who had been brought to the mission near death. Her mother, who had AIDS, died shortly after her birth. Angela herself has HIV. While the father struggled to even feed his family, now without a mother, a rat had chewed on her face during the night. Desperate because he could no longer feed her or take care of her, Angela's father brought her to the mission. It is one of those stories most people only read about. Here was one of those little ones right in my wife's arms.

I was holding a plump little boy named Gevensky. He was the cutest little kid. I held him and talked to him for quite a while. Once I put him down and he immediately started fussing and crawling furiously back to me. I picked him up and sat down in a rocker for another 30 minutes til he fell asleep. Gevensky was from another sad though entirely too common situation in Haiti. He was the last of 9 kids. His mother died in childbirth with him. The father simply could not take care of the kids and desperate, brought Gevensky to the mission.

After lunch we spent the afternoon loading up 4 truckloads of formula, nutritional supplements, ensure, and other food to consolidate in a stock room on the mission grounds. Box, by box, by box. No fork lifts, no master cartons, no skids. 4 hours of hard, sweatly, dusty work. It felt great! I don't get to do that much in my real life and I loved being able to show the many Haitians inside that we Americans are here to serve them in Christ's name by doing the dirty work.

I was very thankful I had gotten in shape before the trip. I had lost 20 pounds and did daily pushups and situps. When we were finished I was exhausted but felt invigorated. The cold shower actually felt great!

After supper we had our daily devotians and played cards and chatted. We were blessed with a clear, calm night so Lisa and I finally were able to spend the whole night in the tent (no mosquitos!). I slept VERY, VERY well that night. In the middle of the night I awoke briefly and heard some distant voodoo chanting, though curiously they were not accompanied by drums.

Day 4 continued. Prayer against voodoo

We went to bed in the dorms that night at 10:00. I fell asleep right away. I was surprised because right after we went to bed, a voodoo ceremony started just up the hill behind the mission. The sharp thump of the drumming was constant and chanting and singing was frequent. I had actually "hoped" to hear a ceremony while we were there, though I felt guilty for feeling that way. The pervasive hold that voodoo has on the people of Haiti saddens me. It is perhaps Satan's strongest tool in this impoverished nation. But I wanted to hear a ceremony in hopes to have a deeper glimpse into the daily lives of these people and this nation.

That night (Tuesday night) the men had prayer time in the prayer chapel. My time was from 1:00-2:00 AM. Neal woke me up from a deep sleep. He said the prayer tower had a fair amount of mosquitos in it so he had prayer on the roof. I decided to do the same and it definitely was the right place for me to pray.

The voodoo cermony was in full swing during my prayer time. I stared into the hills behind us searching for the lights of this ceremony but saw none. But it was so close. I could clearly hear the chants (no idea of course of what was being said). The drumming was sharp and rythmic. Hearing the drumming and chanting during prayer time was a very powerful reminder of the evil gripping this country.

Haiti is surrounded by so much darkness. Crushing poverty and human suffering. So much of this is tied to voodoo and the people don't realize it. SO MUCH money and hope, both of which are far too rare in Haiti, are poured into this religion and its witch doctors and sacrifices. This is a religion now steeped in greed and desperation and anger. It is not a religion of loving one's fellow man.

Let me give you a brief history of voodoo in Haiti. Voodoo at its roots is the tribal religion of the African slaves from their homeland in West Africa. Voodooists DO believe in one supreme God. But they mistaking believe that this one God has no interest in the daily lives of people and that there are a vast number of lesser gods that "intercede" on the behalf of the people. Some of these gods are gentle, some seductive, some angry, some vulgar.

Unfortunately, one cannot fault the Haitians for there deep distrust, if not hatred, of the white man's version of "Christianity". Anyone who reads about the origins of Haiti will be absolutely repulsed by the unimaginable cruelty inflicted on the slaves by the French slave owners. When the slaves finally had enough and successfully revolted, they of course wanted NOTHING to do with the white mans God. Who would? So the practice of voodoo (vodoun is the proper term) grew in the 200 years of virtual isolation that struck Haiti.

Christianity, as taught by Jesus, is making inroads in Haiti. The same white people, whose distant descendants brutally murdered and mistreated these people, are now in many cases coming back to humbly serve the descendants of those so terribly mistreated. To me this is what a foriegn mission trip, be it short term or long term, is ALL ABOUT!

Looking out into the darkness, hearing the voodoo ceremony, remembering the images we saw, was the most surreal thing I believe I have ever experienced. So much mental preperation, many books and articles read about Haiti, had preceeded this trip for me.

Living it, hearing it, seeing it for only a few days didn't even seem real. And that tears my heart out.

SIDEBAR: To get a non-biased, secular detail of voodoo, read Alfred Metraux's "Voodoo in Haiti". It is considered to the most detailed view of voodoo from a white person's perspective. You owe it to yourself to read it if you want to understand these people.

I read it about a month before we went to Haiti. I actually approached reading this book "hoping" that voodoo was really not that far away from Christianity. I finished with a very deep, very clear conviction of the opposite, though that is not the author's intent. These spirits are real and they are from Satan. Voodoo is not the direct worship of Satan, but is a vast series of spirits under Satan that deceives these people. I finished the book feeling not fear or dread of those who follow voodoo, but instead a deep sadness for the deception of these people .

Day 4 - Far West Haiti back to St. Louis du Nord

Our first two full days in Haiti contained so many wonderful, exhilerating, emotional, sobering moments. Two days I will never forget as long as I live.

We woke up early on Miss Pat's roof. I'm an early riser anyway but when everyone goes to bed at 8:00, by 6:00 you have had enough sleep. Becky Kelley even saw what was supposedly her first sunrise!

We had over 4 hours to wait until our VBS that morning at 10:30. This would be to the schoolkids meeting at the church. This was a group of 30-40 kids (much less than the previous day). Many of them had already attended yesterday so Danielle Adamson spent the morning putting together another skit. She did a great job of instantly developing a play based on the story of Jesus walking on water and Peter's "floundering" faith.

Many of the guys and a few women decided to help the Haitian workers building Curtis and Danielle's house by carrying cement blocks from the pile made the previous day over to the house so the Haitains didn't have to carry them back. (sidebar: you don't buy cement blocks at Home Depot in Haiti. Cement bags of 100lb each are purchased in Port de Paix, 90 minutes away. A hole is dug in the ground and filled with water and the cement is mixed in these holes. When mixed, it is pored into cement block molds to set.).

We spent a couple of hours carrying block back and forth. I paused several moments to look around the countryside. I simply COULD NOT wrap my head around the knowledge that we were in a very remote section of the poorest country this side of Earth. Help of any sort was a long ways off. For some reason, looking at the mud huts and poor, dusty village in Haiti would not take form for me. It was surreal. I believe the mind goes into a "protect" mode. I really hate that it does. I am sure this happens to many people in many such situations and makes what they are seeing appear to be imaginary. Another subtle trick of Satan.

VBS started at 10:30. The kids are the lucky ones in this area. It is VERY tough for their parents to send them, even though it costs little as most of the costs are supported by the mission. We were told that many parents could only send one child at a time, usually whichever is the youngest of those old enough to attend. Thus school is increasingly not available to older kids. Several of these older kids watched from outside the school/church. This skit went well. We were impressed how well it went on short notice.

After a fish gumbo lunch at Miss Pat's we were ready to head back. Emotional fatigue appeared to be setting in somewhat. We had witnessed and participated in so many awesome and sometimes miraculous scenes and it was starting to sink in. We left about 1:30. It was a bright, gorgeous sunny day. The drive out was so picturesque. Small scattered huts, small corn plots, cactus with a few thin cows here and there. Very frequently you would see some threadbare children just pop-up out in the middle of nowhere. Obviously not the fortunate ones who attended school. We passed many donkeys with weathered Haitian women on the way to market in Beauchamp or Port de Paix. Again it was very desert like right up until we crossed the river outside Port de Paix.

Once more we drove the bus across a wide river! Weird. Women and some kids were bathing in the river. Kids were washing vehicles. Laundry was being done in the river. People gathered water at the river. The smelly, smoky market is at the river. The rivers are the life-blood of these towns in Haiti.

God then gave us a great faith experience! Right in the middle of the narrow one-way streets of Port de Paix, the bus broke down. The driver popped the hood up and a geyser of steam launched up. Initially I was concerned, a bunch of whites ("blans") stuck in a busy street in a third world country. But quickly I felt calm. All of us did in fact. Everyone of us commented on this fact. Without faith, we would be flipping out I'm sure.

We were definitely the attraction of the day down there. Dozens and dozens watched us. A few came up to the bus windows and asked for money or food. The driver had disappeared down a street after assessing the problem. About 15 minutes later he came back with the biggest Haitian we had seen the whole trip. He was either the mechanic or the defensive end for the Lions (his clothes suggested the former). He set to work right there in the middle of the street. About an hour later, he had fixed it (blown hose) and got the engine cooled down with a few buckets of water.

I couln't help but think about what an awesome faith test this was. We had been placed in an unplanned situation that could have been dangerous. God worked his power and we easily made in back to St Louis du Nord.

I hoped to finally spend a night with Lisa in the tent. Apparently they had a wind storm the previous night (25 miles away in Le Bay, it had been calm most of the night). ALL 3 of our tents were flat as pancakes when we went up to check on them. Rain looked immenent so we got the tents back up and zipped closed. The Simmons tent had a splintered tent pole but was able to stand up right anyway. The rain came, came hard, and came long. It poured almost non-stop for 4 to 5 hours.

One of our group dealing with a stomach bug had been feeling poorly and then fainted around 8:00 outside the bathroom. The staff there got some gatorade in him and gave him some Cipro. After 30 minutes or so, he looked a lot better. He just had to take it easy for a day and he was OK.

Next up, "praying against voodoo".

Wrapup of Day 3 in Haiti - Far Northwest

After chilling out for a bit, we took a walk down through Ti Charles to the beach. The beach was a village in abject poverty with a million-dollar view. Very surreal. We walked right by the mud huts and lean-tos in this dusty little forgotten town our our way to the beach. An old fishing boat was tied up by shore. Most of the group walked west down the beach. I stayed at the edge of town on the beach talking with Henry Joseph for about an hour. It was really great to get his first hand views on the government of Haiti, voodoo, the American government, and what can help turn Haiti around. Henry is "hope" for this country. He is a very intelligent, thoughtful, deeply Christian man. 26 years old, looks just like Ray Allen of the Celtics. He is a student of Haitian history and a more knowledgable Christain than I am. It was good to talk to him and we continue to do so via email.

The group that had walked on ahead found a nice collection of seashells in good shape. A couple of the Haitians found a live sea urchin and a fiddler crab and showed everyone before releasing it.

Dusk comes very early here due to the mountain range immediately to the west. Just before we left I saw another poignant snapshot: a young boy, naked but for a shirt standing on this beach with the gorgeous view, watching the white people as we stood in awe of God's beautiful work.

We got back to Miss Pat's about 6:00 and ate supper. It was already dark. We all headed to the roof at 7:30 where we would be sleeping under the stars. Miss Pat's is not a big house by any means. The 4 Haitian construction workers working on Curtis and Danielle's house slept in the living room/ dining room. The two interpretors slept on the bus.

The solar battery ran dry before 8:00 as predicted so we had nothing to do but sit under the sky full of stars and chat. We had a great time chatting and discussing God's work in our lives. About that time we saw the "ultimate" irony! Standing on Miss Pat's roof in a dirt poor little village on the coast of Haiti, no lights anywhere, we saw a cruise ship go by about 20 miles offshore, with 300+ lights ablaze! The people on that boat were living in luxury as they unknowingly cruised by poverty of which they had never known. They have NO clue.

After my 3 nights of poor sleep, it was very nice to go to bed early! Lisa and I slept behind JR and Anna's (short-term missionaries there) tent to get out of the wind, which was gusting up to 20mph. Right after we went to bed, it started to sprinkle. We couldn't believe it! It almost never rains there that time of year and we really had nowhere to go. Fortunately it was a very brief passing shower, hardly getting anything wet.

Unfortunately for Lisa and I the wind immediately died down after that and we soon found out how Le Baie du Moustiques (the Bay of Mosquitos) got its name. I had my head and entire body under the covers that night. I was so tired I actually slept very well. The rest of the group was out in the open more where the breeze was present and had only a few issues with mosquitos.

I woke up once that night and stared at all the stars. Without any city lights, it's amzing how much brighter the stars are and how many more you see! I woke up often but since it was a long night, I got caught up on sleep. Most of us woke up early. I watched the procession of people and animals leave the village for the market in the early dawn. Very peaceful.

Day 3 - VBS in the Far West

After lunch we did our our VBS skit for the Gran Moun at Miss Pat's. We were a little "rough" the first time at Sunday School at church. We did better this time! We told about Jesus: how he called his disciples after him, told them of his leaving, betrayed by the Jews in Jerusalem, dying on the cross, rising again from the tomb, and meeting Mary and Mary and the disciples. I narrated the story while Henry Joseph, our interpretor from Port de Paix translated into Creole.

Henry Joseph is one of the GREATEST persons I have ever met. Young people like him need to be the future of Haiti. He is very intelligent, detailed, friendly, and most important, Godly people I have ever met. He and I continue to email each other often. He attends college in Port de Paix and is training to become a teacher and pastor. Please pray for him that God would continue to guide him and he would continue to be eager in listening.

The Gran Moun (about 15, all women) were reacted very enthusiastically to our play. so much so that several of the women in our group were in tears watching how eagerly and happily these women reacted. I can only imagine the extreme trials these elderly Haitian women have endured. Lives spent in hard poverty. Yet they are so enthusiastic about our Savior! They commented frequently during the skit and gave a big applause when we were finished. It was very memorable for everyone.

What happened that afternoon though was nothing short of a miracle. We were doing VBS at the church for what we were told to expect was 120-150 kids (all from the area). Well, the word must have travelled quickly. 30 minutes prior to 2:00 there were well over 100 kids of all ages outside the locked church waiting to get in.

Roland, one of the workers at the mission had to let the littlest kids in first. Many were in tears due to the commotion and the crush of the crowd. It was getting to be an unsafe situation. It was clear we would have way over 150 kids. Roland patiently held the crowd outside and let the littlest kids in a few at a time. Soon the church was full and many of the older kids had to watch from outside. Some of the nursing mothers were let in and they stood along the back. We planned for 150 kids but God had a different paln. He brought about 350 kids. We had made peanut butter sandwiches for them and brought a goody bag for 150 kids with toothbrushes, shampoo, and toys. We frantically divided all the sandwiches in two so every kid could have some.

For many of these kids, this would be there only meal of the day. You could tell that some of the kids were definitely malnourished. It broke our hearts to have to divided the sandwiches up. We figured that some of the kids would just have to go without and that would break our hearts. You know what, God provided. we actually had enough for every kids and a fair amount left over to give to the nursing mom's and some of the older kids! We were amazed! Not one kid or mom complained and each took the half-sandwich graciously.

Before all this, Roland had led the kids in a raucous song service. Roland, who I thought at first was kind of rough and distant, did an excellant job of crowd control and was great with the kids as he led them in singing. The kids were SO INTO the song service. Here it was, a Monday afternoon, and these kids were eagerly praising God at the top of there lungs. These kids who have almost nothing. God was there in all his glory! Each of us was moved by the joyful worship of these people.

We gave our skit for the kids. We had it down cold by this time. Bob Helm (our 300lb soldier) virtually threw Ryan (Jesus) up against the wall when it was time to "nail Jesus to the cross". The kids got a real kick out of it.

After this was the feeding of the sandwiches and then handing out the now divided up toys and toothbrushes. This went well also and every child was able to get something. The amazing thing was that a good many of the kids didn't want the toys (balls and pencils) and instead insisted on the toothbrushes. Again, another sobering reminder on what a luxury item toothbrushes are to these kids. They are so grateful for even the smallest item!

After we let the kids out, Ryan threw up a couple of kickball we had brought for the kids. The kids mobbed after these and got into shoving matches for the balls. We should have listened to Dave (Danielle Rogers' cousin, a missionary out in Le Bay). He had wanted us to give them directly to him so that they would be better taken care of. We did leave two other balls and a ball pump with him.

Our entire group was stunned after all this had happened. So many emotions were present. Joy over all the kids who heard the of Jesus and were fed nutricious peanut butter sandwichs and the Holy Spirit. Sadness at the desperate needs of these people.

This is the third world we hear about but never take the time to visit and help. A good many kids were running around with pants or underwear and over half without shoes. As difficult as it was to believe, Ti Charles and the Far West are even more desperate than Port de Paix and St Louis du Nord.

Wrapup of Day 3 to come.

Day 3 in Haiti - Out to the Far West Mission

After the debacle the previous night, I was the target of much good-natured ribbing. "Oh, crap" was now my tag-line. I was VERY tired and we were headed out on a long bus ride the the Far West as it is called. The Far West was about 3 hours away (only 25 miles or so). It was located at the Baie de Moustiques (Bay of Mosquitos) near a tiny hamlet named, as near as I can figure, Ti Charles. Breakfast was sub-par that day, a rubbery pancake and poor bacon. I actually fit a little queasy shortly after getting underway. The constant bouncing, poor breakfast, and no sleep, I'm sure. God heard my prayer and shortly after felt better. I was fine the rest of the day. Danielle and Ryan didn't feel well either but both were troopers and ended up OK.

The trip to "the Bay" was very memorable. After we passed Port de Paix (about 1.5 hours) we came to the west edge of the city. It was continuosly residential from the mission all the way into Port de Paix. The city was hustling commotion, noise, and smells such as the ever present smoke, vehicle fumes, rot, and sweat. After the city we came to a very wide and apparently shallow river, Trois Rivieres. I say apparently shallow because we drove the bus across the entire width of the river. Never had I experienced anything like that before! There is no bridge in sight so I guess that's the way it's done in Haiti.

What was amazing is how rapidly the climate changed after crossing Trois Rivieres. Almost immediately it became much more sparse: few trees, fewer homes, and very soon cactus became a common sight. This is only 12-14 miles from the virtual rainforest found at St. Louis du Nord! It was like having Louisiana and Arizona 12 miles apart. Crazy.

The road was by now much less travelled by vehicle and still heavily travelled by foot. Lots of peasants walking and women going to and from market on donkeys, laden down with their wares, be it food, utensils, or charcoal. The remaining 1.5 hour ride took us about 10 miles into what could only be described as desert. Hundreds of cactus, mostly organ-pipe, plots of spindly corn here and there, the occasion group of palm trees, a few cows and goats grazing about, and most notably, an even greater level of poverty. Looked exactly like Africa. Many of the houses were mud huts sparsely scattered amongst de-nuded hills and mountains. The people looked even poorer and that was hard to believe.

We arrived as Miss Pat's house (the 77 yr old missionary who lived at the Bay) around 11:30. Curtis and Danielle Rogers are having there house built next door to Miss Pat. It should be done in March. About 2/3 of the cement block was up when we arrived. (sidebar: You don't go to Home Depot and buy block in Haiti. Bags of concrete are mixed in a shallow depression with water and then poured into block molds to set. Very long and tedious process)

The church ( a picture is above) is right at the edge of Ti Charles. Ti Charles looks like a small African bush village of scattered huts, mostly mud and palm tree branch roofs. Some of the better ones had rusted tin roofs. Maybe 400 people. This collection of abject poverty is right on the ocean. The beach was relatively clean and the view was spectacular. Blue water, cliffs on both sides, the west end of Tortuga about 10 miles offshore.

We had lunch of a very tasty fish gumbo after we arrived.

Oh, Crap (Night 2 in Haiti)

At the end of a wonderful day in Haiti enjoying God's beauty, God showed some of his power as well! The truck with our totes for the mission (27 - 50lb totes all packed with food, medical supplies, and supplies and gifts for the VBS programs we would put on) arrived and everyone was very happy to get everything sorted and organized. Neal & Becky, Dave (Sparky) & Penny, and Lisa & I had all brought tents in these totes so we could snooze with the spouses (I know what you're thinking :)

We set up the tents in a pretty strong wind on the concrete roof of the mission. Well the wind was just warming up! The wind was quite strong (25-35 mph) and I was having trouble sleeping because of the flapping of the tent. Not only that, the pins that went into the ends of the tent poles kept coming out (they couldn't be staked down, only tied to re-bar). I kept having to put the pins back in and needless to say, couldn't sleep.

Then whamo! Shortly before 1:00 AM a monsoon hit! The wind picked up to a gale (maybe 40mph) and an all-out downpour started. The wind blew one corner of the rainfly off and we started getting wet. Before I could even get out to fix that the other corner blew off and the monsoon was coming down in our tent!

In the melee that followed, we were frantically getting our stuff out of the tent and downstairs. Apparently I was saying "Oh, crap!" (or a slightly stronger version thereof) repeatedly as I try to repair the tent. I was soaked. Lisa and I got some clean sheets and went back to the seperate dorms. All 3 couples were blown off the roof that night.

So, at 1:30 in the morning I was soaking wet, and worked up. And of course it was my turn in the prayer tower! (I had the 1-2 AM shift on the guys night). I thought about bagging it. But God planted a thought......think of the Haitians outside these gates in their leaky shacks and lean-tos. I hate it when he does that! Seriously it was good to have some prayer time and get things back in focus.

The storm had blown over and it was very calm out when I was finished. I got Sparky up for his shift and laid down on a mattress. With the wind gone and the heavy rain over, the mosquitos had woken up. After 10 minutes of swatting (still not cool with the DEET yet) I headed back up to the tent alone (sidebar: tent = no mosquitos. These are mosquitos you don't want to mess around with either, they carry malaria, dengue fever, typhoid). I wiped up much of the water inside and stacked the mattresses on top of each other. I got 2 hours of sleep for the second time in 3 nights. I was by then concerned about getting sick due to low defenses. I prayed often about this and you know what....God provided good health the whole trip.

Day 3 next

Day 2 - A beautiful walk with God's children

After lunch, we took a AWESOME walk through the Haitian countryside. I will never forget this day! Our walk would be over 2 hours each way. The destination was a 100ft waterfall. It was a great hike. We started out from the mission and walked through town. About 20 minutes later, we arrived at the river at the edge of town. We had to walk across the shallow, wide river. Most decided to spare their shoes and walk across bare-foot. After we had crossed, Matt told us we had 5 more crossings to do. He "failed" to mention this before we left. By the river was a large, noisy, open-air market, even on Sunday. Little tables were everywhere with people selling fruit, dried fish, dishes, and charcoal. The charcoal sellers are the poorest of the poor. These are mountain people with no other source of income except cutting down and partially burning wood to sell as charcoal (sidebar: Haiti has almost no electricity and no natural gas companies. Charcoal is the only way to cook food.) The Haitians were also using the river for bathing and doing laundry. Many kids and some women were naked and taking baths in the river. Several boys were washing mopeds and bikes in the river as well.

After crossing the river we walked for a few miles down a long dirt path that followed the river for the most part. It was too small for trucks but a few scooters would go by. It was VERY heavily used for foot traffic. Hundreds of people were using the path. It really struck me here that the vast majority of Haitians walk to wherever they need to go. We ended up crossing the river 2 more times (with shoes on this time) before coming to the waterfall. It was beautiful! Several of us climed about 15' us the falls and jumped into the river (led by Neal of course!) It was fairly murky and shallow enough that my jaws clacked together when my feet hit bottom. I was holding my sunglasses but the force the dive ripped them right out of my hand and they were lost at the bottom. It was incredible to be jumping off a waterfall in Haiti! We went to another spot (large rock) about 12' high that went into a deeper part of the river. After this we walked back to the mission. Along the way we stopped in a town called LaForge to see one of the other churches planted by NWHCM. So much good is being done here.

We walked through the river for the 6th and final time as we came back to the open market. Seeing the charcoal sellers right in front of me was surreal. I have read so much about the crushing poverty of Haiti and here it was, right in front of me. We ended up in a tap-tap for the last bit to the mission, saving us the tricky ascent up the steep hill to the mission. We had been gone about 5 hours.

The people and this land are beautiful. Yet they have virtually nothing by worldly standards, oppressed for centuries by greedy and ruthless dictators, oppressed by its rich and wealthy neighbors (mainly us) who choose to ignore these people because they offer us nothing. (sidebar: WHY did the US send hundreds of millions of dollars to the ruthless Duvalier regimes and the feared Tonton Macoutes in the 60's - 80's and to the brutal military junta that followed, yet when the people elected democratically a man, Jean Betrand Aristide, who promised to help and empower the poor, the USA led an international embargo that still continues, withholding over 500 million in foreign aid. There is NO ARGUMENT that thousands and thousands of lives have been lost to disease and starvation and violence that this aid would have prevented.)