Week 1 - Hey, I Made It!!!!
Trip Start
Apr 01, 2005
1
5
Trip End
Apr 29, 2005
Kenscoff Mountains,
Haiti
Monday, April 4, 2005
How are you all? Well, I have been here for a few days and decided that I would send you all an update on how I am doing. When I got to the airport on Thursday, I went to check in and the agent said that my flight would be delayed 42 minutes. That would have left me 3 minutes to catch my connecting flight, so we decided it would be a good idea to reroute me. When they did this, they ended up giving me a free hotel stay, dinner, and breakfast when i stayed overnight in Miami. This was so amazing because I did not have to rush for an connections, and I did not have to sleep in the airport. That was such an answer to prayer because I could relax and not worry about anything.
When I got to Haiti, Crystal McElroy and the head volunteer met me there and we headed up to the orphanage with a few stops in between. This was really cool because I got to see so much of haiti before getting to the orphanage. The driving here is crazy. There are no traffic controls at all, and you just go when you feel like it. If a car in front of you is going slow, you just beep and pass them, and it seemed like we were almost gonna hit another car, but everyone is very aware of where everything is on the road, so it is actually pretty safe.
When I got to the orphange I put everything in the room, and looked around the orphanage. The volunteers were just leaving for a walk to the store, about a 30 minute walk from the orphanage. We decided to each take a baby with us, and it was so amazing to walk through a country that I had only been in for a couple hours, and to get to go for a walk with a baby in my arms and see a totally different culture. After the walk, we played with some of the babies on the rooftop balcony in the orphanage, had supper, and had an awesome snack that I will show you how to make when I get back.
Yesterday, four of us volunteers went on a "Feed." We went with a group of older orphans from an orphanage down the road called "The Brothers," for a two hour ride to a very poor village to hand out rice to about a thousand people. We missed the ride there by like 30 seconds, so we had to catch a Tap-Tap (Haitian form of transportation, where you sit in the back of a covered pick-up truck) up to the top of the mountain called Fairmont. There was another orphanage there that is linked with "The Brothers" orphanage. So we played with the kids, took pictures, ate lunch and then left for the village to hand out rice. Along the way, we stopped to take pictures, and helped out the victims of a Tap-Tap (Haitian Transportation) accident that happened right in front of us. Many people were hurt, but we did what we could do before our driver got impatient and wanted to leave.
Today, was a very relaxing day. I have been sick for the past 24 Hours (As all volunteers are when they first come down here), so I mostly slept and went on the computer. I am feeling better now, so I have been taking some pictures. I will send you all some pictures when I can get them off of my camera.
So it has been an awesome experience so far, and I am so looking forward to what is going to come. Well, I am gonna go. I will continue to send e-mail updates, and I hope you will e-mail me too. God Bless!!!
