Haiti Mission Trip Day 7 -- Mission Accomplished

We rose on our last full day at Ecole St. Barthélémy to enjoy the flag ceremony for a final time. The children sang "How Great Thou Art" in either French or Creole and we were thrilled to recognize the tune. At breakfast, we enjoyed bread for the first time in several days (after likely depleting the supply ourselves) topped with the sweet homemade honey we've all come to love.

We planned to tour the northeastern part of Haiti at some point during the day, including a jatropha farm known as a pepinye, the town of Phiaton and Fort-Liberté. At breakfast we received the news that our adventure would not be until the afternoon, so we had another leisurely break. Several people napped, read or played cards, while some interacted with the children at the school.

After lunch, we loaded into the tap-tap and began our journey. We drove first to Fort-Liberté, where we drove through the town and out to Fort St. Joseph, which sat on the rocky coast of Liberté Bay by the Atlantic Ocean. All four of our youth shed their shoes and dipped their feet in the astonishingly clear water. We then walked around the fort and climbed to the top, where you could see the ocean all around.

We headed from there to one of the jatropha pepinyes, where we saw how the plants are grown in rows and relaxed for a minute under the only two trees in sight. Afterwards, we drove over to see the building where the Haitians train people to farm the jatrophas. Here, we saw several piles of shells and beans. A few of the youth retrieved beans from their shells and sorted them into the appropriate piles.

We piled back into the tap-tap and rode over to the beach at Phiaton, where Gary and Adrian had visited on their trip to Haiti eighteen months ago. At that time the area was doing very poorly, suffering from a loss of tourist activity. The people were very desperate and the beaches were almost completely empty.

We arrived at a gate constructed since that time and were surprised that they asked for an entrance fee. Our interpreter, Edward, negotiated a fair price. We drove in to find what Adrian called a "Haitian Fort Lauderdale." He and Gary were thrilled to see that the area was thriving. Many people were swimming in the water and structures had been constructed -- all great news for the people in Phiaton. Again, several of us dipped our feet in and we enjoyed a few minutes observing the area.

With our spirits lifted, we headed to our last stop to see how the jatropha plants are placed in a machine where the juice is removed. We were excited to learn about how each part of the plant is used somehow, whether to create the biodiesel or for another integral process.

Unfortunately, when we arrived we were unable to see the machinery, but Adrian and Gary shared the information with us and we will look at pictures from their last trip during our down time at the airport tomorrow.

When we returned we ate dinner and shared our nightly devotion, then broke into small groups and talked about what we will take away from this trip. Many of us talked about how much we learned about the culture here and how excited we are to bring our newfound passion for Haiti back to Athens to share with all of you.

We are excited to return home tomorrow to family, friends and air conditioning, but the departure is bittersweet leaving the people we have come to love here. We hope to continue our relationships with them and will always remember our time spent in Haiti.

Haiti Mission Trip Day 6 -- One Fish, Two Fish, Stinky Fish...Ewww, Fish

Today, we helped feed 160 families in a nearby, secluded village called Patrico, and then returned to Ecole St. Barthélémy to serve another 200 families.  We rode in a tap-tap to the village and had to deal with the wonderful smell of the fish we packed the day before.  During our ride, we had to avoid branches smacking us in the head as we drove down narrow, dirt road.  The people at Patrico were very appreciative of the bag of rice, two bags of spaghetti and fish we passed out.  Unfortunately, we only brought 134 food bags, but handed out 160 tickets for families to get food.  Even though we were short, the people in Patrico never seemed upset.  The people of Patrico gathered around us as we were heading out and all thanked us for helping to provide for them.  A couple people, including the local pastor, rode back to Ecole St. Barthélémy to get the extra food.

On the way back from Patrico, before we arrived at Ecole St. Barthélémy, we stopped at Peré Bruno's farm to help water his cattle.  Peré Bruno had purchased some mangos for our group and then we washed them and enjoyed the sweet, juicy fruit.  We returned to the school and helped distribute food to local families.  Several of the families coming to receive food have students in the school.  It was nice to see the children outside of their uniforms and school discipline.  People trickled in all afternoon turning in their tickets to receive their bag of food.  During our down time, we played some cards and enjoyed each other's company.  We also played with Lulu, the four year-old boy who lives with Peré Bruno and his wife.

We had an afternoon of leisure.  After dinner, we walked into town for some ice cold Coca-Cola, which happened to be Will's first ever Coke.

We ended our evening as we do every night, with a devotion studying the Bible examining a different passage involving light imagery.

Haiti Mission Trip Day 5 -- Bumpity-Bump Bump

Question: Of the following people, who was able to walk the 7 kilometers to the top of the Citadel: a varsity football player, a dancer, a soccer player, a trumpeter in the marching band, a 77 year old doctor, 3 moms or a girl who ran three miles before coming to Haiti?  Answer: NONE!  It was the youth director who was able to handle it.  Nine people rode horses to the top of the Citadel while one walked.  We spent most of the morning getting to the top, bouncing on the very bumpy road.  We rode to the Citadel in a tap-tap (the local taxi where people literally hang off the side and tap the roof to let the driver know they want off), riding in the back, getting bounced around on the unpaved road.  Then we bounced some more on the way to the top of the Citadel.

After we arrived at the top, we toured this old fort, built in the early 1800s.  We learned the history of the building and enjoyed the great views.  You literally could see for miles in any direction, so we were able to see most of Haiti from the top.  The view was stunning!  We enjoyed our guided tour and lunch in the Citadel before heading back down.  The horse ride down was more uncomfortable than going up due to the steep angle and the bumpity-bump  bump that the horse riders experienced.

When we returned to Terrier Rouge, we helped pack food bags for our food distribution tomorrow.  We packed bags of rice, spaghetti, and fish, breaking down 110 pound bags of rice and boxes of salted fish.  We will visit a small village and distribute food to those in need.  We will also distribute food at the school for the village of Terrier Rouge.  Apparently, the village has been recently hit by hard times and there is a shortage of food.  We will help with the food distribution tomorrow.

Today was a wonderful adventure up to the Citadel, back down, and even packing food afterwards.  We enjoyed the trip today but not the bumps and bruises.  We look forward distributing food tomorrow and interacting with the locals.

Haiti Mission Day 4 -- A Different Shade of Blue

Yesterday afternoon, after the blog was posted, we had an impromptu soccer game with several of the local children who attend the school.  We brought a soccer ball with us and brought it out to play with six children.  We divided up and had a couple Americans on one team and a couple on the other and had several Haitian children on each.  Communication with teammates was difficult, but everyone understood "pass" and "match" to begin or continue the game.  We played for at least an hour with our Haitian friends, enjoying many laughs and many high-fives.  Almost everyone on both teams scored (sorry, Will Corry), including Sara Cotton scoring one of her two goals on Adrian.

The match was a great experience for everyone involved and a great way to get to know some of the children.  We saw some of the same kids Tuesday morning and wanted to play more soccer.

On Tuesday morning, we had the opportunity to observe the kindergarten classes and participate with the children as they worked on writing.

After lunch, we finished painting the inside of the clinic that we were instructed to paint.  As it turns out, we were able to paint more than anticipated.  Near the end of the our painting, several Haitian children came to the clinic to see us and we wound up playing different games (tag, hand games and other things children enjoy).  Several of the hand games (patty-cake type games) were the same rhythm and cadence as we enjoy in the states.  The children also tried to teach us "The Macarena" and were surprised when we knew what they were doing.  Beth taught some of the children "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider" and they laughed so much at her performance.  Several of the youth gave piggy-back rides to the children and the children in turn gave flowers to a couple of our girls.

Words cannot describe the fun and excitement we had today.  We look forward to uploading pictures and videos upon our return home.  Until then, envision our youth playing games with Haitian children!

Haiti Mission Trip Days 2 and 3

Yesterday, we had a great walk through the village and saw a lot of the area that is helped by the school and clinic.  Gary Fleming saw several people that he knew from his previous trips and would up sharing pictures he took of them last time he was here.

Later in the afternoon, we watched a soccer match between the day school in Terrier Rouge and a rival school.  The game was a very one-sided, with the home team winning 7-1.  It was great to see the school spirit.  Many children from the community came out to cheer their team to victory.  The soccer field was cleaned up, nets installed and lines marked off.  Both teams came with a lot of energy, but the students from Ecole St. Barthélémy were bigger, stronger and faster.  The match was fun to watch and fun to cheer on the home team.

Today (Monday, June 4) we watched the opening ceremony for the school.  It is always fun to watch the children line up and say the Lord's Prayer and Psalm 23, then sing the Haiti national anthem.  The band played really well and with confidence as hundreds of children and adults sang along with them.

After lunch, we helped paint the clinic (Clinique Espérance et Vie).  We were asked to paint a hallway blue.  The walls had three different shades of blue on them already and we were given two more shades of blue to use.  We wound up painting the walls only one color of blue.  We spent a couple hours working and will come back tomorrow to continue to paint more in the clinic.  We cannot paint when there are patients in the clinic, so we have to wait until the hottest part of the day to do our work.

Speaking of the hottest part of the day, we all have struggled with the heat.  It is really hot and sticky during the day, but no one is really complaining about the heat.  We are drinking plenty of water and trying to stay cool, but that is more a challenge than we would like since there is no AC in any of the rooms.  The school is even beginning and ending an hour earlier to account for the heat.

We are excited about our work and ministry in northern Haiti and are looking forward to continuing to soak up the culture.  Please continue to pray for us as we continue to seek to follow God's call on our lives.

Haiti Mission Trip Day One -- We Made It!

Our travel to Haiti took an interesting turn.  Normally we travel from Atlanta to Port-au-Prince on a commercial airline and then pick up a local twin properaller plane from Port-au-Prince to Cap Haitian.  Just to make our lives more entertaining, the small airline made a new policy that you have to purchase tickets in advance which we did not do.  As it turns out, we had to drive from Port-au-Prince to Terrier Rouge.  Our 45 minute flight turned into a seven and a half hour drive through windy, bumpy, unpaved roads.  During our drive, unfortunately, three people got sick.  (Just for the record, none of the four guys had trouble, but half of the women did.  Draw your own conclusions from that....)

We began Sunday morning with a wonderful worship service led by Pere Bruno, who spoke recently at First Presbyterian Church of Athens.  Several youth recognized him from the worship service back home.  We spoke about Nicodemus and the transformation he experienced through his talks with Jesus.  We related that to our transformations of our experiences and perceptions of Haiti.

Later today, we hope to walk through Terrier Rouge and see some of the local village.  We are excited  about our time in this place and look forward to learning more about the Haitian culture.

Please pray for us as we continue our journey.  We hope to keep you updated on our travels and experiences.  Please feel free to comment below.

Haiti Trip -- Day Eight

One year ago, the capital of Haiti was essentially leveled in a massive earthquake. Over 300,000 people died, with many more suffering injuries. Disease was an after-effect of the quake, killing many more people.

Today, the nation of Haiti took the day to mourn. We had a moving two hour worship service with the community in the morning. Even though most of the service was in Creole, we felt the emotions of the congregation and mourned with them. As Pere Bruno said, everyone in the room knew someone, had a family member, or were friends with someone who was injured or killed in the quake. But the service did not end with mourning. A passage from the Gospel of John was read and we were reminded that Jesus is indeed the Resurrection and Life! The service ended with a very joyous song and much dancing and clapping.

The capital took a moment of silence in the early afternoon to reflect on the loss they have experienced as a nation. The country is rebuilding. Lives are being put back together. Homes are being built. Hope is returning. And we their hope is in Jesus Christ!

Haiti Trip Days 5-7

I am sorry that I was not able to post recently. Since my computer has not been working, it has been difficult to get online.

The past several days have been eventful, to be sure! Sunday, I worked with a massive cholera awareness campaign, where more than 150 volunteers traveled to Fort Libertie to pass out small bottles of Clorox and to educate people on the dangers of cholera. Each volunteer visited 25 homes each, so many, many people were informed.

While I was working with a group of people presenting information (we had a Haitian who did the speaking for us), we came to the home of an elderly lady. She was sitting outside of her wood and mud home, and before we could get too far into what we were doing, she stopped us so she coudl retrieve a chair for each of the Americans at her house! She found three chairs and insisted that we sit while we explained what we were doing. The guests were offered seating (the Haitian with us, Kismel, had family in that neighborhood, so he was from there, even though he does not live there). To me, her act showed the generosity of the hatian people.

We spent most of the day walking through the neighborhoods meeting people and explaining the dangers of cholera. We did not have much energy after that!

On Monday, we painted the main office of the clinic. A fresh coat of paint brightened the place up quite a bit. Many people commented on how much of a difference it made when they cam in on Tuesday to see the doctors and nurses.

On Tuesday, we began eye tests for the children of the school. With so many children, we are spreading the tests over several days, but we have already identified a couple of children who might benefit from glasses. Tomorrow, we will see more children and are ready with two eye charts and enough volunteers to help make things flow smoothly.

The Haiti trip is almost finished. While Athens is covered in several inches of snow, we are enjoying sunny and 90 degrees! This experience has been amazing, and I look forward to sharing it with you!

Peace,
Adrian

Haiti Trip - Day Four

It is a small miracle from God that I am able to continue to post on this blog with my computer out of commission. One of the people staying with us is allowing me to use her computer tonight. Yeah!

Today, we went to visit the Citadel that rests on top of a large mountain. Now, when I saw large mountain, think something coming straight out of the ground and going up about 3,000 feet. We drove up most of the way, but then it got too steep for the 4 wheel drive vehicles, so we walked. We were so high when we got there, we were literally in the clouds. A cloud rolled in on us while we were walking in the Citadel and cooled things off a bit. Visibility was reduced a lot, which was good since we could not see the straight drop off one side of the building...

In this blog, however, I don't want to focus on how awesome the Citadel was, but the state of the Haitian people around it. When we arrived at the base to purchase our tickets to get into it, there were several people there trying to sell us little items: hats, pictures, boxes, carvings, etc. These people were determined to sell to us, no matter how many times we said no. They kept lowering the price. One vendor selling paintings kept calling it a "Blue Light Special," getting some chuckles from us Blancs (whites). When we reached the parking lot where we left the cars and continued up on foot (or horse if you chose to pay), there were many more people with the same items ready to sell to us. When our group headed out, we had ten people walking up to the Citadel. However, about 30 people walked with us. Even though we had procured the services of a guide through Father Bruno of Bethlehem Ministry, we had several unofficial guides along for the walk. They told us the same things we learned from our official leader. Arriving at the top, we went into the Citadel, where tickets were required for entrance. Our legion of unofficial guides waited outside for us to return. When we finally emerged a couple hours later, they were waiting for us to accompany us on our walk down, pointing out good picture opportunities, coffee trees, small cannon balls in the bush. Each of our new guides expected to be paid for his service (no women walked up the mountain). Most tipped their respective person a dollar. I had two very polite gentlemen, so I tipped them each a dollar.

But then the "vultures" came. The women with the goods surrounded us and kept asking us to buy, no matter how many times we said no. When one person purchased, more came to that person, hoping to sell him or her their stuff, too. The prices were always negotiable, but it was relentless. The only way to make it stop was to get in the cars and drive away.

Speaking to a couple of the regular folks from Haiti, it appears this is their profession. In one day, we only saw two groups go up: our group of ten and another group of three. There are not many people who make the walk to the top, which means there are not a lot of people who are willing to buy their wares. What does this do to their economy? That area was completely tourist driven. What happens when no tourists come for a day? A week? A month?

These people have learned to prey on tourists. It is how they receive their income. There is no easy fix for this problem. I certainly do not have the answers to it. I don't know what would happen to these people if folks did not come their way. I do not know what would happen if those that did come refused to pay for a service they did not ask for.

Today was difficult, not because of the walk to the Citadel or the staggering heights we were standing next to (I can't wait to get home and upload pictures of it for you!), but to see these people in that state of desperate need for me to buy a box or a flute or a small statue. A dollar might not seem like much, but as I have already learned, when one person gives a dollar, many more are there with hands out. That is why people like the men I am rooming with are so important: they want to gainfully employ Haitians. Move them from asking for tips for services unwanted to being able to provide for their families.

The work Bethlehem Ministrydoes helps support this thinking. It is important and needed. It is slow, but important work!

Since I am not sure how often I will be able to post on the blog, if you have a question about a youth ministry international mission trip to Haiti, please ask in the comments section. I will do my best to answer them. It will be easier for you to ask while I am here and can find answers if I do not know them than to wait until I am back in the states.

Please continue to pray for this trip. And pray for my family, who is without Daddy!

Peace,

Adrian

Haiti Trip - Day 3

Today was an intense day of work. It began by cleaning out a 40' storage shed behind the school. Normally, that is not too bad, but the Haitian heat (even in January!) made it difficult. There were all kinds of tools and supplies and builiding materials in it. Long, tough, hard work. Then we made the packets and bags for the next cholera campaign. We must have packed close to 1,000 bags and 10,000 flyers. We will bring that information into rural Haiti on Sunday, educating people on how to use Clorox to keep the water clean and not get sick. Then we have soap for them to use to wash their hands. It will be interesting seeing this in action, since I don't speak Creole and my French is very bad! (It has been a LONG time since my last French class in my second year of college!)

The living arrangements here have been fantastic! We have little "pods" that each have three rooms that house up to four people each. Each room has its own private shower and toilet. The showers are COLD, but it feel really good after a long, hard day of working! The food is awesome, and the people that come through here are fantastic to meet and greet.

Today, we also walked around Terrier Rouge, the town near where we are staying. The people are very friendly and willing to smile and wave to us. The language barrier is a problem for real conversation, but we can manage small phrases in French. The area is not wealthy by any stretch, but the people live in better homes than other parts of the country. They have concrete walls where some areas have only wood and mud huts. Dr. Gary Fleming played soccer with a couple of little boys in the street, and they loved it! He also saw a little a little girl he has seen since she was 4 weeks old. She is around 2 or so now. Her mom sought him out to thank him for all the care he has shown to her daughter over the years. He invited her to come by the clinic to have her girl checked up by him.

Unfortunately, today, I also broke my computer, and now it will not turn on. I popped a small wire on the power button, but I cannot fix it right now. I do not know how often (or if at all!) I will be able to continue to update the blog. And I apologize for no pictures, but the internet connection here is slow, so I was asked not to upload pictures.

I hope this is not my last blog entry for this trip, but if it is, I have had a wonderful time so far on this trip! Coming to experience a different culture and different way of life is amazing. Please continue to leave comments and I will do my best to be able to respond to them.

And thank you for your support of this trip and and of the idea of a youth international mission trip in 2012! May God continue to bless you in all you do!

Peace,

Adrian Martin

Haiti Trip Day 2 - Roommates with a Purpose

Today I learned quite a bit about why people come to stay in this little slice of paradise. It is not just to serve others, but to help people develop a sustainable economy. At present, I have three roommates whom I have never met before. One is working with a tree that produces a bean that will be used to generate fuel and a couple of other needed things. He is teaching farmers how to properly grow and care for the tree and how to harvest the bean correctly. Another gentleman is setting up sustainable businesses all around Haiti, run by Haitians, using Haitian goods, serving Haitians. The last man staying with me works for the government of Haiti in the agriculture department.

Bethlehem Ministry is intent on Haitians creating and running jobs for and with Haitians. At times, outside help is needed to get started. And outside expertise.

Today, our group of six broke into three different work groups: our two doctors went to the clinic to see patients, two people went on a Cholera prevention campaign to a rural village, and two people stayed behind to work on some of the storage issues around the camp. It is interesting to listen and share stories from each of the three groups. There is plenty to do here in Haiti, that is for sure!

Adrian Martin

Haiti Trip Day 1 - We Made It!

I've been spending a lot of time with Eli, my youngest son (2 1/2 years old), watching his favorite show with him. Today, I felt like an episode of Dora the Explorer! We checked the map, had to get from Atlanta to Miami to Port-au-Prince, Haiti to Cap Haitian and finally on to Terrier Rouge. After setting out at 2 a.m., we finally arrived in Terrier Rouge around 4 p.m.. The traveling was not an issue, but arriving in Haiti was a somber sight. The airport had a large section of it shut down due to damage from the earthquake last year. They were still trying to repair it. Rubble and trash lined the street as repairs were slow to be made. People all over were looking for simple work, even as much as carrying our bags from the airport to our cars. And there was a lot of poverty. Everywhere we looked on our drive through Port-au-Prince to the small airport for our short flight to Cap Haitian was filled with people trying their best just to get by.

When we arrived in Terrier Rouge, we were greeted by a different sight: instead of trash-lined streets with people who seem to have lost a sense of purpose, the city was trash-free, and people all walked around with their heads held high and smiling. They had hope. Talking with people from the area quickly showed why: the school and the health clinic. Both have drastically increased the quality of life in the area, as children now get a fantastic education and are treated for their illnesses and diseases.

Our church's outreach through this area has been incredible. Giving hope to people is a powerful thing. It changes their entire outlook on life.

I look forward to spending this time in Terrier Rouge seeing the impact of the ministries of churches like ours: churches that work globally to spread the love of Christ!

Adrian Martin