Paradise and Poverty

Getting the dates of two of your friends weddings mixed up is bad enough. I thought I was going to be in Detroit in late May for a wedding, but it would actually be late June. On top of that mistake, I had booked my flight for a missions to from Detroit because I thought I'd have to leave from the reception of the wedding. Nope. My dates were way mixed up and I would have to drive 10 hours and leave from Detroit because it was going to be $500 to change my flights. Not cool.

Anyways, I arrived in Haiti separate and one day later from the rest of the group who I was meeting. My Dad and the missionary met me at the airport. If you have never been to a third world country airport, it's hard to explain the chaos and immediate culture shock you experience. After nearly being mauled walking outside, I saw my Dad's balding head and made a B-line towards him.

On our way to the Nazarene Bible College in Haiti, we passed through flooded streets with debris floating everywhere. The previous few days had brought a lot of rain and had made the roads treacherous. However, we arrived safe and sound and the next day we started work. Working on "Island Time" was quite an experience as we basically waited all day to get supplies and start working. Over the next 4 days we worked our tales off and got a lot accomplished and really helped prepare a girls dorm that would be used the upcoming fall. (My electrical training from NuMynd came in use too!)

Each day we worked there were two little boys that hung around us. Stephen and Lixon. Lixon and I hit it off from the get go. I taught him to paint and he taught me some words in Creole. One day I took a rubber glove, blew it up and tied it off (making a balloon) and started playing with the two boys. Our fun was quickly nixed as the Haitian foreman came and scolded the boys. I asked the missionary what happened and he explained to me that the boys weren't simply hanging around us, but were workers in training. These 9 year old boys were suppose to be working and training to be a construction worker.

Stories like this abound and it makes my heart heavy simply recalling that days events. However, I am thankful for the work of the Church of the Nazarene there. They not only strive to provide quality pastors for the Haitian people that have a warped religion of voo-doo mixed with Catholicism, but also seek to provide them with clean water, education, and numerous other services.

Lastly, the resilience of the Haitian people still stand out to me. They haven't given up and aren't consumed with what they don't have, but are extremely thankful for what they do have. Amidst the poverty stricken streets there is still a beautiful island, but even better there is a beautiful people who refuse to settle and daily strive to live the best life possible.

Road side markets lined the streets.





Our last day in Haiti we ventured 2 hours in the back of a truck across the Island to a small hotel that had a beach. The mountains in the background are the victims of deforestation. There are very few trees in Haiti as people have cut down virtually all of them to use for cooking and heat.