Haiti Mission Possible: Day 2

Sunday, June 27, 2010 - Today started off early. After a quick breakfast, our team decided to visit church with our client. To my surprise, the church located in Port-au-Prince was English speaking. Church was a great experience because the Praise & Worship was much like that at home and they played familiar tunes. It was also nice to see young Haitians mixed in with American missions group all experiencing their faith in such a real way.

After church we headed back to Cazale, and although the sun was beaming hot, the 2 hour ride was bearable because of the wind coming through the truck’s uncovered cage where we sat (by the way this is the norm in Haiti; passengers are loaded up unto the back of trucks and sit on benches or stand while packed as tight as possible). This ride was a bit difficult to stomach because of the earthquake rubbish that was still very present along the city streets. But to the natives, it has become a part of their day-to-day lives. I’m not sure how I would feel if this was my reality, but I guess you assimilate and go on (or do you?).

On the way back, we were able to stop by the site we would be planning. Real Hope for Haiti had recently acquired 23 acres of mountainous land in Cazale where they intend to build their desired facilities. The client gave us a rundown of the site and where they envisioned placing the various planned facilities. The site’s natural landscape was just gorgeous, but posed some interesting master planning challenges. I made it up one of the mountains on site in a dress (since we’d just come from church and Haitian culture expects that women wear dresses/ skirts when going to church) and some shoes that definitely were not intended for mountain climbing. But that’s the beauty of this trip; I’m being flexible and learning to manage circumstances that may be less than ideal.


Despite the fact I was visually and emotionally shocked by earthquake shattered buildings in the city, almost tumbled down the mountain once or twice and got stung by bush thorns and awed by the beauty of Haiti’s natural landscape, all I could focus on was how happy and full of spirit most Haitians I encountered today appear to be. It’s a deeper joy than most of us can tap into in light of insurmountable odds.