Back Tracking Haiti~Day 1

We arrived to an overcast Haiti on Saturday, June 4th, around 3:30 p.m.  The first thing we noticed was the airport. Our usual route into the building was a pleasant surprise as we were greeted with smiles, electric powered escalators and air conditioning. We looked at each other in complete shock, was this the same Haiti we visited 2 years ago and whose info structure was completely ruined over a year ago? Apparently, money from big corporations come with specific detailed instructions on how that money will be used. Customs was a breeze, however getting the luggage out to the waiting van, was another story. Lot's of men yelling, grabbing, and throwing gestures in the air was quite overwhelming to our first-time companions, we just smiled and shrugged our way through. It pays to be an experienced traveler sometimes.

Stepping out of the airport is always an emotional roller coaster for us. We never know what and who we will encounter. There is usually a wall that seems to be built just waste high though the faces screaming for money seem twenty-feet high. Arms and fingers grab at the air hoping you will drop something in their dirt-stained hands. This time there was a fence and outside that fence was a tent-city filled with people watching us arrive. It seemed as if they were to tired to beg, ask, plead, move, be denied. They just watched us load up and take off. That first image will forever be burned into our hearts.

After a bumpy two hour drive up the mountain, passing humanity living amongst rubble, we arrived at our friends Dan, Liz, and Joey Carl's house.  Their home is a beautiful sanctuary with views of the Almighty's handy work and creation. Bold fuchsia flowers paint their drive as well as manicured shrubs and fruit laden trees. Little brown geckos slither around as hummingbirds flit from tree top to tree top. The smell of a fresh fallen rain greeted us as well as the traditional Haitian meal laid upon the table, awaiting our arrival. 

As we laid our heads down that first night filled with anticipation for the work ahead of us and the people we would come across, we prayed that God would open our eyes, our hearts, our souls, to what HE wanted to accomplish. Boy, were we in for an amazing trip! Stay tuned for days 2-7....