Haiti Experience Part 1 - The beginning

I've been back in Vancouver from Haiti for more than a week now. I've been meaning to start blogging, but I've having trouble organizing my thoughts and my words. You would think blogging would be easy since I kept a journal in Haiti, but I've experienced so much in Haiti that I don't even know where to begin. I have to admit, I left Vancouver four weeks ago for Haiti not knowing what to expect. I didn't know where I will be staying, what I will be doing, or how God will use me in Haiti... On the team list I received, all it said beside my name under the team section was miscellaneous. I went in with very little expectations and I was open to anything God wanted to use me in. I just wanted to fill any needs there, so if God needed someone to scrub toilets, I would scrub toilets. I know on a trip like this, no matter what we are doing, God will use us in anyway He can. In the end, I was needed in the operating room, so for majority of the trip, I was a circulating nurse; it was an amazing experience. But before I start writing about nursing in Haiti, let's rewind to the very beginning.

We arrived in the international airport at Port-au-Prince around 9am. We then took a little bus called the Tap Tap to go to the domestic airport. Tap Tap is the most common  method of transportation in Haiti, and it is the only mode of transportation in St. Louis Du Nord. It is basically a pick up truck with wooden benches placed in the back. There is no place to hold on and you basically bump against each other until destination. Of course, there is very little paved road in Haiti, so the entire ride gets very bumpy and everyone ends up with very bruised hips. After a ride on the Tap Tap, you definitely develop a new found appreciation for paved road.

 

Tap Tap used by locals in St. Louis Du Nord

Then we arrived in the domestic airport and we waited for our flight to Port-de-Paix, which is the biggest city in Northwest Haiti. The little plane we took was the most run down little plane I've ever seen in my life, it's hard to believe that something that rusty and old can still fly. The plane is not pressurized and it fits about 20 people. One of my teammates told me a story about how the window fell in the last time she was on that plane, so she had to hold the window in place the entire ride... What a wonderful story to hear right before getting on the plane eh? =) Anyways, you think I'd be a bit nervous stepping on a plane like this, but I was so tired from getting up at 3 am that morning that I passed right out. When I woke up, we've already safely landed in Port-de-Paix. My teammates had many stories regarding that plane ride and the turbulence we experienced, I slept through everything, I guess this is what they call "ignorance is bliss". 

Then we took another Tap Tap from Port-de-Paix to a city called St. Louis Du Nord, which is about 45 minutes away. This is where the missionary campus is build around 35 years ago. The reason missionaries decided to build the campus in St. Louis du Nord 35 years ago is because it is the poorest city in Haiti. Since Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, St. Louis du Nord is the poorest city in the Western hemisphere. As we sat in the Tap Tap heading to the campus, we had a really good initial look of the city. The appearance of St. Louis du Nord shocked me to my very core. My first thought was, I can't believe people actually live in this condition. My second thought was, I can't believe I have to live in this condition for two weeks...  All I could see was piles of rubbles, whirlwind of dust, and ditches and sewage water everywhere. I think for the entire day I was just in utter shock over the condition of the city. 

Street view of St. Louis du Nord

But as I spent more time in St. Louis du Nord, I began to see beyond the despair, destruction, and chaos of the city. I began to see the beauty of the country and the beauty of the people. Haiti has the most beautiful coastline. It is surrounded by the breathtakingly blue and clear Caribbean sea. We had a few opportunities to ride the Tap Tap along the coastline, and it was probably the most scenic route I've ever been on. It was impossible to capture the beauty of the coastline on camera, I tried, but the picture just doesn't do the city justice.

The beautiful coastline of St. Louis du Nord

As for the people in Haiti, they are the most friendly, pure, innocent people I've ever met. Their sense of community is so strong, and their selflessness and willingness to share absolutely amazes me. I especially fell in love with the kids in Haiti. I have so many beautiful stories to share, as I continue with my blogging about Haiti, these stories will surface gradually.

We finally arrived on campus in the late afternoon. The campus is composed of quite a mixture of things. Aside from the dormitories for the missionaries, there is an orphanage for kids under five years old, a center for kids with disabilities, a birthing center, a medical area including recovery rooms and operating rooms, an elderly home, and a cholera center. Right across from the campus, there is the church and the vacation bible school. Then not too far from the campus is the orphanage for kids five years and older.

I think I'm going to end part 1 of Haiti blog quite abruptly right here because I don't want to start telling stories yet, otherwise this post will run way too long. I do however, want to end this blog with one of my favorite Haitian proverb,

Neg di san fe; Bondye fe sandi
Man talks without doing; God does without talking.

I've experienced "God's doing" so vividly in Haiti, so many stories to tell...our God is an awesome living God!