Jacmel Update II

Tuesday morning we left Port au Prince and flew with Jason to Jacmel. What a beautiful and scenic flight!


We flew over the ruins of the parliament buildings and national cathedral.


The devastation in Port au Prince soon gave way to dry, red mountains with scattered homes and grass huts.


Other then the occasional cattle tied to stakes the mountains were bare with almost no trees in sight.

As we flew over one hilltop, we saw a circle of people with hands joined, praying. We climbed higher to 5,500 feet and the dry hills gave way to the lush green forests of Jacmel. The contrast was amazing!

We flew down the coast and marveled at the beautiful coastline, turquoise water crashing into the cliffs, beautiful bays and coves, and scattered sandy beaches.



With a textbook landing, we were on the ground in Jacmel. The airport terminal was a beautiful new building recently completed since the earthquake.


We carried our bags and all the paint for the homes to a waiting tap tap.


Shortly after we were on our way to the Calvary Chapel’s work site. The work site included a furniture factory where they were building church pews, desks for schools, and all the furniture for a new school in Jacmel. At the site we found Jilne, Mikenson, and the rest of the Haitian workers from PAP busy loading materials for our first house.

Once everything was loaded we hopped back into our tap tap and Jak, our driver, brought us to our first home.


Driving in Jacmel was much different then driving in Port au Prince. The roads were paved, and clean! The vegetation and natural beauty was also astounding. At our first home, we were holding bunches of bananas out of our way so we could swing our hammers!



At the job site we had no water with us, so we gave one of the Haitians a few dollars and they came back with Coke and Sprite for all of us. We also had been given a Haitian phone by MAF, so we were able to phone Jak whenever we needed a ride.

At our second home we were working in the middle of a field full of peas, with palm trees overhead and a creek running near the home.


When we arrived at the third home of the day around 3:30, the rest of the guys had it almost complete! Nearly three homes in our first day and it was only a part day!

Jak then brought us to Calvary Chapel’s guest house, which was a beautiful home located on a bluff overlooking the Caribbean Sea.


We showered, enjoyed a delicious meal of Haitian rice, beans and chicken, and relaxed on the balcony for the night. Good discussion and an ocean breeze made for a relaxing evening.

The next morning we awoke at 5:30 a.m. and went down for a breakfast of oatmeal and fruit. Jak then brought us to complete the last home from yesterday. We were done around 9:00, but had to wait for Jak as he had a flat tire (a common occurrence). The homeowners were ecstatic with their home and brought us thick, sweet, Haitian coffee and fresh bread. The bread was delicious, though the coffee was a little sweet for us.


At our second home we worked in the shade of several huge mango trees. At noon a local boy climbed up about 40 feet into the tree and picked some fresh mangoes for us.


We enjoyed them for dessert!


At the last home we were brought chicken, deep fried plantain, onions and tomatoes. Even though we already had lunch, we ate so as not to offend them. It was delicious!


After returning to our home for the evening, we asked for directions to the beach. They asked one of the girls who lives at the guest house to lead us there, so she led us on a ten minute walk down the bluff to a beautiful beach.


Colourful fishing boats were pulled on shore, and a few locals were enjoying the water.


We relaxed in the warm, refreshing water and enjoyed the beautiful setting. It almost made us feel guilty for being there, but not quite.


All in all it’s been a wonderful couple of days, and while we miss our wives, we are thoroughly enjoying ourselves. We can’t wait to have the women join us so we can show them the housing sites and the area.

Till next time,
Chris