Tuesday, March 26 Up at 7 for breakfast and another day of work! We finished off the gazebo, transplanted green onions into the community garden, helped fill containers with soil for the coffee growing project, and worked on painting the school. In the afternoon, Kristie took us out. Our first stop was one of the agricultural projects that United Christian International (UCI) spearheads. They provide gas-powered pumps so Haitian farmers can pump water to water their crops. This has been a boon to local farmers, as they are able to produce many more acres of food – enough to sell at the markets and make a considerable sum. One pump is shared with 5 farmers; they sign a contract with UCI that they will pay back 2/3 of the cost of the pump in two years. Last crop, this group of farmers made $11,000 USD ($123,000 Haitian goudes). Saul, an agricultural specialist involved with UCI, oversees this project. There are other managers as well, who receive extensive training in agriculture and the maintenance of these water pumps. Although the garden we looked at had just been harvested, so there wasn’t a lot to see, we did have a look at the beans that were drying. Afterward, we participated in a nutrition centre “feeding program” 30 minutes down the dirt road. We met the pastor and the children of this community, listened to them sing, helped with handing out prepared bowls of rice and beans, and played frisbee, skipping, and soccer with the kids outside. Kristie monitors the health of the 35 children enrolled in this program, watching for signs of malnutrition. If they are malnourished, Kristie ensures their diet is supplemented by one tablespoon of peanut butter daily, which provides the essential proteins they need. We then handed out all the clothes we had purchased at the market on Saturday (which they gladly received) and colouring books and crayons we had brought along. After returning, we did a bit of cleanup work, played volleyball and with the little kids till suppertime. Written by M. Roseboom
Monday, March 25 We were up bright and early; a great way to start the week. After another delicious breakfast (which included eggs, which Bill had said the night before he would never eat because they just sat in a cupboard for days), we headed out to work. We soon found out that it wasn’t quite like at home though; it was difficult to find the right tools, if they were available at all! Most of the group was kept busy staking out a 5-acre chain link fence that was to surround the university while some helped with tying rebar and carrying it ½ a kilometer to the building site of a new house. The rest of us helped with building a roof for the new university gazebo. As we worked together with the Haitian people we learned the importance of learning from them. Putting on the roof tin with two Haitians and an interpreter was a lot of fun. We also put in an order for paint, so we could continue the painting of the school addition on Tuesday. (“Tomorrow” is a very common word in Haiti!). After lunch, we took a break. Some of us sat in the front and talked under the trees with Erevo, a very interesting Haitian pastor who had also been our interpreter as we were working on the gazebo. He told us how he traveled around from home to home spreading the Word of God. He also would visit witch doctors. There used to be 25 in the area, but now there are only 5 left. "I have nothing on earth, but I am rich because I have Christ," he told us. He also shared how he felt the great importance that all believers should share the gospel message with others. After our break we continued our work till super time. After another great dinner with JeanJean’s family, some of us went to Pignon with him to pick up a professor for the university. That night we sat around, chatted and chomped on JeanJean’s popcorn. Written by M. Roseboom,
Please pray for Jason who is ill. Although he hasn't taken the actual test, since it's difficult to get an accurate one done here, all his symptoms point to Malaria. He has started taking Chloroquine and we hope and pray the medication will work quickly and he will feel better soon.
Sunday, March 24
Church began early; 8:15 a.m.. Although we couldn’t understand a word of it, as it was in Creole, we still enjoyed observing and experiencing the service.
One thing we noticed was how the Haitian people took great care in preparing for church, and it was pretty neat to see the pressed white shirts and sharply creased pants of the gentlemen, and the fancy shoes and neat, attractive clothes of the ladies. Children, too, were dressed quite elaborately.
The singing was impressive: they put their whole heart and soul into the songs they sang, and it went on for quite some time! Although the church service was more than 2 hours long, much of that time was taken up with singing.
After church, we had more opportunity to experience the friendliness of the locals. Then, because the cooks were off Sundays, we made soup for lunch and relaxed for a while.
Later in the afternoon we went for a walk past farms and through the village. We saw many cows, bulls, goats, and skinny dogs! Then we walked up a mountain to some voodoo caves. Our numbers kept growing as we walked; many small children joined us, some wearing clothes, some not.
Inside the cave, we observed an altar and some other voodoo paraphernalia. Further on, we saw some ancient Taino inscriptions (the Taino were the original inhabitants of Haiti, but were completely killed off by the French during colonialism).
Riley cut down a voodoo “hanging noose” with his machete (oops?). He recounts his story here: "We were in the cave. It was dark. We were coming near to the end of the tunnel. We had to start the climb up through the tunnel to the top but in front of the tunnel was a rock tied to a piece of string which was tied to the top of the cave (the top was only five feet high). I thought it was some kind of voodoo tradition and I decided to cut it down with my machete that I just bought. When I started cutting it down; our guides, Reuben and Kelly, told me to stop. Unfortunately, they spoke in Creole and I did not understand so I cut it down anyway. It landed in a tin bowl with a “ping!” They then told Jason they weren’t scared of it; they were only scared of what might happen to me. But it was too late, I had already cut it down. After exiting through a smallish hole on the top, while others clambered around the outside, we started to head back to the mission compound.
Jason and the kids jabbered in Creole most of the way back. After a dinner of “Haitian goulash,” we visited with Nelson, an ex-witch doctor who had been both married and baptized the day before.
It was amazing to hear how God worked through His Word in Nelson’s life and made him a different person. Written by M. Roseboom
Saturday, March 23 We woke up early,6:15 a.m., for a hike to the caves. Kelly, one of our guides, had gotten up at 4:00 and then walked for 45 minutes in the dark to be at our gate at 5:00, where he waited for us!
We walked through picturesque dirt paths hedged by cacti, hiked up a mountainside and past terrace gardens until we finally arrived at the caves. Entering the mouth of a cave we descended into the darkness. The first thing we noticed when we grabbed on to surrounding rocks to scale down was the guano (bat poop!) Our hands were full of it!
Some of us only went in part way, as it stank pretty badly in there On the walk back to the compound we passed by some Haitian women doing their laundry, and stopped to “help” them. (One thing they do very well is laundry; when several of us put filthy brown socks into the laundry -a service that was provided for us- they came back unbelievably sparkling white!)
As we walked, clean clothes were drying on the cactus hedges. We met children on the pathway who were carrying water from the well. Even very small children, 4-5 years old, had small containers of water, which they carried back to their mud homes. We crossed a small stream where a farmer had tied up several of his cows to water them; occasionally, in the rocky fields, we would see goats nibbling at whatever they could find.Upon returning to the compound, we stuffed ourselves with yummy homemade bread and jam. Then it was market time!
We drove for thirty minutes in the Land Rover to “downtown” Pignon. As we drove, we saw Haitian people traveling by foot to the market, some with donkeys laden with goods. (Markets here are usually on Saturdays, and many will walk for as many as three hours to attend!) Once we arrived at the market, we were in for a once-in-a-lifetime experience!Besides one other white woman we saw there, we were the only white people there among the hundreds and hundreds of Haitians. The sounds and smells there were beyond description. Besides the mass of sweaty people pressing together, we saw and smelled pots of rice and beans simmering on charcoal fires; goats ready for slaughter; and chickens tied up, ready to sell, some in the process of being plucked!
The meat tables were also beyond description; every part imaginable of goats and chickens was for sale. Flies hovered over them enjoying a free meal while stray dogs hung around under the wooden tables, snapping up scraps that fell to the ground.
With the $200 we had with us, we purchased clothing to hand out where necessary in the coming week. With Jason's help we bartered with merchants under the burning sun. One elderly vendor was so happy that we were spending money at her stall that she kept saying, “Thank you, Jesus! Thank you, God!”
Soon we had crowds of people following us, hoping that we would buy things from them as well. With the last of our money, we found various children, and helped them to find and purchase shoes that fit them.The heartbreaking thing was that we could help so few of the children. For every one we helped there was a handful of others showing us their decrepit shoes, eyes full of hope that they would get “new” shoes too.
Leaving the market was a bit of a challenge but eventually we made it back to the Land Rover and were soon making our way back to the mission compound.
We arrived there back in time for lunch.
After lunch we piled into the Land Rover again to head out to the river. This was the day there would be a baptismal service at the river. 10 new believers who had been instructed by JeanJean on the essentials of the Christian faith, were ready to profess their faith and be baptized.
Today was quite an eventful day for the church and community as JeanJean had married five couples who had been living common-law in the morning and now ten new believers were to be baptized as well.
The scene at the river was something else. Women scrubbed their laundry, sitting on chairs in the river, all the while curiously watching the goings-on. A spring-fed pipe splashed fresh water into the river and many children, some clothed and a few not, walked back and forth filling various containers for their families. A water truck driver waited the entire baptismal service before filling his truck; meanwhile, he watched the proceedings with great interest.
During the service two motorbikes just about lost it (and their passengers) as they tried to cross the river.
In the meantime, the choir sang, loudly. JeanJean spoke a message, before entering the river to hear the profession from each person being baptized. He then dunked them in the river. After they were baptized the believers were then wrapped in white blankets and returned to the bus to change into dry clothes. Two of those baptized were former witch doctors who had come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
You can read one of their testimonies by clicking the link here: The Witch Doctor's Testimony . The ceremony was very touching to witness.
After dinner, JeanJean cut some sugar cane for us to experience; it tasted like very sweet sugar.Many Haitians eat this like candy, which may explain why there are so many children with brown spots on their teeth!
We then headed over to the church to hear a very enthusiastic choir performance. JeanJean asked us to introduce ourselves, which was when we learned that Ryan has 7 kids!
When we returned to the dorm, we still had to head over to the kitchen to wash dishes. We managed to find the (dim) light and turn it on – only to find cockroaches scurrying across the walls. We couldn’t figure out how to get hot water, so we washed in cold water with a bit of bleach, quickly dried the dishes, and called it a night. Written by M. Roseboom
Friday, March 22 We were up bright and early and enjoyed a pancake breakfast. Then the first half of our group left with Jason at 6:30 a.m. as Jason had a flight to do before he could fly us out to Pignon and we didn’t all fit in one vehicle. The second group left with Will at 7:45. It felt like we had to fight our way through Port au Prince’s traffic to get to the airport! There we waited for an hour and a half for Jason to return from his flight. When some of the men working at the airport saw us packing some French Bibles into boxes they asked if they could have one. They were very happy when we complied and sat down immediately to read them. Once Jason returned from his flight we were lead outside to the tarmac and boarded two MAF, 6-seater airplanes, for the 25-minute flight to Pignon. Once in the air,the scenery changed from rows of houses and tents, to high, bare mountains with the occasional scattering of houses. After landing and bumping along to the end of the grass airstrip, we were picked up by a driver from the United Christians International mission in Pignon. We crowded into the back of a Toyota Land Rover for a 30 minute ride down a rutted dirt road to the compound. Upon arriving at the compound we met JeanJean, a big-hearted, big-voiced, and big-of-stature Haitian, who grew up in Pignon, Kristie, his American-born wife and their two daughters Tawna and Kerri.They are the founders and heart of the mission compound know as United Christians International. After throwing our bags into our dorm rooms, Kristie gave us a tour of the compound. It consisted of 16 acres – including the once-dirt-floor-house where JeanJean grew up. In 2005, when they came back from training in the United States, there was nothing on this compound. Now there is JeanJean and Kristie’s house, a guest house, an elementary school, teachers’ dorms, a large church, a university, student dorms, a cafeteria, and various houses. The elementary school enrolls 300 students from preschool to grade three and has ten teachers.Recently, they added a second story to the school, which was in various stages of being painted. Families must pay tuition for their students to attend this school, which can be an obstacle for some very poor families. For those families, there is a scholarship program in place, but if families take advantage of this, they are expected to contribute to the work on the compound in return. JeanJean and Kristie believe strongly that the people need to “work” for what they receive, as it empowers them and provides a sense of dignity. The church was fairly new, and had been built with “open walls,” with the idea of drawing people in when they heard the service beginning; they felt that the openness of the structure would be welcoming to those who were hesitant to join the service. The university is in its first year of operation, and has 30 enrolled students – both from the surrounding countryside and from Port au Prince. There is a scholarship program in place for university students as well, with the same guidelines. Professors come in to teach their 3-hour course once a week, mostly from Port au Prince; they sometimes stay overnight in the guest house before taking the 3-hour drive back to the city. The hope is that these students will eventually be such professionals as teachers, doctors, and pastors, and that they will return to their home communities to work there for their betterment. It is JeanJean’s hope and prayer that most of these students will be able to spend at least some time abroad in various countries and so gain a greater understanding of the world. After touring the compound, we were provided with a delicious lunch prepared by the Haitian women that worked in the nearby kitchen. After a break, we walked out to the new home site in the proposed village to see several workers sweating as they pick-axed and dug the foundations for the footings. A couple of our guys pitched in to help, and soon had blisters forming on their palms. The rest of us cleared a large area of stones and piled them up for use in future construction. JeanJean then showed us the brand-new well that was still under construction. Riley climbed a palm tree to grab us a coconut. Later, with the help of various children, we carried the benches back into the church as it had just been cleaned; this was our first real contact with the children, and so we got to experience how friendly they were, how hard they worked and how much they loved our iphones!After dinner, we played volleyball until we could no longer see the ball (Kristie loves volleyball!) and then showered and crawled in bed and fell asleep to the sound of roosters crowing.Written by M. Roseboom
Thursday, March 21We landed in Port au Prince at noon, where we met Jason on the tarmac, went through customs (a quick series of stamp, stamp, stamp without even looking at us), and then waited for at least half an hour for our luggage to come through.
We successfully fought off ‘helpful’ porters, and then piled ourselves and our luggage in two MAF vehicles for our first proper look at Port au Prince in our one-hour (8 kilometer) trip to Jason and Will's house.
The people seemed as poor as the extremely poor roads.
Driving was insane; if there were rules, they certainly were not enforced!
Well, there was one unspoken rule: if you were coming through, you honked your horn, loudly; so in between hitting our heads on the ceiling from the potholes and broken roads, all we could hear were the beep beeps of the cars, motorbikes, and tap-taps.We unpacked after arriving at Jason and Will’s home – which seemed like an oasis in the midst of madness. After a delicious dinner of spaghetti (thanks, Will!), we went for a short walk down the streets of broken brick and stones,
and then pulled out mattresses for a night's sleep on the floor.
Total number of people sleeping in Jason and Will's house that night was 18! Written by M. Roseboom
