A Letter From Jayden

Dear Grandpa and Grandma, Oma and Opa

How are you doing? I am doing fine! Life in Haiti has been busy and fun! Besides going to school, we've also had lots of visitors at our house. I love it when visitors come! Lots of new people for me to talk too!

We just had another team stay at our house a week and a half ago, and also a girl called Rachel from Chilliwack for the past three weeks. 

Then last week Tuesday my cousins came to visit! I was soo excited! Auntie Sher, Mattais, Kaelie and James took the bus from Santiago to the border where a friend was waiting to pick them up. He then dropped them off at a nearby airstrip where Daddy was waiting with the MAF airplane. He flew them all to Port au Prince and then drove them to our house!

I was so happy to see them! The first thing I did was pull out my pirate stuff. Tais and Kaelie thought it was very cool and soon all of us were dressed up!


James and Justin were soon reunited as well and climbed into the toy box together.


After a fun afternoon of playing together, the mommies put the babies in the bath. 

We call them the monkey and the sparrow! Can you guess who is who? 

After his bath Justin was tired from all the playing and Daddy was tired from a busy day of flying so they fell asleep together on the bed. 

On Thursday Mom picked me up at lunch time from school and we all went to the Apparent Project together. We had fun checking out all the recycled art and trying to guess where each piece came from. 

Rachel came with too. 

The Apparent Project had lots of neat stuff for sale. 

After touring the gift shop we visited the different areas where the ladies sewed and the men made beads out of clay. 

On Friday, Mom kept me home from school and we spent the day at the beach! 

We had fun playing in the sand, 

swimming in the ocean, 

searching for shells, coloured rocks and starfish, 

and kayaking on the bright blue ocean!

That afternoon, Uncle Anthony flew in on a Dominican airline. 

The next day we visited the Baptist Mission. It was a little squishy in the car getting up there though!
At the Baptist Mission we enjoyed a yummy lunch of burgers and fries and a beautiful view of the mountain gardens. 

Then we visited the petting zoo. James really loves little animals! 

And Mom and Auntie Sher loved spending time together! 

By the afternoon it was getting pretty hot, so we stopped at a hotel where you could swim for free and enjoy an amazing view of the city. 

That night we had more friends over so Mom cooked a giant pot of spaghetti. Since we didn't all fit around the table, us kids got to eat first.

Our next trip was a visit to Pignon. Early in the morning Dad readied the airplane for takeoff. 

With nine of us on board, it was a full flight! 

My hot wheels car, which I had snuck in my pocket, sure enjoyed the spectacular view!  

20 minutes later the Pignon airstrip was in sight. 

We landed and unloaded; then we made our way to the exit/entrance of the airport only to find it locked! Since our driver was waiting on the other side we decided to just climb over the gate. 

That was fun! 

From 2013

Even the babies were lifted over!

Mom and Auntie Sher couldn't stop laughing! 

The driver brought us to UCI, the mission the teams that come work with, and the place we love to visit as well! 

The guest house was ready for us when we we got there! 

At lunch time we went to eat in one of a very few restaurants in Pignon. When we arrived we soon realized it was actually just someones house! Since there was not room enough on their patio for all of us we sat in their living room! 

The food was delicious! Even Justin, who pretty much doesn't like to eat anything, enjoyed the food! 

Although my baby brother doesn't like to eat much, he does love his milk bottles and since he doesn't sit still for a second, Mommy lets him walk around with them. 

When he saw a ball however, he put the bottle down, and it disappeared! Mom found the culprit who stole the bottle a little later hiding behind some bushes! 

The mission had several large dogs and one of them had three little puppies. Kaelie and I spent hours playing with them! 

One time, when Mom came looking for me, she found me laying on the ground by a pile of leaves and small branches. 

When she took a closer look at the pile of leaves she saw what I was really looking at! 

Justin didn't like the dogs at all! Instead he found something else to do! 

When Mom finally took him off, there was some serious kicking and screaming! 

That night we ate dinner together with a team that was there.
The soup was delicious! 

I ate popcorn for dessert, but by that time I was soo tired I couldn't even sit up anymore.

After dinner, Mom put us in the bath since Justin and I were both very dirty! 

Justin did not enjoy the cold bath in the tin tub one bit! 

I told Mom, that I didn't think washing like this was very fun either. 

The next morning we explored the mission, visited the school, the university, the gardens, and the mini coffee plantation.
We also went to watch the brick making machine at work. That was really neat to see! 

After a lunch of peanut butter sandwiches and delicious mango, we got a ride back to the airport and flew to Ouanaminthe to drop of Uncle Anthony, Auntie Sher and my cousins. When we landed a whole group of kids swarmed the airplane. 

After a quick family picture all together, they were off to cross the border and catch a bus back to Santiago.

Guess who flew the plane back to Port au Prince? 

Yup! It was me! 

After a smooth landing (of course), Daddy drove us home. When Mommy opened the door to get us out of the car this is what she found.

Both my brother and I, fast asleep!