Team Journal 8

Saturday July 6, 2013 
Written by Derek Wubs 

Today was the one morning the team rose within ten minutes of being awakened by Jeannie Krul, as opposed to the usual thirty! 

Why you may ask? Because it was beach day! After a week of rising earlier then some of us were accustomed too (considering the three hour time change) and working in the heat and humidity all day it was more difficult for us to get out of bed than you can imagine. Some rose faster than others, no names mentioned of course. 

After a hurried breakfast of nutritious lucky charms, banana bread, zucchini loaf and juice the groggy team divided between a pick up truck and a trusty Toyota and drove for an hour and a half to Club Indigo. 

Along the way while listening to the value of virtues told in story form we stopped to attend to baby Justin. While our generous hostess, Will Krul, attended to her child the “trusty Toyota” decided that it was being stolen and engaged its anti theft system. 

Amid the screaming baby, sirens, horns and curious onlookers Will and I stuck our heads under the hood and attempted to combine our somewhat limited mechanical knowledge to turn the alarm off and reset the anti-hijacking system. 

After about ten minutes Will got it working and we were on our way once again. 

Upon arriving at Club Indigo I was greeted by the greatest visual contrast I had ever experienced in my life. It was hard to imagine that a half hour flight away lay the poverty we had just experienced in the village. 

We were greeted by luscious vegetation and multiple pools,

all leading the way to the beautiful Caribbean sea.

With no hesitation Philip and I were in the water only coming out to quickly apply a layer of sunscreen.

In no time at all everyone was in the water snorkeling or on the floating trampoline.

The only time we were not busy was when lunch arrived at our spot.

The pizza, chicken nuggets, and fries were delicious!

As soon as lunch was over we headed to the volleyball court and pools. 

By the end of the day a cherry red, sandy, tired team headed back to the Kruls again.

Thanks to some excellent help in the kitchen our generous hostess had crafted a delicious dinner of spaghetti and garlic bread which all disappeared in a hurry. 

The day was perfect in every sense but at the same time it reminded me that we are some of the most fortunate people in the world. We got to leave the poverty behind after only one week. Imagine if there was no escape from it? Imagine if you were in the vicious cycle day in and day out till the day you died?

This trip has opened my eyes to how fortunate I really am living in the best country on the planet! The next time I feel like complaining I hope I remember Haiti and its people and rethink.

Despite having nothing they are the nicest most open and welcoming people I have ever encountered. It will be good to go home again but at the same time I will never forget my time here.