We left Newark Airport at 6 am today. After two very uneventful flights - Newark to Miami then Miami to Haiti we landed in the 93 degree 90 percent humidity. We left the jet way to go collect our bags. We were greeted with a Haitian band singing songs to us as we walked in the customs area. Customs was normal and baggage claim was routine. Then we left the airport and that's where my view on my life changed forever.
There were people everywhere going in every direction. It was like rush hour in NYC except the chaos was magnified 100 times. One of the people in our group was almost run over by, or he backed into a car. I am not sure which. The fact is, the airport parking lot was only the beginning. We all piled onto our, thankfully, air conditioned bus for the 6 hour ride to Les Cayes where were going to spend our first night. I knew that Haiti had massive devastation from the earthquake and the hurricane that followed. But I was not as prepared as I thought I would be, to see it up close. Thousands of people are still living in tent cities throughout Port au Prince. And most of the island still has intermittent power. I am just glad that I wasn't driving. The traffic was unbelievable. Think of the traffic you see from clips from India - it was like that - only less motor bikes and more trucks with smashed windshields and wobbly tires that are about to fall off. There were pickup trucks with 15 people in the back, a bus with a guy on a kitchen chair on top of it, another bus with a guy texting from the roof and another bus with three goats on top. The Trip to Les Cayes was 6 hours through the mountains. It was sad to see the landscape because after decades of corruption and environmental devastation from over harvesting, there is nothing left for people to find naturally. They have stripped the land of almost everything usable. We had a bathroom stop about halfway to our destination at a little bar/restaurant/store/gas station. The men's room had no door and there was a woman in there. That was weird.
A few hours later, we arrived at the missionary guest house. Thankfully we have AC tonight - last for the week. We leave for Dame Marie Saturday morning at 8:30 am and then the real work begins. Over all the people here are very nice, very kind and really just want to know - Comment allez-vous - or How are you doing?
Kris King
www.EVideoProductions.net
kris@evideoproductions.net
For more details on this mission trip to Haiti, read Jeremy Stephen's blog!
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