The beautiful Haitien children will lift the spirit of any
day! How can we turn our back on these beautiful children?
Small Crew for this
October Trip, 2000: Three students went on this one - Rona (left), Colleen
(her first trip - she returns in 2001!), and our graduate student, Aaron!
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Getting to know the Haitien
country-side and the village markets
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This trip also allowed us to see
how difficult life can be for the children of Haiti. Here the children live in a
neighborhood built on reclaimed land from the river - the region is shown in
the image to the right.
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Our 2000 Student Trip To Haiti
This was a complicated trip for us! Originally planned
for March, 2000, this trip was delayed until May due to the original scheduling of the
Parlimentary elections in Haiti. Unfortunately, the elections were delayed with
a final date that overlapped with the planned dates in May. Based on advise
from several sources (including advice from the U.S. State Department and the offices
of Rep. Tim Roemer), the May date was cancelled. Unfortunately, this meant that
a substantial part of the original team could not go to Haiti. This also meant that
we had to disappoint Pastor Jean-Alix Pierre who had arranged for men to be ready
for training in May.
Thanks to the kindness and assistance of OMS international, we were able to
reschedule a reduced group for October. Thanks to the deep understand of
Pastor Alix, we were able to reschedule the training of his men. THANK YOU
PASTOR ALIX!!
The goals of this program were to:
--> Repair a number of hand pump wells
--> Expose the students to life in Haiti
--> Provide for interaction between
students and Haitiens
--> Provide an opportunity to train local
Haitiens in hand
pump repair
--> Provide an opportunity for these
students to live their faith
The trip was supported through housing and vehicles
provided by OMS, a missionary group with a significant
compound in Cap Haitien. We are deeply endebted to this
group for housing and logistical support. The trip
was also supported by the efforts of Pastor Alix, who
identified wells, made promises to the local community
based on my word, and rearranged his schedule to meet our
schedule.
The trip was a great success! The students had an opportunity
to meet and get to know the missionaries at the OMS compound (who
were busy building their new radio station). The also had the
opportunity to meet the beautiful people of Haiti in their villages,
and in their homes.
Perhaps most importantly, the students were able to work with
five fantastic young Haitiens (and Pastor) in training each other in hand-pump
repair and daily life in Haiti. A very close bond was made between
these young men and our team.
We can only pray that the special crew from Canada can help the
village shown in the image to the left and below to reclaim this
land and make safe, sanitary homes, with a beautiful church, and
recreational facilities where the children can play. These are
some of the toughest living conditions I have seen in Haiti.
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Some Memories?
The Driving - always the driving
Lynx Air
The "new" airport
Steve is taking the van where??
Rona is shopping
The roads! (every time)
The repaired wells
The food
Reflections and Prayers
The kids - Colleen and Aaron that is!
The WELL behaved Haitien children!
Is Steve supposed to be that red?
Rona, Sedrak's back
Okay, everyone lift!
A working well!
The guys
The Sunday service
Pastor Alix
Shopping (how many Rona?)
Colleen, its only SMALL pieces of meat!
Pass out the suckers!
How come they don't hug Aaron and Steve like that?
Coming Home
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