Haiti - Day Two and Day Three.

Yesterday morning I realized that there was a time difference. Is it sad that it took me almost a whole day to realize this?! I think so. In Haiti right now it is 10:01, but in the States it is 11:01. Is anyone wondering how I figured this out? Hope so, because I am about to tell. I set my alarm for 8am. No need to wake up early for breakfast, since there weren’t any other team members to eat with. After I woke up at 8, I decided to “snooze” until 8:30. Ms. Linda came in soon after that, and told me that Sophie was beginning breakfast. I laughed and said “Well, this is the first time I have gotten to sleep past 8 in Haiti, so I guess I don’t need that snooze time.” She then laughed back and said “Well, no, you didn’t sleep until after 8. You lost an hour when you got to Haiti.” I had to laugh.

I had breakfast, and then organized some things until Mr. Donald and Ms. Fran arrived. They got here around lunch time, and we had egg salad sandwiches. After they settled in for a while, we headed to see the girls. Once we got there, we did free play for a while and then sat then down to teach them a few songs. This was so much fun! I have some great videos to post, but the internet here is so slow that I can’t.

We came back to the house around 5 and my favorite Haitian meal –Haitian spaghetti and fried root- was sitting on the table! Yummmyyyy! Nothing tops the fried root dipped in the goat meat sauce. I know it sound strange, but it is divine.

This morning (Saturday) I woke up at 5am to write a paper. This was the first time I have ever written a paper while being serenaded by a rooster. Thankfully, I finished it and the connection was good enough to submit it to Blackboard. We had bagels and fruit for breakfast. Mr. Donald left shortly after breakfast with Pastor M to do Evangecube training in Karfu. I’ve never been to Karfu, but I hear it is one of the “grossest” places in Haiti. Although, around here the term “gross” is used a lot.

Ms. Fran and I spent the entire day with the girls. She worked with Smith and some of the girls on educational projects, while I worked with them on the necklaces. I am so proud of them, because they completed over 30 necklaces today! We came back to My Father’s House for lunch, and then organized the “necklace shop” downstairs. When we got back to the girl’s home, the social worker showed up so our plans had to be delayed for about an hour. After she left, we just played music and danced around with them. It was a blast! Those girls bring so much joy to my life.

Tomorrow we will be going to Kisqueya church, and will be bringing the girls with us. After church, and lunch .. I am going back to the girl’s home to take fresh photographs of then for the HUG brochures and we are also going to play Jenga. It should be a fun day!

Please keep Pastor M’s son, Samuel, in your prayers. He was taken to the hospital today after have “fits of shaking.” I am not quite sure what this means, but it all that Pastor M knows right now. They plan to keep him in there until Monday. I assume they are running tests. Pastor M and his wife (Ann) really need to be lifted up right now, because I know it has to be hard on them to be so far a part during this time of uncertainty.

Blessings,
Hannah

Haiti - Day One.

Well, Haiti .. I’m home! Nothing like a cold shower to welcome me back with. I flew out of Myrtle Beach this time, so I left good ‘ole Cottageville around 3am to catch my 8am flight. Luckily I had been well “prefueled” with orange juice, and other various dishes at the Smoak house the night before. When I got into the car, I put the address to the airport in my GPS hit “GO” and didn’t think anything of it. That is, until it told me to get on I-26. Thankfully, I didn’t follow it because it was taking me to my Mom’s house. I must not have actually hit “GO.” Woops.

I got to the airport around 6:15am, and signed in for my flight. All of the flying went very smoothly, and Serge was waiting on me when I arrived in PAP. The traffic was horrible! The worst I have ever seen it, yet everyone was moving out of the way when Serge was coming through. I mention it to him, and he claimed that everyone was moving out of the way because “the queen was back in town.” Hahaha. He also took me to his house to pick something up. He lives up a very tight spiral staircase, which was interesting. As I was coming down, I noticed this Haitian looking up as I was coming down so I mentioned to Serge that nobody better be looking up my dress. He then told me that an American might do that, but a Haitian never would. I’m not quite sure if that is true, because Serge said something to a man under me and he apologized several times. What an interesting first Haiti memory.

I got to the house, and settle in around 3pm. I then took a nap until around 6pm, and then awoke to eat dinner. We had beans and rice. It was very good, per usual. I took a shower, and started Skyping with Mom when Ms. Linda came in to tell me we were going to have some visitors to look at the house. Around 8pm three men arrive from Texas to take a look around. It was fun doing a My Father’s House tour. They stayed for maybe twenty minutes, and then left. Their experiences were very interesting. There was one man who came over right after the quake. It amazes me to hear stories from that time. Even though there was complete destruction, I am still reminded of how faithful our God is in the midst of any storm.

I then read for a while, and went to sleep.

Mr. Donald, and Ms. Fran will arrive tomorrow. Please pray for their safety.

Blessings,
Han