4:30 am: MSP airport, 30 50-pound suitcases with donations from baby clothing to health supplies, 15 carry-ons, 15 back packs, and 15 teal-shirted travelers eager with anticipation.
2:30 pm: Port-au-Prince airport, same 30 suitcases....15 carry ons...15 back packs....and 15 teal shirted travelers jamming into a mini bus called a Tap Tap - looking similar to the "how many clowns can we get in the tiny car" circus act.
4:30 pm: Arrive at our new home - bags down, and off to buy some supplies in that same clown car, and our first chance to see the streets of Haiti. What we experienced:
- People carrying huge loads of "wares" on their heads, including water
- Selling any and everything on the street - including mattresses duct-taped to the dirty fences lining the street
- Several LOTTO stores (gambling)
- A man urinating on the street
- A grocery store not that different from "the states"
- Traffic - chaos, gridlock, pick up truck-taxis jammed full of Hatians, bouncing up and down - HARD on the streets - us too.
- Boys about 10 years of age jumping on to the back of our moving bus/tap tap - sticking their hand through the security screen in the back of the bus begging for anything we might give.
- An evening of tired travelers feeling a sense of oneness around a table prepared with shepard pies and then getting our "gear" (donations and food) ready for tomorrow.
- Last prep: our heads and hearts. A deep breath, a catch in our throats: first stop - hospital for sick and dying - Carrefour. Our job: get up close and personal - as in - rub lotion on the elderly that are in need of loving touch. Stop #2: Village of Jesus in Leogane: Home for Elderly Abandoned Women. Assignment: Love them up thru serving lunch, mass, singing/music, and washing their feet.
Nothing like jumping feet first into the deep end.
Here goes...
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