A Day Off

A Day Off

Apologies for the ‘dead air’ on the blog – we ran out of bandwidth and couldn’t get online. Welcome to Haiti!

Today’s post is a hodgepodge of brief comments from team members…

Melissa:

Today was our first day off. We went to the market in Grand-Goave in the morning. It was CRAZY busy!

Imagine a one-way street. Then put booths on each side of the street so that the walkway is just about wide enough for one person. Next, add hundreds of people walking the path – many with large bunches of bananas on their heads and other large packages in arms. Finally, insert a few people pushing wheelbarrows full of purchases, a few others leading donkeys carrying their loads, and even more riding their loaded-down motorcycles in the lane.

Later, we swam in the Caribbean Sea. It was so refreshing after the stifling heat of the market! We snorkelled, we ate lobster cooked on the beach, we got sunburned, we purchased some baubles. What a great afternoon!

On a funny note (that Melissa doesn’t want me to share) – the beach was crawling with teeny-tiny little ants. Melissa discovered that they bite when she got out of the shower today and found her hind-quarters itching!

Alan:

A mass amount of green soccer balls were donated for our team to distribute, so Alan planned a soccer game. Well, planned is a relative term in Haiti. Basically, Alan suggested it, so we packed up and headed out. With no word out in the community, we were found by dozens of children.

The game commenced, and a fun time was had by all. At the conclusion of the game, we handed out a few balls. One boy who spoke English said, over and over, “I am so blessed to meet you today!” Another young fellow said “Mesi,” and walked away with tears rolling down his cheeks.

Next, we’ll figure out what to do with all the basketballs that were donated!

Gerald:

While we were on the beach today, a young man’s chain (aka necklace) caught Gerald’s eye. Gerald asked him where he might find a similar chain. The Haitian man removed his own chain and passed it to Gerald. Gerald offered to pay him for the chain and was refused. Then he offered to trade for the one around his neck – again, refused. The young man said, “It is a gift for you. See you at church tomorrow.”

Until today at the market, we hadn’t seen many older people. It was interesting to observe their manner… Unlike the very outgoing children, the older adults do not make eye contact. However, when we greet them with a “Salut!” or a “Bonswa!” they light up and respond in kind. Perhaps this is tied to the mentality of days gone by, when the Haitians were treated as inferior to whites.