Day One

We have embarked on our adventure to Haiti. It has been almost eight months since the devastating earthquake. The opportunity was presented to Derek to spend a week in Port-Au-Prince through Cure International. After Derek went to Uganda, I told him the next mission he went on I would go. I prayed about it, that if it was meant to be, everything for the trip would fall into place...and it did. Funding easily came through three different sponsors. We found an inexpensive flight into Harrisburg for my Dad to stay with our kids. Over the past few weeks my anxieties about leaving the children and our safety have, at times, been overwhelming. I fasted and prayed for comfort. During my fast I searched the scriptures and found some comfort in Psalms 41:1-2. "Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive: and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies." Several days later the fear and anxiety once again became overwhelming. I prayed to find comfort in my scripture studies that evening. I opened my scriptures and immediately the word "poor" jumped out to me. I found my answer in Doctrine and Covenants 44:6. "Behold, I say unto you, that ye must visit the poor and the needy and administer to their relief". God is good and he does answer prayers. I have decided to "go forward with faith". I have found comfort in taking the focus from myself and praying for those we will serve. My heart broke as I kissed Kenyon, Damon and Selah in the middle of the night to begin our mission. I love my children so much and pray that we will be an example to them. We are preparing to land in Port-Au-Prince now.

Derek, Hilary, Dr. Rubbo

We just arrived at our hotel, and I have seen more than my heart can handle, the devastation is worse than I imagined. As we left the airport we walked into chaos. I feared for my life, I clung to Derek as we walked through a crowd of Haitians fighting to assist us, screaming at one another, yanking our luggage and demanding a tip if they touched a part of our bag. At that moment without saying a word to each other Derek and I both thought, "what have we done?, we shouldn't have come, we have three little dependents at home who deserve for their parents to return". Derek said, "from this point on you will not be out of my sight, except to use the bathroom, and for that you are not to go alone". It was the first time in our marriage of over ten years that Derek told me what I will do. I was grateful for his tone and concern for me. What a relief when we saw Phil Hudson (Haiti Relief Director). He stepped in and took over. He assigned porters to each of our luggage carts, although there were fights for our luggage even after we left. Phil hurried us to a van and had water bottles for each of us, a welcomed gift. Once we were loaded we met Loubance, Phil's translator. He put me at ease and I knew (or at least had high hopes) that he would keep us safe. We learned that he was born in Haiti but lived in the states for 13 years of childhood. We then began our drive to our hotel. The devastation was far worse than I ever could have imagined. Rubble and garbage everywhere. The tent cities were heartbreaking. Over 1.3 million people in Port-Au-Prince live in tents/tarps. In recent months 1.5 million have been relocated to tin-like homes in the hills. We were told that if Port-Au-Prince had 1, 000 large dump trucks and worked 24/7 it would take 5 years to clear all the rubble. Imagine the concrete from seven Hoover dams crumbled over the city. Our 40 minute drive took about two hours, it was emotional. Our hotel is this little oasis amongst the chaos. Although, I can't get the nightmare beyond the gates out of my head.

Phil loading our luggage, the two men are waiting for a tip after
Phil has told them several times he does not need help with the luggage.

This man is living under the rubble in a make shift shelter. (Look to the right of the arrow and straight down)

One of the many tent cities. Most of the tarps were provided by USAID.

As you can see here, Haitians have found a way to live amongst the rubble. Tables are set up selling items on the street as if the rubble was not there.

Market

This was the view from the window in our hotel room.
This teenage boy bathed his little brother in reclaimed rain water every evening.