Bradford in Haiti

The Bradford team made it in pretty smoothly! Getting out of the airport was relatively easy compared to the Samaritan's Feet team. There were only a few moments of concern when one of Frank's "inside guys" let us go through immigration to meet the team...let me explain.

Normally we go inside the airport and wait upstairs, just past immigration. There is always a twoubadou band playing, which always provides entertainment for us. This time, the guys decided to usher us in to meet the team. I didn't think anything of it, just following Frank and these airport guys we see each week...until I was past immigration with NO PASSPORT. Oops. I asked the guys if I would be okay with no passport and if I could get back through immigration. They [of course] said, "No problem!" The only "problem" is that there are no immigration officers preventing you from going through immigration to leave Haiti...but there ARE many officers sitting in their booths, checking green slips and passports to let you IN the country of Haiti. I found myself literally between two countries at one point. Oh, and I forgot to mention that these guys who easily got us through to meet the Bradford team seemed to have disappeared. Oh, and Frank decided to mention that he had his passport so he wouldn't have a problem getting back through. [insert momentary freak out] We made sure everyone had their green slips filled out and as they were making their way through the immigration lines, paying their entry tax/fee, Frank told me to "act like you know what you're doing" and nonchalantly grabbed the handles of one woman's wheelchair and I followed along, doing the same thing for another woman. We proceeded to push these women out past immigration with the immigration officer smiling and saying, "Thank you!" Wait, what? Then the fun began...I forgot to mention that Frank took the small, tiny, fragile, 90 year old, adorable lady and left me with a very large, heavy, wonderful woman. The only problem is, I could not get her wheelchair into the elevator over the little hump...it took three of us! Only one wheelchair could fit on the elevator at a time, so Frank went first, and by the time I got downstairs he was nowhere to be found, but I saw his little old lady parked near a pole, so I dropped off my lady and headed back upstairs to meet the team once they got PAST immigration. Frank and I considered that experience quite an accomplishment!

Anyway, once we left the airport, we headed back to the Guest House for a nacho bar and then headed out to the local market, Le Marche Public de Tabarre. I thought it would be a good introduction to the culture of Haiti! It was neat to see how different members of the team responded, some jumping right into the action, passing out waters, and some not so much. As the week unfolded it was neat to see how different people responded to different situations. I loved watching some be vulnerable and open to new experiences. If you want to read from the Bradford team's perspective, they posted a few days while they were here. Visit their blog here: http://bradfordhaiti.blogspot.com/

One of my favorite parts of the week was going back to the orphanage in Titanyen. This was only our second visit and an unexpected one at that. Last time we called ahead, letting them know we would be coming. It was nice to see that most things were the same as when we called ahead; that showed us that they weren't really trying to hide anything or appear as if it was a better situation than it was. Little Stefani gravitated toward me once again, so I held her most of the time, but I wanted to be intentional about spending most of my time with the older girls this time. By default, I always tend to flock to the itty bitty kids. I went up to the older girls and started to have a very basic conversation in Creole. But my Creole skills are very basic, so our conversation lasted about 15 seconds...until we couldn't understand each other so we just started laughing...haha! With the little Creole I know, I was able to ask the two 17 year old girls to sing for us! I knew there was no way we could visit without hearing their beautiful voices again. I was blown away by them during our last visit. There is a video at the end of my June 26 post of them singing. I think some of the Bradford team got some video footage from this time, so I hope I can share that soon! After they sang and I was trying to dry my sopping wet face of tears, I thanked the girls and continued a lengthy conversation with Jeune's help translating! I asked what the song was about and they told me it was about God's timing and his promises for them. That started my tears all over again. They asked if they could braid my hair, so by the time we left I had a few corn rows. It's not the best look for me. Haha!

This week was full of adventure, including: market-walking, church-going, river-splashing, warehouse-waiting, orphanage-loving, overlook-seeing, museum and monument-learning, local artisan-touring/shopping, Haitian food-eating, park-basketball playing, canter-riding, OK-working, roof-sitting, devotion-thinking, tear-spilling, experience-reflecting, and MORE! Traffic was relatively easy and there were not any unexpected "events".

I am so grateful the Bradford team got to experience some of this beautiful country. I pray (and I hope you'll pray with me) that they take some time to reflect on what they saw, felt, heard, and did and will find a way to "do something" or make a difference, in whatever capacity that may be. It can be overwhelming to see all the need here. The desire to jump in and help in many ways seems necessary. But, what I've learned in my short time here this summer and last is to find one specific way to help, whether it be in Haiti or at home and start there. Otherwise, we "do-ers" (or Marthas) of the world try to "do" too much and in turn, end up being stretched too thin and can't do any of those things we "do" well. That is one specific lesson I am learning this summer. To focus on ONE. John's devotion on this topic is one I will never forget. We have spent a lot of time on this topic at church back home. The concept is so basic, but so true.

After we dropped the team off at the airport, we went to the Stop & Go to pick up lunch supplies for another nacho bar, since the next team gets in around 1 or so [today]. After unpacking all the groceries and setting up the canter for the next team, I grabbed my swim suit and back pack and headed out to Titanyen to the beach with Kalipso! That experience could be a whole blog post in and of itself! What an adventure! I had so much fun! I got back to the Guest House around 6:30 and was asleep on the couch by 7...I think I was a little exhausted!

Today, I'm getting laundry done and rearranging my things for the upcoming week. We have 28 coming - it will be quite the packed house!

I want to include some of my favorite pictures from this past week, but the wifi is weak, so maybe I can add some later on!

Have a great week!