25th 4th of July Celebration

Haiti Mission Trip
By Cindy Linsey
Let me first tell you a little about the mission that I have been involved with for 2 years now. It is called Life Connection Mission out of
Germantown, Maryland. My first trip to Haiti was in March of 2013. It was an amazing experience and from the first day I knew I would go
back. The mission has a mission house, a school, a church, a medical clinic and it is working to open an OB/GYN type clinic. In August 2013,
the school opened an on-line college program where students that have graduated can further their studies. They have partnered with
colleges to offer this school. The school has 500+ kids and they try to get all of the kids sponsored. Last year I selected a 16 year old girl to
sponsor, Widlin Cherry. For $35 per month she goes to school, gets a lunch, and gets 2 school uniforms. Without sponsorships many of
these children would not go to school much less have a meal a day. Go to lifeconnectionmission.org or go to their facebook page and see
what it’s all about.
The mission hires many Haitian workers. Benwa directs the mission and Arnold is the back up. These men work 24/7 to see that the
mission is run efficiently and that all mission workers have their days planned and arrangements made. They have a head cook, Marjorie and
several assistants. There are grounds keepers, guards, and many, many interpreters. Every mission worker pays their way to Montrouis and
then they pay room and board and transportation to and from the airport. Transportation is NOT a limo, it could be a truck or one of the many
tap-taps.
Haiti, Day 1,Saturday, May 24
My mission group this year consisted of 3 nurses, 1 doctor, 2 college students and a drug rep. We all flew to Florida Friday late afternoon.
After we checked into the hotel at 9:00 pm we head out for supper, our last American meal for a week. We returned to the hotel and hit the
sack at 12:30am. We are up bright and early at 2:45 am to catch the shuttle to the airport. Why did we even get a hotel room? I know, for the
last warm shower for awhile! The flight from Ft. Lauderdale was smooth and we arrived at Port au Prince mid morning. Our trek through
customs went well. ―Are you a mission group?‖ Yes. ―Do you have any medicine?‖ NO. Shhhhhhh, a little white lie never hurt anyone!
Between the 7 of us we have 14 bags checked, 4 carryon bags and 3 back packs. Getting our luggage to our ride is a fiasco. We have 2
porters inside the airport to load our luggage on the carts but this year once we got through customs and to the door out you had to have
another porter. You ask why? Because everyone needs a job and money and you have to pay them all. We have our interpreter take care of
the 2 nd group of porters because they were pushing and shoving and before we know it we have like 5 porters and we don’t need that many
and we weren’t paying that many. Once our luggage is loaded in a tap-tap we are to get in a different truck. Since the porters were all
―discussing‖ the situation (us not paying them enough I am sure) we thought we would never see our luggage again as it was not secured.
You see a tap-tap is a taxi. Most are trucks with a cover over the bed and people sit in the bed on benches, on the tops, and even hang on the
sides. When a passenger wants off the tap-tap they ―tap‖ on the truck and the driver stops and the passenger jumps off. It is not unusual to
have 20+ people with supplies on a small tap-tap. It took an hour and half to get to the mission in Montrouis and 4 people rode in the bed of
the truck. We were welcomed by the Life Connection Mission staff and the Haitian Connection Network and we were given a presentation of
how they are working together to ―connect the dots.‖ Normally, we don’t eat lunch at the mission but they did fix cheese sandwiches,
pineapple, banana and papaya since we had been up so early and there was no where to eat on arrival. That afternoon was spent moving
into our rooms and taking all our supplies over to the medical clinic. The medical clinic is basically across the street and down a ½ block. I
stayed in a room with the other 2 nurses which could hold 9 guests. Supper was rice, beans, noodles, beet/potato salad, plantains and what
we all called ―mystery meat.‖ It was probably goat and I vowed to be vegan all week!! The biggest change at the mission was solar power.
Last year the generator ran from 7am till 9pm and then there was no power. With the solar power there was electricity 24/7 although at
times the lights were quite dim or the ceiling fan moved really, really slow. The shower that evening was not super cold but it was far from
warm and then the water ran out so you just deal with it. That night I think we were all asleep by 7:30 because we had basically been up for
40 hours!
Haiti, Day 2,Sunday, May 25
Breakfast is the best!! Marjorie’s famous banana pancakes. We also had watermelon, mango, pineapple, bread and homemade peanut
butter. We have fresh squeezed juice at each meal. After breakfast we all head to church. Church has already started but we take our seats
in the back. Funny in America the front pews are always open, not in Haiti. A little girl from the front makes her way back to us and sits on
Lindsay’s lap. She is there for the duration as they love the attention. The kids in front of us turn around and smile at us, want their picture
taken and then laugh and laugh when we show them their picture. The preacher announces who we are and that we are a medical team.
This gets the word out to come to the clinic over the next week. In Haiti Sunday is a day of rest so we go to visit a couple of resorts. They are
very nice resorts with pools, beaches and clubs. These resorts are for the richer Haitians and the tourists. It was $265 per night for 2 people
and 3 meals. WOW! When we arrived at the first resort there was Richard. I met him last year and he remembered me and of course Paula.
He sells Haitian souvenirs. Of course he gives you a price and then you offer another price till you come together on a mutual price. I hate
that kind of bargaining. At the resort we ordered some fried plantains, well they brought us French fries. Must of thought us Americans didn’t
know what we were talking about. They were super delicious especially because of their catsup. It is very, very thick and sweet. Supper was
chicken, black rice, watermelon, carrot/potato salad and picklease. Picklease is served with most meals and it is cabbage and onions and it
is way too spicy for me. Paula’s sponsor child, Tiana, joined us for supper. It costs $5 to have a guest at supper. Paula also showered Tiana
with small gifts she brought and Tiana was very happy. After supper we had 8 55 lbs bags of rice and 2 huge bags of beans to divide into
smaller bags to give away. To do this we took a 16 oz cup and filled it heaping with rice. We would put 5 of these cups of rice in a bag and
then 1 of the beans. If you don’t get the cup full, Benwa will tell you about it. This will feed a family many meals. Marilyn, Paula, Lindsay, Kevin
and I stayed up way to late playing a game but this helped us get to know each other for the work we had ahead of us.
(to be continued next month)