Haiti Mission Trip Part 3

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Cont. Haiti Trip page 1
Yvette speaks French so Marjolaine interprets. It is just down the road so we walk with them to visit their school. Madam Yvette comes to
Haiti 3 times per year to oversee the operation. She has 200 children in Pre K to 6 th grade. She is from Quebec, Canada and has run this
mission school since 1996. It costs $25 to sponsor a child in her school. They only go ½ a day and the younger children get bread and honey
for a snack. She says Americans are much more generous that Canadians and she can’t afford to feed them. Tonight I give their mission
$100.
Haiti Day 7 Friday, May 30
Today is vendor day!! This is our chance to help the local economy and the local people who sell their goods. Last year I didn’t bring enough
money to buy all I wanted so I had to make up for it this year. They have beautiful wooden pieces, paintings, jewelry, needlework, baskets,
shells, just a lot of different stuff. We make sure all vendors have some business. There is a lot of bargaining for items and that is the hardest
part for me. Richard is my favorite and boy did he remember me from last night. He tells me he gives me a “deal” but who knows. I love his
work and he is just the sweetest thing it is well worth every penny I gave him. Today was to be a free day to finish up things we needed to do
but we ended up going to do clinic in the morning and seeing patients and doing a few surgeries. Then we went to visit Annie’s orphanage.
She wasn’t here from the states this year but we saw the children. They are all disabled, many from the earthquake. We had nail polish, toys
and food to pass out. The afternoon was the delivery of food we had sacked all week. The plan was to go to the area we did last year and
deliver. It is a poorer area and last year it was very calm and no problems. Needless to say this year was a scary fiasco. The 2 interpreters and
2 of our group were in the front of the truck, the other 5 of us were in the bed of the truck with the rice and beans. We backed into the village
area and the interpreters told the villagers that there was 1 sack for adults only. But what we saw was 1 adult taking a sack, handing it off to a
kid then coming back for another. People started pushing and yelling and trying to get into our sacks. Finally the interpreters just said “let’s
go” and they got in to pull away but Paula couldn’t get back in the front of the truck because of all the people surrounding us. The truck is
pulling away and we are trying to pull Paula into the back of the truck with us. People are now chasing us in our beat up ole truck. We lost one
of our interpreters, Christopher, and thought we had lost Kevin. We finally see Christopher and stop to let him run and catch us but then the
villagers were closing in. Kevin had jumped in the front of the truck when he saw what was happening we just didn’t know it at the time. We
speed away to our little turn off and then a white vehicle starts speeding up behind us. We are all like “what is going on,” many thoughts were
churning and we were all very scared only to see that it was an “US Aid” vehicle that had seen the commotion and was checking to make
sure we were all OK. Whew! Well after that incident we decided we needed some down time and off to the beach we went. That afternoon
there was a teacher party at the mission house. There were tons of people and Marjorie fed them all at 3. I’m sure there were 100 people
with the large group. Then our group and all the staff ate about 4:30, then another group of 18 from Boston ate at 6. She was a busy lady
cooking that day. The group that came from Boston was the same school that was there when I was there a year ago. How bizarre to see the
same group. The teachers and 1 student were the same and we all remembered each other!! After supper we deliver a suitcase of clothes,
toys, hygiene products and food to Madam Yvette to give to a family that had everything stolen from their home. Now it is packing time,
tomorrow we head home!
Since I wrote the first half of my blog I have learned some new information. My sponsor child added me on facebook and the profile name
was Widlin. I was confused because everything the mission sends me has Wedelyne. Well I was able to facebook Wedelyne just this week
and she is using her twin brother, Widlin’s facebook. Therefore the confusion!!
Madam Yvette and Marjolaine
This was the group of kids we fed!