Friday

Kasey and Lisa here! 

We can't believe how fast this week has gone. But as our relentless leader Jordan said, "The days are long but the week is short." Our last day in Haiti comes to an end with a bit of relaxation at the beach. It took us at least two hours to drive to our destination, Ocean View Beach. The view was instantly breathtaking, with cool breezes and multiple shades of turquoise water, reminding us of our home in Hawaii. The hospitality was a reflection of the Haitian culture with delicious dishes and drinks. There was constant laughter and fun filled activities throughout the day. "And I learned how to swim! :D" Besides soaking up the sun, we also had the opportunity to go snorkeling! It definitely was an amazing experience to see the marine life in a different country. There were schools of tropical fishes and an array of coral that covered the ocean floor. It amazes us to think how God created such beauty around us and how the simple things in life can mean so much. As we wrap up our day in Haiti, we are reminded to not only serve others and to fulfill our purpose in life, but to also take the time to reflect about who we are and the values we live by. We have truly grown through this journey as future leaders and people. Not only could we say that our task of serving Haiti was complete, but we believe that Haiti has done us a meaningful act of opening our minds to be more appreciative, humble and stronger individuals. Haiti has definitely forever left a special place in our hearts. There are no words to describe our gratitude towards those we have met throughout this journey and we definitely could not have made it this far without them. They will truly be missed and be kept in our prayers. 

With that being said, it's time to pack and we will see you all, our dear friends and family, real soon!

With love,

"Peter Pan" and "Nemo"

Thursday

Its our final work day! 

We woke up early and headed out to Meyote, which was about an hour and a half away from Carrefour. The van ride was bumpy and several of us felt very car sick. We were grateful to stop at the pastors house, which was where a George Fox group was also staying. We joined with them and moved rocks all morning to help build a foundation for part of a house. The weather felt hotter, but there was a nice breeze and the air was a lot cleaner. It literally was a breath of fresh air! We then walked to a school and did a little presentation for each class and had a lunch of rice and beans (Kims favorite). On our way back we got to stop at a grocery store and buy some ice cream. We tried Rum Raisin, Vanilla, Pistachio, and Caramel - it was a great treat! After our adventure, we came back and rested until dinner and finished the night with our rooftop story time. Tomorrow is our last day, and we are all feeling mixed emotions. While we miss everyone at home, we definitely are not ready to leave yet. 

Wednesday

I'm Bonswa family and friends! 

This is co-leader Brenna reporting on our day. Nate, Erin, Jean Marc and I helped prepare food in the Lord's kitchen this morning. We washed rice, peeled garlic and washed dishes. It was amazing to see just how hard these women work to prepare food for the children. One young lady worked with the coconuts (kokoye in Creole), cracking them open, used the juice and shredding it down to make milk. Some of them would sing as they worked. Such soothing melodies came from the kitchen today.

There are about 550 kids at the school that we helped feed. Its such a heart-warming experience to see joy on these kids' faces simply by giving them lunch. So many of them came up to us and gave us big hugs and smiles. It's hard not to fall in love with them!

After a quick nap, we got in our tap tap and ventured out into the community. We visited Lambi and brought our soccer balls and bubbles for the kids. Our soccer skills were nothing compared to theirs, and we only got to kick the ball a couple times and the rest of it was spent chasing the kids around. Our time with the kids is undoubtedly the best part of each of our days. Each of us had multiple kids climbing on us, braiding our hair, and laughing at our Creole. 

We are still so happy to be here and are dreading tomorrow being our last work day! Thank you for checking up again!

Tuesday

I'm Cinco de mayo!

Tim here from Haiti. Today started on top of the roof where me and half of the group spent the night. We awoke to a beautiful sunrise. After a pancake breakfast we departed to start are second day of service. 8 of us went to the boys home to paint the walls. We first sanded down the walls then applied a fresh coat of yellow paint to liven up the walls. Jordan brought along here portable speaker and as we worked we jammed out to taylor swift singing working and bonding as a group as we helped freshen up the boys home. 

Marnie reporting from the Lords Kitchen. Today Erin, JeanMarc, Nate and I spent the morning working to prepare lunch for the nearby elementary school. We sifted out twigs and shriveled beans from a large bowl of beans to cook. Then we picked spinach, which is leafier than the spinach we are used to in America. Lastly we spent almost an hour washing the dishes and silverware that the children would use. Around noon our whole team reunited and met the cooks over at the elementary school. Now we dished out the meal, of rice and beans with a vegetable topping. Students rotated into the lunch room in a mad and frantic dash, they were all dressed in their uniforms and gorgeous smiles. We gave them high fives, took pictures, and cleared their plates. I remember loving my elementary school days in the cafeteria but this was by far my favorite.

Erin here...We are having incredible experiences this week in Haiti. I am so impressed by our students. They have such a heart for the people here, and they are wonderful ambassadors of Concordia Portland. You can feel proud, parents and professors! Between the Lord's Kitchen and Girls' Home, I was able to conduct some of my research that also brought me to Haiti as part of my sabbatical. My French surveys on meaning in life are challenging, though I have been pleasantly surprised by how much French is spoken here. I think I've conversed more in French here than in France or Quebec! I am up to 18 participants, with the help of the terrific Grace Village staff. Though I haven't officially analyzed any data yet, I can tell by my quick review of the surveys that a much deeper reliance on God is present here and contributes greatly to the Haitians' meaning in life.

Sunday

Bonswa loved ones,

Thank you all for checking in! This is team member, Nate Heinz, who is writing the current post! Day two of our adventure was a very spiritual day! After a sweltering sleepless night, we woke up bright and early (6am) to get ready for church. Our awakening greeted us with delicious pancakes and mangos. The girls wore their maxi skirts, and the guys wore their khakis and long sleeve shirt. As we drove to church, I was amazed to see how many Haitians were up and about for church. When we arrived, it felt like we were at a mega church! There were people everywhere - easily 500 people in the crowd - all there to glorify God! It was a wonderful sight to see! I grew up in a church but I had never seen a congregation as big or as connected as the church today. I was thinking if America had such a lively and active church service, I believe Christianity would have a different reputation. Anyways - in the middle of the service the team was asked to get up and share a message and a song. We were introduced by our hostess, and I had the opportunity gave a quick message about Concordia's reason on being here, and how we thank God for the opportunity to be here with them! From there we were asked to perform a song, so I quickly gave the mic to our talented wild child, Marnie, and she lead us in singing a song. We sang "This little light of mine". After giving our message we were asked to help out with the Sunday school, which was such an awesome experience! The kids swarmed us and during sunday school and started playing with Lisa and Kasey's hair. So another thing - church started at 7am and we weren't done until 10!! After church instead of going back to Grace International we had another church service! It was at a different location and it was just as enthusiastic. So yet again, we got up and introduced ourselves in front of their congregation. So I can officially say I publicly spoke in front of at least 1,000 people today! Then the team came back and rested for a little bit before we went to a festival. Apparently there was a Haitian holiday going on today so all the merchants were out and about. Some of the team members bought some stuff and had a great time looking at the Haitian culture! Now were just resting and about to have down time as we prepare for tomorrow! Hope all is well back at home! 

Nate and the rest of Haiti team!

 

Monday

Bonsaw, Marnie here reporting from Carrefour, Haiti, 

We are back in action- hitting Monday, our first day of service, with a little more energy. Today seems cooler, although it could be our body's adjusting to the heat. As our adventure today began, our team split up to utilized our different talents in different ways. Tim, who is diligently studying to be a nurse went to help assist in the medical center, which is run Monday through Fridays, on Grace Village's property. Leah, who is a new friend joining us for the week from Simpson college, is teaching english with different classrooms. Erin, one of Concordia's wonderful psychology professors, split off for a time to collect some research. Then, the rest of our group traveled through about ten classrooms in two schools to teach a short lesson and give out pencils and erasers to the students and teachers.

Both schools are christian, which helped us decide to base our lesson from Scripture. We used 1 Corinthians 10:31, to teach that whatever you want to do, work at it for Gods glory. We had our two interpreters, John Mark and Davidson, patiently helping us teach to the children. First I (Marnie) introduced where we were from and what we would be doing, then we sang "Jesus Loves the Little Children" in English. After that the children sang it to us in Creole. We each introduced ourselves with our name and what we were studying in school, then Nate read 1 Corinthians 10:13. Each student received a pencil and some got an eraser. 

Our last adventure of the day was visiting the boys home that is off site. We were very blessed to be able to deliver some of the donations that were kindly donated by all of you back home. We passed out underwear and soccer balls, as well as a few other miscellaneous items.  It was definitely the highlight if the trip for everyone. We are excited to go back tomorrow and do some painting at the home! Those boys stole our hearts from the moment we jumped out of the tap-tap (Haitian transportation).

We appreciate you taking the time to read about our day, and we all look forward to sharing our individual stories once we're back home.

Don't worry, we can do this, Kim (inside joke).

Au revoir, 

Team Haiti

At the airport

Team Haiti is checking in at the airport and will upload all our previous posts soon! 

WiFi Woes

As you might imagine, finding Internet in Haiti is rare. According to recent UNICEF statistics, only about 11 people out of 100 have access to the Internet in Haiti. And even with that access, it's not often consistent (or fast) like we experience in the States. While the team's site does have WiFi, it's pretty spotty.

So even though the team might not be able to update every day, they want everyone to know that they're doing great! They'll post when they can, and ask for your continued prayers for health, healing, and hydration.

We are keeping them in our thoughts and prayers this week!

- The Office of Service Leadership

We've arrived

Bonswa, Friends and Family! 

We have safely arrived to our destination - Grace Village, located in Carrefour, Haiti! After our red eye flight to New Yorks JFK airport, we had a couple hours to grab breakfast in the terminal and stretch out on the ground before our second flight that took us to the capital, Port-au-Prince. When we landed, we made it smoothly through customs and immigration and hopped into a big caged truck that took us to our home for the week. Lunch was served right after we got there, and we enjoyed a hot bowl of soup and hot dogs! With a long night of traveling finished, we were very excited to unpack and take a moment to relax. Several team members took naps, while others read or explored our site. Before dinner we took a walk around the campus and got to hear a little bit of the story behind Grace Village and their mission. Six Portland Police Officers who are finishing up their week in Haiti joined us for dinner and made great company. We are in good hands! Sunday will be an early morning with church service starting at 6am and more adventures to come after that. Check the blog again tomorrow night for another update!

Thank you for your continued prayers and support! 

Love,

Team Haiti

We're (almost) off!

Team Haiti gathered last night (April 30th) to pack up all of the AMAZING donations given to us to travel to Haiti to spend a week with Forward Edge and Grace International.  We covet your prayers as we travel for safety, health, and smooth flights.  Our team should arrive in Port Au Prince around 12:30pm local time (central time zone) tomorrow (Saturday) and will spend the day preparing for the week ahead!

Take a look below to see the donations and our team preparing to head out!

Most of the donations of sports equipment, school supplies, underwear, and sheets!

Goodie bags with granola bars, team journals, and some goodies to carry us through the week!