Haiti Day 1

It is Monday, March 22, 2010. Three o’clock this morning started my day in preparation to travel to Mission of Hope in Haiti. This mornings flight to Dallas was a typical – Monday morning business travel so the plane was full and of course travel to Miami was a full plane. What surprised me the most was the packed plane to Haiti.
I think we all have a tendency to live in such a small world. And what’s even more frightening is we often live our entire life within this small world around us. We live in a great, great big world and if Humanity Relief and Compassion for the displaced human being is any indication to the enormity of the flight today – then people really do care. Everything was smooth until departing Miami which was 45 minutes late leaving because of the trash all the people from the previous plane left behind. At least that’s what they said. I think it was because someone who will go unnamed might have taken a pillow from American Airlines. We think they were doing a pillow count and well enough, inside joke. Uh, it’s a she. Interesting that we were on that plane and it wasn’t I who left such a mess. Well if you think that’s a mess – you gotta be called to Haiti.
Airport at Port au Prince was literally destroyed by the earthquake. It will have to be torn down and rebuilt. So we were diverted to makeshift immigration and entry into Haiti. Wow – what a trip!! Imagine landing on an airstrip then proceeding to taxi back to the gate on the SAME landing strip. Then being bused over to immigration; which went very smooth until baggage claim. It was a zoo. A room about 30 by 50 with a hundred sweating people with no order or rhyme or reason and people trying to get you to let them help you or drive you by taxi. All the way out to the gate – with people all over the gate pressing into you as you are trying to leave. Guard your purse, wallet and such – then up the street full of people and cars and such trying to get to the bus to take us out to the mission. Roads, WOW! Narrow, holes everywhere and sometimes three cars wide – no rules just drive and overtake people and drive around a stop fast and on and on and on. It was an adjustment. We passed the mass grave where they buried will over 150, 000 people. And once we got down wind – it was no guess where the odor was coming from.
However, we are now at the mission and have fellowshipped with others staying here: Canadian nurses, doctors, Convoy of Hope reps and a group from Minnesota. It’s hot and muggy but the sun has gone down and the tree frogs are singing and a shower soon then the generator comes on so we can have fans to sleep. Great day and can’t wait to get started tomorrow.

mike