Roll with it

So if there's one lesson I've learned about life in Haiti, it's this:

All plans are subject to change. And usually do.

We learned this lesson very well on our second full day in Haiti. After most of us didn't get to travel to Peredo the first day, we were very excited to go. First, let me explain the transportation: Almost every time we traveled to Peredo, it was standing up in the back of a truck that resembles a cattle car (see picture). I laughed every day coming up with conversations Haitians must be having that day.

"Did you see Genio (the driver)? He went and found himself a load of Americans!!"



Anyway, this trip is about an hour long, but it also includes some beautiful scenery of the ocean and a couple of small towns (Kapotier & Peredo). The most exciting part of each ride was crossing two different rivers by driving through them, as I mentioned in my post yesterday.

As we pulled into the camp at Peredo, we were greeted by the school children, who are just about as adorable as it gets. Talk about melting your heart. They lined up and sang some songs for us, and then we started working. And by working, I mean that most of us carried rocks by hand. Big rocks. By hand. To fill up a hole that will eventually become a basketball goal.

(Did I mention that the students on my trip are awesome? Because they are. They could have moaned and groaned all day about having to carry rocks in empty cement bags and on rusty wheelbarrows in the sweltering heat, but they didn't. I was so proud as a sponsor to be with them.)

After we had been working for about an hour and a half, we noticed the school children all disappeared. Then it started to rain. Then it started to pour. And we all ran for cover.

As we're waiting it out in the camp gazebo, Toto (who works there) is telling Ginny something in Creole that doesn't sound good. He is concerned that the rain will make the rivers rise too much, and we will get stuck here. We need to leave.

No problem, right?

Problem: Genio (our driver) took the big truck back to Jacmel.

Plan B: We take people one load at a time in HCO's pick-up truck across the two rivers to wait for our big truck to come back and get us. I don't think I'll ever forget riding in the truck as Toto is driving, heading towards the river. I ask him, "How can you tell if the river is too high?" His reply? He just laughs!!!

Thankfully, the first group made it across the rivers. Then we had to wait. The only place we could find was a lean-to, and I use that word lightly.



In hindsight, I'm not sure it was any better than just standing in the pouring rain, but that's where we stood and waited for what seemed like forever (probably 40 minutes or so). Then the second load of people came. Of course, only then did we realize that there was a shelter just up from the lean-to that was much nicer. I'm guessing it was a bar during the evenings, but was not in use at the moment. The owners were very kind to let us stay there as we waited some more. While we were waiting, Ginny, Laura, and Lesley were making sandwiches in the pick-up truck for us to eat. I went out to check on them, and right as Genio pulls up with the big truck, we realize that now the truck Ginny is driving has a flat tire. Her reaction? She just laughs (I think there's something to this laughing thing). But with help from some locals we were back and ready to head home.

After the rain eventually stopped, we went outside and played with the neighborhood kids in Jacmel. We were thankful that everything turned out okay, and that God took care of us. In the states, it would have been easy to be upset that we didn't get much "done" that day, but consider what we did "do":
*met and encouraged the school children
*started working on the camp
*relied on God (and Toto) and learned about faith
*met and hung out with Haitians in a bar in Peredo, who we probably would never have met.
*spent a rainy evening doing the Hokey Pokey with Katia, Bernadine, Rosalund, and many others

I think some days God looks at our "plans" and laughs. He has so much in store for us that can't be contained on a check list. Thank you, God, for showing us that.