Day One

Day One

Flew from Toronto to Miami and then on to Haiti without incident.  Landing at Toussaint airport was an eyeopener that has to be  experienced by everybody.  The heat combined with the chaos and a plane full of volunteer groups and locals all racing around filling out forms on whatever surface they could find, streaming into lineups to be cleared by customs and then having to find your baggage, that is exhausting.  However on a bright note, the Haitian baggage handlers were quick to get you outside and to your party.  Cooper from Nehiamia Vision ( don’t know if I spelled that correctly but he is a great guy) was there to greet me and then began a trip through traffic that could only be described as harrowing.  Our driver Dianne was the second bright light of the day cutting through traffic that was bottlenecked for blocks and getting us through Port au Prince with a minimum of difficulty.  I think that if you have never driven in Haiti it is hard to describe.  No traffic lights or stop signs, but somehow everything moves.  Brick roads designed for 2 lanes of traffic are now carrying 4.  The streets are lined with vendors selling everything I mean everything, and everyone is smiling.  Well almost everyone.  I can only describe Port au Prince as having a Haight Ashbury San Francisco or Yorkville Toronto from the 1960’s look and feel to it.   Arriving in Chambrun I got to meet everyone and see the school and the kitchen.  Everyone is working so hard and taking such pride in what they have accomplishmented to date.  Father Pierre is a beacon of hope, an awfully nice guy with a vision for Haiti’s future.  I am working in the kitchen with 1 of the Haitian girls and Richard.  Richard is a fisherman from North Carolina and was here to cook at Chambrun 2 days after the earthquake hit.  He has just returned for 6 weeks.  Well have to run.  God Bless