an early return

A sweet send-off:
After spending the day painting homes and praying for families, everyone staying at the compound headed down to church for Worship Night. Half the "congregation" was Haitian . . . the other half, American. Worshipping together, in a sweet mix of both Creole and English, was an incredible thing to be a part of. I wouldn't have chosen any other way to end my time in Haiti.

A not so sweet send-off:
Speaking of ending my time in Haiti, I actually left a few days early. I didn't want to needlessly worry you all, so I kept this a little known fact. I ended up getting pretty sick soon after arriving in Titanyen. No big deal, I thought. I figured it would pass. And then as I got worse I started hoping it would pass. And then I started praying it would pass. Instead of getting better, I continued to get worse, so I made the decision to fly home early. What followed was a ridiculous amount of sleep, a visit to an urgent care, some bloodwork, and no answers. I figured as much, but it was worth a try. It was a bit of a scare, but I'm definitely on the mend. I'm sad my trip got cut short, but I made the right decision and I'm happy to be home.

As always, my time in Haiti teaches, changes, and renews me. What I find funny is that we go to places like Haiti to offer some kind of help, in hopes that what we do is making some small difference in the lives of people there . . . except, I always come back feeling like I'm the changed one.

For now, it's back to the hustle and bustle of life back in Wilmington : class, work, and grad school applications. The transition is always a bit difficult, and I'm already missing Haiti, but I know I'll be back. There's just something about that place. I just can't seem to stay away.

The end.



my adventure to titanyen

After spending a wonderful weekend with Gwenn and Nick, it was time to say goodbye. Kyle and I both needed to head to Port-au-Prince, where we would part ways. Kyle had a flight back to the States and I needed to meet up with Qasim (my Haitian friend from my cholera unit days). To avoid the whole traveling alone in Haiti thing, Qasim offered to be my escort for the day.

4 tap taps later, and I finally arrived in Titanyen.

Tap taps are painted trucks or buses that serve as Haiti's form of public transportation. They are cheap, chaotic, crammed, and hot (thus, most Americans won't use them). Before the end of the night, I had inherited the nickname "tap tap." Every conversation began the same way : "Hey I heard about you. You were the one who took tap taps to get here!!"

Never again. Next time, I take a moto. :)

 

Arriving at Mission of Hope was equally chaotic. Apparently, no one knew I was coming in that day. I had only one number and one name (yes, I realize I should know better), so of course no one knew me or who I was talking about.

After getting my license and bags confiscated by the security guard . . . after roaming around the compound looking for a white person to help me . . . and after explaining my situation multiple times . . . things finally got worked out.

I think it's just fact that anything that can go wrong will go wrong in Haiti. Haiti should come with a disclaimer: it will take you 3 times longer than planned to accomplish whatever you have in mind . . . something will go wrong at some point in the process . . . but it will end up working out how it's supposed to in the end.

Compared to life in Seguin, Mission of Hope is like staying at a hotel. And this is where I'll be honest. . . I have felt uneasy, and even guilty, about staying here. I've realized that for some reason, I have it in my head that I have to be just as uncomfortable or as limited as the people I'm serving. I'm not sure why exactly, except that maybe it's because most of my time has been in Seguin, where this is often the case. 

God is teaching me to accept gifts from others and blessings from Him.

Love, Janae

m'ap vini

My last couple days in Seguin were spent delivering water purification systems. Think geogaching. We found each home using coordinates on a handheld GPS (we, meaning not me... I refused to help with this part due to my terrible sense of direction), gave them a bucket, and taught them how to use it properly.

Seguin has been unusually sunny. I was beginning to think that reports of endless rain and no electricity were lies...until the day we got poured on. Small rivers of water flowed over my shoes and rain slowly collected in the water buckets I was carrying. We were quite the sight, ponchos and rainjackets all in a row, trying to book it back to the clinic.

We left Seguin Friday morning. I found myself saying "m'ap vini" (I am coming back) a million times. All the kids wanted to know that I was coming back. This kills me. This is what gets me thinking about the pros and cons of mission work. You spend time somewhere, only to grow attached to the people there, who in turn grow attached to you. What happens when you leave? What happens if you cannot make that ultimate committment by staying longterm? Does the good outweigh the bad?

Highlights:

1. Throwing Kyle a surprise going away party, complete with a cake and glowsticks. It was pretty fantastic.
2. Successfully finishing our public health project and delivering all our water purification buckets.
3. Giving a lesson to the kids at a school next door about dental hygiene.
4. An interesting (as always) ride down the mountain with 12 or so people crammed into and onto one truck.
5. Spending time at Hands and Feet Orphanage playing with the babies in the nursery.
6. Pizza night at Cyvadier Hotel.
7. A Saturday morning spent saying goodbyes, taking a long nap, and jumping in the ocean.
8. Nick and Gwenn being wonderful, spoiling me with things like pizza and a bed with a pillow.

Goodbye Seguin...just for now. 

M'ap vini.

Love, Janae