12 Days & Counting

Bonswa!

Only 12 days remain until we leave for our Haiti trip. The months have been flying by! Sean and I spent the months of August and September collecting financial contributions. We were extremely blessed and received more than 100% of our $3,000 goal! The excess money went to Dayspring West to help with the shipping costs of all the medical and school supplies we'll be taking with us. I also set up a table for supply contributions at my office. My co-workers at AWWA were incredibly generous. I had 4 great big boxes of crayons, tylenol, socks, toothbrushes, shampoo, multi-vitamins, coloring books, toys, soap, etc. All of it will be going with us and will be distributed to the people of Haiti.

Sean and I have been getting all of our vaccinations. We had to get shots for Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Tetanus, and Typhoid. We have also begun taking a prescription that will help us avoid contracting Malaria while we are in Haiti. We are going to start packing this weekend, even though we don't leave for another week and a half. There are so many things we have to remember to take... mosquito nets, flashlights, toilet paper, passports... this definitely is not like packing for a typical vacation trip!

We have been attending weekly meetings to prepare us for the trip. We are learning to speak a little bit of Creole, which is the primary language where we are going. We are also learning a lot about the Haitian culture. For example, the men do not wear shorts and the woman only wear knee-length or longer skirts when in public. Sean and I are packing according to those cultural norms. (It'll be an interesting week for me considering I never wear skirts!... much less when I'm doing manual labor and playing with kids.) We have been instructed to eat everything they offer to us at meal times... even such things as goat-hair soup. Rejecting their food is considered very offensive, especially considering the fact that they are giving us their very best. Some Haitian woman and children have been taught not to make eye contact with other people, especially men. Typically, a smile will go a long way in combating that tradition, but we have still been instructed to be conscious of it.

We will depart on October 22nd at about 1:00am and arrive in New York City at 6:30am where we will meet up with our good friend, Tony Young, before boarding the flight down to Haiti. We will land at our destination around noon that day. Throughout the following week, we'll be visiting schools, hosting medical clinics, helping out at orphanages and nursing homes, attending the local church (where our own RRC pastor, Chad Breugman will be guest-speaking), and holding meetings with some of the locals as we help them begin some small businesses with the help of micro-loans that we are offering to them. It will be a busy week full of eye-opening experiences and, hopefully, plenty of opportunities to pass the love of our awesome God onto the people we work with through our actions.

We will have some internet access while in Haiti, although I don't know how much. I may or may not update this blog while we are there. If I don't have that opportunity, I will post my written journal entries when we return. I know I will have some amazing stories to share.

Please pray for our safety, health, and effectiveness on this mission.
Bondje beni ou (God Bless),
-Sara