Got up early and drove to Port au Prince today. Pretty drive along Carribean Sea. Around St. Mark we began to see tents. Earthquake devastation progressively worsened as we came into Port. Oh, we came VERY close to hitting a cow on the way. MOO! We just grazed her. Nice driving, Ken!
Not sure how much I want to talk about what we saw... It was difficult once we drove up to the mission house where my team stayed years past. I knew that's what it was by their gasps as we turned the corner. I asked Emily if it was FOHO (Friends of Haiti Org) and she nodded. Our friend and translator Robinson told his story our first night, of being at FOHO looking for Jeanie who was the mission leader and his boss. She was leaving for the States the next day so he wanted to say goodbye and get his instructions. She was busy when he was looking for her so he left to meet up with his fiance. The quake hit 6 minutes later and Jeanie was killed. Our team leader, Dan pulled her husband out and he's now recovering in the States. But, seeing the building leveled and remembering Robinson's story was too much and I broke down. I really broke down. Met Robinson's fiance later. She was at nursing school the day of the quake and decided to leave early. The entire nursing school collapsed in the quake with all 85 students except for Robinson's fiance and one other killed.
So, we pulled together; Jim grabbed my hand and said "Let's go to church". We went to the Free Methodist Church. People were gathered outside AND inside. The inside alone holds 2,000! So with tears still fresh on our faces, we stepped into the church and they were SINGGGG-INGGGG their hearts out. I was so lifted. In the midst of all this destruction, these people were celebrating (big time!) It seriously felt like New Years Eve. And they made room for the 6 of us to sit. Such an experience. Their service today was from 6a-noon. Now that's some churchin'. They sing. They dance. They pray. They rest. They step outside to take breaks as they want. But they get together to worship for 6 hrs. We were there for about 2. One preacher that got up, spoke English and announced our presence and welcomed us. 2,000 faces turned our way. We were the only 6 white folk; guess that's how they knew who he was talking about. They clapped for our relief efforts. The children were especially fun. They kept sneaking glances at us and thought it was so cool when we smiled and waved. It was amazing. Those people filled me with hope. Made me want to dance.
Other things that struck me were, seeing many buildings undamaged and then others that were destroyed. And people are just continuing on with life and surviving like they've had to do for so long, even before the quake. Lots of makeshift tents and some "communities" of tents set up by organizations like Unisef. Lots of UN presence. We saw where the 82nd Airborn set up base. Many, many sea shipping containers of relief items. We couldn't help but think, so glad to see so many supplies. Hope they're being distributed. Saw women carrying bags of rice on their heads. Bags read "US RELIEF".
Oh, and at church, one young girl came down the aisle to the end of our bench/pew. She was singing and dancing like all the rest. Emily heard her mom tell her to come back. The girl said "No, I want stand with the Blancs"
And that was my day :) Love to you all! -Amy
Not sure how much I want to talk about what we saw... It was difficult once we drove up to the mission house where my team stayed years past. I knew that's what it was by their gasps as we turned the corner. I asked Emily if it was FOHO (Friends of Haiti Org) and she nodded. Our friend and translator Robinson told his story our first night, of being at FOHO looking for Jeanie who was the mission leader and his boss. She was leaving for the States the next day so he wanted to say goodbye and get his instructions. She was busy when he was looking for her so he left to meet up with his fiance. The quake hit 6 minutes later and Jeanie was killed. Our team leader, Dan pulled her husband out and he's now recovering in the States. But, seeing the building leveled and remembering Robinson's story was too much and I broke down. I really broke down. Met Robinson's fiance later. She was at nursing school the day of the quake and decided to leave early. The entire nursing school collapsed in the quake with all 85 students except for Robinson's fiance and one other killed.
So, we pulled together; Jim grabbed my hand and said "Let's go to church". We went to the Free Methodist Church. People were gathered outside AND inside. The inside alone holds 2,000! So with tears still fresh on our faces, we stepped into the church and they were SINGGGG-INGGGG their hearts out. I was so lifted. In the midst of all this destruction, these people were celebrating (big time!) It seriously felt like New Years Eve. And they made room for the 6 of us to sit. Such an experience. Their service today was from 6a-noon. Now that's some churchin'. They sing. They dance. They pray. They rest. They step outside to take breaks as they want. But they get together to worship for 6 hrs. We were there for about 2. One preacher that got up, spoke English and announced our presence and welcomed us. 2,000 faces turned our way. We were the only 6 white folk; guess that's how they knew who he was talking about. They clapped for our relief efforts. The children were especially fun. They kept sneaking glances at us and thought it was so cool when we smiled and waved. It was amazing. Those people filled me with hope. Made me want to dance.
Other things that struck me were, seeing many buildings undamaged and then others that were destroyed. And people are just continuing on with life and surviving like they've had to do for so long, even before the quake. Lots of makeshift tents and some "communities" of tents set up by organizations like Unisef. Lots of UN presence. We saw where the 82nd Airborn set up base. Many, many sea shipping containers of relief items. We couldn't help but think, so glad to see so many supplies. Hope they're being distributed. Saw women carrying bags of rice on their heads. Bags read "US RELIEF".
Oh, and at church, one young girl came down the aisle to the end of our bench/pew. She was singing and dancing like all the rest. Emily heard her mom tell her to come back. The girl said "No, I want stand with the Blancs"
And that was my day :) Love to you all! -Amy
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