Haiti Mission Trip: Day 5

 

Wednesday

 

We were all feeling worn out by Wednesday. Most of the team was less than excited to find spaghetti on the table that morning- a traditional Haitian breakfast. It was actually very good, and tasted a little like Lo Mein. It was just a bit hard to eat too much of it in the morning!

After breakfast, the team split up and half went up to the mountain property to work while the rest of us went to the market.

The market was very crowded and most people sat with their goods on the ground. They sold clothes, fresh produce, cooked food (for shoppers and for those there all day selling), and spices. A few people in our group bought clothes, and Leslie and I got some Maggie bouillon cubes to bring home with us.

 

 

One of the missionaries also got some coconut cookies and sugar cane for us to try!

Sugar Cane

 

After the market, it was our group's turn to go up to work at the Ikondo. It was a very steep ride up the mountain, so we couldn't take the van. We waited for the truck to pick us up and made the beautiful, but slightly scary ride up to the top.

 

The building is made by putting together Styrofoam blocks and filling them with concrete. The foam ends up working as insulation, and the way the blocks are formed allows the concrete to connect all the way through. This makes them sturdier than your average concrete blocks!

 

 

I was fascinated by how everything worked!

 

Support beams hold everything together while the roof dries

 

I was glad for our high ropes course experience when working on the roof! Kevin, Leslie, and I worked to get rid of Styrofoam and concrete in an area where a crossbeam will eventually go. We couldn’t find a chisel, so we made do with what we had and at Kevin’s suggestion used rocks! It actually worked surprisingly well.

No pics of me on the roof- you're welcome, mom!

 

Photo cred. goes to Josh for this one!

 

 

When we got back to the compound it rained really hard. We were expecting it since there was a tropical storm heading our way, and we were thankful that was all we got! We took the time during the rain to do crafts and hang out with the kids inside.

View from the mountain of the rain coming in

 

When the rain stopped some of us went to get ice cream for a treat for the kids. They loved it! The ice cream there is creamier than our ice cream and they had some different flavors like Sour Sop (a fruit that we got to try later).

 

 

 

This is Sour Sop... Tasty, but feels like eating a jelly fish!

 

For dinner that night the guys grilled hot dogs and we ate with the kids. We were able to hand out certificates to each of them for attending the CPR/first aid lesson!

 

 

We were treated with two beautiful rainbows after dinner. They were gorgeous!

That night we prayed for God to give us love and energy for the next day. We were definitely feeling tired and needed to remember to show God’s love to the kids and to each other!