Five Years in Haiti

Hard to believe, I know, but our family have now been in Haiti for five years.  We first arrived on Haitian soil June 28, 2007.  It was a warm day when we first sighted the island of Lagonav and arrived at the Port-au-Prince airport on Missionary Flights International's DC-3 flight.  We can certainly say it has been an adventure and we are still happy to be here ministering on behalf of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church on Lagonav and in the capital city of Port-au-Prince.

Today we had an opportunity to tour Port-au-Prince with our visitors Karl and Allison Thompson.  With our Missionary Associate Marcie Winslow along, it was a full vehicle but at least the air conditioning was working.  Heather and the kids had not seen downtown Port-au-Prince since the earthquake.  The progress of rubble removal and rebuilding is evident in the few piles of rubble in evidence.

We stopped for a photo-op at the National Palace.  Some of the collapsed building has been torn down but there is not much progress on rebuilding this symbol of Haitian national pride.  The area of Champs de Mars looked very different than the last time I drove through the area.  Since the earthquake in January 2012 every square inch of park space was filled with tents.  The statues of Haitian heroes were surrounded by people who moved into their temporary homes.  But it was all cleared out and today looked abandoned.  The grass was growing back and the roads were open.

As soon as we exited the truck to take pictures in front of the National Palace, a flock of merchants descended on us.  These guys wanted to sell us paintings.  They also had bracelets and other souvenirs.  It was a good day to buy so the Thompsons were able to get some souvenirs for home.  I think the men were pretty desperate to sell because the prices were incredibly low.  We looked to be about the only tourists around today.

Besides a lunch stop at Epi D'Or, our other stop was the metalworks outside of Croix-de-Bouquets.  This area on the eastern fringe of Port-au-Prince is one of our favorite places to bring visitors.  Here you can see metal items being made and then enjoy touring houses with a huge selection of products.  The Village Artistique de Noailles has really expanded in the five years we have been in Haiti.  There are at least 20 different shops and as you walk around you hear the sound of hammers banging metal.  They take 55 gallon drums, trace out a design on the flattened metal, cut it with a chisel and then hammer out intricate designs or paint them.

This week is also the knockout round for the EuroCup 2012.  People in Haiti love football and any chance to watch world class soccer is welcome.  We have had the chance to watch several matches thanks to the big screen satellite TV down at Kaliko.  Today was the Portugal-Spain match.  As we drove for home we saw lots of people crowded around shops that obviously had a TV.  Not everyone has a television or electricity to run it so any public TV showing the game draws a crowd.