Blog Post: Haiti - The Waiting is the Hardest Part

Like any mission trip and many things in life, Tom Petty had it right, “the waiting is the hardest part.” It is Saturday in Haiti. We woke up early for breakfast after a good night sleep. Since we did not have AC and it was hot last night, I cooled down by soaking a towel in water and laying it over me like a blanket since I was sleeping under a fan. That did the trick! After breakfast, we packed up and headed to the airport where we would pick up a rental car to drive to the other side of the island.

The waiting would begin here as our rental car was not ready at 9am. Fortunately, by 12pm it finally was ready! The good thing was, we had a lot of time to get to know the team, and I was able to train two of the girls that work with Water With Blessings on how to use GIS (Geographical Information Systems) software for the research they were about to conduct on Cholera reduction. I know, it’s nerdy, but I felt myself “having to” be productive. Tomorrow the WWB team will get to practice GIS in a Hattian village as they install Sawyer filters.

Once we loaded up into the rental vehicle, we began our 3 ½ hour drive around the island. We arrived at a Catholic guest house and settled into our rooms. They were tidy, clean and hot, but at least we had a fan in our room. We were served a late lunch which was delicious… baked chicken legs, rice, some vegetables, and a sweet potato/ginger dessert.

After we ate we headed up to our room and I took about a 30-minute nap. My roommate Bryan is a photographer for Reuters and he popped off his bed and said, “I’m going out to take some photos! I haven’t shot anything all day and I’ve got to grab some photos!” I knew what he was feeling. Why is it that the hardest part of many situations in life is waiting? As much time as I’ve spent training mission trip groups over the years to be flexible and not to worry about time, I still get antsy when “we are not being productive.”

Just when a thought like that comes into my head, I’m reminded that sometimes waiting and relationship building ARE the productive times. So, I wrestle on this clean water mission. One side of me want to hurry up and start installing clean water filters so people’s lives can be changed, and the other side of me knows that I have to learn to be patient, listen, look around, and wait, as God wants to change my life.

If it wasn’t for the waiting, I would have missed taking in the drive today that was full of memories from previous experiences in my travels. As I took in the sights of Haiti, my mind flashed back to scenes of market traffic in Monrovia, Liberia. As we existed Port-au-Prince, the landscape looked much like hills of Tijuana, Mexico where I’ve been around thousands of house building worksites. Making our way near the coast I could see beautiful turquois water on one side of the road, and small rural farms and fruit stands on the other side of the road that reminded me of Fiji.

If it wasn’t for the waiting, I may not have walked through the town we are staying in, greeting many people on the streets. I would have missed the late afternoon hour where people were gathering their drinking water from a local canal that was also used for washing clothes and bathing. I wondered how many children would be sick from that water.

You see, it’s in the waiting that God does some of His best work in us. It’s in the waiting where we see and experience things we might not otherwise take in. Sometimes those things are very difficult, and sometimes the waiting can test our patience. But if we embrace the waiting, we have the opportunity to come out better for it on the other side.

On my next post, I’ll take you into a Haitian village that will receive clean drinking water filters through a program called Water Women.

Landing in Haiti

I left San Diego at 10pm on Thursday, stopped over for a 6-hour layover in Miami, and made it all the way to Port-au-Prince, Haiti. My flight was FULL of relief workers from the US. There were lots of clean water organizations represented, most of them were drilling wells in Haiti. As we were flying, I found myself wondering what Haiti was really going to be like? How much had Haiti recovered from the Earthquake of 2010 and the Hurricane of 2016? From the view at the airport, it looks like they have made quite a bit of progress. The airport was small and simple, but newer and orderly.

The first thing I had to do when I walked inside the airport was to stop at a booth and pay a $10 tourist visa fee. That was the same drill as other Latin American countries I’ve been to. From there we made our way to the passport stamp area. In many countries, I do not look forward to this line, but I have to say, for being one of the poorest countries on earth, Haiti’s passport and customs clearance was the best I’ve ever seen. They had lots of lines open and they sent us right through. I was faced with the question, “How could this be?” It definitely was not what I expected, but it was great! My first lesson of the week was that a 3^rd world country could teach a thing or two to a 1^st world country. That was a humbling thought.

When I got through customs, I walked into a lobby area. As I looked outside, I saw that the airport was pretty modern, but there was a sea of people waiting to pick people up. It reminded me a lot of flying into Liberia. There must have been 15 guys who offered to carry my bags and get me a taxi. Everybody was hustling for business. I had to wait 1 hour for the rest our group to arrive so I just kept turning down taxi drivers. I did manage to buy a Sim card for my phone while I was waiting. I got 3GB of data that in most countries would cost me about $30 to $40. Here in Haiti…$10. First thing I did was call my wife. I’m missing her already.

Our team finally arrived and we headed to the guest house where we are staying tonight. It is clean but very basic. There was a clean bathroom, not by my standards at home, but hygienically clean. There was a shower with cold water, but at least we had a shower. My room has 7 twin beds in it with 3 fans. The room is a basic wood frame with some plywood walls, about 3 feet of screen for windows, and a shed style roof with plywood and corrugated metal.

There is certainly nothing fancy about this room, but I’m sure it is like a mansion compared to the way many people live in Haiti. I will soon discover if that assumption is true.

Right before dinner, there was a youth soccer practice on the field next door. The kids were really good! I hate to break it to the NFL, MLB, and NBA fans but It doesn’t matter where I go, soccer is the World’s sport. Maybe Fiji would argue that for them it is Rugby.

We missed lunch today so by the time dinner was ready, I was really hungry. As my old Louisiana buddy Michael Henry would say, “I could eat the horns off a Billy goat!” Our dinner was really good. There was some sort of meat, mac & cheese, greens, potatoes, carrots, and homemade bread. It really hit the spot!

After dinner, I was pretty much a sweaty, sticky mess so I got cleaned up and now I am sitting in front of one of the bedroom fans trying to keep cool.

Tomorrow we’ll drive about 4 hours to our home base for the rest of the week. We’ll be visiting villages that recently had Cholera outbreaks. I’m already wondering what that will be like? What will I see? What will I feel? What will I learn? Stay tuned!

Haiti - Past Devastation, Future Hope

On Tuesday, January 12th, 2010, at 4:53pm Haiti experienced a 7.0 magnitude earthquake just 16 miles West of the capital of Port-au-Prince. By January 24th, at least 52 aftershocks measuring 4.5 or greater had been recorded. An estimated 3 million people were affected by the quake and the death toll was somewhere between 100,000 to 160,000 people. The government of Haiti estimated that 250,000 residences and 30,000 commercial buildings had collapsed or were severely damaged.

On January 22nd the United Nations noted that the emergency phase of the relief operation was drawing to a close, and on the following day, the Haitian government officially called off the search for survivors.

Give Clean Water was just a little over a year old as a non-profit, but people wanted to know if we would have a response. After a series of phone calls and coordinated efforts, Give Clean Water, Newbreak church, and Behr Paint mobilized 3,000 Sawyer water filters and 3,000 buckets to be distributed through the Convoy of Hope relief effort that helped over 30,000 people! That was a powerful expression of God's love to the people of Haiti.

A year ago, Hurricane Matthew battered the South side of Haiti causing damages equivalent to 32% of GDP. A third of the hospitals were affected and 500 schools were destroyed. In addition, there were losses to agriculture, fishing, and livestock which will have a long-term impact on the affected areas.

Tomorrow night, I will board a flight from San Diego to Miami, and then to Haiti as part of a Cholera reduction study between Sawyer and Water With Blessings. I'll be helping them set up their GIS data collection processes so they can quantify the elimination of Cholera in the villages that will receive water filters.

I've never been to Haiti before, although I know many people who have. Haiti remains the poorest country in the Americas and one of the poorest in the world with a GDP per capita of $846. As reported by the World Bank, more than 6 million out of 10.4 million (59%) Haitians live under the national poverty line of US $2.41 per day and over 2.5 million (24%) live under the national extreme poverty line of US $1.23 per day.

What will I see? What will I feel? What will I learn? I know we'll be visiting villages that have recently experienced Cholera outbreaks but don't worry, as Cholera is a water-borne disease and we will be traveling with our Sawyer filters that will keep us safe. That said, I really have no idea what to expect. My experience will unfold LIVE in the moment and I'm going to do my best to take you along for the ride and share my experience. Stay tuned!

What would Americans have to experience to identify with the world's poverty?

This past week, I read something that really challenged me! It took me on a journey of what Americans would have to experience to identify with the world's poverty. Before you read this, I'm not suggesting that everyone get rid of everything they own. What I do hope happens is that we get a shocking perspective of the plight of the poor in the world and that many of us weigh the responsibility of how we can develop lives of generosity that can help change the world. 

There are plenty of resources available to change the world. As I write, tonight is Halloween. Did you know that in 2015 total spending on Halloween was $6.9 billion, and the average American would spend $74 on decorations, candy, costumes and more? Hmm. Again, I'm not trying to ruin your fun, but let's take a look at something intriguing. 

To help us imagine what poverty means, a prominent economist itemized the “luxuries” we would have to abandon if we were to adopt the lifestyle of our 1.2 billion neighbors who live in desperate poverty. These stats are a little old, but you will get the idea.

We begin by invading the house of our imaginary American family to strip it of its furniture. Everything goes: beds, chairs, tables, television set, lamps. We will leave the family with a few old blankets, a kitchen table, a wooden chair. Along with the bureaus go the clothes. Each member of the family may keep in his “wardrobe” his oldest suit or dress, a shirt or blouse. We will permit a pair of shoes for the head of the family, but none for the wife or children.

We move to the kitchen. The appliances have already been taken out, so we turn to the cupboards . . . The box of matches may stay, a small bag of flour, some sugar, and salt. A few moldy potatoes, already in the garbage can, must be hastily rescued, for they will provide much of tonight’s meal. We will leave a handful of onions, and a dish of dried beans. All the rest we take away: the meat, the fresh vegetables, the canned goods, the crackers, the candy.

Now we have stripped the house: the bathroom has been dismantled, the running water shut off, the electric wires taken out. Next, we take away the house. The family can move to the toolshed . . .
Communications must go next. No more newspapers, magazines, books—not that they are missed since we must take away our family’s literacy as well. Instead, in our shantytown, we will allow one radio . . .”

“Now government services must go. No more postman, no more firemen. There is a school, but it is three miles away and consists of two classrooms . . . There are, of course, no hospitals or doctors nearby. The nearest clinic is ten miles away and is tended by a midwife. It can be reached by bicycle, provided that the family has a bicycle, which is unlikely . . .

Finally, money. We will allow our family a cash hoard of $5.00. This will prevent our breadwinner from experiencing the tragedy of an Iranian peasant who went blind because he could not raise the $3.94, which he mistakenly thought he needed to receive admission to a hospital where he could have been cured.”

It is difficult to obtain precise statistics, but the World Bank estimates that 1.2 billion people live in that kind of grinding poverty—trying to survive on one dollar or less a day. In addition to these 1.2 billion who live in almost absolute poverty, another 1.6 billion are very poor, living on two dollars or less a day. That means just a little less than half of the world’s people (2.8 billion) try to survive on two dollars a day or less.

Hunger and starvation stalk our world. Famine and disease are alive and well on planet Earth. Thirty thousand children die every day of hunger and preventable diseases. Thirteen million people die every year from infectious and parasitic diseases we know how to prevent.

As I write this, I'll be on my way this Thursday to Haiti to take part in a Cholera reduction study using Sawyer water filters. It will be my first time in Haiti. What will I see? What will I feel? What will I learn? Please join me on that journey as I share it with you. And if you dare, please join me on the journey towards a generosity that will change the world.