If you've ever wondered what Tulsa Airport looks like at 4am (why would you?) here's a shot...NO BODY is there. (but we were!)
We weighed our bags at home (my genius idea to use the wii balance board) and knew this one was close to 50. The official airport scale...(it just had to be less than 50 pounds...I think we succeeded with MASTERY) :)
Jeff kept taking pics of me. This is my if-you-take-my-picture-one-more-time-at-4am-I-might-hurt-you face :)
I slept on most of the flights there (I was SO tired) But we finally arrived in PAP and went easily through customs and checks. We got our bags and you have to dart out on a mission to get past all the guys wanting to "help you" with your bags. They are fierce! And they demand payment if they so much as a lay a finger for 1 second on your bag. This is us as we were waiting past the entourage of Haitian men.
We finally met up with our group and loaded up onto our truck called the JAC. It was about a 45 minute (ish) drive up to where we stayed. Here is the first of MANY tent cities we saw throughout Port-au-Prince. There are reported (estimated) over 1 million people STILL in tents after a year and a half (and 31 million dollars donated later....how can this be?)
art in the middle of chaos. (i don't know if this was up before or made after after the quake)
Here are few of the thousands of buildings still in shambles
This is a Catholic church that looks beautiful amidst the rubble...
Another tent city. It is not uncommon to find people just showering and/or using the restroom out in public for the world to see. We saw this everyday there.
This is us on the JAC still traveling to the compound. It started to rain on us on the way there and it felt WONDERFUL!
This is the main street below our house. You see people selling things on every street. Everything from clothes, shoes, to meats, veggies, fruits, trinkets, and paintings...
This is the view from our balcony. GORGEOUS
This was our home for the week. A very nice and large 6 bedroom, 3 1/2 bath home!
That is the large bucket that collects rain water for us to use in the house (we had a Culligan for drinking water).
We went with BattleCreek who had partnered with Thirst No More
Living room, aka reading room and debriefing room
upstairs hallway. There is a living room, and 3 bedrooms and 2 full baths upstairs.
this is the bathroom the 9 (both male and female) shared for the week...we were blessed to have had such quarters. The Haitian people (most) do not have such luxury!
GORGEOUS staircase!
That is the living room downstairs and under the stair case is what used to be a koi pond (we used it for all our soccer balls!)--thank you OU Women's Soccer team!
This is the guys quarters downstairs, that is or could be 2 seperate bedrooms. It's very large (and has lots of windows...)
This is the dining area off the kitchen (and the guys room).
This is the kitchen, which is great in Haitian standards....there was a small refigerator (we weren't allowed to use it, but they had one). Then there was a microwave (only used when city power was on, which was rare), a small stove and oven, and some cabinets (and I think I saw a deep freezer maybe, it was small). But all of these things (even the kitchen itself) is WAY more than most Haitians have in their homes, especially if they are still in tent.
So that was the first day for the most part. Travel began at 3:20am and we arrived a little before 4 at the airport. Our first flight left at 6am. Then we went to through Dallas and then on to Ft. Lauderdale. We arrived in Haiti at about 4 (if I remember right) and went straight to the house. Each night we were served a yummy dinner by Vonna (who is Thirst No More's cook). She was great. In the picture of the kitchen you can see Joelle. He was a nice but very quiet young man who is also hired by TNM to be the grounds/maintenance/doorkeeper :) We loved the TNM staff and love that they've hired Haitian locals to help them (and help us!).
Haiti Day 2 Here
Haiti Day 3 Here
Haiti Day 4 Here
Haiti Day 5 Here
Haiti Day 6 Here
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