A Soldier's Welcome

Outside the airport boasted a huge improvement, a covered and paved walkway to the parking area. This was a thousand times better the bumpy concrete we walked across in July of 2010. As we drove the hour and a half ride to Gressier from the airport we were happy to see that in 9months there were significant improvements done in Haiti. We saw a lot of debris removed from the roads; we saw small wooden houses replace some tented areas. There was a new drainage system being installed and Haitian men in hard hats with reflective vest. I wanted to cheer them on from the truck and say "Yay!!! you guys are working!!! you have jobs!!!" but I just cheered from my seat. I was very happy and felt hopeful.

There are images in my mind of soldiers returning home from serving at war...some get the ticker tape parade while others the welcome of family and friends at the airport and others maybe a fellow passenger or passerby will say a kind word of welcome. I have seen these things on TV and always for someone else and certainly never for me...until now. Let me first say that the group that assembled to volunteer in Haiti was a pretty amazing one. I never got a chance to tell them that they are truly my heroes. I have incredible respect for them. Assembling and leading a group of volunteers, I have a unique opportunity to experience the human spirit at its finest. I get to see people pour themselves out completely. Way passed the point of "I'm done". I saw people adapt to circumstances that they had never before experienced and not complain. We all joked about things or made light of them but no one raised any complaints. People responded to a need in such a way that I had to ask myself..."Would I have been able to respond in the same way?". I was constantly challenged as we lead this group. These individuals were each in their own right movers and shakers.

As we arrived in the small town of Gressier we noticed a large white banner over the road that read:

"Welcome to Hopeworldwide Central Jersey Chapter....Gressier Welcome to you"

I read it, re-read it and then I realized....wait!...this sign is for us! I was completely floored in that moment. I thought we totally don't deserve this but at the same time...this is totally cooooool! As soon as we got out of the U-haul truck, out came the children, little children the size of my children were grabbing our grossly overweight bins and bags and carrying them into our Haiti Home. I felt like we were home. It was a validation that the work we did nine months ago was not in vain. Like after a first date you wonder ...was it just me or did we make a connection? Well it was obvious there was a connection! The community was happy to see us again. As we walked into the front door we saw hanging overhead a hand crafted welcome sign; this time made by the children. It was a paper mobile with each segment containing one of our names. It had every volunteers name on it and it was truly precious! I stood underneath it and just smiled.

I was amazed as I continued through the house. It began  in 2010 as a small 2 room structure. It was quite sad. Now it too boasted improvements. 2 full bathrooms. 3 shower stalls and 3 toilets. a kitchen and 3 more bedrooms. I couldn’t believe my eyes. We were told that all 22 of us would be staying in the house and now I saw how that was going to be possible. We used the rest of the afternoon to get settled in. We had lunch, blew up air mattresses, took a walk to the beach and went for a swim. We played a movie for the kids and community then we called it a night.

444 BAGS

With forty 50lbs pieces of luggage stowed safely in the belly of our plane our adventure officially begins. There is truly never a dull moment when travleing to and from Haiti. I managed to pay for an overage of 6 pieces of luggage on the internet. I was surprised the transaction was processed but now this meant I was the proud holder of a receipt that said I paid for 6 extra pieces of luggage. Now to see if this would hold water in "JFK Court". Sure enough...it almost didn't.

Because of the size of our group and the overwhelming amount of bags we carry....the situation can quickly get out of control. This time as it usually does...it did....but always in our favor. The last time we traveled the check in agent wasn’t paying attention to our slightly overweight luggage. This year...Our check in agent lost track of how many bags we had already checked in. By the time she did realize it they were already on the belt and heading to the plane. We spent a good while explaining our cause and our need to bring all of our bags, supervisors were called, rules were explained, we were sternly reprimanded but in the end...All 40 of our bags made the flight. Phew and Thank you God!


Arriving in Haiti in is no walk in the park. We  experienced the fighting baggage handlers our last trip. This trip they took it to a whole nother level. 40 pieces luggage equaled almost 40 individual helpers. Everyone wanted to carry a bag and everyone wanted to get paid WELL. It made for a very frustrated start to our trip. While we sat in "comfort", in the back of our U-haul truck, we witnessed a girly slap fight between two grown men. The rest argued about who helped and who didn’t help and who should  and shouldn't get paid. It was a sad an unfortunate display of the state of things in Haiti. With  bewildered volunteers we assembled a frustrating stash of money to pay an insatiable group of men. They counted the money and  pretended to be insulted by the US money they had collected. They motioned to give it back. Finally, they resigned to keep it and the crowd dissipated. WELCOME BACK TO HAITI!