Haiti Trip #11 - March 22, 2012

Prayer Partners of the Day - Carl Jones & Woody Speer

Right before customs 

Yesterday, I awoke with a gut feeling that things were just not right. I had a dream our solar panels were not ready and the poles had yet to be mounted, which would have made for a disaster trip. With a team of rookies, and a plan to work on several projects, we needed the schedule to be flawless. Come to find out, my gut instinct was right, and there had been much miscommunication down the line. After eight hours of phone calls to Green Energy Solutions in Port-Au-Prince and pacing the floor, and screaming at the top of my lungs, an email arrived in my inbox with the words, "We have everything ready for pick up." In fact, you probably heard my sigh of relief from anywhere in the world!

Onto today. The alarm sounded at 3:30am. American Airlines has decided they can indeed fly me from Vegas to Haiti all in one day...as long as I can make the hour connection in Miami. Sure enough, we were late leaving Vegas and actually flew in a circle for awhile before heading east. As I walked out the gate in Miami, I heard, "Last call for passengers on Flight ### for Port Au Prince. All passengers should now be on board." I took off running, and thankfully was the last person allowed on the plane.

It's always good to see the Kia
waiting in the airport parking lot!

The team was safely aboard, too, and how lucky I was to share a row with the CEO of Digicel, the largest mobile telecommunications operator in the Caribbean. He was a fascinating fellow from England, and turns out we even went to the same University in Durham, England for a bit of time. What a great contact to make!

Upon landing in Port-Au-Prince, it was time to run the airport gauntlet with a group of rookies. Once we had most everyone grab their luggage, we sent folks outside to find Ancy. This left me and one other in the airport with the last cart...which, of course, was nabbed by the customs officials. After a long conversation, in which he wanted me to pay for the contents of the boxes, I convinced him the pump was needed for a clean water system to prevent cholera. (Previous teams have been forced to pay money to be able to take their belongings out of the airport.) I actually hugged the customs agent! He seemed to like that :)

Mine's the green one! :)

There was much traffic, as usual, but the ride to Arcahaie was thankfully uneventful! The tents I had left in February were already put up, which was incredibly nice...as a thunderstorm quickly rolled in and stayed the rest of the night. The rain brought little relief to the heat, but at least it was cooler outside than inside.

With a group of folks having never been to Haiti before, it allowed me the opportunity to see the cities, the faces and the surroundings through fresh eyes. Really looking forward to this week... Four projects, seven students, two instructors... Think we can do it all?