Haiti G.O. Team 2016 Day 2

Bienvenue a Ayiti!

Once we left New York, we made it here without a hitch.  Approaching Haiti in the plane, we were reminded of Hawaii - azure sea to the West and mountains to the East.  We disembarked and immediately felt the humidity, even though we were in the airport.  Immigration was a breeze, and we were serenaded as we waited our turn by a drummer and accordionist playing a one-bar song, on repeat.

We made our way out of the airport and Mason and his friend/employee/co-worker Lamour ("Lamoo") drove us in two pickups.  It took 30 minutes or so to get to the STEP (Seminaire Theologique Evangelique de Port au Prince) campus where Mason and Lauren live.  The only traffic lights were in the area near the airport.  As we wound our way through narrow streets, tight turns and steep climbs, Lamour controlled pedestrians, motorcycles and other cars by tapping on his horn.  Coming up to an intersection, he would signal his intention to unseen oncoming traffic and just go for it. No problem!

After changing clothes, Mason took us on a tour of the campus, and then the slums just outside the campus.  We said "Bon soir" ("bo-swa") to every person we passed, and they said it back to us, or "Salut!", and most of them smiled when they said it.  Little children, some with no pants on, grinned shyly, others reached out to touch us, and some offered fist bumps. There were a lot of people wherever we went, and they seemed very interested in us. We have a 16-year-old boy on our GO team, and the teenagers showed a keen interest in him.

View from STEP campus

After our tour, Lauren fed us a delicious meal and then we talked about our experience.  It's overwhelming, honestly, but I will try to write more about the community later this week.

Bon Nuit!