Orevwa - Until I see you again

I have to say, I can't believe that its our last night in Haiti already. This week has flown by way too fast for me, but I have so many great memories and experiences that I will be taking back pieces of the trip with me when we go back to the US and Tulane. Tonight was the perfect way to end things in my opinion, as we got to play with all the kids for a little while before it started raining down on us again. This was a blessing in many ways, as it shortened the hard goodbyes, and made it a little bit easier to say goodbye, and it covered our tears at the same time. Because I think I can speak on behalf of the team by saying that there were tears involved. But then we got to walk a bunch of the younger children home, then spent a while singing and rejoicing in songs to our Lord with the older kids that stuck around. We sang and laughed and danced, and did what we came here to do, which is serve our God and grow closer in relationship to him, while having an amazing time. I'm so blessed to have been able to come on this trip, and now I can't wait to hopefully come back, and see where else God calls me to go. God bless, - Mike Nay

Hard work and Sunshine

Today we headed out bright and early (or maybe I should say dark and early) around 6 am. We arrived at out worksite before the sun had risen and after a bit of a wait begun the work on a concrete foundation for a new school and church. The school that had previously been there collapsed during the earthquake. It was really great to get the opportunity to help rebuild Haiti.

The guys quickly got put to work shoveling gravel and making concrete. The Haitian workers seemed a little hesitant to give us ladies any of those jobs, so we took over keeping the water barrel (for mixing the concrete) full. We found out that by the end of the day we had moved 2 1/2 tons of water! Overall the day was very fruitful the guys were able to stick it out in the hot sun shoveling and the girls helped wherever we could. Our site leader seemed very happy with the progress and told us that we had gotten a lot further than he expected we would. We left the worksite at about 12 and got to go visit a church and school building that the team we sent to Haiti last year helped work on. It was really cool to see the end product of their work and what the foundation we helped lay will someday become.

When we got back we worked on the the school desks that we are building and finished building 5 of them. Then, after a delicious dinner, we headed out to the street to play with the neighborhood kids. They never cease to amaze us with their energy, joy, and love.

Bondye Bene Ou! (God Bless You!)

We've managed to figure out the time change

While some of us may still be a little tired after being chased around by children and making benches all day yesterday, we're all up at 5am with positive attitudes, ready to do some singing in the car on the way to the work site where we'll help with the construction project. It figures to be a long but rewarding day!

Bright and Beautiful

The sun is up (so is the moon too actually) and it is all bright and blue and the children of Haiti are passing by the house on their way to school. The older girls carry the smallest ones on their backs, and they smile and wave at us on their way. Today, we will be traveling back to the neighborhood we went to church in yesterday. We'll play with the children and perform a skit and do crafts.

Long great day

Good time at church. Lots of fun kids. Cutting boards for school benches. More kids. Preparations for tomorrow.
We're pretty tired, so we'll give a more thorough update tomorrow.

Haiti Day Two-The rest of the team arrives!

Today was a day of shopping, eating great food with great people, and unity.

The rest of our Haiti XA team arrived around 10:30am today, we were ecstatic! Together at last. Bill and Dorothy (the missionary hosts) took us to the top of a mountain to eat next to a breathtaking view. Once again, in awe of God's beautiful creation. When we were done catching up with Gracia, Sara, and Jen who had just arrived, we all set out to shop! We had to learn to firmly say "non mesi" which as you might have guesses is "no thank you!" All of the art being sold was beautiful, and fighting off vendors was a bonding experience!

When we came back to the guest house we thought it was a great time to test out our new colorful parachute! The street was empty, but after yesterday's experience, I had no doubt that in a few seconds, the wonderful parachute would attract tons of kids. One second "vini, come!"two seconds "vini, vini" three seconds, and all of a sudden, we had enough kids to grab some part of the parachute and wave it up and down. They called their friends over, and laughed as they would run under it and pop out from the other side. I taught them a game with it, using the little Hatian creole I've learned this past week. Jeana ended up completely covered in kids as she took the lead to run under the parachute. Pure joy. Women would stop and marvel at the large colorful parachute, and at how happy the kids were flapping this thing up and down with is. If someone would fall, someone would be there right away to help their friend up and keep playing. It was truly a beautiful experience.

At the end of the day we reflected for a while as a team. Jen said something that really made me smile. She said, one way I see this trip bringing us closer to God is seeing God in each other. Today everyone's strengths and wonderful fruits of the spirit really shined through. I hope we continue to grow and keep encouraging each other throughout our Hatian adventure. Orevwa!

Thank you for the prayers and love to all,

Jasmin Hernandez

My first impressions

So we're wrapping up the first day in Haiti -- and what a day it *has been*! (Jasmin and team will get the inside joke here) From the beauty of the skies, to the chaos of the airport, to the adorableness of the children; everything is still just sinking in. In the words of Tim: "We're in Haiti. We were playing in the streets with Haitian children an hour ago."

No trip goes perfectly smoothly of course, whether it be one of the rudest cab drivers in America, a two hour delay, or a rough spill across the gravel playing futbol with the locals, but we certainly can't complain. God is good, and we're praying that our other three team members fare as well as we did. And to them we say "Prese! Prese!"