Introduction

So, here is an introduction to this blog:

I took a 6 day trip to Carrefour, Haiti (which is about a 30-40 minute drive, west of Port-Au-Prince). Where we went: we have limited electricity (about 4 times total when the city would turn on power), no telephone service and no internet. We lived in a host-house that belonged to a guy named Michael, 23, who was also 1 of our translators and roommates. The house was 3 stories (counting the rooftop) and we lived in the top 2. The bottom was occupied by local neighbors.

The second floor had a large outdoor porch with 2 couches and a chair and was kind of a general social quarters that overlooked the street. (for a bit of a 3D view from the porch, click here:

In the house, there was 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a kitchen.

The kitchen had a refrigerator in there and a table for the dishes & food. It also had a 3 level shelf for our food storage. On the other wall, it had a stand for our water (think: kentwood jugs) and next to it was a table with 3 tubs that we'd fill with water, bleach and soap to wash dished after each meal.

Of the 3 bedrooms, 1 was a "girls room" and 1 was a "boys room". They were empty rooms and served as a place for us to put our belongings.

The third bedroom was also empty and served as the "donation room" which filled with items each of us had brought for donation.

Continuing to the back of the house, you would find a concrete stairway that led to the rooftop which was basically a simple roof and we had tents set up all along them. (for a peek at the rooftop view, see here:

Ok, I think I've set the scene enough...also, let me remind you that this was a Mission Trip. So - though I make no apologies for my own personal beliefs - I just know that I share a lot of the same concerns as many of my friends have concerning the activities of Missionaries within impoverished/developing nations......so, I am conflicted with some things as well...and so, I guess I'll just leave it at that.

Lastly, I just want to extend my warmest and deepest gratitude for all the people in my life that helped me make it to Haiti...from family to friends to people I've only met on Facebook...to people I've never met at all....your contributions, and encouragement, and prayer have meant SO very much to me!!

On with the show....since there was limited electricity and no internet service, live-blogging was clearly not an option. Instead I did it old-school and "dear diary-ed" my way through the trip (haha). So, I am now going to type out my journal entries in chronological order (this means, read the oldest post first (towards the bottom) and work your way up to the this 'introduction' blog that will remain at the top).

:-)