Arriving in Haiti

I arrived in Haiti on October 11, 2009. I went down with David and Sarah Dirrum, and John Marble. I didn't know to much about my three new friends before leaving for Haiti with them, but they are some good people. From time to time I visit Southwest Church of Christ the church they are members of and Sarah and David ran Cap-Haitien Childrens Home (the orphanage we were visiting) for ten years. David is fluent in Kreyol and he and Sarah know a great deal about the country so they were the perfect people to go down for my first time with.

My good friends Sarah and David

We flew out of OKC to St. Louis then to Miami. We stayed one night in Miami then flew to Haiti in the morning. After finally landing in Port-au-Prince we got our luggage and headed to get a taxi to take us to Tortug’Air lines. The experience of stepping outside the airport is one I will never forget. It has been explained to me that 100's of people hang out in front of the airport to beg. Haitians will take your bags from you and carry them in hope that you give them a small tip. We arrived on a Sunday morning therefore there wasn't to many problems with "people wanting to help carry our bags". After some negotiation David arranged for a taxi to take us to Tortug'Air. When I say taxi I mean a guy with a jeep. Once we got to Tortug'Air we got are tickets to fly to Cap-Haitien. Are flight was suppose to leave around 20 minutes past noon but we ended up leaving several hours after that. I figure the airline just waited till we had enough passengers to fill up the plane then we left. That's just how somethings work in Haiti, while your boarding pass might say departure 12:20pm you won't leave until they want you to leave. Finally we left and flew on a small 20 passenger plane to Cap-Haitien, Haiti.


Picture I took flying into PAP


The plane we flew on to Cap









Once we arrived in Cap-Haitien we got our bags and met Michel who works at the Center for Biblical Training. Leaving the airport in Cap-Haitien we were greeted by more people "wanting to help us carry our luggage" and a group of beggars and disabled people. They took one of my bags and loaded it into the truck. Once all loaded up we drove to the Center of Biblical Training. Most roads in Haiti are not paved and full of bumps and pot holes. I found it more comfortable to stand in the back of the truck than to sit on the benches.

We got picked up from the airport in the red truck and used the white truck to drive around town.
This is a Tap Tap.











The ride to the Preachers college while bumpy was another experience I'll never forget. The experience of seeing the living conditions and the typical day to day life of Haitians was humbling for me. They don't have the benefit of having paved roads, traffic lights, street lights, caution signs, organized garbage removal, and proper sewage systems. I think I saw one speed limit sign that I'm sure no one pays any attention to. The looks you get from Haitians was another surprise for me. While I don't feel they have any hostility toward me personally I did get alot of hostile looks. It has been explained to me that they see me as an American and they might get the feeling that I think I'm better than they are because of where I'm from. (After spending a few days in Haiti I found that all you have to do is give a smile and a "Bonjou" or "Bonswa" and immediately you'll turn up a smile.") As far as driving in Haiti there is no typical order or method except you drive forward on the right. Streets are full of Tap Taps (mini trucks with a bed on the back with a bench inside, they are the Haitian form of public transportation) and motorbikes. Motorbikes typically stay on the outer sides of the road while vehicles drive more in the center. Whenever we were caught in a group of Tap Taps and other vehicles we just honked a few times and drove around. Finally we arrived at the Preachers College on a quiet Sunday afternoon.