Hotel Mont Jolie

I don't have any pictures of the churches we visited on the two Sunday mornings we were in Haiti.  I just don't feel right about carrying a camera into church.  I want to go to church as a worshipper, not a tourist.  I must say, while I'm on the topic, that our kids did exceptionally well at staying put and attentive through multi-hour worship conducted in a foreign language under very hot circumstances.

So going to the Hotel Mont Jolie after service for lunch and a swim was an especially sweet treat.  The hotel has a great view of Cap Haitien and a sparkling blue pool.  Bud and Jane were along and so was Maury, a great guy who is living on the compound for a few months and working as interim treasurer for the mission. 

The kids and Melissa take in the view.

Dats is on his way to the dressing room to change.

The view of Cap Haitien's harbor from the pool deck.

Four great kids!

You can see The Princess' affection for her Uncle Bud in her eyes.

Dats and Maury taking a break from swimming for a little conversation.

We were trying to coordinate a flip while Melissa took a picture.  We were unsuccessful on our first try.

That's Bud on the left, then a young man named Zion (who was at the hotel with his family), then Ida, then me and finally Dats.  On our second attempt, we got the picture we were wanting...

Another great meal!  Our server happened to be one of Jane's students - she teaches English classes to adults.  He did a good job waiting on us in between running back to the lounge where a soccer match was on the TV!

A Day at the Beach - Cormier Plage

Half way through our two weeks in Haiti, Bud and Jane took our family to the beach for a day.  It is just over a mountain on the other side of Cap Haitien.  It's a bumpy ride - Ida, who was sitting in the back of the van in the sun, lost his breakfast half way there. 

Ida quickly recovered from losing his pineapple once we got out of the van; he was eager to check out the snorkeling gear that Bud and Jane brought along.

Ida and the Drama Queen enjoy the surf.

Dats was looking contemplative.

Plenty of interesting coral and shells wash up on shore.

Lunch at the hotel restaurant with Bud and Jane.  Bud works maintenance for the mission and Jane is hostess to visiting groups and works with the Starfish Schools program.  To our kids, they quickly became Uncle Bud and Aunt Jane.

Is there a limit on how many times a sail can be patched??

Dats and I went snorkeling and had a great time checking out the coral and a wide variety of colorful fish.  The sea urchins made us nervous, though!

Jane joined Melissa and the kids in the water.

Snorkeling with Ida ...

Ida could play by himself in the sand for hours.  For all he knows, the rest of the family left after lunch...

There was a street market out front of the hotel where various artists were selling their wares.  These were some of the nicest crafts I had seen in Haiti.  Beautiful work!

These pieces were carved from soapstone by an artist from Port au Prince.  Melissa bought several of his pieces to bring back as gifts.

Jane climbs back into the mission van at the end of the day.

View over Cap Haitien on the trip back down to town.

Uncle Bud and Aunt Jane invited us to their house that evening for homemade pizza and some "Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader" on the Wii.  It was a fantastic end to a fantastic day.

Playing in the Great Outdoors

Our kids got plenty of fresh air while we were in Haiti.  Every time we turned around, the kids were outside, exploring, playing or trying to communicate with their new friends.

Mosquito bites on the Drama Queen's legs.  At one point, she counted 50 bites on one leg!  But, thank God, no malaria problems!

This rope swing outside the Bundys' house got a lot of use.  Here, Dats and Ida play on the swing with Woud, the son of Dr. Rodni.  Woud is six years old and quite a character.  In the days since we returned to Indiana, my kids often have said they miss Woud.

Woud, the wild man, is ready to do battle.  Later in the week, he managed to kick Ida in the face while doing battle on this swing and left a large mark on Ida's lip.

I told Woud I wanted a picture and this was his pose.  He has been working on his English and is pretty good...  I could tell because after I took this picture, I said, "Why so serious, Woud?" and then he gave me the following expression ...



The Princess and Woud also did battle at times.  One day The Princess came into the house crying and covered in dirt from head to toe - she had gotten into a fight with Woud over a stick ... and lost.



I know this isn't the "great outdoors", but I include it here because when our kids weren't playing outside, it seemed like they were browsing around the gift shop that Jane stocks with local crafts.  The kids spent literally hours in this little square room, trying to pick out the perfect gifts for friends and relatives back home and souvenirs for themselves.  This got started one day when Jane employed The Drama Queen in cleaning and reorganizing and restocking the gift shop.  DQ LOVED it and worked hard.  She's excited because Jane said that this could perhaps be DQ's ongoing ministry once we move to Haiti.

A Hike up the Hillside



On our sixth day in Haiti Dave Graffenberger led a small expedition up the hillside behind the OMS compound.  Dats, Ida and I tagged along with Dave and the group from Spokane to see some of the water and soil conservation OMS has helped with over the past few years.  The Spokaners had helped physically and financially with some of this project in the past and wanted to see the progress.

Dave shows us a holding tank where water from a couple of higher natural springs via pipelines collects near the bottom of the hill where locals can access it much more easily.




Terracing has kept the topsoil from washing away in heavy rains and thus made it possible to use the hillside for crops and the grazing of cattle.  In this picture, each row of high grass marks the downhill side of a deep trench that has been dug into the earth.



Dave was definitely in his element - he loves showing off the work that OMS is accomplishing in Haiti!

View from the half way point of our hike - looking back towards the compound and the village of Vaudreil surrounding it.



I couldn't believe how high up the hillside this scrawny Haitian cow was tied to graze.



This is the site of the top natural spring.  Even all the way up here we witnessed local children coming with their five gallon buckets to fill with water.



Behind Justin is a pile of rocks that have been harvested by workers for construction uses in the villages down below.  This is another source of erosion on the mountainside.  In the background are banana trees.



This was the pinnacle of our hike.  The top of the mountain was still quite a bit further up.

Myself, Ida and Dats at the top of the hike.  The large building visible down in the valley is a government complex that was started years ago in an effort to decentralize the government a bit from Port au Prince, but construction was halted when the earthquake hit a year and a half ago.

Ida pauses for a water break in front of some banana trees.

And Dats, too.

Dave stops to point out a tree that was planted as part of the overall conservation efforts.  It is a Manioc tree - which is becoming increasingly valued for various nutritional benefits to both livestock and people.

Back down the hillside and back on the compound, Dave took us by the gardens where OMS employs several folks to grow much of the produce consumed by the mission.  They are also doing a bit of experimentation with various plants and gardening techniques.

Old tires turned inside out act as planters.

Recycled trash used to start seedlings.

It's funny to me that I spent an entire week on this compound last October and wasn't aware of any of this part of the ministry in the least...