Mission to Haiti 2012
from Martha Ezell and Charly Hood

We apologize for the lack of news last night; we did not have internet. This is information from Sunday:

Post Saturday nights blog, we took a trip to the local smoothie shop for our first Haitian night life experience. We arrived to find a crowd of people, a single light bulb, a woman, and her blender. Our options for the night were: papaya, bread fruit, or potato. The majority of us thought we were playing it safe by choosing papaya, but the mixture of evaporated milk, sugar, and the raw fruit itself made for an interesting taste sensation.

Following a delightful late night thunderstorm, our fifth day in Haiti dawned warm and sunny. Breakfast was a traditional Haitian staple, pumpkin soup with potatoes and carrots. We were honored to attend an outdoor worship service with the group of believers in Grand Goave. Every member of our team was impacted by the passion and authenticity of the worship! We were struck by the realization that those who actually depend on God’s mercy for their “daily bread” do not find it difficult to express gratitude to Him. Those who live and work in non- conditioned places praise God for every breeze.

Our afternoon was spent by the Caribbean! We rode a highly decorate tap-tap (a Haitian taxi) to the beach and were able to spend the afternoon relaxing, swimming, snorkeling, and munching on fresh roasted lobster and fried plantains. We even got to do some bartering for souvenirs with the locals, yet another one of Julia’s gifts. On the way back, unsurprisingly, our tap-tap could not handle our load of 20 people and blew some serious fumes. We all panicked and abandoned ship. Luckily, Sara quickly flagged down Nicholas, (now affectionately referred to as St. Nicholas)  our new French friend who gave us a ride back in a Land Cruiser. God provides and angels are amount us! Dinner was chocolate soup and will soon be followed by devotion time on the roof. We are thankful for having some time to relax and dive deep into the Haitian culture. We have been encouraged by the relationships made and look forward to working with our fellow Haitian nursing students on the mountain tomorrow.

On behalf of Sara and myself, I want to tell the parents of these girls that they are amazing!

Bon nuit!