Getting out of the guesthouse and out into the country sometimes feels like a challenge, with uncertainty about reliable transportation and security. So when my friend Jacky Asse, from Wings of Hope, told me he'd send a driver to pick me up and take me down to see where he is building his new house, I was excited for the experience. So at 11 am on a Saturday, I sat waiting for the driver...typical Haitian time, he showed up an hour late. Then he couldn't find the guesthouse, so I recruited Daniel to explain using landmarks that only Haitians would understand. Finally a rickety old tap-tap pulled up, and a smiling, handsome young Haitian jumped out of the passenger seat to let me know he was escorting me. We rode into the deep of Port-au-Prince, and came out the other side of the airport, close to the infamous slums of Cite-Soleil. Along the way, the driver stopped and grabbed a few beers... fortunately not far from our destination. The whole way down, my escort, Richard, had me believing that he spoke little english, and was testing my creole, telling me he could be my teacher. As I've come to learn in the last month, he speaks english, french and some spanish very well!
So we pulled up to the lot, and climbed through a few razor-wire fences, and I was surprised to see a huge project underway. The house is at this time only 1 story worth of concrete-block walls, beautiful doorways, and 4-5 rooms. The foundation is not exactly there yet...rather still a grassy heap with litter in various rooms. After I asked about the "plan", a rough drawing of a pretty elegant house was pulled out. Jacky informed me though, that the contractor is still working out the details, and they're trying to decide if they should build a second story. There were about 5 people, including Jacky on his day off, working on the construction. At this rate, it may take awhile until completion, but I was encouraged by the amount that had been put in. Jacky has been saving up for years to come this far, but will continue to build piece-by-piece until he can move his 2 sons, their mother, and 15 other family members into the home. When I asked about their current living situation, he agreed we could go meet them. We didn't travel far before we pulled up to a gated area.
As we walked into the yard, I saw many women, young happy children, a dog, chickens, and a few tents on the side of a pretty beat-up house. At this point, I was still nervous about my ability to communicate in Creole, but Jacky urged me to learn anyways. I was excited to meet his sons, the oldest one very curious to meet me, and the youngest still grouchy from being woken up from a nap. The women were at the time painting each others nails, so I asked if I could join. I was not prepared for the spa-treatment they subjected me too, but as I sat soaking my feet in a tub while getting my nails polished, I felt like I was easing into the "community life" a little. Later, when we realized that my tennis-shoes were not painted-toe-friendly, Jacky's madamn went out into the neighborhood and returned with perfect-fitting sandals. Then they continued to indulge me with a huge serving a rice and beans, and I'm pretty sure I was the guest-of-honor as I was the only one eating with a spoon (the rest used their fingers).
Some of the children, especially the little boys, sat staring at me in awe, and Jacky's son spent some time fiddling with my bracelet and stroking my hair. We had to depart before dark, but I hope to see them again soon, with encouraging news of helping to build them a home.
The meeting with Manno was trickier, as he is only off work on Mondays, and my work week has been crammed since arrival. Yet Manno was very persistent in meeting me, and eventually my creole became strong enough to understand our phone conversations. So when I found I was able to take off work, I had him meet me up the street, where I assumed we'd be taking a tap-tap to his vacant lot. Instead, as we were in the midst of prime-traffic time, he decided it wasn't too far to walk to his house, where I'd get the chance to meet his wife and two young children. So our "short stroll" turned into a long journey, as he requires a prosthetic leg due to his leg amputation a few years ago when the tap-tap he rode on back of was rear-ended. After about a mile of walking up and down treacherous hills, he gave in and flagged down a motorcycle taxi. We continued through a small market-town, and jumped off, just to walk through a maze to get to his small 2-bedroom abode. His son was very sick with a cold (i assume), and his daughter was dancing around as I was greeted by his very beautiful and sweet wife. We conversed as much as possible before Manno and I took off with his moto-driver friend, Toto, to survey the land he has recently paid off, by the kind gesture of a loan through Michael Gellenfeld of St. Joseph's Home for Boys. I definitely feared for my safety as we zoomed around 3-to a- moto, past Michel Martelly's massive residence compound, over a couple bridges, through a few streams, and even past a brother of Manno's who just happened to be walking across the street at the time.
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| Toto & Manno |
After a long climb via moto up a gravel path, we reached an uphill stretch of open land. Manno leaned on myself and Toto as we managed to examine the 1 1/2 acres of shrubbery and banana palms. Food for the Poor has been out to survey this land, and has pledged to assist in building a home, however the communication is unclear at the moment, so it will take some work and string-pulling on my part, but I can only thank God above that he has decided this will happen, and those from Clifton Presbyterian Church who have agreed that they will financially support this decision.
I returned home later that evening to a full-load of work, and a mind full of possibilities, riddled with questions about the difficulties it will take to reach the goals I've set forth in making a better future for as many as I can in Haiti. This is God's work...everything is for Him, and everything is possible by Him, so I don't doubt that one day Jacky and Manno will be living in proof of His love for them!
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