Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Written on 2/25

2-25-28
First full day in Haiti was a success! Today we woke up bright and early to attend Sunday mass in Les Cayes. The community was beyond welcoming and hearing the catholic mass in Haitian creole was really amazing. The vibrant community sang and danced in a way that left us all smiling:)

After that, we packed up our bags and journeyed towards our destination for the next three days- Fond Tortue. About 2 hours on the rough Haitian mountain roads was grueling but also an exciting adventure and I was not expecting to enjoy it as much as I did. Regardless- I will never complain about pot holes in Erie ever again.

Upon arrival, we were greeted by the friendly community and TONS of kids. After settling in, we found an open field and played soccer and tag with the areas kids and made some new pals. The kids were so excited to be with us and it has been such a blessing to be present with them today. While playing with them was fun, there were also some frustrations today about communicating. Physical presence is important but I wish we were able to talk with them more fluently so as to get to know them better.

We also got the opportunity to see one Just Haiti’s coffee bean nursery’s, and learn a little about the agriculture in the area. Kim was open to answering many questions we had today, and did an amazing job catching us up on the current problems in Haiti and how the Fair Trade Plus model is working to help the small scale coffee farmers succeed in a system designed to give them the short end of the stick. We’re excited to soon meet the growers and dive deep into the problems with coffee trade and fair trade.

The desolation in Haiti so far is very clear- especially from what we witnessed in Port-Au-Prince. But this small village has showed us such hospitality and demonstrated something so crucial: celebrating and appreciating life. The kids here don’t have much of anything, and they are so happy.

We are so excited to see what tomorrow holds in store! With the first day being so fruitful and educational, I am interested to see what else Haiti has to teach us.

Hope all is going well back home!

Sara Oros

Saturday, February 24, 2018

We made it!

We have arrived in Haiti! We have had a long day traveling on two planes and 2 long car rides. We will be posting more  about our adventure tomorrow.