Arrival

May 18, 2010

I arrived in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, today. I had no idea what to expect. It turns out this is a holiday in Haiti—flag day. So there was extra pomp and circumstance on arrival. There was even a band playing in the airport when we arrived. Passport control was in a large metal building that had to be well over 90 degrees. Welcome to Haiti.

After I got through passport control, I joined the mass chaos around the luggage carousel. There was no order and staff pulled luggage off and set them aside. I was starting to lose hope that I would ever find mine when I spotted one there and one over there. How to get them both? Push a lot. I made it.

I left the sweltering building and entered the bigger fray. Taxi drivers kept trying to take my luggage. Porters tried to help me. I was surrounded by people who wanted to help me for pay. One man grabbed my luggage and dragged it off to the side—out of the main traffic. I kept looking for Dale—GaiN staff guy who was supposed to pick me up. No one there. Waiting. Waiting. I paid a guy to make a cell phone call to Pastor Pierre. Then I saw Dale.

We loaded up my luggage in the JESUS Film/GAiN pickup truck and headed to Pastor Pierre’s house.

The ride through Port-au-Prince gave me much food for thought. Everywhere I saw people looking for a place to sleep. They filled every spot of shade they could find. Others build makeshifts tents along the road. Some were actually selling whatever goods they had—one “store” sold all kinds of used clothing. But mostly, people were just trying to find a place of their own out of the sun.

I started to see the rubble—buildings that had collapsed. Some people had used fallen chunks of concrete as rickety warning pillars to mark the side of the road where a building was still threatening to fall down.

But the sight of the first tent camps was hard for me. I saw a small tent city made with camping tents you would see in the USA. But think about it—they are still living in tents.

Then, on the far hill, I saw a larger tent city—one made of blue tarps and scraps. It was too far away to see, but it was huge. I am sure I will see more in my next 2 ½ weeks.

Now I am in the dorms at Pastor Pierre’s house. It is very, very warm. Hot actually. There is a team here from Nehemiah’s Vision, so the house is a little full. But tonight, I want some time to think about Day One.