Day One

Today was a pretty good day. We started out today going to a village about 20-30 minutes away called Onaville and had a vision clinic. We had the Hatians get a small interview and asked about God, and then had them check if they had trouble seeing at distances or close up.

If they had trouble seeing close up they came over to my station where we had different strengths of readers ranging from +1.00 to +3.00. Depending on how good they could see we gave them the correct prescription. We had a few of them, who were checked, and didn't need glasses, and then came back after a little while saying "check me again" and the first pair they tried it was perfect. (they just wanted to show others that they got something new).

If they needed distance glasses than the process was a bit more complicated, they tested each eye at a distance, then recorded the correction needed. Then, from that information, they would select the correct strength of lenses for each eye, and then put it in a generic Harry Potter looking frames and give them to the person. One woman, when examined, was written down that she had 20/500 vision which is nearly all blind. They put the correct lenses near her eyes (+8.00) and asked if it was clear. She said no, and they tried the next notch down (+5.00) After she said it was still blurry, they tried the plastic no prescription lense and she all of the sudden could see better than ever! We let her have her excitement of "new glasses" and let her go.

After our long vision clinic, we all came back to the compound and chilled for a while. My mom gave me a short tour of the grounds, and then we had a good dinner of "stir fry" chicken over rice.(Stir fry is "" because it was chicken teriyaki long cooked in a pot) My mom made homemade fresh bread and chocolate cake to go with the meal. It was delishoush!

Tomorrow, we are going to help build the outdoor kitchen and maybe get some painting done as well.

Updates daily hopefully!

Getting there

So I decided to make a play by play of our trip down here.Using my FB updates.

You mean no one is on at 8am, a Saturday, the first day of Spring Break?

Landed in Dallas Ft. Worth. next flight boards in a few minutes.

Just landed in Miami, and we leave at around 8 am. Gonna use our free hotel vouchers for some sleep tonight! :)

So far everything has been okay, we found a quiet cool place in MIA to chill for the wee hours of the morning. Our flight so far is on time, and boarding at 6:30. Let's hope all goes well to get to Haiti on our final leg!

We are in Haiti! We made it safely, however, our luggage is delayed until tomorr

We left for PDX around 6am on Saturday morning. We arrive at the airport, check-in, and when we go to scan our boarding passes, the woman offered us 2 $500 American Airlines ticket vouchers, a hotel room for the night in Miami, and Lunch meal vouchers. (On account of the flight being overbooked and there was a group of 45French sturdents travelling to Paris) She told us that we would make all the same connections, and arrive in Haiti at the same time. We gladly accepted the generous offer and got to chill around the PDX terminal until 12:15 when our flight boarded.

We arrived in Dallas on time, and were supposed to have only 10 minutes to make our connection in the next terminal over. We rushed as fast as we could, and made it to the gate- to find that the flight time had changed to a half hour later. This was good for us, we just got a bite to eat and then got ready to board. Unfortunately there was a mechanical wire failure in the right engine that needed to be fixed. We finally boarded the scorching hot plane about 1 hour past our original flight time. After we boarded they STILL had not fixed the problem and the Captain informed us we would depart in around 30 minutes. We finally left the tarmac, engine trouble fixed, and arrived in Miami International Airport. Since we had hotel vouchers from PDX we wanted to use them. After being told to wait a few minutes while they contacted the hotel, a man became irate at the fact that he missed his connection. Finally security came and delt with him.

The rebooking agent told us that there were no more rooms anywhere, even with vouchers. We were given about $60 in food vouchers and told that there was some free snacks and a place to sleep in the "auditorium".
This so-called auditorium was a dark room with people sleeping everywhere, and a table with some sodas and granola bars. We decided that for our safety, we would find somewhere else. We found a cool quiet niche in a corner with an electrical outlet. My mom tried to sleep, and I watched How I Met Your Mother.

After several long hours of nothing, and many Subway pizzas later, it was time to go through security and head to our gate a bit early. Security took a while, only because of the sheer volume of people, but we still had plenty of time to spare.

The last leg of our journey was Miami to Port-Au-Prince which, traditionally in our experiences, are loud and very tight flights. However, the flight was almost half empty and we were able to move to an exit row to get more foot room. It was a quick flight, and then we arrived! Went through Immigration, and searched for our bags. (5. one was my personal items, the rest donations) None could be found. My mom talked to the baggage woman and found out they were still in MIA. So, i have no clothes, in the Caribbean. fun.

All in all a fairly decent trip! More updates soon!

1 week

So there is one weeks until we leave for Haiti. Making final preparations, and getting ready for my third and my mother's 4th trip to the beautiful country of Haiti! We still need plenty of support in every form! I'm so excited!

Getting Closer

So I totally forgot about this Blog! Some may know, but the Foundry was not able to make the commitment to go to Haiti at this time. However, me and my mom are still going over spring break! (we had tickets already) So we are making preparations and fundraising and all support is greatly appreciated! I will also be using this trip as my Senior Project, which I will present on March 22, which happens to be the day before we leave. We can use all support! If you feel lead, financially is great, but prayers and having us in your thoughts for My mother and I's 4th and 3rd trips (respectively) to the beautiful country of Haiti! We will both be staying at Nehemiah Vision ministries and working whatever we can do t help the teams that are there. Thanks all! Updates will hopefully keep coming around!

-Christian

Prep for Spring Break

This last Saturday The Foundry had a large garage sale at the Tigard Grange to benefit our Haiti trip this upcoming Spring break in March 2012. We made lots of monies! I think...I was mostly down in the basement attempting to sell food...not so great. Anyway, HOPEFULLY, we made lots of monies and it's a good start towards our trip. All support is greatly appreciated! (monetary and prayerfully ;)

excitimg days in haiti...

well...these past few days have been interesting...sat. we picked up my momma:) monday we were suppposed to be gettimg a shipment of food from the navy...turns out i got sick and was throwing up and we actually didnt get the shipment...tuesday was mice we went into port and stoppedd at epi d`or to get ice cream!yummm...we did some shopping and then headed home. wednesday we actually did get the navy food. we went to the shipping port where we had pallets for food air lifted in from the navy ship. there was lots of other people there so we only got 24 pallets. today we did the same ol navy thing but this time it was just us and the navy. we got 62 pallets today. it was really cool to see the helicopter come in every couple of minutes. when the chopper got close everyone ducked behind the trucks or be pelted with smal rocks and debris from the strong winds. the one time it landed i wantted to yell...«get to da choppah!!!» and run toward it...but i didnt...the navy guys amd gaals let us have a box of MREs. tonight i had instant sloppy joes and tang mix in a bag... yummy :)tomorrow we hopefully are going to the beach and have a little fum in the sun...only three days left...time goes so fast...

the advemtures comtinue...

i apologize preumptively for any gramatical or spelling mistakes in this post i am having to type this all on my kindles little micro keyboard. the interent here is by satellite so its a bit sketvhy. anywho...sadly i did not get to climb the mountain. my alarms battery died in the nightt and no one bothered to wake me up. oh well. after the rest of the group got back,we ate a scrumptuous leftover lunch and then very excitedly jumped in the bus to the beach. it was awesome. just as awesome as last week when i went there :) swimmming in the caribbean...relaxing on the white sand beach...eating delicious pepper steak yumm!it was a blast. in the morning it was sadly time for the group from michigan to go...i really felt like i had bonded with some of them. before drpping them off a the airport though...we took a small tour of port au prince...we saw the completely destroyed palace, the waste of money monument and stopped by a small orphanage. after dropping them off...the rest of the day was pretty relaxing...thursday wasnt all that excting either...but tomorrrow my momma comes!our last week in haiti will be relatively calm...but on monday a shipment from the navy comes in with 5 truckloads of food!! i will probably only post once or twice more as not much will happen but if something does happen ill keep ya posted!

Day...whatever

Sorry it has taken me this long to post. We have been very busy and when I do get the chance I'm so very tired and just sleep. So before Donald(the pres. of Lifeline) left early Sunday morning...the day before we went to help a gentleman who was building a new home for himself. we carried all the cinder blocks from across the street and helped sift through the sand to make cement with. As this was happening, Donald disappeared and we heard screaming. He had just delivered a baby with Celisa. (She is working with Lifeline through November when she will be heading to college) We were all so eager to see and hold the 3 minute old child. The parents were so grateful of Donald and Celisa's help, that they named their newborn baby boy, Don Celisa. It was such an amazing thing to witness. The next day(Sat. I think?) We went to quickly stop by Lifeline's other property in Barbencourt, and we got to check out a Voodoo house that was nearby. It was somewhat creepy and a really interesting experience.  There was drawings of sacrifices on the walls, and a recent ritual was done in the dirt and everyone was afraid to accidentally step on it. We then made our way back to the Lifeline Campus. Sunday was exciting and interesting. Church was interesting, and we couldn't understand most of the songs they were singing, luckily, however, there was a translator for the message. After church was supposed to be our tour of Port-au-Prince, but unfortunately the bus broke down on the way there, and we decided it better to head back now rather than try and keep going. Today was a great and heart wrenching experience. After morning devotions with the Michigan group, we loaded up the bus with things to give away, and headed out for the home village of Celisa. Once there we unloaded all of our stuff and set up a table full of items to be given away. It started nice and calm, with all of the adults and children being patient, but when they saw that being patient may mean not getting anything, they all became a little more "assertive" in getting free things. Every one of those people needed anything they could get, and all they wanted was even one thing that they could call there own. even just another shirt so they didn't have to wear the same shirt again. It was very sad and disheartening to see the people who didn't receive anything because we ran out. After that we headed back to grab some lunch, again after lunch we headed out yet again, but this time to go to the orphanage in Barbencourt to hand out stuffed animals. When we finally made it home after a long day, we all relaxed, showered, relaxed some more...showered again...and then supper time! Macaroni with meat sauce, corn, mango, and garlic bread...yummmm!!! And now...it is 10:48...and i must get up at 4:15 to prepare to climb the mountain behind the mission to visit the village at the top. But...once we get back...we eat lunch then head for the beach! swimming in the Caribbean...relaxing in the sun...and delicious surf and turf with fruit champagne...the sweetest most mixed feelings drink I've ever had!

Day 3

I awoke early and updated this blog...i guess i will just update for the previous day or whatever. SO THEN. We picked up a new group at the airport from Michigan. Most of the group had been here 2 years prior, but not since the earthquake, so everything is a lot different. They were all very excited that they are in there regular time zone. (technically, Haiti is in EST...with NY and whatnot, however, they do not practice daylight savings...which means half of the year, they are with EST and half of the year they are with central time...) Anyway, we were a little late picking them up, but they had, that morning, found out there flights to Ft. Lauderdale had been cancelled. So they had to make last-minute flight plans down to Florida. Because of all the confusion and quickness of the booking...theire luggage did not arrive with them...we are going to see if it arrived today...(hopefully...its always good to have a second pair of clothes). The rest of the night was pretty quiet...the cooks did not make everyone dinner...ugh...so we had PB&J and ham sandwiches for dinner. Yummm...but they were grateful to get any food. OH i forgot that on the way back from the airport...our bus was having major issues. It would kick in and out and when i kicked out he would be flooring it and we would not go fast than 25 mph...we stopped about every 5 minutes or so to make it home. but we made it!!! Off for another day of adventures. So far today the new group has had their first devotional time up at the prayer rock, and are currently taking a tour of the mission and going out into the village to greet the village children. When they see the white people coming, they run and yell "blah...blah" which means "white" in creole. They sure do win your heart over! Especially the little orphan boy(Jean Fritz) that Lifeline picked up a month ago. His parents were killed of Cholera, he was malnourished and nearly starved to death. Now he is healthy happy and lvoing all the attention he gets! I will day though...he is a wee bit spoiled!!!

Day 2

8/9/11

The day was started by waking at around 5:30 to take the Nursing students from Kentucky back to the airport to go home. After dropping them off at the airport, Myself, Donald, and Adrian headed off to MegaMart to do some shopping before the next group came in. We got loads of bread, lots of milk and a bunch of cereal. As well as lots of meat and "cinc" bags of ice.(5) On our way back to the mission in the awesome mini school bus, we saw a group of German missionaries on the side of a very dangerous dirt road with a broken down rental van. Turns out that the battery was dead, so we along with some Haitians pushed the van to get it started. we followed them back to there tent city where they were working and tried to help with there van situation. we finally made it back to the mission after buying a couple Cokes from some street vendors. We unloaded the groceries...and I passed out around 7:00. Fun Fun FUN!

Day 1

8/8/11

Well, the adventure has started...I am in Haiti!!! The trip down was well...in the understatement of the year "interesting". During our flight from Newark NJ to Port-au-Prince Haiti, a passenger became ill and was in need of medical attention. "Is there any medical professional on board?", was what we heard over the intercom from of the stewardesses...er "flight attendants" (PC). Luckily, there was a doctor on board, and she did seem like she knew what she was doing. They used some of the planes extra oxygen to help the woman, and due to that, we had to stop in the DR(Dominican Republic)to re-fuel and get more oxygen, because the PAP Airport doesn't have any. After about 45 minutes on the ground in the DR, a man became impatient and unruly. He started cursing and yelling constantly. Insisting that he paid his ****ing money just to go ****ing home and not to stop in the ****ing DR. Well...the captain of our plane was very patient and gave the man multiple chances to calm down and act civilized. He didn't. After about another 20 minutes of his kicking and screaming, and being rude and threatening the other passengers and flight attendants, some DR policeman came and extracted the man from his seat quickly and safely. Finally the ordeal was over and we got to head off for Haiti! We touched down at the PAP airport and went through immigration and customs without a hitch. It took a little while for me to get to Lifeline, but now I'm here and safe and having the time of my life!

Getting Started

Sooo...I know this is a little late to just out up now...but everyone knows I will be going to Haiti for 3 weeks in August. I will be staying and working at the Children's International Lifeline mission compound in La digue Haiti. My mom, Lisa will be coming along as well, however, for the first two weeks, she will be staying in Chambray cooking for Mercy Chefs. After her two weeks for Mercy Chefs are up...she will be joining me for the final week out at Lifeline mission. I do not know the exact details of what I will be doing in Haiti, but it will probably be general upkeep for the mission and probably some work with the Children. So i leave I believe on the...7? I will be needing as much support as possible whether that be financial, or just keeping me in your thoughts. This is a wonderful opportunity and I am so glad that I get to have it!