Soccer Beyond Borders Haiti Day 1

All Aboard the Haitian Vacation

After months of preparation, our Haitian Vacation (trademarked by Pat) finally has begun. Twenty three walking traffic cones(our new team shirts) gathered bright and early at O’Hare Airport. We made it smoothly out of Chicago. Ironically, the flight attendant kept saying we were landing in Fort Myers but we were supposed to land in Fort Lauderdale. As it turned out, there were storm clouds hovering above the Fort Lauderdale Airport preventing our scheduled landing. The pilots decided to circle the airport several times, however the storm took its sweet time and we needed to refuel so we had to land at Fort Myers. While in Fort Myers, we received word from Mr. Keefer that American said we would not be making it to Fort Lauderdale in time for our connecting flight to Port-au-Prince, Haiti. This casted a cloud of anxiety over the team of twenty three “Soccer Beyond Borders” missionaries. But have no fear, the Lord is here!
Luckily, we swooped into Fort Lauderdale just in the nick of time. Fortunately, the gate we arrived at happened to be right next to our connecting flight’s departure gate along with an Italian fast food stop. Throughout our travel, our orange shirts were great conversation starters. One couple in particular was with us the whole way, traveling from Bartlett to Haiti for the first time since 1979. When compared to the changes we see after just one year away from Haiti we are excited for the couple to see the changes in their home country after thirty plus years. We shared our past experiences and future plans and wished each other good luck on the rest of our trips. Full of pizza and high hopes, we boarded our plane to Port-au-Prince, Haiti. One of our team members, who shall not be named (LAUREN!), prematurely stated that our trip had been uneventful thus far. Little did we know, we were in for a doozy.
Although we were pleasantly surprised with the drastic improvements at the Port-au-Prince International Airport, the organization did not suffice. As Murphy’s Law states, “Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.” After collecting all 45 of our duffle bags of donated supplies we ran into trouble at Haitian Customs. Our convoy of carts was making out of the airport, but not before a Customs employee decided to check one of our duffle bags. They started with one and then they wanted to see them all. They would take a bag, empty everything packed in it, inventory it, and then attempt to repack the bag which they did with little success. We were constantly being asked how much we had paid for all the gear and we tell them it was all donated, however anyone could guess that there was a language barrier. The employees were asking us to pay a tariff for all the equipment we were bringing to Haiti. After three hours of this chaos, we called Bill Plaza and Miriam for some help. Eventually, they swooped in and saved the day. Unfortunately, we ended up having to pay a tariff for equipment that was free of charge to us and will be free to all the Haitians we will meet this week.
It has been exciting to experience Haiti for the first, second, or third time depending on the person. The culture shock never fails to shock us and it was cool to see the newbies take it all in the first time. We finally made it to New Life where we were greeted with full smiles and helping hands. Our bus was unpacked in no time! We quickly wolfed down dinner leftovers in order to join the children for movie night. We snuggled up with old and new friends while eating popcorn and enjoying Jack the Giant Slayer. Sadly, it is time for bed but we are excited for the adventures ahead of us this coming week.

Goodnight world, peace and blessings to you all. Port-au-Prince out.

Yours truly,
Lauren, Emily, Austin, and… Jake?

Many Blessings - to You!

Over the last two days a team of ten missionaries visited six orphanages ranging in size from 110 to 25 kids.  Our first days visit started by stopping at a brick building out in the middle of a field about an hour outside of Port au Prince, Haiti.  Twenty four children lived there in a building about the size of most people's garage at home with four adults.  Their house was made of concrete bricks, considered a luxury by most Haitians and a tin roof.  No water for drinking, no electricity and no food in the building, no extra clothes and not a toy to be seen.  They were excited to see us and couldn't wait to color a page out of a coloring book as we handed them each three crayons to keep!  They enjoyed a peanut butter sandwich, fruit drink and snack as we sang worship songs and ended in prayer, reassuring them that they were the precious children of God and he is with them and loves them always.  Our last stop for the day took us to an orphanage with 110 children.  They lived in a two story house close to Port au Prince.  Eighty percent of the children sleep on the floor.  They had no food in their kitchen, no table to sit at or shelves in the kitchen to store any of the pots and pans they cook with. All of these items stacked on the ground.  As we arrived they were praying where their next meal would come from.  After the snack we provided, we left many staples of rice, corn, beans, oil, butter, spaghetti, sauce and fish for them.  We got to spend time reading a story to the kids and singing many worship songs.  We so hope we brought the light of Jesus for just a little while to their lives today!  As we finished day one, heading back along the bumpy roads to the orphanage we are staying at, much silenced filled our vehicle as we all thought about how we could do more for the children we visited today.  The margin of disparity between our lives back home and here is wide.  Wider then most can imagine without visiting this place.  I guess we are here to fill the gap one life at a time!

Day two started by counting our food provisions and gathering our team.  We made a long bumpy journey out into the hills of Port au Prince.  Our first stop was an orphanage of twenty-five kids and this orphanage had a school attached to it where 100 community children attended.  The Pastor that ran this orphanage had posted a beautiful sign thanking us as we entered the building.  He played guitar and sang and had taught all of the children to sing.  They sang five songs for us as we shared a snack with them, colored and bounced balloons around the room that we has brought.  Many children had great skill drawing pictures as well.  This Pastor makes some additional money going from church to church with his children singing and playing guitar.  We left staples for their food pantry, as very little food was stored there before we arrived.  There were many smiles on the children's faces and thankfulness in their hearts when we were there.  We prayed with the children before we left, reminding them that each one of them were important to God and he has a plan for each one of their lives.  Our last stop today was to visit a home of twenty-four children that social services received from the streets of Haiti and the jail.  Most of the children ranged in age from 10-15 and were not what we were expecting.  We were told these children were out of control and fighting with each other regularly.  But what we found were children who now has a purpose in

life.  As the woman responsible for them has shown them love, fed them, clothed them, put a roof over their head and brought three teachers into the home.  One of our team members and our Haitian leader shared the love of God with them and reminded them that God does care about them and loves them.  Also, they are to treat each other with love and each one is a brother or sister to the other.  We reminded them to pray to God daily for all the blessings he has given them in the last few weeks.  Then one of the children got up and shared how thankful he was and another prayed for everyone there.  What a blessing for us to end our two days of feedings in this way.  God always is surprising us!  We went in judging these children and God reminded us that each one of us is a work in progress and only God can change our hearts.

Our team has been blessed beyond measure these last two days and we have been reminded again that God has brought us to Haiti to be his hands and feet.  To share his love with the poor, needy and orphans, just reminding us that we are walking the path he has laid out for us.  Our hope today is that all the people that donated money and have been prayed for us have been blessed by this blog.  Without all of you, the wheel would not be able to turn and to make these feedings happen.  We humbly thank you again!

Renee and Bill Plaza

Many Blessings - Settling In

Well, it has almost been two weeks since Bill and I arrived in Haiti.  As usual, we have been blessed in abundance by the children, resources and more opportunities God has placed in our path.  We are settling in at New Life, Bill's "honey do" list is getting longer and longer and I served the Sunday night supper so the cooks could go home and enjoy what was left of their Sunday with their family.

God has managed to connect us up this week with Water Mission International and we were able to meet and plan out next steps for well drilling in the Pestel area  They are committed to returning with Bill to collect information with the local people of the area to determine next places for drilling.  They also believe water is available in the area and will do everything in their power to make it happen!

Last week we were also able to get food to four orphanages that New Life supports that had run out of food.  This could not have been possible without the help of all who donated for feedings.  Yesterday, a team of eight girls from New Life and three montons visited one of these orphanages to help cook, clean and do laundry for the day.  These girls were the hands and feet of Jesus.  They came back to tell us that the children there had no food before we were able to help them out.  The children were sleeping on dirty floors and some were sleeping on a piece of cardboard being used as a mattress.  Some had no clothes and most clothes that the kids were wearing were dirty.  The older girls shared their experience of the day with all the children of New Life and it was a vivid reminder to them that they need to be thanking God everyday for the blessings He has given them.

Bill and I have gotten to be the hands and feet of Jesus many times this week as well, thanks to our one and only Father!  He has had me running the guesthouse and greeting many new friends and Bill has taken charge of transportation of all vehicles here.  He has given us both a chance to spend much needed time catching up and loving on the children and allowed us time to reunited with our longtime friends Rene, Frantzy and Fedner.  Both of us and mission teams staying here have gotten a chance to do much spring cleaning, readying New Life to be fully booked, 75+, for the month of June.  What a blessing that will be!

Today ended with slip and slide time for all the kids and handicap, meeting the new mate of "Tom" our big lonely Turkey, worship led by a mission team staying with us and all the girls at New Life wishing Miriam and myself a Happy Mothers Day!  I guess we are settling in!  We ask for your continued prayers.  Many blessings on your week ahead.

Bill and Renee Plaza

Clean Water Mission--Filters Delivered

Haiti Clean Water Project

Here is an update on the water filtration systems/clean water project in the Haitian village of Macochan. 

First let me just say WOW!  What an awesome experience we have had so far this last week (and year). 

Secondly, thank you to everyone who was involved in making this vision become a reality. One of our team members, Rene Plaza, recognized a need over a year ago when traveling to this mountain village who at the time was suffering from a Cholera outbreak due to contaminated lake water--the villages only water supply. Rene recognized the problem, researched the solution, and set out on a mission to provide clean water to these people. One year later our team delivered in home water filtration systems to 155 families covering the entire village and providing a means for each family to have clean water. Praise God for His blessings, favor, and provision along the way.

Last week Sunday we arrived in Port au Prince Haiti. On Monday we left for the mountains with a large truck (Haitian tap tap), a pickup truck, and two other four wheel drive vehicles, loaded with supplies and 24 people. We drove for 11 hours over some very rocky uneven roads to arrive at our base camp (the village of Jolie Gilbert). The men slept in the church building the women in various buildings and homes. The team consisted of three doctors, five nurses, a helicopter pilot (who met us there with a chopper from Samaritan Air), and a bunch of others with various backgrounds--everyone with a loving mission heart. 

We held a medical clinic in the village of Macochon on Wednesday and my guess is that we saw everyone from the village and a few from surrounding villages as well. Malnutrition, worms, fungus, scabies, a few serious wounds, one demon possession, several pregnancies, and a few other things as well. It was good for us to meet the villagers and get a feel for the village before we delivered the water filters. 

There was a lot of preparation work done in the village many months prior to our arrival. Seven village leaders had been identified and were given information on the filtration systems and villagers were informed that we would be coming and what we trying to do for them. The village homes were each numbered in paint 1-155 so we could identify each home and each resident. A list of homes and residents was made so we could make sure each home had a filter.

On Thursday morning we drove the large truck as far as we could and began shuttling the water buckets and filters via the four wheel drive vehicles up to the village. There we matched the two 5 gallon buckets and all the appropriate component parts and divided the village people by residence/bucket number. Seven groups of 25 were trained on assembly and use of the water filtration system with the village leaders, a translator, and one of our team members doing the presentation. Sounds easy? Didn’t go quite as planned and we needed to help each family assemble their bucket system. They were appreciative of our help to get it assembled correctly. By the time the distribution and assembly was finished it was time to leave the village.

I left with a hole in my heart because I was not convinced that everyone understood what they were told. We were scheduled for a much needed medical clinic in another village the next day but we felt that a day of followup was very important, so three of us (Bill Plaza, Shawn Mazza, and I) decided that we would go back to Macochan. The vehicles were needed for the clinic so the plan was for the helicopter pilot to fly us in, drop us off, and return to the chopper launch site (mountain soccer field) in less that 12 minutes which was all of the airtime/gas he could spare and still make it back to Port au Prince with the doctors and seriously ill children. He felt this could be done in 9 minutes from start up to shut down. That night, John, the chopper pilot recalculated the air time and felt he was cutting things too close and we would need to find another way to the village. Finally our American brains kicked in and we decided we could walk! This turned out to be the best idea yet as it probably took us 20 minutes to climb the mountain that separated our base camp from the village. We knew it could be done because we had seen some of the same people at our base camp that we saw in the village--they could do it--why did we need vehicles or helicopters? Bill had found one of the village leaders at our base camp and he agreed to take us up the trail to the village. It was fairly steep in some areas, and I am old, and out of shape, but even then we made it in 20 minutes. We were amazed at how close the village was and wondered if we would ever endure the hour long vehicle ride over rocks again.

This turned out to be one of the best days for us as were able to meet one on one with the villagers in their homes and go over with them the proper use of the system. With the help of a village leader and a translator we answered any questions and made sure everyone was set up correctly. It was a very peaceful day in a very peaceful village. Villagers were going about their daily lives tending to their needs--getting water from the lake (about a 20-30 minute hike down the mountain, separating beans and grains from the chaff, drying coffee beans for sale in the market, working the “fields” with machetes and hoes, doing laundry, etc. Many smiles on peoples faces and we felt as though everyone was appreciative of our efforts. There will be follow up by other teams throughout the year to see how things progress and where we can do a better job for the next village.

It was a year long project to provide clean water to a village in need--orchestrated by God--and all honor and glory goes to Him. He inspired the heart of one woman and through her He touched the hearts of hundreds of others and provided a way to share the blessing of clean water that we take for granted every day with a village who’s lives depend on it. God is so good! 

Postcard from Hannah

Days like today give me hope.  Marissa, Jim, and I got the opportunity to go to the beach with the kids and the other American groups staying here at New Life. I was at this beach 2 1/2 years ago when I first came to Haiti. I never thought I would get to see it again. It is one of my top favorite places on earth to be, just behind Lambeau Field.  It was a day filled with laughter, squeals of delight, and lots of splashing. I also got to experience my first jellyfish sting. Unfortunately, Marissa had just gone to the bathroom so she couldn't help me out, but what a friend to offer! But even a sting couldn't ruin the day, it was too perfect. Breathtaking views, awesome food, and the best company I could have asked for.  Getting to see the pure joy on the kids' faces was priceless.

I played mom to a little girl today. I held her in the water, helped her learn to kick and swim, she would go off with her friends and then come back to check that I was still there. We sat on my towel and she went through my bag of stuff and claimed it as her own. We went looking for rocks and she sat on my lap and quietly played when she was ready for some alone time away from all of the kids in the water.  I changed her, held her while she slept, tucked her in at night. For at least one day she had a 'mom.'  Our group came to Haiti this week to be 'parents' to these kids. To try and fill in the gaps they have of being on their own. Love on them, correct them when they are wrong, pick them up when they fall, laugh with them, but most of all help them realize they are loved and worthy of love.

Today, it was mission accomplished.