13 Women, Fish, Rice, and Me

On Friday I was blessed with a “teacher work day.” I didn’t have to go to school! I was so excited because my plans for the day were so special. First I walked the kids from the mission to school. They were so excited to show me since I had never been before. 

Then I headed off to the fishing village to help the women with the elderly feeding program that they have on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. We went to the market to buy all the ingredients that we needed for flavoring the rice and fish. Once we were finished, we headed back to the fish house to start cutting and cooking. I stayed in the back with La Mersi and Nanete while they scaled and cut the fresh sail fish. This is a process! They cut it up into pieces and then scale the whole thing. Once it is scaled, they cut it into smaller pieces to be able to cook. This is an art in itself! They use every part of the fish that is edible, even cutting up the head into pieces. What isn’t used is fed to the dogs that wait around for scraps. They cut it in a fashion that makes the fish go a lot farther than what I thought it would. Once they are finished with all the cutting, Geraldene and I flavored the fish with onion and lime juice. 

While the fish is being cut up, the other women are working on cooking the rice and getting the flavoring ready for cooking the fish. Once the fish is all cut up, they dip it in flavoring to get it good and tasty. Finally they cook it up in a pot until it is finished. This week I was privileged to be able to eat the rice and fish for lunch. The ladies served me up a nice plate. It is so delicious! This ministry that we have for these women is such a blessing to them! They were once women who lost their homes in the earthquake or recent floods that have ravished the country in the past few years. They had nowhere else to go and now they are here with us, getting food, our love, and hearing the Words of Jesus. One day, God will change their hearts and bring them home. I pray for that day to come sooner than later.

The Hill of Tents

On the way from Port-au-Prince to Montrous, there is a part where the road comes to a dead end at a mountainside. You either choose to turn right or turn left. before the earthquake, there were no houses. After the earthquake, there is an estimated 50,000-100,000 people living on this mountain. Two weeks ago with a team, we decided to turn right and drive into the tent city to check out their water resources. They have a well at the bottom of the mountain that pumps out sulfur water. The people of the village will not drink the water because it smells like rotten eggs. This means they have no water source. How can you cook without water? How do you hydrate yourself with out water? How do you do anything without water? They walk miles and miles every day to get clean water to stay alive. I think this picture states it all...

While we were there walking around and talking with the leader of the village about the situation, Liz and I had two wonderful little girls hold our hands and walk with us. Dorleen was my little girl. She is the one in the picture above with part of the village in the background. We gave Dorleen and her sister pieces of bread with peanut butter and cookies. With smiles on their faces, they ate it quickly. Who knows when they ate their last meal. My heart broke for Dorleen. I have no idea what her living conditions are but I can guarantee it isn't good by anyone's standards. Please help me by praying for Dorleen and the people of her city.

A Visit to Jacmel

Three weeks since my last post! I apologize! Time has been swiftly passing by without my notice.

I have been to Haiti one time previous to this adventure in Haiti. In May of 2010, 5 months after the earthquake, I went on a short term mission to Jacmel, Haiti. This is where the biggest aftershock from the earthquake hit and did a lot of damage to Jacmel. The destruction almost compared to what I saw driving through Port-au-Prince on the way to Jacmel. This past weekend, we as a staff retreat decided to take a vacation to Jacmel. This made me overjoyed because I have friends in Jacmel and fell in love with it the first time I was there. From Montrouis, Jacmel is about 5 hours south through Port-au-Prince and over a mountain range into the southern coast of the country.

Last Friday, we loaded the bus at 6a.m. to start our treck to Jacmel. Upon arriving 5 hours later, sometimes driving 5 miles an hour up the mountains in our school bus FULL of people, we were ecstatic. The city looked rebuilt and renewed, and the place we stayed at was on the beach. Beautiful. This is a breathtaking picture of the sunrise on Saturday morning. I wish you could have seen it in person.

After that amazing sunrise, we headed out to Bassin Bleu. This is a tourist attraction in Jacmel and I can see why! It is a series of natural waterfalls that you can take a short hike to and be swimming in emerald blue waters...cold water :-) It was refreshing (the ocean is just too warm for me here!) Here is a picture of the staff SOOO excited to be at Bassin Bleu. Do you see the people up on the ledge at the top to the right of the waterfall? Most of our team jumped from the top up there (not me haha but I did jump off where the little waterfall is).


We finished our trip up on Sunday with walking around the little shops downtown and did a little shopping at the unique, little shops. Jacmel is refreshing from most of the cities in Haiti because they have a sewer system that takes away the water and trash from the streets. It was a wonderful weekend but after this weekend, I felt like I needed a vacation from my vacation. I was more tired after my trip than I was before I got on the bus. I loved the trip because I got to share a part of Haiti that the whole New Vision Ministries staff had never seen before. I praise God for that opportunity.