Market Day

Day #5 – Wednesday morning started bright and early with two trucks arriving full of supplies from the US. An average of one container per month is shipped to the mission, full of various supplies. No container is the same. Once it passes through customs, which can take a month or longer, the container is unloaded into two trucks and delivered to the mission. The mission never knows much in advance when a container is due to arrive. When they hear the trucks pulling in the compound, everyone stops work to meet the truck and unload. Generally Haitians are hired to unload the trucks, but today the team was able to unload the truck saving the mission money, which took about 90 minutes of non-stop assembly line work to unload the boxes of t-shirts and shoes, 50 lb bags of rice and beans, and various other supplies.

Once the trucks were unloaded, we ate a quick breakfast, then several members of our team headed into Port Au Prince to run some errands while the remainder of us headed up to the prayer rock for our morning devotional. Praise God the illness that hit a few members of our team yesterday was gone and we were able to get on with our day. Those of us remaining at the mission loaded up the truck for a trip to the market. The market is held only a few days a week in each town. The sights, sounds, and smells were different from anything else we have experienced in the US. This is the main shopping area for the locals and is filled with all manner of food, staples, clothing, etc. We passed everything from small pyramids of grains and vegetables spread on blankets to wheelbarrows of coconuts. Near the water were the charcoal fields where the vendors sell charcoal they have made. Many of the people do not have propane or gas to cook with and use charcoal instead. Much of the charcoal is brought in from nearby islands because there are few trees left in Haiti to make charcoal from. The lack of trees is one of the reasons mudslides are in issue here. There is nothing to hold the soil on the hillsides. On the way back from the market, we stopped at a local basket makers to purchase baskets made from banana leaves. After lunch, we painted some more classrooms, played with the children, and built a front door for one of the villagers whose cardboard door had disintegrated.

For dinner, we were treated to an authentic Haitian meal made by one of the local women. Some foods were familiar, others not quite so. Goat, mango, fried plantain, beans and rice were among some of the delicious foods we had to choose from. After feasting we relaxed for the remainder of the evening in a variety of ways – journaling, reviewing our day, star gazing, reading. A couple of the guys from our team attempted to hand wash some of their clothing. A young local boy who frequently helps around the mission, noticed their difficulties and offered to complete the task. Despite the men’s refusal, he insisted, saying “I work for you, Jesus repays me.” At the same time, a man came in with a stab wound. After assessing the injury, the man was driven to a local hospital for stitches. When a villager comes in for assistance, everyone stops what they are doing to help out. Daily we are seeing what it means to live a life for Jesus, something we don’t often remember in the States.