Haiti Day 4 (2012)

Abraham and Minoterie

Today we spent more time in villages working with the Haitian people. Our first trip was to Abraham, a small village of very poor people.

The homes were constructed out of plywood and tin, and were starting to look a little rough around the edges. We got out of the bus on the western outskirts of the village, and instead of traveling through the village we just followed a road of sorts south until we reached a big open field. It wasn’t long before tons of kids varying from very young, to almost 18 were showing up. After a chaotic round of “Duck, Duck, Goose”. Matt decided to share the biblical account of David.

An Americans versus Haitians soccer match sprung up, and those not playing soccer sat with the children and played for a while.

Haiti Day 3 (2012)

Today we went to Leveque…
They just recently finished their 250th house…halfway to Mission of Hope’s goal of 500.  They also just gave away homes to 50 deaf families…these families are often outcasts in Haiti.  MOH invited them from a community within Port au Prince to live in Leveque and MOH has been doing everything they can to welcome them.
Today we painted the inside of two of the homes…homes that were already lived in.  We moved the families out temporarily so we could work.  I of course managed to drop a jewelry box and some hygiene supplies while moving things.
You look like Jesus!
We bought those homes with our sweat and blood…

Haiti Day 2 (2012)

I failed to journal last night…but we spent the day between Simonette and Oscars orphanage in Titanyen.
Anytime I am in Titanyen, I can not help but think about Mackee.  I wonder where she is, how she is doing, if she would remember me.  I knew we were going to a different section, but I kept my eye out just in case.  It is a little hard to think that she could be right around the corner, but that I will probably never see her again.
Anyways, Oscars orphanage has 20 kids.  We hung out and played soccer a little bit, and spent time inside with the kids.  Many of us had our hair done, including me, by the sweetest little Haitian girls.  I will say that it hurts, but  it is a simple thing we can do for them that shows that we care without having to break the language barrier.   I can’t imagine having to share my love and affection for my “parents” with 19 other children…I can imagine the personal attention the orphans get from us for the few short hours we are there must be pretty special.
All in all a decent day for most people.  I have to confess that I am having a hard time finding my place on the team again this year.   I had a pretty negative attitude most of the day.  As much as I am willing to do for the country and people of Haiti, I do not feel a strong connection or draw to most of the people here.  Is my heart too hard?  Or is God setting up something else for me?  I know many of my friends are being called into the missions field in a very specific way…what about me God?  Where would you have me go, and what would you have me do?

Haiti Day 1 (2012)

Today I found myself back in Haiti after about 11 months. The good news is that things didn’t seem as bad as last time. I guess that after 2 years of work some things are really starting to turn around. Don’t get me wrong, There is still plenty of poverty to be found, but things don’t seem quite as disastrous now as they did last year. I wonder how much of this change is a result of international aid, and how much of the change is because of the Haitians rebuilding on their own. So I am left asking is Haiti ready for a next step?

Drummer Boy (Christmas Eve 2011)

This was one heck of a video to edit.  I ended up with 13 video tracks laid in the editor together and was struggling to get my computer to even play, let alone play well enough to edit.  I ended up doing a proxy edit, creating a lower quality file, and tricking the software to edit on the low quality footage, but render with the high quality footage.  I tracked audio externally with a portable 2 track recorder, but ended up liking how raw one of the wideshot cameras audio was.  It’s rough, but it reflects a live performance and seemed to fit better.  All in all this video is one of my top performers statistically, and Jason and the creative arts team at Dayspring did a great job pulling this one off.

 

p.s.  Don’t bail on this one until you get to the drum break at 2:30.  It may change your life.