The Island of Cows...and Mangos

Yes. I know I missed a week, but it’s hard to blog on “The Island of Cows.” That would be Illavach, and trust me, I stepped in enough of their poo while trekking from village to village to fully believe that the name is appropriate and justified.

The last two weeks have gone fast. I spent some quality time with the Pfister kids. We took a little field trip to Tet Simon where the kids played in the pond fed by an artesian well. It’s good for me to spend time with fresh eyes. Everything is still an adventure, fun and exciting. They invigorate my perspective of Haiti; I sometimes only see the dust and poverty. We painted sun catchers on my porch, snacked on popcorn and peanut butter M&Ms (Thanks, Ann!), watched a movie, jumped on the trampoline, took a 4-wheeler ride, and played in the tree house.

Two weeks ago, the MEBSH church in Simon hosted the Convention. It’s a bit like our elder conference. It draws huge crowds of people from all over – pastors, deacons, teachers, and church members come to hear speakers, praise God for the past year, and plan for the next. Our generally small village of Simon became a beehive of activity – vendors set up shop in every nook and cranny selling drinks, rice and beans, fried plantains and breadfruit, clothes, books, bags, and shoes. I wanted to attend one of the many services, just for the experience, and I did – for exactly 10 minutes. It took me that long to realize that the Simon church was only going to get hotter and tighter with more and more people, and since it was already stifling (at 9 AM), I decided I had experienced enough of the Convention and went home. Amber, Katelyn, and I went into town that morning and took a little tour of the action in Cayes.

Saturday, I headed to Illavach with a work team led by Anne Nelson, the daughter of Bob and Vera Stewart. Vera Stewart is the founder of Child Care. She turned 80 this year. Her name is still spoken reverently inside the walls of the office. Anne is amazing and her team was wonderful. I want to be Anne when I grow up. She travels the world doing pro-life seminars, speaking for and defending the unborn. She is fluent in Creole and French and has an excellent sense of humor. I loved watching Anne and David work together, the strength and playfulness in their marriage. It is such a testimony of God’s love.

At the first job site, Madam Bernard, we ladies built 10 church benches and the men put a new, larger roof on the church. The team showed the Jesus film in Creole on Sunday night and a National Geographic film titled “In the Womb” on Monday night. The second film was in English, so Anne had to interpret various parts, but a picture is worth 1000 words, in English or Creole. The whole birthing process didn’t need much narration...

We took another boat to the second site, Castra, and worked on a school building. The men were incredibly fast workers, so we had nearly an entire afternoon on Wednesday to visit some interesting sites on Illavach. We hiked to a resort area called Port Morgan. It’s very beautiful and very pricey. We had a wonderfully relaxing afternoon on the beach, free of charge, and hiked back. Illavach may have a lot of cows, but it has even more hills and valleys, and I only brought flip-flops...because I’m stupid. Let me tell you about the mud...oh, never mind. You almost have to experience Haitian mud mixed with incredibly steep slopes and flip-flops to get it, but imagine mud in your hair as the end result.

Illavach also has a lot of mangos. Actually, it’s mango season, so everyone has a lot of mangos. At both sites, we had beautiful mango trees to sit under for shade, but you have to be careful. One good gust of wind and you’re likely to get whacked with a mango fruit. In any case, the highlight of my Thursday was a shower and clean clothes. I went to work that afternoon and caught up on my letters and such, then joined the team for supper at the Nami. It was sad to see them go on Friday, and I sincerely hope they will be back for more next year. Friday was a holiday in Haiti, something like our Labor Day. I spent the whole day doing the rankest laundry I’ve every produced, cleaning my bathroom, re-potting my dying plants, and answering emails. I felt very accomplished by the end of the day.

Saturday, Tess, Alisha, and I went to HaitiVert (Haiti Green). It’s a horticulture, botany show in Berguard, a little east of Cayes. It was worth seeing. The organizers have mapped out a picturesque hike through the various plants and trees of Haiti. They have universities that specialize in agriculture and agronomy come and sell plant starts and tools of the trade. It had a distinctively fair-like feeling with food booths, Haitian arts and crafts, jams and jellies, jewelry, and snacks. I bought an aloe vera plant and something purple and pretty that looked hardy – I’ll Google it later. Just as we finished with our tour, the skies opened up and drenched us. As we were already soaked from the ride home on the 4-wheeler, we decided to make the most of it and played in the rain puddles for a while. Two of the Christenson kids were having a birthday party, and the 20 or so little guests were having a wild time sliding on a huge, soapy tarp in the rain. It looked so fun, we had to try it. I’ll get some pictures from Heather for next week, but I fear that a nearly 30 year-old gal flopping awkwardly on a tarp is not as attractive as I think it is in my mind. We’ll see...

Today, Tess, Alisha, Andrew, and I went to Renault for the feeding program and Sunday school. Then, we all piled into the new Toyota and went to Port Salut for the afternoon. It was fun to hold little Faith in the water and play in the sand with Gabriel and Derek. After my third shower of the day, I decided to catch you all up on my escapades from the last two weeks. I hope you enjoy the pictures. I’m off to eat my supper – mangos!

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Abby