{"id":782,"date":"2010-12-03T20:37:43","date_gmt":"2010-12-04T02:37:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/justmercy.org\/WordPress\/?p=782"},"modified":"2012-06-23T23:41:39","modified_gmt":"2012-06-24T04:41:39","slug":"amazing-mountain-trip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/justmercy.org\/WordPress\/?p=782","title":{"rendered":"Amazing Mountain Trip!"},"content":{"rendered":"

4th Haiti Trip – Vol. V<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

What an amazing two days!!!\u00a0 I told you briefly about our hike into Balisage above Gantier on Wednesday where we visited the people and dealt with one cholera death.\u00a0\u00a0Many of the sick had already gone to the Mennonite clinic in Fonds.\u00a0 After visiting there \u00a0where the cholera was so bad, we got up early Thursday to head up to Pays-Pourri where we had heard that people were dying in their gardens and things were very bad.\u00a0 It is also where the school we are supporting is located.\u00a0 I was afraid that if it was as bad as at Balisage, many of the children from our school would be sick or dying!<\/p>\n

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Yvrose and Bill headed up the riverbed with the Global Dirt team<\/p><\/div>\n

Bill and I decided to go with the \u201ctroops\u201d from Global Dirt. \u00a0Yvrose went with us, also.\u00a0 Though I knew the journey would be arduous, I wanted to go so badly to see the children at the school.\u00a0 Our girls, Sherlie and No-No, would not let us go without them to \u201ctake care of us\u201d, so they went along, too.\u00a0 Jolius was our guide.<\/p>\n

We drove about 30 minutes up the rough road to the river bed we would start out in.\u00a0 We left a lot of the gear there with a friend of Jolius\u2019 to wait for the mules that were coming down to carry our stuff up.\u00a0 We started out walking up the dry riverbed and then the road really started up!<\/p>\n

This was the \u201ceasy\u201d way!\u00a0 It was pretty steep, varying from 15 \u2013 40 degrees!\u00a0 I was so worried that I wouldn\u2019t be able to make it because of the trouble I have with my hip just walking a half hour at home!\u00a0 But praise the Lord, it did NOT bother me for the entire two days, which was a miracle for me!!!\u00a0 The problem I had was my leg muscles and wind!\u00a0 Bill would sometimes be holding my hand pulling me while No-No would come behind pushing!<\/p>\n

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Janet making better time than walking<\/p><\/div>\n

The troops traveled much faster than we did.\u00a0 We would pass people, horses, mules, etc.\u00a0 Somehow, Jolius procured a little horse (no saddle) for me as I was going SO SLOW!\u00a0 I got on.\u00a0\u00a0What a hoot!\u00a0 We went off at a much faster clip than I was going but it hurt almost as much as walking!<\/p>\n

We finally met the mules coming down to pick up our gear.\u00a0 They had \u00a0\u201cpack saddles\u201d on.\u00a0 They put me up on one and after that, I was so much happier!\u00a0 It was quite the ride and kind of scary, occasionally running along a precipice just inches away!<\/p>\n

Leah, the head of the troops, came to Haiti as a teacher and after the earthquake, started to work for Global Dirt.\u00a0 She has been in horrendous places in Haiti where cholera victims are dying through lack of supplies, malpractice, and ignorance.<\/p>\n

We stopped at the first village we came to.\u00a0 Leah, who speaks Creole and always asks the people lots of question, was shocked to find that this village had no cholera.\u00a0 The reason was they had bought crystallized Clorox and were treating their water!\u00a0 She almost started crying as this was the first time she had run into any Haitians who were doing the right thing to avoid cholera.<\/p>\n

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School children reacting to the camera flash<\/p><\/div>\n

We kept going (total of four hours) till we reached the school we are supporting.\u00a0 School is from 8 am till 1 pm and then they eat lunch.\u00a0 They were just finishing up lunch when we arrived.\u00a0 It was amazing seeing those precious children who would not be getting an education if the school was not there.\u00a0 After the children left, we sat down and talked with the teachers, asking questions\u00a0 about the curriculum and finding out what they were doing to teach the children about the Lord.<\/p>\n

We rejoiced to find that the rumors were false and that cholera right now is scarce in that section of Pays-Pourri so now the battle is education and supplies.\u00a0 But who knows about over the next mountain?\u00a0 (When we arrived back today, we found that the patient rate at the clinic next door had doubled with more people from Balisage and other regions in Pays-Pourri.)\u00a0 I was so grateful to find that nearly all the children were still in school.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Jolius’ mother cooking our supper in her “kitchen”<\/p><\/div>\n

We then walked on over the hill to Jolius\u2019 parents home where we were going to spend the night.\u00a0 They cooked lunch and supper for us.\u00a0 His parents are illiterate and are now 70 and 66 respectively.\u00a0 But they love the Lord and worked very hard to see that their children would get an education!!!<\/p>\n

Spending the night in their home, I realized that many people spend their entire lives in discomfort and difficulty.\u00a0 They were so gracious and generous but I finally had to go lay down on their hard slab of a bed just to try to be a little comfortable as Haitian chairs are so uncomfortable!\u00a0 We brought our mats and slept on the floor in one of the rooms.\u00a0 The troops slept in the storage room where the rice, oil, and books are for the school.<\/p>\n

This morning, we went back to the school and waited for the children to come streaming in over the mountain paths.\u00a0 Because Yvrose was there, we were able to talk really well with both the teachers and children.\u00a0 I was able to talk with the children about God and tell them how precious they were to Him.\u00a0 They started the school day with the Lord\u2019s prayer and quoting a Psalm they had memorized. \u00a0Yvrose taught them Jesus Loves Me in Creole.\u00a0 Several times I came close to tears realizing this was the only chance most of these children will ever have to hear about the love of God.\u00a0 \u00a0I\u2019m so grateful we opened the school this year and pray the Lord will provide to let us continue to do so.<\/p>\n

The troops had brought a Sawyer water filter and taught the teachers to use it.\u00a0 The school has a large cistern that they use for water so that is fairly safe from cholera but there are many other things that can get in the water so we hope they will use the filter.<\/p>\n

We took the \u201cshort cut\u201d back down the mountain.\u00a0 There were places where I sat down on my shoes and slid!\u00a0 What a hoot!\u00a0 It was slippery with the gravel sliding out from under our feet.\u00a0 I think all of us (not the troops) all fell at least once.\u00a0 One of the guys loaned me a pair of gloves and I was able to hold onto the plants to help keep me up or to protect my hands when I was sliding down sitting on my heels.<\/p>\n

After the steep part came the upper river bed, full of gigantic rocks and portages around parts of it.\u00a0 We finally reached the main river bed and walked another hour, once again a total four hour trip because I was so slow walking over the rocks.\u00a0 We ran out of water before the end of the trip so we were pretty parched when we finally reached the trail head where Fegens was waiting with the truck.<\/p>\n

After such an arduous two days, I am amazed than we are not sorer than we are!\u00a0 I am so grateful that the rumor of serious cholera sickness in Pays-Pourri was not true!\u00a0 However, it is spreading rapidly in Haiti and we have read that some doctors believe this is only the beginning!<\/p>\n

We are considering what steps we need to take to help with the situtation.\u00a0 Global DIRT is taking back emergency recommendations about Balisage to Grassroots and we are hoping they will be able to access some immediate help for that particular mountain region as it seemed half the population was sick and many had died.<\/p>\n

Thank you for taking the time to read about Haiti.\u00a0 Please keep the people in your prayers.\u00a0 May God bless you all.<\/p>\n

December 10, 2010<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Just a quick update, particularly for those of you who are worrying about Bill and I with the upheaval in Haiti. \u00a0We actually flew home the morning of the 7th, just before the violence flared up that evening and the airport closed. \u00a0Bill struggled with the decision whether to come home or not but we had our tickets and he thought if the protests began, he would probably be unable to get much accomplished anyway so he came home with me.<\/p>\n

There is supposed to be a medical and education team going up to Balisage where the cholera was so bad and we had gone with the troops. \u00a0Bill really wanted to be a part of that. \u00a0There were also several other things needing our attention, but now they will have to wait.<\/p>\n

We have heard the international news as you all have. \u00a0Please keep the people of Haiti in your prayers as the violence blocks those who are trying to help with the cholera epidemic and other serious needs.<\/p>\n

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. \u00a0Bill hopes to return to Haiti in about three weeks.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

4th Haiti Trip – Vol. V What an amazing two days!!!\u00a0 I told you briefly about our hike into Balisage above Gantier on Wednesday where we visited the people and dealt with one cholera death.\u00a0\u00a0Many of the sick had already gone to the Mennonite clinic in Fonds.\u00a0 After visiting there …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/justmercy.org\/WordPress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/justmercy.org\/WordPress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/justmercy.org\/WordPress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justmercy.org\/WordPress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justmercy.org\/WordPress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=782"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/justmercy.org\/WordPress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/782\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":788,"href":"https:\/\/justmercy.org\/WordPress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/782\/revisions\/788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/justmercy.org\/WordPress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justmercy.org\/WordPress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justmercy.org\/WordPress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}