Augustines Go to Haiti with Poverty Resolutions - 2015: Off to Haiti

Sunday - June 28, 2015

Hi Friends & Family!

Firstly, let me just say that our family is so-ever-thankful for all of you, your thoughts, your posts & comments, your giving, your prayers, and your overall support! You have been such an encouragement to us. This has been a tremendous journey and we hope to be able to share a small piece of it with you via this blog.

Okay, I've never blogged before, so this is completely new to me. For those of you regular bloggers/writers out there (or not), please be gracious. :) I thought that this might be a good way to share our experience, though it is probably more one-sided, since I'm the one blogging/journaling. Some photos will be repeats, if you followed us on the few posts from Facebook. Wifi was super slow via my phone, which made it difficult to upload pictures, so thanks for your patience.

This may take a while, so I will begin with Day 1 and keep adding as I can. I hope to not drag it out and complete it soon, though I imagine that life will get in the way a little here and there.

Love,
Mirka (for the Augustines)

p.s. I did my best to label photos. Please forgive name misspellings, since so many of you are new friends!
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From a humble lemonade stand to support the What If? Foundation in 2010
( http://whatiffoundation.org/ ) to a great opportunity to actually visit & support Haiti!

Saturday - June 20, 2015
Day 1
Our trip really began late, Friday night, as we got ourselves ready, finished packing, ensured that we had our passports, zipped up suitcases, and packed up the car to head to our church. Our meeting time was 1245am for a 1:10am departure via buses to JFK International Airport.
We hit a 20+ min delay on the way to church, due to a sobriety security checkpoint on the road (of all things - just a couple miles away from our church!).
I tried not to panic, concerned that we would be late, while everyone waited for us. Most of our team lives north of Keystone Community Fellowship or near to it, but we live south. ( http://keystonefellowship.com/ )
When our turn came and the police officer approached our car, he asked Joe (the driver) where we were coming from and where we were headed. Joe's mention of our trip to Haiti was an unexpected response, but he wished us well. :)
Thankfully, though unfortunately, our buses also encountered the checkpoint, causing about a 30min delay. A LOT of baggage was loaded, with about 40 bags for Poverty Resolutions (PR), and we were on our way. Our group of about 75 was split, with less than half traveling on American Airlines, and we, along with the rest on Delta. We made great timing on the way to JFK with a rough, bumpy ride, though. That's one advantage of driving at 2am. :)
After having slept for about the first 40min of the drive, I awoke to find myself praying for our entire team and even our drivers. I was suddenly struck with an amazing vision of warrior angels, fully armed, traveling along both buses, along for our journey. It was chilling and beautiful and I found myself silently weeping. (Wish I had a photo of THAT!)

Leg #1 - Leaving JFK, bound for Atlanta

Ended up sitting next to Stephanie Steck, a lovely lady who was on her way home from Israel. It was really fun connecting and chatting with her, and hearing all about her fabulous trip!

Approaching Atlanta International Airport

Quick Asian lunch at ATL, then onto boarding for our PAP flight.

Leg #2 - in-flight to Port au Prince

Saturday was a beautiful day to fly to the Caribbean!

As we descended, I was struck by how I could actually see the poverty in the air. I just didn't expect that. I was also dumbfounded to think how we were approaching a different world, less than a 3 hour flight away. We were met with airstairs to deplane in the heat of PAP. Creole musicians welcomed us, reminiscent of the sounds of New Orleans. After lining up to pay a small passport fee, then clearing customs, and on to baggage claim, we headed for the bus. I wish I would have had the time to take some pics, but it was all incredibly hectic and stressful. Trecking with 9 bags between the 4 of us (including PR bags that we were responsible for) was quite a challenge, to say the least. Our school bus was not exactly equipped to handle all of us, plus all of the baggage. Let's just say that we were a bit overcrowded ( and HOT!). Not sure this photo captures our scene.
Welcome to Haiti!

The highway view was scenic and beautiful. These photos don't capture the beauty. We drove between mountains on one side and the scenic Caribbean Sea on the other, as well as through a few villages for the one hour ride to Côtes des Arcadins.
Open windows and speed made for a nice A/C system. We really learned to appreciate those open windows!

2 of many PR bags

We finally arrived at our home for the week: The Kaliko Beach Club Resort. While I initially felt guilty about staying here, it truly was a welcome rest after our working days. Matt & Andrew, the brothers who lead and founded PR, began using local resorts for their volunteers, having realized that volunteers that were not accustomed to life in Haiti were much more efficient after getting a good rest. I think they're onto something here! It really was refreshing to be able to recharge!

Our home away from home! Though not 5 star by American standards (we are so spoiled!), it was quite a refuge and nice to come to everyday.
( http://kalikobeachclub.com/resort )

It took a little getting used to showering with the big window, thinking that someone would be sneaking a peak over the wall. I really wish I had had a clothesline for the small space. The wall became my regular drying spot for some pieces of clothing.

This is especially for you Maggie Carber :) - Tash enjoyed exploring in this little space. She especially liked looking for lizards. I didn't get any pictures because they were too fast, but we had several living in our room. Did you know that geckos made noise? Well, neither did we! For the first two nights, I thought that there might be a monkey screeching outside our window (no, no monkeys), only to discover that they were lizards living in our room and bathroom. Holy cow, those things are LOUD (not very fun being startled in the middle of the night, but we did get used to it).

Thankfully, we didn't have lizards this big living in our abode! (about a foot or more)

The view outside our door, which led to this (oh yes!).

The walkway to the "main alley" towards the lobby.

These lovely flowers greeted me to and from our room.

The walk to the main pavilion & lobby, which led to the downstairs restaurant, pool, and also the beach further down from our room.

Joe and I couldn't get enough of this delicious mango! We ate it about 3 times a day!

(only to come home & buy some today at Trader Joe's - though it's not the same)

We used bottled water for everything, except showering. Between our bottles, my small Norwex cloths (I so highly recommend for travel!), and some hydrogen peroxide that I packed, we managed to feel cleaner with hand-washing in our room.

The lobby was our regular spot to refill our water bottles. All team members were issued Nalgene bottles at arrival. These were our lifeline! Clean, refreshing water was constantly in supply for all resort guests and PR team members. We don't realize our water consumption until we see the gallons and gallons of water in containers that are supplied right in front of us. Water containers were provided at all of our work sites. Clean ice was a treat available at the resort in the morning & at dinner and at the construction site. I usually drink room temperature water, but I really appreciated the cold ice when I could get it!

We had several birthdays to celebrate during the week! So fun, especially for the kids.

Mike, the owner/manager, loved blowing his whistle. When he did, we knew an announcement was coming.

Jonathan's was the third birthday

Emma had the second birthday

Mike is the owner, on the left.

Carly had the first birthday of the week

Sunday - June 21, 2015
Day 2

Happy Father's Day!

We bought Joe a Mission Enduralcool T-shirt to go along with his towel for the worksite.

( www.missionathletecare.com/‎ )

Sunday morning church service - it was pretty special. We gathered for worship at the PR construction site under these tents. This was the beginning of Matt & Andrew Jones' dream for breaking ground in new territory. We were really honored to be a part of it! The PR site is in the middle of a neighborhood and several locals, especially children, gathered around and joined us. Take note, only the tents were on site today.

Monfred, one of our translators. He was also a regular with our evangelism teams.

Tim, our fearless leader. :)

Matt Jones, one of the founding PR brothers

Laura with some new friends. I really enjoyed spending time with Laura & her daughter Annamarie.

Emily chatting with friends. Kiersten & her sibs were a great part of our team. Love how God uses children to bless!

We broke up into groups after church to begin discussing plans for the different teams during the week. This was followed by meeting new friends, then lunch. Daily lunch at the site was mac 'n cheese and/or PBJ. Thankfully, I brought along my own GF bread, so that I could eat PJB. By the end of the week, I was sneaking ham, lettuce, and tomato from the breakfast buffet for my sandwich, along with a couple of hard-boiled eggs for needed protein. (shhh, don't tell)

The kids loved seeing photos of themselves. Some of them could practically work my photo camera better than I could!

One of the really difficult things was to eat daily in front of a hungry audience. That was so hard. I had to remind myself that we needed to be nourished and watered to be able to serve. :(

Since I couldn't eat mac n' cheese, I ended up with a craving. Joe just bought me Amy's GF, DF, SF version at Giant last night. Doesn't sound appetizing, but it's actually pretty good & meets my comfort food craving! :)

Scenes from the construction site and the surrounding community.

Okay, let's talk about the "toilets". Our lunch site, adjacent to the work site (aside of the orphanage), was at a sweet neighbor's property named Marselle (?)Wish I had gotten a photo of this kind man. This dear, old man also allowed us to use his "facility". I am glad that we had real toilets in our rooms. The things that we take for granted. We really do live a very luxurious life!