Jacmel, a little village that starts with a B, water pumps, cisterns, and God's Beautiful Creation

I was invited to go to Jacmel for the weekend with someone and since my plans to go to the beach with some friends didn't pan out I decided to jump on the opportunity. The person I was going with was going to work and since he's an engineer, I thought it would be boring smart people stuff and I'd spend most of my time sitting and reading or something. I sure was wrong!

We had to leave the house by 5am because we had a three hour drive to Jacmel and then another two hours to where the project was. I didn't feel like packing or showering Friday night, so my morning came with a cold shower wake up at 4am followed by overpacking and loading up the truck with tile, a door, wood, paint, clothes, food for us, and some items to give away. Based on what we were taking I still thought it would be boring, but I wanted to see Jacmel.

At 5:15am we passed the first person walking on the side of the road not too far from where I live. In my mind it was still four am and I wondered why they were up already. Then I wondered if they even slept last night or were able to get a good nights sleep ever. Haiti has changed the way I think and I hope I never lose that.  By 5:30am when we were on main roads tap taps were full and streets were bustling. If they had caught a tap tap by 5:30am, what time would they have had to get up to start their day? The sun wasn't going to come up for another half hour, but yet these people had already started their long and busy Saturday. Usually I'm still sleeping for another hour, but these people had probably already been up for at least an hour... what dedication.

The drive to Jacmel was beautiful. I love seeing mountians and this journey was full of them. I also saw more green than I've seen since I've been to Haiti, its great to know that grass grows in some parts here. We saw farmers getting the ground ready for planting becasue rainy season is about to start. They don't use tractors and other farm machinery, they still use the good old hoe and human power. Yes, it still exists and it was the job of many many people early Saturday morning. On our trip I also saw 8 year old boys walking on the side of the road carrying machetes--8 years old! I think of Emily, the 9 year old I used to live with and I sure wouldn't let her handle one of those... actually, I'd have to think twice about letting me use one, but they were doing their job. I'm sure thier responsibility was to bring some food home for their family to eat and/or sell. I saw grown men carrying heavy loads of all kinds of things barefoot. Walking along the semi gravel/dirt/stones/ who knows what roads--barefoot! These people never cease to amaze me.

I ended up falling asleep for the last leg of the drive into Jacmel. I never thought I would ever be able to sleep in a car in Haiti because I have trouble sleeping on them when my head isn't jerked every which way from pot holes, rocks, turns, etc., but two hours of sleep the night before must not have been enough for me. When we got to Jacmel we stopped at a house the guy I was with was building from scratch, dropped off the supplies, ate some food, picked up two more guys, and heading on an even bumpier but far more beautiful journey.

Two hours later, after driving up and down mountains we ended up in a little village that starts with a B but I can never remember what it is called. We went through villages that seemed like they see very few cars and as we honked the horn to alert people we where there (going around curves up the mountain or to pass someone) the people walking or on donkeys nearby would turn and look. It was so much fun to watch the different expressions when they saw a white person (I was the only one in the truck). Some would just stare, some would smile and try to get me to smile or wave back (this was mostly the kids), some didn't take a second look, and some tried to make it look like they weren't staring. It seemed as if these people never saw white people ever. The view was also gorgeous. Mountains, trees, grass, and at the end the carribean. Breath takingly beautiful. I could not help but thank God for his incredible art work. As I was admiring the scenery I noticed that all of the Haitians were going about their business, I'm sure they do know realize how blessed they are to have views like this. They've been here their whole lives and the scenery is nothing to them. For me, coming from flat Ohio, this was more beautiful than words can express. In fact, I didn't even take pictures because I knew my camera would not take pictures that would do justice to what I was seeing.

Once we got to where we were going (we had picked up two more people along the way) we got out of the truck near a small stream of water. I still had no idea what we were doing as we trecked along that stream to a small cement building. Inside the building was a pump they turned on. They were talking in words I couldn't understand about what to do and what needed to be done and I sat there and watched. Later, I found out that this pump would be pumping water to the nearby village (the one that starts with a B). I was definately more interested now as we headed to another point to check on some pipes. We kept moving and were able to journey through the creek/stream to other points in this system they created. It was a beautiful view and the cool creek water on my feet was very refreshing. I got to see where they had created a cistern and other spots where this spring was letting water out. We followed the stream all the way to the source which was a beautiful waterfall. I was so hot that I almost went under it clothes and all, but instead just stood there and admired more of God's creation.

The way back was a little different as we went up and down trails that were barely there to follow the pipes and make sure everything was working well. It was still beautiful to see and watch and soon the ocean was in view after a clearing from some trees. Absolutely beautiful and so inviting. It turns out, these five guys created this system from scratch, building the cement building and the three cement cisterns, drilling holes in the side of a mountain and under roads to get the piping to go through, checking up on it to make sure things were working, and spending much time and money on this project. Three of the guys travel five hours to get there and two of them were local. This is a true example of Haitians giving back to their own people. I was throughouly impressed with the creation of this system and all the work and skill that went into making it.

As we were driving away the ocean came into view again. We were so close yet too far away and no matter how inviting it looked I couldn't go swim in it. I wondered if that's how the hungary people of Haiti feel. As they pass by the markets or street vendor, so hungary but unable to buy any food. I wondered if this is how they felt when they saw someone else eating food and enjoying the company around them when they can't remember the last time they ate an actual meal. I wondered how it would feel to have food so close you could reach out and touch it, but know there was no way you could have some yourself. I wondered...

We traveled up to another cistern and while there some girls came up and after I realized they were staring at me I looked at them with a big smile and then we waved at each other. I walked away from the guys and went and talked to them. They had said no white people come there and liked seeing me. We were able to give them toothbruses, toothpaste, and a jump rope to share. Those girls were cute!

We went down the road to one of the guys that was helping with the project's house and at the last of our bread and peanut butter we had packed. He brought out two chickens for us to take back with us. It was sad to see them tied up so they don't escape, but how else could we get them back to PAP? If we end up eating that chicken, I better not know it was that one because I enjoyed petting him and calming him as he was scared in the back of the truck. Anyway, we heading back to Jacmel, dropped the other two guys off and went to the beach for dinner. By this time the sky was over cast, the ocean breeze was very present, and it was getting dark. My blood has thinned since being in Haiti and even though I'd love to take a swim in the ocean it was too cold for me at that moment. We ended up eating fresh bone in fish (you know, the ones that stare back at you-- ya I was glad it was too dark to really see so I didn't have to see it staring back), fried plantains, and pikliz. This was my first time eating this kind of fish and the two guys I was eating with kept laughing at me while offering tips on how to eat it. Everything was really good and then we heading around Jacmel to meet some friends of the person I was with. We went to a couple houses and then to a place that will soon be an orphanage, but right now is a church and a feeding center. I got to meet some other Americans and sit in on a practice worship session for the next morning. It was great to worship after seeing the beautiful creations I had seen that day. We then headed to someone's house to shower and go to bed. It had been a long day and I was exhausted.

This morning when I got up, no one was anywhere to be found so I pulled out a book and started reading it. It was definately one I needed to read with encouragement that applies to my life right now. I picked that book up on a whim before we left so God knew I needed to read it :) Then we packed up our overnight things and went to search for some Haitian soup. I guess this soup is only made on Sunday mornings and on New Year's Day (when Haiti celebrates its independence from France). The first place we went was out already and we took the very last bowl at the other place we went. It really must be a specail treat! It was Haitian pumpkin soup and reminded me of a mixture between an American noodle soup of some sort and Pot Roast. It had the pumpkin/squash broth, chunks of beef, a couple of different kinds of noodles, and vegetables like carrots and potatoes. It was good, but definately different. We then headed back to PAP and I took in all of the scenary one last time as we drove. In parts of PAP we can see mountains in the distance, but we can only see up. While we live on a mountain, its is more urbanized and doesn't seem like its on a mountain at all. We stopped along the side of the road and got a great deal on Shaddochs (a really good fruit that is like a mixture between grapefruit and oranges and makes amazing juice) and later stopped for some good tasting mangoes (I know because I've already broke into one of those.

This weekend allowed me to experience a lot of firsts, take in God's gorgeous creation, and see a lot of Haiti I had never seen before. I also learned a lot about Haiti's history and culture as well as about springs, cisterns, pumps, and water systems. It was a lot of fun and I'm sure glad I had the chance to tag along!

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