The Long Trip to Ferrier

We left Waco at 3:00 on the afternoon of Saturday, March 6. From Waco, we drove to the airport in Austin where we flew to Houston, then to Ft. Lauderdale. After arriving in Florida at around midnight, we found a comfy spot on the floor to sleep for a few hours. Nobody got much sleep that night, largely due to a recording being repeated on the intercom every 15 minutes. But morning came soon, and we boarded a really really small plane and were in Haiti 3 hours later. This is the airport in Cap Haitian.

Even though we had been in Haiti only a few minutes, there were plenty of kids waiting outside the airport ready to be our friends. They even knew English! "My friend, my friend, give me one U.S. dollar." I don't think we ended up meeting their qualifications for friendship.

We rode a tap-tap for 3 hours to get to Ferrier (FERRY-A). Here is one of the towns we passed along the way. We saw many types of buildings on our journey. Here is Eddie Tucker, a senior at Baylor, admiring the beautiful Haitian landscape from the tap-tap.

Our Accomodations

We arrived in Ferrier around noon on Sunday. There were lots of kids playing in this field, just below where we stayed. They ran up the hillside and just stared at us for a while, and all we could do for the first few minutes was just stare right back at them. We didn't speak their language, so we couldn't really communicate with them. They were such happy children. A few of them wandered on up to where we were standing to get a closer look. Everybody seemed to be glad that we had come.

The women slept in the screened-in porch. Amelia had some problems with ants early in the week, and managed to talk Matt Lester out of his mosquito net.

It was important that we not drink a drop of the local water, even when brushing our teeth. Since used our own bottled water to brush our teeth, we didn't need a bathroom sink. This gave us the liberty to brush our teeth outdoors, which was a nice change.

The Orphanage

After unpacking and settling in a bit and eating a wonderful meal prepared by some of the Haitian women, we ventured over to the orphanage across town. On our way we made a few friends. We also found this guy who seemed to be having a little trouble with his shoe.

We arrived at the orphanage and the kids were all eating. But when they saw us coming, they bolted out of their seats and ran to us. They immediately grabbed on to us smothered us in hugs and kisses. They were meeting some of us for the first time, while being reunited with others after two years of separation.

The kids were fascinated by all the stuff we brought with us. They don't get to see cameras and watches very often, so they were quite interested. They even took an interest in Matt Craig's waterbottle. They particularly enjoyed seeing their pictures show up on the back of my camera. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 . And they also enjoyed taking pictures of me1 2

We spent a lot of time playing around at the orphanage. The kids love to be held. All of the kids are required to wear uniforms at school. Many of them can't afford them but they are allowed to go to school anyway.

Jana brought a bunch of art supplies for the kids to express their creativity. We also brought along some bubbles and frisbees. That was fun, but we had lots of spills :- (.

Although we did play around alot at the orphanage, it was not all fun and games. On rare occasions we were allowed to help with food preparation (shelling peas). The Haitians were very eager to cook for us to show their appreciation for us helping them. A large part of the day at the orphanage is spent preparing meals. Here, they are cooking a goat for us. Normally, low-class Haitians do not eat meat. We had meat at every one of our meals. We ate better than most Haitians.

This gentleman comes around the orphanage every now and then to help out.

This well is the orphanage's source of water. At night, the kids bathe themselves here. The pump is pretty fun--the first time. After that, it's pretty boring and tiresome.

I'm not sure how this boy's name is spelled, but it's pronounced DOE-DOE. He is quite a character. I remember him best for his resourcefulness. If found him with a small board and two nails. I'm not exactly sure what he was doing, but it looked to me like in his imagination he had turned this contraption into a car. He was pushing it around and around on the concrete and in the dirt, and never seemed to tire of it. I know as I kid I would have gotten bored (no pun intended) with a board and a couple of nails.

This is Stanley. It didn't take him long to notice his name on a Stanley saw we brought with us. We gave him the cardboard wrapper, and he carried it around with him for the rest of the week.

The girls loved to play with the older girls' hair. They're probably so good at it because they do this for each other every day, since they do not have parents to do it for them.

The Missionary

Fifteen years ago a gentleman named Mike came to Ferrier and began to educate the people, primarily in agriculture. His teaching was so successful that he ended up working himself out of a job. The ministry is now run by a Haitian named Mois. He teaches typing in this room.

The School

This is the view down the hill from where we staying, at the beginning of the week. This is also the construction site for a school being built with the assistance of World Hunger Relief. We helped work on this school throughout the week, with most of the work being done by the Haitians. Roughly half of the $850 we paid to go on the trip went to purchase supplies and hire local workers to assist in the construction. The only time they get supplies for this school is when we come and provide it for them. This is Jeff and Etta going to work bright and early Monday morning. This walk down the hill was the easiest part of the day.

Down at the construction site, we mixed concrete. Since there are no fancy machines in Haiti to mix it all up for us, we did it by hand. Here is the magical Haitian formula:

• 6 wheelbarrows of gravel
• 4 wheelbarrows of sand
• a bag of cement mix
• a barrel of water

It's amazing how long it takes to scoop up gravel with a shovel and stick it in a wheelbarrow. Come to think of it, no part of the process was very easy. We even had to haul the water down from the hill in buckets. Then when it was all ready, we took those buckets and filled them with the mixture and carried it up the hill. Of course, we did occasionally take a few breaks. The kids helped us have some fun on our breaks.

The Haitians have a different style of building than Americans. The foundation is only poured where the walls will go, so the floors in the rooms are just dirt.

After a long day of hard work, I'm still beautiful. (Please, nobody tell Mommy that those are my new pants with concrete all over them.)

End-of-the-Week Party

At the conclusion of our experience in Ferrier, we threw a party. All the kids from the orphanage came, as well as lots of other kids in town. The really dressed up for the occasion. The orphanage kids usually only leave the orphanage to go to school, so this was a pretty big deal for them. The little one-room schoolhouse was packed as Amelia and Etta worshiped the Lord with the kids in English, French, Creole, and Hebrew. They had lotsa fun singing. There were ensembles, duets, and even a few solos performed by the kids. These are the kids I sat with at the party 1 2 3

Unsorted Photos

Ramon bunked with us guys for a few days. He is was raised in the orphanage in Ferrier, and he went to the orphange in Gebear went he got older. He is now studying at a university in Haiti.

Matt Craig
Ferrier from the top of a hill 1 2 3
Pigs crossing the road

I'm still working on this, cuz I just got back a not too long ago. Please keep checking here until I have time to post all 130 pictures and accompanying commentary. I should be done by the end of the week. Thanks for visiting!