Day One

Kathryn Fuller
Aug 24, 2017 · 2 min read

“Ayiti”

We arrive to the steamy Port au Prince after 12 hours of travel…This is a little different than the gleaming Chicago that we left at 5 AM this morning. First impressions: a happy Caribbean band playing as we slog through customs, and an hour or two wait for our friend from Eben Ezer to come pick us up at the airport (we missed him by a half hour, and are painfully reminded of what it’s like to live without a smartphone). Someone finally shows up and we enjoy an awkwardly nice, big air conditioned car. Tinges of the buttery French language that we all know and love morphed into the brilliant and sing-songy creole make me excited.

Second impressions: the biggest piles of garbage you’ve ever seen; everywhere. Vibrantly painted trucks with people packed into them like sardines. Little stone houses with tin roofs. Hoards of people. Too many people to fit into the houses that we see. Goats, cows, horses-they are just as much at home as all of the humans. Sensory, emotional overload.

Third impressions: a long car ride through the country overwhelms our emotions even more, and we arrive at Eben Ezer Mission (our home for the next week) to the the biggest hugs and smiles and helpings of pasta I’ve ever seen. We munch on fried plantains and sip sweet passion fruit juice at a big table for dinner. Lots of unfamiliar faces, but we feel so welcomed.

“You are going to bring us light! Never ending!” jokes the pastor when we first meet him. That’s the plan.

On the ride from Port au Prince to Gonaives, Day One
On the ride from Port au Prince to Gonaives, Day One
Rice paddies on the way to Gonaives; the Western end of a major rice producing region called the Artibonite Valley. Rice has a long and ultimately unfortunate history in Haiti — what used to be a major part of their economy has become a commodity for which the country relies on imports (from: you guessed it- the US) rather than domestic production. This reliance equals drastic food insecurity. Read an enlightening article about it here

Zanmi Limye

Student led group with a vision to enhance the quality of life in rural Haiti through solar power

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Kathryn Fuller

Written by

Zanmi Limye

Student led group with a vision to enhance the quality of life in rural Haiti through solar power

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