I was swimming in the ocean to cool down after one of our
many clinics in Haiti. The mountains can be easily seen from the water.
They are breathtaking, truly one of the most beautiful things I have ever
seen. I commented to the other members of the team that I would love to
see those mountains up close someday.
The entire trip continued smoothly, and we accomplished so
much. Our last day was scheduled to be a free day in order to give the
team members an opportunity to experience Haiti beyond our typical work sites. But what started out as an “easy” day suddenly turned into a very long
day.
First, part of our team got stuck in bumper to bumper
traffic heading back to where we stay because the road was closed due to a
group of Haitians demonstrating—they were unhappy with some political issues.
So the team members turned around and headed back toward the city. Along the
way they had a close encounter with a carjacking, but they eventually got back
safe and sound to Port-au-Prince to meet up with the rest of us.
So we decided to go the long way around through the
mountains to get back to where we were staying. This trek was 4 and half
hours instead of the usual 2 that we were accustomed to, but I was happy we
went on this long drive. Our entire team got to view some of the most
beautiful parts of Haiti. When people think of Haiti, they often think of
hot and densely populated areas with a lot of concrete. But up in the
mountains it was the complete opposite. It was cool and the people were
spread out, not on top of each other. The landscape was covered by beautiful
plants that had not been cut down for fuel.
Halfway through the trip I remembered the comment I had made
in the water. While I don’t believe that God made all of those bad things
happen, I do believe that he used them to teach me a lesson—no matter how
hard I plan, things out of my control will happen. The beautiful country side
was a way for me to find peace in what had happened.
Haiti is a place that is improving. The love that I have for
the people there grew even more on this trip.
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