Many of you have been asking some great questions about our upcoming year in Haiti (and maybe some of you have had the same questions but been too afraid to ask) so here are some more FAQ's, haiti style.
1. What will you be doing?
2. What about the kids? Are they excited? Where will they go to school?
3. Are there really tarantulas there?
4. What will you eat?
5. How will you communicate?
Here are some answers... hopefully good ones :)
1. We will be working with a Haitian organization called Nehemiah Vision Ministries (www.nehemiahvisionministries.org). This organization's vision is to "arise and build" the people of Haiti to the point that each individual can become part of the solution instead of part of the problem. NVM transforms lives through education (they run a school of about 500 students in Chamburn), basic living needs (food distribution and children's home), healthcare (onsite medical clinic and hospital), and spiritual development (large and growing church in Chambrun). This organization was birthed out of Campus Crusade for Christ but is its own entity.
Our specific job will be to facilitate all of the short term mission trip teams that come to Haiti through NVM. NVM typically hosts about a trip a week (sometimes multiple teams at once) and because of recent new partnerships we have acquired, this could increase. We will handle all the details of hosting a team like coordinating their projects, providing ground transportation, interpreters, agendas, and debrief sessions daily.
Because we will be fully immersed in the Haitian culture, we know there will be a cultural learning curve. Fortunately we have both traveled quite a bit and are fairly adaptable to other cultures. But, we have no doubts this will be a HUGE learning experience. Fortunately we will beworking for a wonderful man, the founder of NVM, by the name of Pastor Esperandieu Pierre. We also have a team of talented people around us here in the states that will act as Team Coordinators to help in all the details of preparing short term trips to come to Haiti.
Of course we will also be busy living! We have three kids, a dog, a marriage, and a house to manage and enjoy!
2. In short, the kids are pumped! Well, two of them anyway. Sitota really has no idea what is going on. His world is full of new things and learning anyway and he is such an adaptable little 2 year old. Those of you who know him, know that his personality is such that he will adjust well to nearly any situation. Isabel and Sydney are very excited about the whole move. Isabel can't wait to climb up a mountain and Sydney is just happy that mommy doesn't have to go to work anymore :) Isabel and Sydney will be home-schooled for the year. The school onsite, while great, is only in Creole and the English speaking schools are too far away and too expensive.
3. Yes. There are. Lots of them. Big hairy tarantulas. Oh, I am not excited about this at all BUT I have been reading up (thanks to Barry) about them and have learned they are pretty docile fellas. Typically they don't attack unprovoked and even if you are bitten, the bite isn't as bad as I was imagining. In fact, the brown recluse spider which we have around here in Indy (oh I have seen them in my yard) are far more dangerous than tarantulas. All that to say, they are there and I am sure we will see them. I still won't like it but I will learn to live with it. Anything big and hairy with that many legs is just freakish.
4. Food. Thats about it. There is a cafeteria on site in Chambrun (for all the teams and workers that are there daily) that we will eat at sometimes. We will also have a tiny kitchenette in our house with a fridge, microwave, toaster oven, and double burner. I have heard that some food is extremely expensive (can you say $7 for a box of cereal) and other things fairly cheap (mangos... yum). There are NO fast food places (which is fine with me) and few restaurants as you think of them in the United States. We aren't really too concerned with the food other than the perceived lack of chocolate that I like to eat daily here in the states.
5. That will be tricky. Most of the people we will work with (NVM staff, translators, teams) will speak English. Everyone else speaks Haitian Creole. I'm learning, slowly. Structurally the language is fairly simple. Just need to memorize a bunch of words and use them appropriately! For me the hardest part is understanding the language when native speakers speak it. It is spoken quickly and mumbled together. Many words are contracted together. I think it may be kind of like learning English in London then coming to rural Kentucky to hear it spoken.
M'ap aprann. Li fasil men mwen gen yon chemen long yo ale. (I am learning. It is easy but I have a long way to go). Yeh, I had to show off a little :)
Hope that was informative. Please send us any questions you may have. We can't do this without support and want to be as open and honest in this process as possible. We need you!
Orevwa! Jiskaske pwochen fwa.
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