27 April - Cap-Haitien Haiti to Santiago Dominican Republic
Saturday, April 27, 2013 – Well, OK, last night and this
morning I really yearned for more reliable electricity. The generator ran for a
few hours last night as usual, but before the water tank was full, something
failed and suddenly the pump and all the upstairs lights stopped. In spite of
Jim’s and Steve’s best attempts, there was no solution found so we stayed in
the dark and went into water conservation mode. I managed to shower in the dark
and wash my travelling pants by standing on them in the shower, but we gave up
on packing. We thought, wrongly as it transpired, that the sun would give
enough light for us to pack this morning. We ended up hanging our headlamps
from the fan blades and putting up our standing flashlight. If there was
anything in a dark corner of the room, it was left behind. Everyone made it to
the kitchen by about 6:20 and Mary served us oatmeal, coffee and bananas which
she had prepared in the dark. Pastor Thony said a grace, thanked us for coming
and reminded us that the future is the children, and that if we want to help,
that is where it should be directed. We wished Mary a fond farewell and boarded
the truck for the last time. It had rained overnight, so we all got damp from
the benches. Pastor Thony delivered us to the bus station and we exchanged blessings
before he left us there. It was a slow process getting through the paperwork
and finally boarding the bus and we pulled out about 20 minutes late with hot
breakfast boxes and cold water bottles having been distributed.
Our route took
us along the harbour front, which looked great until we came to the place where
all the garbage was washed up. Then past the busy market where I’m sure I saw
stuff from our Florida rummage sales, for sale. After about 90 minutes we
reached the border. At the Haitian exit point we got off the bus and handed our
breakfast boxes into eager waiting hands, then stood in line to surrender our
passports and got back on the bus. After crawling through the heavily-secured
border area, the bus pulled up in front of a warehouse. The attendant on the
bus gathered our Dominican Republic documents and we all gathered all our
luggage and went into the warehouse. After a cursory inspection of our bags we
reloaded them and ourselves into the bus, and then waited…until finally the
attendant reappeared and gave back everyone’s passport. She couldn’t face
trying our names so just handed all 9 Canadian passports to Leon to deal with.
We were on our way again. On the DR side of the border things are better
-- crops, animals, houses, roads. There
are no high cement-block walls and razor wire around each property. More
flowers, a bit less garbage, nicer vehicles. Somewhat more orderly traffic. In
Santiago we stuffed ourselves and our gear into 3 cabs (we left so much behind,
why do we still have so much? A mystery.) At the hotel we were all given
upgraded rooms from what we had last week and we feel like kings and queens. We
met for a late lunch and long conversation about the past week. We’ve agreed to
get together in a couple of weeks, when we have had time to absorb all the
Haiti experience and agree on a project recommendation for Tansley. I know I
have lots of ideas and I’m sure everyone else does too, but we need to pray and
ponder before we can be sure.
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