Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Day 1

It's been awhile since I've posted, but since I never finsihed sharing my trip to Haiti with you, I thought I would post some more pictures from the August trip.
We spent our first evening in Port-au-Prince and left for Cotes-de-Fer the next morning before dawn. Tents remain everywhere in Haiti...  One cannot begin to imagine what life for the Haitian people is like.  On the main highway, tents line up, one against the other as far as the eye can see...

Within the hour our truck had a problem, a bad bearing... Lee, our wonderful driver from Water For Life pulled the truck into a tight alleyway where the repair was made and we were on our way!

It was early and Port-au-Prince was bustling with activity!  People swept debris with brooms, but the devastation from the earthquake was so great...  Rubble from collapsed buildings can't be removed with brooms!

The city is an odd juxtaposition of gray rubble, trash and bright colors.

After three hours, we were still driving through masses of people and poverty. 

The children looked curiously at us, but almost always smiled.  Some children and adults even waved.

It was exciting to me to be back in Haiti!

Hope For A Village, Haiti

Here is "the team"... and the wonderful Loulou and Madame Loulou, who were the most generous and gracious people.  They opened their hearts and their home to us!

There were 10 of us: a doctor, several nurses and paramedics.  We came from Pennsylvania, Missouri and Florida.

Arriving on different flights, we met up with each other at the home of Madame Loulou's sister in La Plaine, Port-au-Prince.  For our safety, we spent the night there, rather than journeying to Cotes-de-Fer in the dark.  Our adventure began with a simple Haitian dinner followed by a night under the Haitian stars.  Some slept on the roof others on the porch!

The picture on the left is the rooftop in Cotes-de-Fer...  I don't have a picture of the rooftop in Port-au-Prince!

Haiti - Hope For a Village

After 23 years I finally returned to a country that touches my heart and soul like no other.  Over the next few weeks I'll be posting pictures from my trip to Cotes de Fer, a village in the south of Haiti.

We left early in the morning, flying out of Philadelphia...

There were thunderstorms between Philly and Virginia, but after a few bumps, it was beautiful!

A perfectly clear blue sky...

As we flew into Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, thousands of tents could be seen from the sky...