Day 5

What a shock.  The day began as it had the previous days; the groups split up, one to the wall and the other to the church.  I went with the group to the church but instead went on an adventure with my dad transporting supplies to a nearby port that would go to help build a school on the island of La Gonav, which is about 5 miles from the mainland of Haiti.  Both groups ended early so that we could witness what a Haitian market day looked like.  Food was laid out on dirty blankets on dusty roads.  We traveled through the meat section of the market and quickly lost our appetites.  Flies swarmed everywhere which went seemingly unnoticed by the men and women that sat and tried to sell us goat hearts, and the butt of a pig.  Thousands of people were gathered in little wooden tents all selling fruit and meat to the locals.  At one end of the market was a mountain of charcoal, packed in bags and ready to ship to other parts of Haiti.  We learned that Haiti was at one point 95% forest and because of the deforestation is now down to 5% forest.  Wood is now being taken from La Gonav to be shipped to the mainland and made into charcoal.  When we finished our tour of the market we made our way back to the bus where it promptly died.  It was a patience learning moment.  All of us were hot, sweaty and hungry and we were stuck in the market without a means of returning to the compound.  Through prayer and quick thinking by one of our team leaders, the bus was fixed and we eventually drove home.  Our meal was a classic Haitian meal; rice and beans, plantains, goat, Haitian chicken, bread fruit, and a special Haitian sauce.  We again played basketball and swung on the swings until it was time for devotions.  We finished our day tired and drained but hopeful and happy.