Greetings Family + Friends,
This is Brock Welch in front of the keyboard this evening. As Brittany mentioned, each of us will take a turn writing to you sharing our: thoughts, feelings, experiences and gratitude for your continued support.
With that said, I/We want to thank you for your prayers and willingness to share this experience with us. Our hearts are full with your support.
We arrived safely to Haiti this afternoon with no travel issues or hold ups. Upon arriving we took a “shuttle” or well…. a caged vehicle called a Tap-Tap to our living quarters for the week. It is very clear that driving regulations are different than what we are used to-I will go as far to say there really are no regulations or rules when it comes to driving.
Upon an interesting yet safe ride to the living quarters, I was surprised to see how nice the building we are staying in is in comparison to the surrounding area and truly the expectations I had formed. We are staying in a gated complex surrounded by what can only be described as slums- crumbling infrastructure, roaming goats, wandering citizens and extreme poverty. While that was an expectation that I had, it very much has a different emotional feel being here and seeing it firsthand.
While unpacking and settling in the “Mothers” of the house prepared a Haitian meal for dinner. The meal consisted of Rice, vegetables, chicken, meatballs, and fried plantains-It was a wonderful meal.
After dinner, we had free time for the remainder of the night, starting with our devotional time. We each had the opportunity to share our initial feelings, areas of nervousness and excitement. The consensus “word of the day” was chaos; from the moment of our arrival things have been disorderly and hard to understand. From the ride to the house to the roaming goats to the wandering citizens there is a feel of chaos or disorganization. Truly a different world than what we are accustomed to.
From there we took a short walk to the “Elite club” which again is in the dead center of the slums. The hotel is gated and we were greeted by an armed guard, whose purpose can only be assumed to decide who is fit to enter the hotel grounds. From the outside you wouldn’t know, but inside the gates this is a fancy hotel with a pool, restaurant and all the fixtures you would expect at a U.S. hotel. Sitting within the walls of this “swanky” hotel there was a feeling of guilt knowing what was just outside the walls- a rocks throw away. In our first day in Haiti- here we are sitting at this hotel named the “elite club”. I imagine that many the people in the surrounding area have never been in this hotel and have likely been denied entrance many times before. Knowing that sure makes you feel undeservedly privileged.
This feeling will likely be even more apparent in the following days to come. Tomorrow our day will be dedicated to providing water to the surrounding slums. We have been told this will likely be the most challenging day during our trip from an emotional standpoint- knowing that, comes with a mixed sense of nervousness and excitement.
Thank you again for your thoughts, prayers and willingness to share our experiences! You will hear from Karissa tomorrow!
- Brock Welch
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