We’re going on a trip…

So it begins…again!

With Geraldine, Cassandra, Paulin, Dejon, (and Watson, who was waiting for us in Haiti) as this year’s team leaders, we were on our way to Haiti from Miami International Airport.

We arrived in Cap Haitien around 1 p.m. Upon arrival, we were greeted at the airport by a band playing a welcoming tune.

Once we went through customs and collected our respective luggage, we were greeted outside by Maxime, a helpful friend of KORE. Maxime led us to our bus and we were ready to go. Eventually, we found Watson just around the corner from the airport.

We stopped to grab lunch and pick up some supplies such as water that had been shipped ahead of time. Now, we were ready to officially make our way to Saint Michel de l’Atalaye.

The bus ride was much longer than we anticipated. Instead of a two-hour ride, it took closer to 4 hours. What we failed to realized was that because we were on a bus, instead of an SUV (as Geraldine and Cassandra had traveled last year to get to Saint Michel de l’Atalaye) we couldn’t move as fast and maneuver in certain areas just like a regular car could.

Nonetheless, when we arrived to the house, we were met by Allison and Brandon who live in the area and work with Living Hope.

The group later settled in and freshened up for dinner.

During dinner, Geraldine, Watson, and Cassandra began the meeting to discuss preparations for the week and to layout what was to be expected during our stay. After the meeting, we had some free time for the group to do as we pleased. While a couple of the volunteers went to bed, others decided to stay up. One of the volunteers, Andy, taught a couple of the other volunteers how to play spades. Those who stayed up listened to Konpa music, with a couple of them were dancing.

By 11:30 p.m. everyone was in bed.

-Amanda Muana