Haiti.

So, tomorrow a group from Millbrook is headed to Port au Prince, Haiti, to work in tent cities and remove rubble with YWAM. I thought to myself, "guess its time to revive the ol' blog."So here goes.At first I was a bit hesitant to jump on the train to Haiti, not wanting to do something just because it was the "cool thing" to do right now as far as missions go. I'd heard thoughts about the resources being so sparse that only people who can provide the greatest good (doctors, dentists, construction, media) should go there to take up those resources. Who was I? However, after prayer and consideration, I decided to go. Partly because I wanted to. Mainly because "little is much when God is in it." In that case, I've been empowered to bring to the people of Haiti what they need more than a doctor or aid worker could provide - the Gospel of a loving God. It also helped to see Anderson Cooper say that, at the six month mark (July 15), aid to Haiti seemed dramatically slowed, almost forgotten. That's my cue! [Anderson Cooper is welcome to support my decision any day of the week! :)]
Yesterday I began to pack. (That's one clue that I'm excited - I packed before the last minute!) Currently, a borrowed hiking pack from my brother (thanks, bro!) is filled to the brim with things to last me eleven days. With that done, I decided it might be a good idea to spend today learning about some of the quirks of Haitians I might run into, and just to generally inform my faithful readers of the general country run-down.
Keep in mind that this info is from a website that appeared legit and is probably from info written pre-earthquake. I thought that would give us a better idea of general country welfare before the tragedy.
Some things I found interesting:

• Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere. "In most rural areas, the average family of six earns less than $500 per year." Also, "There is less than one doctor per eight-thousand people."
• They export mangoes and drugs. "Recently, coffee has yielded to mangoes as the primary export... Haiti has become a major transshipment point for illegal drug trafficking."
• Snobs there aren't that much different than here in the States. "Social status is well marked at all levels of society by the degree of French words and phrases used in speech, Western dress patterns, and the straightening of hair." [The straight hair thing was funny to me]
• I've heard about bad infrastructure, but I didn't know it had been so bad for so long: "The infrastructure is in a very poor condition. International efforts to change this situation have been under way since 1915, but the country may be more underdeveloped today than it was one hundred years ago."
• Haitians are good at sharing: "If a child is given a piece of fruit or bread, he or she must immediately begin breaking the food and distributing it to other children." (How cool would it be to see this in action?)
• Haitians are fun: "Haitians have a predilection for decoration and bright colors... [S]econd hand U.S. school buses called kamion... are decorated with brightly colored mosaics and given personal names such as kris kapab (Christ Capable) and gras a dieu (Thank God)." What awesome names for a bus! I especially like Christ Capable. When I first read it it made me think that the bus was able to carry Christ to His next stop. But I'm thinking it probably means that Christ IS capable. :)

This brings me to the country's religion, which is, of course, good for me to be informed about before visiting. It seems that most of the country has created a mix of Catholicism, Protestant beliefs, and voodoo. This leads to an interesting discussion about the afterlife:

Beliefs concerning the afterlife depend on the religion of the individual. Strict Catholics and Protestants believe in the existence of reward or punishment after death. Practitioners of voodoo assume that the souls of all the deceased go to an abode "beneath the waters," that is often associated with lafrik gine ("L'Afrique Guinée," or Africa). Concepts of reward and punishment in the afterlife are alien to vodoun. [those who practice voodoo]

It's interesting to note that some believe that the souls basically join together in what appears to be a concept of Africa. Hopefully I'll get a chance to talk to someone about this and understand that belief more fully.

Finally, the most exciting thing I read about was how the people acted among each other. (Of course the psychology student would enjoy interaction!)

• When entering a yard Haitians shout out onè ("honor"), and the host is expected to reply respè ("respect"). Visitors to a household never leave empty-handed or without drinking coffee, or at least not without an apology. Failure to announce a departure, is considered rude. (So, if the next time you see me I shout "honor!" you know what to say.)

• People feel very strongly about greetings, whose importance is particularly strong in rural areas, where people who meet along a path or in a village often say hello several times before engaging in further conversation or continuing on their way. [How funny! "hello" "Hi" "hey" "hi there"...] Men shake hands on meeting and departing, men and women kiss on the cheek when greeting, women kiss each other on the cheek, and rural women kiss female friends on the lips as a display of friendship.
  

This man is blowing a conch to call the people to battle. An important symbol for Haitians.

• Young women do not smoke or drink alcohol of any kind except on festive occasions. Men typically smoke and drink at cockfights, funerals, and festivities [I thought that these three events were interesting to point out...] but are not excessive in the consumption of alcohol. As women age and become involved in itinerant marketing, they often begin to drink kleren (rum) and use snuff and/or smoke tobacco in a pipe or cigar [Get it old ladies!]. Men are more prone to smoke tobacco, particularly cigarettes, than to use snuff.

• Women and especially men commonly hold hands in public as a display of friendship; this is commonly mistaken by outsiders as homosexuality. Women and men seldom show public affection toward the opposite sex but are affectionate in private.

So, that's about it for my Haitian lesson. Hopefully you learned something about them, as I did. I hope to keep up at least short updates while I'm down there, but either way, you'll get the full story and pictures when I return. Thanks for reading, and I always appreciate prayers!