Posts in category Life

Surprise!

May19th
2013 26 Comments Written by Melissa

If you know Ryan or me very well, you’d know that we’re not the first people to want to hold someone else’s baby at a gathering, or to volunteer for nursery duty at church.  I’ve always said that I’m either having zero kids or four, leaning more towards zero.  In Haiti, literally everywhere you go, when you see a Haitian you’ve talked to before, they ask you, “Why don’t you have kids,” or “When are you going to have kids?”  My typical response is, “I have cats.”  And they laugh but continue to press on for more answers.

Sparing you the details, which if you know me well, you know that I am also not good at talking about subjects like this, Ryan and I suspected that we may… possibly … be expecting.  After putting if off for a few weeks, we decided to go buy a pregnancy test.  Now I didn’t want to get one from the Heartline Maternity Center because I wasn’t ready for ANYONE to know.  And I couldn’t go to Delimart, our regular grocery store, because every time we go there, all the cashiers ask us when we will have kids, so they would have FREAKED out!  So we found some obscure store and pulled up on our motorcycle.

Ryan, being the gentleman that he is, decided that he needed to stay out and “watch the bike” rather than going in with me on this dreaded trip.  Thanks husband :-D  So I go in to the pharmacy and ask for a “bagay pou tcheke si ou ansent”  (thing to check if you’re pregnant).  After repeating myself a few times, the man said, “Pregnancy test?”  I guess I could have just used English.  So he gave me one, and I concealed it well in the bag and we zipped home on the moto.

Well, after taking that test, and then going back to the same place and buying another one the next day (from the same man who remembered me), the tests came back POSITIVE!  CRAZY!!!!  We were (and still are) a bit in shock, but are also super excited.  It’s unbelievable to me how neither of us ever really thought we’d have kids, but as soon as we found this out, it was pure joy!

Not really sure what to do next, I called my friend Melissa who has lived in Haiti about half her life and is a nurse/midwife.  Her and her husband just moved to the States, however, her husband happened to be back here needing to work a few weeks still.  He is an OBGYN, and had a shift at the hospital the next day!  She said we could go in for a sonogram.  Thank you Lord!

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 So it would be our first experience in a Haitian hospital, and we had no idea what to expect.  We were pleasantly surprised, as it was neat and clean.  He met us with a huge smile and congratulations.  I got on the exam table and he started the sonogram.  At this point I still had doubts that this was actually happening and we were really pregnant.  But the first second he started it, he said, “Yep, there it is.”  Aaaahhhh!  It was crazy.  And so cool.  There’s actually something in there!  And moving around!

So, God willing, Ryan and I will add another member to our family mid-November.  I can’t believe I just wrote that sentence, but I am finally convinced that it’s true.  We are excited for the next part of this journey, and wanted to share our news with you!

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Family, Haiti    , , ,

3 Mind-Blowing Learnings About Haitians

Mar3rd
2013 2 Comments Written by Ryan

These are some points I recently read in African Friends and Money Matters by David Maranz.  The 3 bullet points are a summary of about 10 pages.  I also replaced African with Haitian since we are in the mindset of Haiti.  The Haitians here today were originally brought over as slaves from Africa and you find many similarities between the two cultures.

 

1. Compliments are frequently given indirectly in the form of a requests for gifts and are often formulated as questions.

Examples are: “Why don’t you give me your blouse?” Or “Give me your pants.”

These mean that the blouse and pants are really nice.  Typical compliments and acceptable responses are like these:

“I like your shirt.”

Response:

  • “I will give it to you when I take it off,”
  • Or better yet, “When it has a little brother I will give it to you,” meaning, “When I have another I’ll give it to you.”

The responses imply that they will give it to the person, yet really they have no intention of doing so!  Haitians understand those responses as replies that mean No.  For the average foreigner the answers seem a bit dishonest, or at least deceptive.  To a Haitian it would be considerate of their feelings than would be a blunt “No, I won’t give it to you.”  It may seem strange that these compliments are given as requests, and the responses are given as though they were real requests.

The American may think that if these are complements, why not just answer with, “Thank you for the compliment, I’m glad you like my blouse.”  But this is not how the GAME is played.  The rules of the game dictate that the response to the compliment be given on two or three levels.

3 Levels

  1. Level 1 – The first level is to appear to take the request seriously as a request.
  2. Level 2 – To fend off the request with a polite and phony excuse as to why it will not be granted
  3. Level 3 – If the one receiving the compliment is capable of responding on this level, what most delights Haitians is to have a joke made out of it in a clever way.
  4. Better still – is to be humorous or clever and in addition mildly embarrass the other person.  Playing word games of this kind is one of the joys of conversation.

Example of Level 3

IMG_0848.JPGWhen a friend was hiking in the mountains she came upon a cattle herder watching over his animals.  He admired the watch she was wearing and asked her to give it to him.  She said, “Gladly, and I’ll take one of your cows in exchange.”  The man was incredulous, “One of my cows?”  She responded, “Yes, but since the watch doesn’t keep good time, you can give me a cow that limps.”  At that point they both began to laugh, and each went on their way content with having had a pleasant verbal exchange.

 

2. Westerners are not accustomed to compliments being formulated as requests, and easily misinterpret them and take offense.

It makes sense why we, foreigners, misunderstand compliments.  In our own culture compliments are virtually never given as requests.  In Haiti, foreigners are constantly approached by people requesting money, aid, loans, or real requests.  We can feel bombarded by these requests.  After time we can become conditioned to quickly react negatively to all requests, not understanding the subtle differences between importunity and compliment.  *I didn’t learn this until much later.  If only I had read this book the first month we came :-D .

Example of a request not expected to be granted

“Can you take me to your country?” Or, “Will you teach me English?” Certainly the asker would like to have these requests filled, but when the foreigner being addressed is almost a total stranger, he knows it is very unlikely.  I understand these requests to be conversational openers, attempts to establish a friendly relationship, and verbalization of the recognition that the person being addressed has access to resources, position, and power.

 

3.  Haitians prefer to apologize symbolically, rather than verbally, when they have made a mistake or feel personal shame.

Haitians want to maintain dignity, honor and similar personal qualities, and avoid shame and humiliation.  These are extremely important.  So direct apologies, which might be construed as admissions of weakness, insufficienty, or ineptitude are avoided, yet are obliquely admitted through symbolic apologies.

I have seen this at the guest house, when a worker has made a rather major mistake, I have looked for an apology or some kind of acknowledgment of fault or regret.  Usually in vain.

An example of a symbolic apology

When constructing, the head carpenter made a major mistake in the pitch of the roof he was building, requiring that wasted time, energy and money be spent to correct the error.  The construction supervisor, let the carpenter know of his displeasure with the situation.  The next morning, the carpenter brought several pineapples to the supervisor’s door.  Nothing was said but the implicit message was: “Let this gift put our relationship back on course.”

Conclusion

Some of these things you learn as you go along in Haiti.  It would have been great to have this book back when we first arrived.  This will sounds strange but the book is very dry and boring to an extent BUT it has fantastic insights into the depths of the Haitian/African culture.  Must read for anyone who is moving to Haiti.

 

 

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Haiti    ,

Melissa’s Parents Visit Haiti

Feb17th
2013 Leave a Comment Written by Ryan

Go back in time a couple weeks… We had Melissa’s parents here with us.
—————

IMG_20130205_124447.jpg Before we went OUT of Port we rode IN Port :-D   Not a typical adventure for most visitors but we went on a motorcycle ride to the Heartline property.  On the way we stopped at a small market and bought some Krem Maye – basically ice cream-ish thing made in the Dominican Republic. We decided that for their visit we would also take them outside of Port-Au-Prince and do some mountain climbing in the hills of Furcy, Haiti.  After Run For Life we were planning to take a few days off in Furcy but we delayed it a bit to wait for Melissa’s parents. Furcy is quite a trek especially for our little Mits :-D  After a few stops we did make it.

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Mountain Hiking

Once up the mountain we did some hiking and got to talk a bit with the locals.  The one kid in the picture was screaming after seeing us “blan” white people.  Poor kid.  I would be frightened too :-D

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After Melissa did some weights we found some what might have been OLD time TapTap’s pulled by horses!

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Beach Day with Workers

We did a beach day last year with the workers and this year we scheduled a day with them while Mel’s parents were here.  A friend of ours from church is starting a ministry out on this beach.  It’s very new and rustic as it had no bathrooms or running water.  He was soooo gracious to invite us to bring our workers.  It was a much needed time as our workers had been having some small quarrels between each other.  It was a good team-building :-D

Melissa’s dad had made up some games to play as well!  You will see one of the games was a sandcastle building contest.  The highest sandcastle wins!

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Haiti   

Break-in Update

Feb14th
2013 Leave a Comment Written by Ryan

What a week! We had Melissa’s parents here this last week. We are thankful that months prior to the break-in, Melissa’s parents had scheduled to come this last week. They came at a time which helped us take our mind off of the recent break-in.

We were so grateful for all of your prayers, words of encouragement, thoughts, and support. Even though we are far away – you are such blessings to our hearts! A few people gave extra money and our home church took up a second offering. I feel so much gratitude and humbleness -  I had tears from hearing how you, our friends and family, have helped.  You are truly with us as we endeavor to be the helping hands and feet in Haiti.

John, the pastor at our Haiti church, and his wife stopped by to talk through what happened, pray with us and give us some Bible verses we could post around the house.  They have had a few robberies themselves and were very so thoughtful to take time out of their day to visit.

John told us about a guy at church that used to do security.  Believe it or not… the next Sunday Melissa, unknowingly, sat down right next to the guy. He gave us some great advice on some small things that we can do to help secure our apartment.

We were able to put in our window a beeper (very loud beeper) that goes off if the window is opened.  It’s a noise maker that would wake us up and hopefully scare the intruder.

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I try to remember that we can take some steps for more security but the biggest thing we can continue is to take steps towards walking closer with Jesus.

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven…” – More

Haiti    , ,

The Thief Comes To …

Jan29th
2013 9 Comments Written by Ryan

 

Before this all happened, I was typing up our final conclusions of the Run For Life event.  Attempting to muster up enough energy to give a decent conclusion of the event.  It was the day after Barry finished the 315 mile run, and we had finally arrived back home after 17 days on the road.

Believing that we were safe…

I had dispersed the money needed for the run between different bags and backpacks during the event so if one item was stolen we would still have money in another location.  I was now consolidating all of that on our table back at our apartment.

After unpacking, I opened my laptop to begin loading the pictures of the run and to begin the final blog entry.

Realizing that we felt the weight of the two weeks catch up to us, my eye-lids became very heavy!  Thinking how wonderful it will be to sleep in our own bed.  I crash on the bed not long after 6pm.

During the night, I woke up.  Totally out of it and feeling disoriented, I said to Melissa, “Did you hear something?”  She half-awake said yes, but we didn’t think much of it.

Hearing noises is really a way of life down here in Haiti.  With our windows always open, our bedroom door always open, we can wake up many times during the night hearing music, dogs, roosters, crashing, banging, drums, shouting, or you-name-it!  It really isn’t unusual to hear something.  Why would tonight be any different.

Thinking nothing of the noise, I lay with my eyes closed, listening a little bit as I dose off to sleep again…

until the morning…

Melissa runs into the room terrified…

“Ryan… I think someone broke into our house last night.”

Confused as I was completely passed out from exhaustion from the days before.  I asked, “What?”

Melissa said, “Did you have your computer out on the table?”  I nodded while getting the sleep out of my eyes.  ”It’s gone.”

Of course, that got my attention.  I ruffled out of bed only a few feet to our table.  The same table that I had consolidated the money from the Run For Life.

“It’s all gone.” I said.  Melissa saw that the window to the balcony was open.  We immediately noticed the bars had been chiseled away from the cement and bent enough for a person to get in and out.

——

It’s a terribly uncomfortable feeling knowing that someone was in our  place, looking around and taking items.  Knowing they were feet away from our open bedroom.  Did they have a gun?  Did they have a knife?  Your thoughts seem to be never ending about the situation.  Even more so are my thoughts about what would I have done if I would have caught them taking the money and computer.

“The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” – John 10:10

It breaks my heart that money, to be used for good, was taken and rewarded to a thief.  It breaks my heart that justice is not immediately served.  It kills me to know that this person is still able to break into other peoples houses and take their things.

For one moment, do you remember the women in scripture who was caught in the very act of adultery.  The law of Moses said that she should be stoned.  The Pharisees, question Jesus about whether they should stone her.  He responds, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”  One by one, as the invitation settled in, the religious leaders moved away.  The eldest departed first, followed by the youngest, until Jesus and the women were left alone.  Then Jesus spoke the words that free a broken life: “Neither do I condemn you.  Go your way and from now on, sin no more.”

It strikes a chord in all of us.  The story shows Jesus’ mercy and compassion.  We could see ourselves as the bystanders holding a rock.  I can see myself, looking into the eyes of the thief that broke into our house.  Then we pause and can also see ourselves in the women – as sinners set free.

Scripture tells us that the wages of sin, any sin, is death.  We stand guilty before Jesus, who was without sin but bore its punshiment on the cross to bring us redemption.  Like the women, we have experienced the extravagant kindness and undeserved mercy of Christ.

When someone commits a sin that threatens my comfort level, I have to fight my tendency to resort to judgment.  It’s all too easy to forget my own sins, condemn the other person, and fail to extend the very grace I’ve received.

If we’re truly walking with Jesus, every day we will encounter individuals whose lives do not align with God’s Word. Our opportunity, however, is to act the way Jesus did.

If I have a chance to meet this criminal, I want to extend to him the grace, mercy and forgiveness that Christ gave us.  I am not saying it’s easy to type these words but if I say I follow Christ, I want to act like Christ.

Melissa and I have continued to pray for the person that broke-in.  We pray that he will find the joy in Christ that we have found.

As scary as the feeling is after knowing someone was in your place.  We have been so thankful for the prayers and support of family and friends.

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Haiti    , ,

3 Things I Can’t Get Off My Mind – Toilets, Cell Phones, and Second Hand Laptops

Dec7th
2012 Leave a Comment Written by Melissa

Recently I’ve had a few conversations with different workers at the guesthouse that I can’t seem to comprehend.  Even after being here for a bit of time, there are some things as Americans we just can’t relate to or understand – ever.

One of our workers is trying to fix up her house.  It’s just a little one or two room cement house, and it’s in rough shape.  Every time it rains hard, it floods with water and they have to take everything up off the floor so it doesn’t get soaked.  She told me yesterday that her family finally was able to purchase a toilet for the first time ever.  Up until now they just had a hole in the ground in a corner of the house, and she said often times it smelled really bad.  She said they had been praying to God for a toilet for a long, long time.  She was almost in tears because she was so happy that they were finally getting one.  Granted, they will still have to bring in buckets of water to flush it, since they don’t have plumbing, but she was overjoyed.  Have you every prayed to God for a toilet?  Me neither.

Another one of our workers only comes about four hours a day to help us out, so her pay is small, but it helps her get by.  She has been arriving early every day for the past couple weeks – like an hour early.  Here I’m thinking, if I didn’t get paid that much, why on earth would I come to work so early every day.  I finally talked to her today about it and asked why she is doing that.  She responded, “My cell phone broke one day in the rain, and I don’t have money to buy another one.”  (We’re talking less than $25 USD).  I said, “What does your cell phone have to do with anything?”  She then said that it is what she uses for a clock.  She said that they don’t have any other clock at her house, and no one else has a cell phone to tell her the time.  So since she doesn’t want to be late for work, she just comes plenty early to make sure she’s there on time.  So many layers of her story I can’t comprehend.

Asking for laptop in Haiti

Finally (for today at least), I was asking the guesthouse workers for ideas for what they wanted for Christmas.  I only asked about four of them before I realized that this was not a good idea.  Three of the four of them said that they wanted laptops.  I was a bit surprised that they would say something that was so expensive.  Then one of them suggested a second-hand laptop instead of a new one.  I asked him to check on the price, and he came back saying that they were about $300 USD.  The kicker was the look on his face when he told me the price.  It was as if he was hopeful, thinking, oh, this is no problem for an American to buy.  You can afford that, can’t you?  The conversation is still sinking into my head a week later, as I am trying to understand how much money they think we have.  I mean, obviously we have a lot more than them, when a good wage in Haiti is $5 per day.  But still.  What do they really think of us as Americans?  And what image are we projecting?

Guest House, Haiti    , , ,

Top 3 Ways to Call the United States from Haiti

Oct27th
2012 2 Comments Written by Ryan

Old PhoneIt can be tricky calling the states.  How do you do it and what’s the best way?  John tells us of how they used Ham radios to communicate between two people here in Haiti.   Then if they wanted to call the U.S., they would go up the mountain to a hotel and use the hotel’s phone to call.

Now, especially after the earthquake, their is more infrastructure for cell phones, internet, and ability to call international.

Here are the Top 3 ways we call the U.S. from Haiti.  They may not be the cheapest/best, but they are the ways we have found we like to call.  Feel free to add your thoughts by posting comments.

1) Totally Free

Free is sometimes great, but remember, you get what you pay for.  We do this by using the app Talk-a-Tone linked with a Google voice number.  In my opinion - everyone living abroad should get a Google voice number.  You can talk and text for free.  It makes the distance between you and friends feel much closer.

2) Skype - 2.3¢/min

This is the ubiquitous solution across the world for long distance communication.  It has proven to be the most reliable and best quality VoIP (Voice over IP) solution.  I mainly use skype for talking – not video chat.

The Skype app is installed on my phone and I log into it when I want to call someone in the states.  You can setup Skype to automatically add $10 bucks to the account when it gets low and can talk all you want for 2.3¢/min.

With any internet calling service, it all depends on how fast the internet connection is.  In Haiti, this can be difficult.  I have found Natcom to be my preferred choice.  They also have a $10/month plan for internet that fits exactly what I need.  Enough data that I can use GPS (very crucial here) and for calling the U.S.

3) Call Using Natcom – 8¢/min

Other carriers have this option as well in Haiti, but it appears Natcom is the cheapest.  Digicel’s cost is 12¢/min which isn’t bad either.

This option is by far the best connection since you are going straight from phone – to – phone.  This doesn’t rely on the internet service which can go in and out.  As you walk out of the Haiti airport, you can purchase a Haiti phone there for about $20.  You can then buy minutes to load on the phone as well.

*This works by dialing: 151 + country code + number.  So when we call the U.S. it’s 151 + 1 + (area code) phone number.

Thoughts

Either way you go, they are all pretty cheap options compared to what they could cost in the U.S.  Hopefully this helps someone coming down or another person living in Haiti.

Enjoy!

If you so desire, check the FAQ section for other tips and info on visiting or moving to Haiti.

 

 

Haiti    ,

Haiti to Stateside and Back

Oct16th
2012 3 Comments Written by Ryan

New favorite quote,

I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. That is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant. -Martin Luther King Jr.

I have been in the states for a short time. To be honest, I was hesitant and having a hard time thinking of going to the U.S. just because the last time I was back, I struggled through a bit of culture shock.  I also knew that this time we were going to have some tough discussions with family though was looking forward to Jenna’s wedding (Melissa’s sister)! Upon arriving in Minnesota/Wisconsin I found it was easier then last time.  Yeah!  I flew into Chicago and then Melissa and I met up with the Brown’s.  You may remember their story from our blog last October.  They were in Jacmel when they were robbed and the wife was shot.  Anyway, we met with them in Chicago for breakfast and just love how down to earth this couple is about everything! After that we went to do what ever person does when immediately returning from a third world country… we went camping :-D

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Next we went to Minnesota and spent time with some family and friends.  Had to stop at a McDonalds for a hamburger! We are so privileged and humbled to have such great friends and church family.  Our ECC church was so welcoming.  We did manage to do some pumpkin carving and have a couple other hamburgers :-D

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It’s hard to describe the “culture shock” experience of going from a 3rd world country to a 1st world country.  I try hard not to be critical of either but instead try to learn from each culture.  Someone described it to me as just a fact:

You are going from the “poorest” nation on the earth to one of the “richest” nations on the earth.

Duh!  Of course, we are going to experience some emotions and differences! My experiences with reverse culture shock so far remind me of Anthropology and how, as a discipline, it seeks to understand a people or a group from the margin. It seems true that when you find some distance from something, you come to see it in a different light. I think one benefit of long-term travel is that you learn to put a critical lens back upon your own culture and country. Why do we do things that way? Why do we think that is the best way to live?

Below are some pictures from the wedding…

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Using GPS to Track Our Stolen iPad in Haiti – Part 3

Sep10th
2012 10 Comments Written by Ryan

This is the final segment of the story.  If you haven’t already read the other parts – here are the links to part 1 and part 2.

A group of Haitians start assembling outside the gate of the house having their own discussions.  They seem to suspect something of this place. This is so frustrating.  So many people are trying to help give Haiti legs to stand and though we don’t know exactly what is going on at this place, these people are accomplices in this crime.  At the least they are slightly involved and at most they are organizing a ring of theft.  In my thoughts, I am trying to remember that no matter what others are doing, it is important that we continue to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

John McHoul has pulled up in his truck at this point.  Everyone is waiting for the pastor and son to return.

Finally they pull back in!

I jump at the question we are all thinking, “Do you have the iPad!”

“No,” they respond.

Ummmm…. sooooo… 

The younger guy waves us into the courtyard and he gathers the police officer, the judge and me into an area with chairs.  We sit as he begins telling us in French,

“I just want to be honest with you.  We had an old friend come to us this morning.  He needed his iPad charged.  We let him in and allowed him to charge it.  After it was done charging he went back to his place on Delmas 22.  We are trying to get a hold of him now and are asking him to come back here.”

The police officer asks some more specific questions about the time that this occurred to see if it aligns up with our timing of the iPad getting stolen and when we were able to locate the iPad via GPS.

We finish with the discussion and update the rest of the guys.  What do we do at this point?

The best option seems to wait this thing out.  Currently, we know: (1) The iPad was here (2) These guys are involved (3) They have the contact information for who originally took the iPad.

As we are processing through this with Barry and John, the pastor comes out asking us to please stay inside the courtyard and to not be outside where we are visible.  We are all thinking, Ahhhhh!  Having the judge, police officer and all of us present is having a negative impact on what he is doing here.  John starts playing the good cop/bad cop routine by putting a little pressure on the Koreans. He says we are waiting for more police officers to arrive.  We discuss with the police officer if it is possible to have more police come and begin sifting through the bins of equipment.

We pick up some Cokes at the local store for 25 goude a drink (roughly $0.60).

Finally, the younger Korean guy and a Haitian tell us we are going to the house of the guy that originally took the iPad.  We all gather up in the van and continue down the back street to the main road.  We probably traveled about ½ mile when the younger Korean guy picks up his phone and tells us to turn around.  Turning around we head back to the house.

Let me guess what is going to happen next!

We pass into the courtyard and I see sitting down on the bench a very frightened young Haitian girl.

She is holding the iPad in her lap.  I ask her for the iPad.

This is incredible, I am in shock, I am holding and looking at the iPad that was stolen about 5 hours earlier.  I am actually h-o-l-d-i-n-g the stolen iPad!

I turn it on to make sure it wasn’t swapped out or anything with another iPad.  Amazingly, this looks exactly as I left it.  Strangely enough, the iPad was still in airplane mode?  How were we able to originally locate this device if it was still on airplane mode?  I flipped off airplane mode and confirmed with Troy that it was once again traceable.

High fiving Barry, we jump in the van ready to split the scene and call this a success!  The judge instead requests that the younger Korean, a few select Haitians and the younger girl get in the van to go down to the police station.  He says that they need to file the report.  Reluctantly they all enter the van and we drive to the station.

Arriving, I am filled with so many mixed emotions.  I am super pumped that we have it back, saddened that these guys are involved in who knows what and a bit worried for the little girl who probably has no idea what is going on.  They fill out the paper work starting from a blank piece of white paper.  They get my name and information from my driver’s license and Permis des Sejour.

After about an hour, the police officer takes me outside and explains to me that all of them are going to be put in jail for the night.  We will all go to the court house in the morning and present our case to another judge.  The judge needs to keep the iPad for the night and present it as evidence tomorrow for trail.

Oh, no way… they are all going to jail!?!  Also, crazy that we actually have the iPad in our possession and then yet we are still unable to bring it back with us!  So close :-)

The deal is that they could all go home if they would give up the name of this “person” that originally took the iPad.  The problem is that they won’t give up a name, number or any identifying information of this person.  Obviously, we all have a hard time believing that this person exists.  The fact still remains that someone originally stole the iPad from Port-Au-Prince Fellowship.  That person may remain a mystery.

Reflecting a bit at this point, I am thinking, it was obvious the iPad was at the house.  They just needed us all to leave the house so they could get the iPad from hiding.  I feel worse seeing the young girl having to stay in jail.  They probably were just looking for someone to hold the iPad in case someone needed to be convicted.  Truly, I have no idea why they had her hold it but still sad either way.

Now in the evening, Troy is tracking the iPad all around downtown.  I don’t have internet so he continues to give me updates.  All we wonder is what in the world is this judge doing with the iPad.  I guess we can’t do much about it now… maybe we will find out tomorrow… time for bed!

The following day we prepare for court

IMG_20120903_124119.jpg Barry, Pierre, and I are dressed in long pants with a nice shirt.  I am feeling a bit nervous about heading to Haitian court.  Not sure why.  It is a strange feeling knowing that these guys could have a serious judgment.  Of course, they deserve it.  They are hurting the Haitians and others they lie and steal from in order to use for personal gain.  Still, it is difficult for me to be happy about them being prosecuted.  It reminds me of how thankful I am that Jesus talked about giving us a second chance.  When we stumble and fall, he gives us forgiveness.

While waiting for the police officer to arrive we start driving to get Derek a Haiti phone.  Derek will be the new driver for the next three months.  We had just picked him up from the airport this morning.

On the road we get a phone call from John saying we need to head to court now.  Derek, being the first time in Haiti, will just have to go with us!  If you are going to have a first day, might as well make it exciting!

We fight through traffic and arrive downtown to pick up the police officer and then to the court house.

The police let us through the front doors and we head to the judges office.  This is the same judge we were with yesterday.  Only now he is dressed up in a suit and much more reserved.  He is no longer the guy shouting, “Justice!”  His domineer is reserved and smile faint.  We share greetings and begin the conversation.

He explains to us that if this was a Haitian affair, the process would be simple and he would be able to push forward with the process.

He says, “Something bigger is going on behind the curtain.”  Though he would like to pursue this further for monetary reasons and prestige in dealing with such a case, he says,

“I need to wash my hands of this case.  I do wash my hands of this case.”

What happened last night, I wonder.  Did the Korean ambassador payoff someone higher up who then forced the hand of this judge?  What is going on behind the curtain!  Of course, we may never know. 

We do know that the Koreans did not spend the night in jail and then are again free to go about their business.

He pulls out the iPad from the cabinet and lays it on the desk staring at it for a moment as if replaying the events of yesterday in his head.  The judge looks up to me and says,

“You could make a film out of what happened yesterday.”

We all had a smile on our face.  I replied, “I will never forget that day.”

Haiti    , ,

Using GPS to Track Our Stolen iPad in Haiti – Part 2

Sep9th
2012 5 Comments Written by Ryan

Sorry to keep you hanging from part 1 but these stories take some time to write.

Where were we in this story?  Ah, yes!  We have pulled up the van around the corner of the house.  I feel like I can hear my heart beating outside my chest. Internally I am processing, “Is this really happening?  Are we seriously sitting feet away from where the stolen iPad is located?!”

I am all ready to storm in but have no clue as to what rights need to be read or anything.

In America, in order to go into a house the police need a warrant under the fourth amendment:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

In Haiti, they have similar systems in place but you can expedite the process by instead of asking the Judge for a warrant you can bring the judge with you.

The police officer and judge said they would go in first.  I guess that is usual protocol.  Pulling from my extensive crime knowledge and superior training which includes programs such as Batman, Remington Steele, Bond Movies, MacGyver, Dark Wing Duck and many more, I have a few ideas of my own.

Recalling some past shows I remember how often you see the police go in the front door and the bad guys run out the back door :-D !  Since the house is on a corner, I decide to stake out on the other side, preparing for any sneak escapes out the back.

Not a moment after seeing the police officer and the judge enter the house I see a guy exit the other side.  I shout up to him in Creole, “Mesye” (meaning “mister”).

As he continues walking away, he swings a backpack over his shoulder.  I immediately think, Could this be the same backpack that the iPad was stolen in?

I begin to walk toward him saying again much louder, “Mesye!”

No response.

Is this guy deaf! Is it my imagination or is he starting to walk faster.

Running up to the guy I instantly ask him in Creole, “Do you know of Port-Au-Prince Fellowship? Were you there this morning?”

“No,” he responds.

As I begin touching around his bag, I asked him, “Can I look inside your bag?”

Surprisingly, he was very nice and opened up his bag which reveals only some random objects.  Nothing!

Feeling a bit awkward yet still focused on the task, I thanked him and head straight back to the house.  I am thinking I will probably have a good laugh about this awkward incident later.

As I approach the house, the police and judge are turning the corner to tell me this is actually the front door to the place.  We all enter together into the court yard.

“Wait.  What is this place?”

IMG_20120902_165143.jpg Looking around I see some benches, a pulpit, and a cross.  Is this a church?

The judge explains part of the situation not saying anything about tracking the iPad.  He motions for me to go inside the house.  At this point, I am thinking, shouldn’t we be calling for backup or something?  Also not understanding why I was picked as the first person to enter the house :-D

Oh, well – Here goes nothing!

IMG_20120902_145006.jpg I enter the house and begin searching for the iPad.  I noticed stuff sitting everywhere.  Seemed organized but – wow – there is a lot of stuff.  I continue looking not seeing the iPad sitting out in plain sight.

As I enter a room, I see heaps of plastic bins neatly stacked on shelf after shelf.  What is going on here?  There is sooooooo much stuff very well organized! This is not a typical Haitian house.  Then out of nowhere a bunch of women start shouting at me.  At this point, I hadn’t even really looked at anyone.  I was so focused on looking for the iPad.  One woman came up to me and couldn’t believe I didn’t remove shoes.  Then I catch it!

This isn’t a Haitian house, these are Koreans!  Of course, I hadn’t caught up on the “Top 10 Korean Customs To Know Before Visiting a Korean Home”.  Apparently, not removing your shoes is a sign of great disrespect.  I am a bit conflicted because aren’t we already invading their home – so removing my sandals seem a bit odd at this point but whatever.

Moving on, I enter the room directly over where the GPS coordinates pointed to on the map when we first located the iPad back at the McHoul’s house.  The Judge coming in behind me looks around and is fired up shouting,

“This is justice!  This is justice!”

He is saying this because, we both realize that something bigger is going on besides one little iPad.  This room is full of laptop computers and equipment!  There is computer equipment on the shelves and on the tables.  Seriously, there is more stuff in this one house then the entire Heartline mission.

Using a careful eye, I begin pulling back some of the sheets revealing more equipment.  My spirit sinks as I realize it would take a month to look through all this stuff.  They could have concealed the iPad in one of a million plastic bins.  We eventually search the outside workers chambers and a few tent rooms sitting inside the court yard.

Meanwhile, the Korean pastor shows up with a younger guy who is maybe son or protégé.  The judge gives them the spiel and immediately the younger guy runs in the house and comes out holding an iPad asking me,

“How did you guys track the iPad here?”  He gestured to his iPad, wanting me to show him.

They knew we were looking for the iPad but we hadn’t mentioned anything else.  The very fact he asked the question made us realize that they very well had the iPad in their possession.  Up to this point, we really weren’t sure if it was a friend, a guest, a worker, etc.  They had to be in shock. The emotion is revealing itself by their quick actions and movement.

Without thought I say, “I am not going to show you how I tracked it.”  Pausing for a second to come up with something more intelligent, “I will show you how if you can return my iPad.”

There is a large group of people around us and everyone starts multiple conversations, talking and discussing over each other.  Barry from the just outside the gate comes up to me and says, “The pastor and the other guy are in the car leaving!”  I hadn’t noticed with all the discussion that they slipped out.

Running up to the car I asked, “Where are you going?  Are you going to get the iPad back?”  The younger guy kind of nods and then they drive away.

Continue to Part 3

Haiti    , ,
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