Form submitted successfully, thank you.

Error submitting form, please try again.

Journey to Haiti – Day 3

We started our day with an early morning meeting of homemade coffee and assignments for the day.  There was never a dull moment in camp.

This young boy came up to me as I worked on the first system that we set up  - at a university.  While a lot of the structure is still standing, most of it is unstable and will have to rebuilt.  He spoke pretty well with broken english.  He was able to tell me that he lives close by and he playes football (soccer).

This picture we took as we waited for the water to purify is my favorite from the trip.  He took my hat off my head and put it on his own for this one.

My team, Team 2, overlapped with Team 1 so they could get us up to speed. They left on our Day 3.

In the compound where we were staying they had a little agricultural farm with many chicken, fish and goats.  It was a pretty impressive setup to to down in Haiti.  I don’t recall crossing a setup like this anywhere else in the whole country.  Right next to it was a field where it looked like farmer were clearing the weeds out of the field.  In the field they had coconuts, plantains, beans and corn.

We went back to the tent city for the third time and purified another 275 gallons of water .  I walked around this time while while our team was purifying the water and photographed some of the people that lived there.

This man was ironing his blue jeans with a coal iron, something I’d never seen before.  This image also provides a great view of the make shift tents the people were living in.  They used any boards and tree limbs they could find to make the frame and then they would use tin roof or blankets as siding, whichever they could find and salvage.  Most tents were a space of about 8 feet by 8 feet and most had a mattress with some other small furniture items. These tents house whole families as well as everything they have left in the world.  I can’t imagine what it will be like when the rainy season comes.

Everyone was curious about the camera and these two boys caught my attention really quickly with their sweet moment and gaze.

Back at camp by the moonlight, Ron, one of the best and most patient teachers that I have ever worked with sends an email home.  It was pretty bright all night.  We were later told that it was the brightest moon would be all year.  It was really neat to experience with no light pollution, it felt like a really dark day.

Journey to Haiti – Day 2

I neglected to mention that the flight attendants on our flight down to Haiti had stuffed animals to hand out to the children.  We had a little fun with those that were able to take naps while on the short three and a half hour flight down to Haiti.  One of the members of our group, Rick, took one and kept a stuffed monkey in his vest while we worked.  It was amazing to see how it would bring smiles to all of the people, no matter their age.

On to Day 2. The plan was loaded with cargo.  It was crazy arriving in Haiti we walked out of the plane and didn’t even have to go through customs.  Two vehicles pulled up to the plane, one was a pick-up truck that would carry all of our cases and backpacks and the other was a “tap-tap” (a converted pick-up with a topper and two boards that run over the wheels for people to sit on) that would carry all of us.

This was the first of many trips on the tap-tap.  One must be very skilled to ride in a tap-tap.  You must ride loose enough so that you don’t feel the bumps in the road, but not so loose that you get thrown into the wall or ceiling of the truck.

We drove out of Port-au-Prince and it was shocking to see the devastation.  People had moved out of their homes and into make-shift tents formed from anything they could find.  Most consist of tin, wood, rope and blankets.  These small tents house the very little that is left of peoples’ belongings – in most cases a mattress, clothing and some minor furniture.  The size of most tents is about 8×8 and it holds an entire family.

Beyond the devastation the next thing we noticed was the overwhelming military presence.  There was military from all over the world.

These were water purification systems that we had in our cases.

I immediately went out with Rick and Donnie to look at some pumps and perform some water tests nearby our camp.

I noticed this young guy with his very striking eyes and form.  I knew that I wanted a portrait of him right away.

There were many goats roaming through our campsite and the countryside was so beautiful.

Once I returned to camp, Bill, Mike, and I went to Leogane.  Leogane is believed to be the epicenter of the earthquake.  It was best described to me as being reminiscent of an Eastern European town in World War II.  Buildings were brought down to rumble.  Very few were left standing.  It was a hard site to see.  Many people have built their tents in the road because there is no where else for them to live.

I saw a team of about 7 who, despite the recent devastation, was carrying a five gallon bucket of water and five brooms made of palm leaves in an attempt to control the dust in the air.  They made their way through the town throwing water on the dusty dirt streets and sweeping up the trash.  This woman’s face was so descriptive…

We waited in Leogane to meet up with a pastor of a small village outside of Leogane.  The village was about 20 minutes away and as we traveled therewe passed through a dry creek bed and what felt like a jungle of sugar cane.  Many of the children chewed on the sweet treat of sugar cane while others flew some of the best kites I have ever seen.  The kites were made from plastic bag and sticks.  Some flew well over a 100 feet in the air.  We stopped at a bridge on our way into the village to perform more tests and see if the community would be a good fit for the water purification system.

When we arrived in the village people came out in droves.

On our way back to camp that night we stopped at a tent city and filled and purified a tank of water.  This young boy watched us as we filled the tank with water from the well.

Journey to Haiti – Day 1

I’m back. Many thanks to my lovely wife for keeping up the blog in my absence. I’m planning to do a series of blog posts chronicling my trip to Haiti, one post for each day of the trip. It’s the best way I can think to best tell the story and share as much of the experience as possible. I hope you’ll enjoy it.

Our journey started on Wednesday at Edge Outreach in Louisville. We packed up our gear and spent some last moments with our families saying our goodbyes. The amazing staff at Edge covered all our bases.  They spent many days and nights preparing our team of eight for the ten days in front of us.  We left Edge and headed up to Chicago on a bus where we caught a flight to Port-au-Prince.  The only stipulation was that we had to be at the airport three hours before our 5:30am flight so that they would have the plane weight correct – a complicated task due to all of the supplies that United Airlines would be taking to Haiti.  So we had to get up at 1:45 in the morning.  The three nights leading up to the trip I didn’t get much sleep either, averaging about three or four hours, but it was more than enough to survive on.

Each of us were in charge of a large rolling Pelican case that contained about 125 pounds of gear, supplies, and food.

haitiday1-001

haitiday1-002

We waited in line at O’Hare with other groups that were headed for Haiti as well.  We quickly learned that one of the flight attendants with United, a Haitian, would be flying down with us to bring his mother back to the States.  She’d recently experienced two strokes and, thankfully, survived the earthquake.

haitiday1-003

Traveling through O’Hare brought back many memories from my childhood.  I spent a lot of time in O’Hare, even a few nights, going back and forth between my mom & stepdad in Illinois and my dad in Texas.  Not much has changed as far as I can tell.

haitiday1-005

haitiday1-004

We witnessed a beautiful sunrise that morning.  One of my favorite things to do on an airplane (other than sleep) is to take aerial pictures.  Plus we had most of the 757 all to ourselves. There were only 38 passengers, a ground crew, three pilots, and a full staff of atendants.  Let’s just say we had the best service imaginable. First class would be jealous.

haitiday1-006

I was told by one of the pilots that this little island was a part of the Bahamas.

haitiday1-007

I believe this is the town of Anse-a-Galets which is a part of Gonave Island. If you look in the bottom part of the frame, you can also see a U.S. Navy Battleship.

haitiday1-008

haitiday1-009

Here you can see a U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier with Haiti in the background.haitiday1-010

This quote was on a someone’s backpack at O’Hare.  At the time, I didn’t realize how true it would be for me and my journey to Haiti.

haitiday1-011

February 9, 2010 - 4:37 pm Cassie - I'm glad you're back. :)

Canon loves the snow

Here are a couple photos from an early morning walk in the snow with my wonderful wife and Canon, our little aussie.  He goes crazy in the snow and loves every minutes of it.

canonsnow3

canonsnow1

canonsnow4

canonsnow2

Haiti, part 6

These pictures just keep getting better and better.

_mg_9643

Um…are you in love with this little girl?  Cause I most certainly am. Am. Am. Am.

_mg_9671

Ok, I can’t stand it. How much cuter could they be?

_mg_9674

_mg_9697

_mg_9701

_mg_9713

_mg_9717

_mg_9719

_mg_9775

In case you can’t tell…Tyler is top left…he’s scruffy!  I like it when he’s scruffy.

_mg_9773

February 9, 2010 - 9:48 am PAM - Oh heavens, these pics take your breath away. Great work! wonderful servants.

February 8, 2010 - 9:14 am Billy Ward - Great pictures. Thank you for having such a servants heart.

February 6, 2010 - 7:54 pm jackie nethery - these pictures are so amazing. i am just so amazed at the positive attitudes and joy I've seen in such a terrible time for these people. the earlier pictures made me cry, i am just in awe of the power of what happened there. so great Tyler!!!

Haiti, part 5

Be still my heart.  These are my favorite pictures yet.  I just want to scoop those kids up and squeeze them!

_mg_9406

_mg_9428

_mg_9465

_mg_9471

_mg_9482

_mg_9489

_mg_9499

_mg_9533

_mg_9543

_mg_9578

Haiti, part 4

Maybe it’s because I’m married to this brilliant photographer…I don’t know…but there is just something about his pictures that makes things real for me.  I look at these images and I see these people, children of our Almighty God, and they just don’t seem so far away anymore.

_mg_9281

_mg_9284

_mg_9316

_mg_9327

_mg_9364

Haiti, part 3

Tyler captured these next four images while driving around Port au Prince.  I neglected to mention that the photos from my two previous posts are from a town outside of Port au Prince called Léogâne.

_mg_9195

_mg_9227

_mg_9262

_mg_9263

Haiti, part 2

“Always toward absent lovers love’s tide stronger flows.” -Sextus Propertius

This is Cassie again…  I googled the phrase “absence makes the heart grow fonder” today.  I’m not much of an eloquent speaker. No, the best description of my communication style is probably reiteration.  I’m trying to quit (or at least improve), but really…I am the queen of rephrasing my point at least 3 different times in one little chat. Good grief.  How annoying that must be for those around me.  Anyway, it always fascinates me when people can speak in prose.  I was thinking today of how whenever I’m absent from my husband and missing him desperately, this cliche little phrase so accurately relates my emotions.  And I was wondering who it was that could describe things so perfectly.  Turns out (according to The Phrase Finder) the original saying came from a Roman poet named Sextus Propertius.  Sextus?  Really?  Poor guy.  I do like his version better, though.

Here is the second installment of pictures from Tyler’s trip to Haiti.  Wow is about all I have to say.  I always love how I can catch glimpses of my husband’s heart in the moments he captures so perfectly.  Because, photography is Tyler’s style of communication…and he is eloquent.

_mg_9004

_mg_9005

_mg_9018

_mg_9022

_mg_9043

_mg_9052

The beautiful little girl in green and white is melting my heart.

_mg_9061

_mg_9074

_mg_9079

_mg_9098

_mg_9101

Another member of the Edge Outreach team that Tyler went with to Haiti is Kevin Bryan (in the orange hat below).  He’s a coworker of mine at City on a Hill Productions and a great cameraman.  As you can see, he’s got himself a Haitian protégé!  I love it!

_mg_9153

Haiti

This is Cassie…Tyler’s wife.

My husband went to Haiti and I’m so glad.  He traveled with a team through Edge Outreach to install water purification systems.  Oh, and take pictures of course.

I can honestly say I’ve never known a more compassionate man than my husband.  When I say that the man ached to be there, helping in some way, I mean that he ached. So, of course, I’m so thankful that he could go. So thankful that there was a way.

Anyway, here is the first installment of the pictures that he took on his trip.

_mg_88361

_mg_88532

_mg_88952

_mg_88982

_mg_89082

_mg_89752

_mg_89802

_mg_89922

_mg_89982

January 31, 2010 - 10:05 pm Chandler - Cassie & Tyler: Thank you for serving the needs of others in Jesus' name. Cassie, for you staying home to pray for Tyler, the team and the thousands of lives they touched. Tyler, for being the servant that Christ calls us to be. Bless you both. The second-to-last photo posted in this set (water running over person's hand) simply says it all, doesn't it? -- Warmly, Chandler ?=^) Louisville KY