Gauvreau en Haiti

June 28, 2010

We have arrived in Port-au-Prince on Wednesday, June 16, and the traveling went well. Our dog was a little mixed up, but it is normal after his first trip by plane. Now, he is doing better and the children and the not so young enjoy seeing him very much. Sylvie and André picked us up at the airport and we stayed at their place until our apartment was ready for us to get in. Thank you so much to both of you who have made the beginning of our stay much easier.

Slowly, we are preparing our apartment because here everything takes time especially when you do not have a car. Georges took a few rides on a moto-taxi, and depending of the driver, it is fine or too fast for his taste. Georges loves this new country and says “bonjour” or “bonsoir” (after noon) to everyone he meets on his way. Now, we have a gas stove, a fridge, a table with 4 chairs and 4 beds. Do not forget the inverter when we have no electricity. Right now in the area where we live, June 23, we have been without electricity for 5 days. So we sleep at the house of André and Sylvie to have a fan to sleep at night. We anticipate to be really living in our apartment soon. In Haiti, there are many things that are expensive, like tissues for the nose selling between 1.60 and $3.00 a box. Many things come from China, South America and United-States. I even found groceries items that are coming from IGA (Grocery store in Quebec).

For the weather, we have winds coming from the hurricane and lots of rain. It is the end of the rainy season and the beginning of the hurricane season. (From June 1st to November 30th) The doors bang often from the drafts. Here, everything is open, doors and windows to let the draft in when it is very warm which is almost every day. As it is warm day and night, we keep the doors and windows open. At night, we close the carved iron doors and there is bars on the windows.

Georges has bought the car yesterday, June 28th. It is a 1999 Land Rover.

It needs 4 new tires and front brakes. We bought it from a police officer from the MINUSTA how had it brought from Montreal. This morning, Georges is gone to get his Haitian driver license and transfer the ownership of the car and get insurances for the car. Once more we thank God as it took only one day to do all this with the help of the police officer, a process that normally takes three days over here.

We still do not have Internet as the demand is so great that there are no modems to be found. This Friday we should be able to put our names on a waiting list to get one and finally get Internet. This is what we miss the most as it is our tool to communicate with all of you.

The adaptation is very hard for me but there are some wonderful times that we have with Haitian people. It is not easy to cook when we do not know where to find the ingredients needed. Luckily, everything can be found slowly with help and by searching a lot.

It has been 2 weeks since we arrived here and it feels like two months. We have found a small church where they speak French thanks to André and Sylvie. They sing in French but also in Creole, which is nice. The pastor spent 16 years in Québec, ministering in Chicoutimi and Québec city at the Chauveau church. There is a Haitian pastor who wants us to help him a little. We will go in a few weeks to discuss how we can help him.

July 2nd

I finally found a living room set that includes sofa, loveseat and armchair, thank God. I have also bought a small washing machine as the lady who was coming to do the wash did not want to keep doing it because it was too hard. I agree with her as I tried to do it once alone and another time with Georges. So we were both in agreement for the washing machine. We also got a television set. All these were on special and we got further reductions from the owner of the store.

Here, we live in the middle of town but there are cows, pigs, chickens, roosters, goats and dogs running loose everywhere. The other day, we saw a small humming bird. It was very pretty but impossible to take a picture of as he was moving too fast. This is our dog Billy on the picture. 

July 14th

We finally have Internet after weeks of waiting and searches. The system, a USB modem, is slow but the price is very good and we have unlimited downloads and uploads. We are finally connected to the world. It is not easy today to live without being connected. I wonder how missionaries did it before the coming of Internet. They must have had a special grace from God to wait for the mail and news.

Now, we are learning to live with all the changes that we have to do in order to live in a new country. I finally have a lady who comes to clean the house twice a week. She is very good. I find it hard to watch someone else do this for me as I never had help for cleaning in the past, but I have no choice if I want to survive here. There is a lot of dust and the dog looses its hair like crazy. The roads around the house are all dirt roads. With the cars and the wind, and the windows always open to let the wind in, the dust comes in without being invited and the apartment is large.

We started going to Fort Jacques at the orphanage to help in the construction of a warehouse for the 13 containers that are waiting at custom in the port. The people at the orphanage should be able to get 3 of them out of custom soon.

During the week of July 19, Andre and Georges will be with a team coming to built small houses for some of the families living in tents or make shift houses. The number of houses needed is much larger than the available money and the people to build them. But little by little the birds make their nests. God will provide for the needs as they come.

God is showing us everyday what we need to do. Often for me, it is to wait at home for Georges to come back and tell me all his ups and downs of the day. I talk often to the Lord and let him know my sorrows and my joys. I sing him songs of praises and He is my fortress and support. As Davis says in the Psalms: “I put my trust in the Lord”. Thank you to all who pray for us. It makes a world of difference in our lives. God is with us. God is faithful.

With much love,

Jocelyne and Georges