After a long day of travel, the Grace June team has safely arrived in Chambrun to the Nehemiah Vision Ministries campus.
The day started out EARLY, with team members arriving at the Indianapolis airport at 4:30 a.m., long before most of us even considered getting up.
From team leader, Gary Thompson: “The first and most stressful leg of our journey to Port-Au-Prince is complete and I’m happy to report successful. I say stressful because there’s something un-nerving about orchestrating the 4:30 am arrival of 23 people to the Indianapolis airport all with their passports in hand and extra baggage containing much needed medical supplies. Thankfully the American Airline counter opened early and we were checked in and waiting at our gate by 5:30……with coffee in hand.”
The team of 23 soon became a team of 24. Nick Baele, one of NVM’s newest interns, arrived at the AA ticket counter just as the team was checking in. Nick was introduced to the team and immediately fit in. Like a Haitian Tap Tap, “there’s always room for one more.”
After a four hour layover in Miami, the team took the next leg of their trip, arriving in Port Au Prince. The team faced their first challenge upon arriving in baggage claim and finding that four of the 36 checked bags had not arrived from Miami. Hopefully, the missing bags will arrive on the next flight from Miami, as they are filled with important medicine needed for the clinics.
From the airport, the team loaded into a tap tap for the short distance, yet long ride, to the campus. Port au Prince is about 8 miles from the Nehemiah Vision campus, yet it takes nearly an hour with traffic, bad roads and lots of people and even animals.
* A tidbit on Haitian culture–a tap tap is nothing more than a Hatian taxi, built from a old, small truck and used everywhere. Nehemiah Vision’s tap tap is basically the same concept, but on steroids, as all 23 team members, plus all the luggage fit comfortably in back.
After arriving on campus, the team was greeted by the Nehemiah staff and briefed on the vision, mission, and daily routine of campus.
The first full day in Haiti will be spent at an IDP camp where the team will be managing a health clinic.