The Second Leg

We got all of our stuff packed up at the guesthouse and headed back to the airport for the second leg of our trip. It was the part that most of us had been anxious about ever since we heard the words, "cessna" and "goat field" in the same sentence over a conference call some weeks earlier. After each and every piece of our luggage was weighed, each body weighed and written down, and prayers were said, our half of the team headed out the door to our plane.

There were definitely some nerves going haywire on this flight!
Gaelleson was on our flight and I LOVED watching him. It was his first time ever to fly and he took video of the entire 22 minute flight. His smile was ear to ear the whole time.
Samantha and I were keeping it together but we had obviously not seen a mirror in a few days :/
I was surprised at how smooth the take off was and once I looked out the window I had completely forgotten that I was in a tiny plane flying over Haiti. The view was unbelievable!
Just as quickly as the plane took off it was time to land. I could see over the pilots shoulder and the newly burned off goat field was in view. Surprisingly the landing was smoother than any large plane I've flown in, goatfield strip and all!
After a quick introduction to Bill, one of the missionaries we'd be working with, we hopped into the back of his pick up and headed down the mostly dirt road to Haiti Home of Hope. As we were passing over the bridge we could look down and see that today was wash day for lots of families in the river.
Later in the week, on the way to church, we were able to get a closer look at all of the women washing. I'll add to the list one more thing I'm so blessed to have: a washer and dryer.
Just a short drive and we were there!
We quickly got aquatinted with our lodging for the rest of the week. Up the stairs was the bedroom we shared.
And below was the bath house that would be the source of much dread and stress each night. Just upon arrival we had seen several VERY large, very fast spiders and we know now that Freida the tarantula calls this place her home. Add in some freezing cold water and breezy cool Haitian countryside nights and you've got a recipe for some screaming women :)
Much to my dismay, this creature was a member of the Haiti Home of Hope family and he was no better at telling time than his kin in Port Au Prince. There's no rest for the weary while in Haiti!
We were so happy that all of our formula was able to make it on the small plane and we were anxious to get it all unpacked. We headed down to the clinic area with all of our formula bags.
Jennifer let us know that the clinic had ZERO formula to hand out for Wednesday's Mother's Milk program. Praise the Lord that, because of friends and family, we were able to show up with more than 300 lbs of powdered milk! Her empty shelves were now stacked 3 and 4 rows deep! It even overflowed to other shelves and we were even finished unpacking! Our team was able to supply Bill and Jennifer with a good 4-5 month supply of formula for babies that would otherwise have no chance of food for survival. Such a small thing to do but such a huge impact for the families of this village.
This may or may not have also been the scene of one of the loudest screams from my innermost being that caused 6 women to literally dive out the door onto the ground. There was a gigantic tarantula crawling on my neck. Or it could've been some stray hair out of my loose pony/bun. One can never be sure. What I am sure of is that my stomach cramped from laughter with my new friends and that, folks, is priceless!