Uneventful Return to Bohoc

It is a lovely sunny day in Bohoc as I write this post. I have been back in Bohoc for not quite a week. I was delayed one day flying out of Fort Pierce with MFI and then spent one night in Cap Haitien with friends. But Saturday, 6 September I was able to get back home. Here is the email I sent as soon as I had internet access on Monday.

"I am writing this 6 September, Saturday afternoon at 4:30. I am home. In Bohoc. It is raining. My cat and Greg and Barb's dogs are in the house with me. My things are all here and in the house (done before the rain came). I have power at my house, but no power at the dorm, so there is no internet right now.

I had a good night in Cap Haitien. I finally got hold of our driver Elizert's brother Dieuvon last evening (Friday) and he said he would tell Elizert where I was and how much cargo I had. I finally got hold of Elizert this morning. He said he could come for me Sunday afternoon. I said, "fine". Then, chuckling, he said he was already down the mountain and headed for Cap! He arrived at Don and Karen's about 9:30. We packed the truck, went in to town where I cashed a small check and we were out of town, past the airport and on our way home by 10:26 when I called my cook, Mme Niclaude to let her know we were on our way.

We had a good trip home. Amazingly, the road through Grand Riviere du Nord, Bahon, Ranquite and Pignon was fine. There was one river between Grand Riviere and Bahon that was somewhat high and rushing pretty quickly. But we had no trouble crossing. The rest of the way all was well -- the road dry (actually dusty in many places) and not too beat up except for a few spots (the normal ones) just before the turn off for Pignon. We didn't even need 4 wheel drive and we were home by 2:05!

Elizert left me at the front gate. Our farm manager's brother-in-law (a former student) was in a truck stuck in the river near St Raphael -- and there were clouds building up near the source of the river. Elizert took the big military transport truck to go pull them out of the river.

I drove the Toyota on down to the house and unloaded it. Mme Niclaude had left me rice and beans and greens for lunch, which I was more than ready for when I had the truck unloaded. I sat and cooled off and read for a while and then got the computer set up to send everyone an email. Then I discovered there was no internet.

So, I am home. All is well here. If you have seen any reports about the flooding in Hinche, take heart. The flooding was bad, but all those we know and love are well and didn't get flooded. And no one was lost in the flooding. I guess later someone was in the river for some reason and was swept away, but that was not during the flooding. If you have heard that the bridge at Hinche is out, Elizert said it is not. And although the flooding in Gonaives is worse this year than 4 years ago, fewer people lost their lives since they were smart enough to get out of town and go to St Marc before the flood rose too high.

The rain has stopped (it is 4:45) and it is just dripping now. I can hear the men's choir practicing at the church."
We have had some rain since that evening, but nothing more than normal rainy season rains. Our road inside HAFF is a bit mucky, but not more so than normal for this time of year. Here are 2 photos of the road inside HAFF. The one on the left was taken in February and the one on the right today. They aren't the same angle, but you can see the mud!
You have probably been hearing about the hunger and the food crisis. Yes, food and other commodities like kerosene for lamps and fuel for motorcycles and trucks are in short supply. And what is available is expensive. So, the people in the area are suffering. But thankfully, when the Lord takes away one avenue, He opens another. Just as we had a bumper crop of citrus this year in the spring, and a good crop of mangoes in the summer, we now have an abundance of avocados. They are sustaining the people while they wait and hope for later crops to bear.

There is some corn which might still give a good harvest and people are planting manioc and peanuts now. Please pray for the hunger and that food supplies would be made available and that people would get good harvests for the rest of the year.

School has not yet opened. It should have opened this past Monday. But, because of the devastation in so many areas of the country, the Haitian government has delayed the opening of primary and secondary schools till October 6. Parents are pleased since it gives them another month to get tuition payments and uniforms ready for their students. Please pray for the start of school.

If you want to help in this crisis of hunger and loss, there are a variety of ways. HAFF has a benevolence committee to help those needing help in our area. And any gift to the general fund helps pay the salaries of HAFF's aproximately 60 employees. That money supports and educates their families and gets spent in the markets and small stores of the area and thus helps others as well. Please consider a generous donation to HAFF now. If donations are received by the end of September, a friend of HAFF will double each gift, up to a total of $10,000.00! See the HAFF website (blog side bar for link) for more information.

Missionary Flights International (MFI) and Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) are also collecting funds and goods to help in areas where HAFF does not serve. You can check out their web sites as well for ways to help in that way. MFI's link is in the side bar of this blog. MAF's link is here: http://www.maf.org/haiti. May the Lord bless you all for your prayers and help.