Time

Time is a word with many meanings.  What time am I supposed to be here?  Did you spend enough time with someone?  What time zone am I in?  Is this a hard time line, or can it slip?  Is it culturally expected to be exactly on time, or is it expected to be late?  As we have traveled from the US to both the Dominican Republic (DR) and Haiti, many of these time misunderstandings have arisen.  Throughout all of this, we have arrived in Pedernales and have traveled our second day to Anse-a-Pitre.

We started the morning out with a misunderstanding of both time zones and starting time for the Church service.  Haiti has decided not to participate in day light savings time this year, so it is currently in central time while the DR is in the eastern time zone.  Nevertheless, we made it to church, abet a few hours late, and were welcomed immediately into the family.  First Santonax, an Anse-a-Pitre resident met us at the border because he thought we would be there at 8:00 eastern time, but we didn't show up until 10ish.  As soon as he found us, he immediately ushered us to Church, and  ensured we had seats within the Sanctuary.  We missed most of the opening music, the first sermon, the scripture readings, opening prayers, but we made it for the second sermon, and closing songs.  Although this was a different experience for me in comparison to my trip two years ago, it was excellent to see the Spirit of Christ alive and well within this church.  

From there, we wondered through town, to make our way to Sadana Forest.  Throughout this journey, it was great to see so many people who knew Rev. Kara, or Karla as she is known to them.  For me, it was also excellent to see many people I hadn't seen in two years, and yet they still remembered me.  Every interaction in Haiti always boils down to how is your family, and when are you coming back.  For me, I had come back, and it was such a rewarding process to see how people had changed over the two years, yet they still remember who you are.  

As we continued our stroll to Sadana Forest, we stopped by the orphanage that I worked at two years ago.  Today is Sunday, and it was quite quiet, but it was great to see the shade structure we had all contributed to two years ago was still standing, even through the rough winds, hurricanes, droughts, and storms that have passed through this regions since I left.  

When we finally made it to Sadana, it was as if things haven't changed.  There were new faces, but the philosophy, mindset, and spirit of this community still thrived.  Again, we arrived at the wrong time, but Maria, the new site director, was welcoming to us anyways.  We spent the afternoon looking at some of the projects on the property, and admiring how many of the trees that were young saplings two years ago have been planted, and a few are starting to bear fruit.  We helped plant 5 new trees, and then we're off to meet with Colbert, a friend whose bread fruit milling project we visited yesterday, was having a business meeting, and we were going to discuss the viability of his endeavor.

Colbert currently lives in NYC with his wife, but he still has family and friends in Anse-a-Pitre.  Through this tie, he is working to improve the Anse-a-Pitre region by opening a breadfruit mill that will be utilized by the locals.  Currently breadfruit is grown by the locals, given to the DR for milling, and then purchased as a processed grain back from the DR.  His hope is that he can make the proces local, giving the members of Anse-a-Pitre a local route to process their grain, without exporting and re-importing the material.  Through this meeting, it became evident that Colbert had a plan, but gaming the right resources and time was challenging.  Furthermore, it became evident that he would need additional help on marketing, and business management practices to make this proposition a success.  We discussed multiple strategies with him, and hope to have further collaboration to help in his endeavor.

As the day wound down, we were off to eat at King Crab, the local restaurant where we eat dinner every night.  Anna, the owner of King Crab, was finally in and came by to great us.  She recognized Kara, Sterling, Sarah, and I immediately, even though it had been between one and two year time since we had seen her.  She welcomed us immediately, and treated us like family.  

The lesson from all of this, is that we all come from various cultures, customs, and regions, but we all  can learn to continue our love between each of us.  Time may help strengthen or weaken the love, but through acceptance and love, we are all children of God who deserve to have love in our lives.   This trip has been a gental reminder that if we spend time with those who love us, we can strengthen these bonds for our own benefit, the benefit of others, and the benefit of all God's children.


-Jacob