Well of Water

Danae and I riding on the back of the truck.

One of the awesome experiences that I had the opportunity to do while in Haiti was to go watch the guys from Water For Life place pumps on the previously dug wells. We went to several villages and placed pumps on 5 different wells. Danae and I road on the back of the truck the whole time and even got rained on! It was so much fun and brought back many memories of living in Papua New Guinea when I was young!

Stopping at the containers to get the pipe for the wells.

Assembling the pipe

One of the wells

Lee and Troy placing the pipe

Putting on the final piece

Water for the first time!

Danae and I after being rained on.

One of the swollen creeks we had to cross.
During one of the rivers, the water was coming into the cab and over the top of the hood!

What an amazing day!

On the way back to Port au Prince, we went to the site where Water For Life was drilling.

Ladies watching the drill rig.

We had a good spot to watch the action!

We came down out of the mountain without brakes. By the time we reached level ground someone was shouting that our tire was on fire! Lee got the fire out without too much damage.

At an overlook at Port au Prince

Many faces of Haiti...

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

Photo by Danae Swihart

Selling grain in the one of the towns

Getting the snail out of conch shells

Banana grove

Leading her loaded down donkey

Danae's little girl, Kylee...she was so much fun!

Medical projects

I want to thank everyone who donated medical supplies or gave money so I could buy some much needed medical supplies. I was able to bring everything that was donated along with me on this trip! I helped Danae sort through the medical supplies and got everything organized for easy access. I also put together first aid kits for each of the mission vehicles.

Sorting through the medical supplies

Making up first aid kits.

Finished kits

Each day brought several people to the door that needed medical advice, bandaged, taken to the hospital, or needed medication. It was wonderful to share my medical knowledge with Danae to better equip her to help the Haitian people. Danae has learned to be a wonderful nurse and does an excellent job! I was quite impressed!!

One experience that we encountered was very disturbing. A 15yr old died in our vehicle as we were rushing him to the nearest hospital. It is frustrating to me not knowing the cause of his death ~ my best guess would be that he was poisoned or had some type of anaphylactic reaction causing his death. He died one of the most traumatic deaths I have ever seen!! His horrific death was bad enough, but then we had to pray through all the satanic oppression that was in the vehicle with us. The family had him to the witch doctor before coming to us for help, so he was rubbed down with potions, had material tied around his arms, shells around his neck, and they kept pouring strong smelling liquid over him! The family was yelling and hitting him, etc. After we told them he had died, the mother really started screaming and throwing herself into the windows and door, etc. Danae and I just prayed aloud and sang as many hymns that came to mind. It was amazing to have such deep, dark oppression lift and have Christ exchange it with His peace, and comfort. I believe the family felt it as well. Danae and I had to do lots of talking to debrief from that horrific experience!

Bandaging up a knife wound.

Work projects

One of the projects that Danae and I worked on was the bathroom at 'Troy's house'. This room used to be just a shower until recently when they added a toilet. We spent 40 hours getting this room cleaned, scraped, and painted. This project looked like a mountain, but with the two of us doing it together and listening to music or talking, it was a lot of fun...and even enjoyable!!

A stroller load of supplies

The bathroom before we started! Soap scum and mildew!

Scrubbing the walls.
We scrubbed the walls several times! After we poured Lime Away onto the walls, it started to eat away the remaining paint...and under the paint was black mildew. So, we had to scrub that with bleach.

Then we had to chip away at the peeling paint.
We were showered with specks of paint chippings from the air circulating in the small bathroom. We finally got all the loose paint scrapped off and ready for the base coat of paint.

Finally able to paint a base coat.

Mixing the final color.

The finishing touches...the shelves.

Finished.
Green walls with one being darker than the other three. Window and shelving stayed white, and the floor we painted gray. Of course we have to get a different shower curtain, but that is for another day!

Danae is using a hammer and chisel to clean the kitchen sink...which was used as an all-purpose sink!

I cleaned under the sink!

We also did a LOT of laundry...the old fashioned way, well, maybe not TOO old fashioned because I used wringer washers growing up and I'm not THAT old! :o) Above Lee and Danae's house is a guest house for work teams that come over to help out Water For Life. Danae takes care of the house and gets the place ready. So after the different work teams and guests left, we washed all the dirty linens and towels. We washed laundry almost every single day! Of course, this too, was much more fun with two...or three, as Kylee, Danae's 1yr old, also helped us out! :o)

Mountains of laundry

Danae and Kylee

Jaiden helping me with laundry.

Finished!

Haiti...the beginning...

I had the amazing opportunity to visit Haiti this year! I went down to stay and help Lee and Danae Swihart who are missionaries through Water For Life. Danae and I had met only once before for a few hours (and this was several years ago); and here I was, going for a MONTH to stay with them! On my plane trip over, I was beginning to question my sanity. However, God kept reassuring me to TRUST HIM! I shouldn't have worried at all...as soon as we saw each other and started talking, it was as if we had known each other forever! It was amazing at how much we connected and enjoyed each others company during that month! God is great!! He knew what each of us needed...this trip was such a blessing in so many ways!

Homes in Port au Prince

(No wonder there was so much damage and lost lives with they way the homes are built)

Tents that some of the people are still living in since the earthquake.

Overlooking Port from the Water For Life guest house.

A small road block we came across.
(This small travel delay caused us to avoid several more road blocks in the very next town...the town's people were having some disagreement and had tires on fire and lined across the road ...thus causing the road to be impassible.)

My bedroom on the porch.

An amazing sunset

GOD sent me a rainbow...He gave me one in Pakistan and another here in Haiti.

Fishing boat