Update from Haiti!

I got an update last night from Kevin. I got the first message and it did not sound like I was going to get any pictures but shortly after that I had a bunch of pictures come through. I was so happy!!! It sounds like the team is doing great and Ethan specifically is doing awesome!! I'm so happy for him! I will let you read his emails:

First Email:

Hey, we had quite a day, but we are finally here. arrived about 8:00pm, ate, showered and now I'm in bed. its pouring, thunder, lightning. the wi-fi is up and down so I'm going to send this while its still working. I will send pics and a better message tomorrow.

Second Email:

So, I guess the power and wi-fi decided to stay on after all. We had a super bumpy flight from about Texas all the way to Miami. Some big storm in the South. We did get to see a spectacular aerial view of a lightning show across the night sky though. Tiga met us at the airport in a huge bus for some reason so we got to ride in some comfort. The bus couldnt make it down the narrow road to the orphanage so we all got in a tap-tap for the short ride. We visited briefly with the kids and I got a chance to meet with the director and survey for some future projects (lots to do here). Ethan was a hit with the kids and loved every minute of it. They were just sitting down to lunch when we were leaving. The pic with the long concrete table is where they all eat together. After we left and got back on the road, the bus lost a u-joint off the drive shaft. The driver pulled the 8' or so long drive shaft out, hailed a motorcycle taxi and off they went. Three guys on the bike with him in the middle holding the driveshaft over his head. Awesome!! This is Haiti after all. We got some Cokes from a nearby store, visited with some kids and generally enjoyed hangin on the side of the road. He was gone for about and hour and reappeared with the repaired driveshaft, slapped it in and we were back on our way. After 24 hours of traveling we arrived at the CI volunteer house and were greeted with some awesome rice and beans with chicken (along with the "makes everything taste good sauce" of coarse) yummy!! We took some cold showers and its off to bed, morning comes early around here.

Ethan is loving it here so far. He has been a trooper, making the best of all that has been thrown at us. They have made many improvements to the compound here. Will see it all tomorrow but so far its very nice.

I will try again tomorrow, hopefully the rain will stop its still pouring right now.

 Driving in the massive bus. Tiga is the guy across from Ethan. He is the volunteer coordinator for Conscience International- which is who our group works with and stays with.

 Some members of our team in a Tap Tap (taxi type thing)

 View from the tap tap. You can see the devastation still all over the place as well as the trash etc. all over the place. They have no infrastructure for trash or anything so it just gets tossed on the side of the road.

 We are hooked up with an orphanage outside of Port au' Prince that we along with other churches support. Many of the team had been there before so they wanted to see the kids again. I think they are going to the orphanage later in the week as well. The lady with the camera is Carol Allen. She is a retired cop-- just like Kevin- and she is a wonderful woman!

 Ethan with some of the kids. Clearly Ethan was enjoying himself!

 Kevin mentioned in his email that this is where the kids eat-- all at this big table.

 Ethan bonding with the kids-- he is going to love this trip. I can already tell this is going to be soooooo awesome for him. I am just smiling from ear to ear right now :)

So hopefully we will get more pictures tonight and I will post them as soon as I do. Please keep the team in your prayers. I am so happy Ethan is getting this awesome experience.