Love for Haiti: On the Road Again!

Okay, so we are off! We are all packed into the Ambulance and we are on our way to Lotore (pronounced: Low-tor-ray)! The trip is approximately 25miles from St. Francis Church to Lotore, however, it takes about 2 1/2 hours! Yes, you heard me correctly.

Driving through Anse-A-Galet.

The trip to Lotore was interesting and rocky to say the least. I have never seen "roads" like this in all of my life! They consisted of rocks, boulders, and sometimes mud. We scraped bottom many times and had to literally climb over mountains! Nothing, I mean nothing, can prepare you for this ride. You must experience for yourself to understand!

Our driver Arthur (fondly named Arturo by our team) is amazing! I have never seen driving skills like this before. The Ambulance is a stick shift, so already I have respect for him because I cannot drive a manual! He has taken this trip many many times and has memorized every bump, really! He could probably drive it with his eyes closed! Arthur (pronounced by the Haitians-"R-2" or "Ahh-too") speaks Creole but does know some English words. During our trip, he would point things out and would tell me about them. He was my personal tour guide! He is a very kind and gentle person; small in stature but big in heart and strength!

Here are a few pictures of our drive!

Arthur has also been nick-named Mario after Mario Andretti. On the chance that we would get a flat or even paved (only about 10ft though, if that) part of the road, he would take off! Mario would gun it, going top speeds of 30mph for about 10 seconds until the bumpiness started all over again!

During our meetings before we left for Haiti, I was told the roads looked like dried up river beds! I think that statement is accurate!

I was told that there is not normally water on the roads, usually they are very dusty! This was left over from all of the hurricanes!

The team enduring our bumpy ride!

That is our big dump truck in front of us carrying all of our supplies.

As we began our drive, we rode right along the coast. It was a beautiful site to see. It was hard to get a good or accurate picture because of all the bumpiness! Arthur was very sweet and when he noticed that I was trying to take a picture, he would slow down so I could get it! I thanked him but told him not to stop just for me (he still did every other time though)!

Climbing Up!

Going Down!

As we were driving, we would travel through different towns. There were people, donkeys, goats, chickens, and dogs everywhere. They would be so close to the Ambulance and I would start to tense up expecting us to hit them! Arthur would always miss, of course. He would then look at me and laugh and say "It's Okay Carrie".

One township we drove through actually has a STOP sign! The funny thing was that Arthur didn't even stop! He did put on his blinker though!

One thing we all noticed was that the dogs on the island of La Gonave all look exactly alike! We would be driving and would see a dog. Then ten minutes down the road we would see the exact same dog (or so we thought) again! It became an on-going joke throughout the trip. Everyone kept joking about how fast the dog was to be able to get in front of us! It was like playing "Where's Waldo" but re-named "Where's the Chen". It was a fun game for us to play and it kept us entertained!

Do you see the resemblance?

Some dogs (or "chen" in Creole) are a little skinnier than others though.

At some points I had to hold on for dear life because I thought I was going to be thrown out of the truck! I could not imagine how the rest of the team felt in the bed of the red truck!

Yes, this is the road!

We had to stop a couple of times throughout the trip to let everyone in the back take a break and stretch their legs. Leslie and I would switch places so our legs would not fall asleep! We never got a flat tire (which is a big surprise) but we did get stuck in the mud once! We all had to pile out again to get the truck free.

All the Americans looking at the tire stuck in the mud! We were very helpful, can't you tell!

It didn't take long for us to get out of the mud because of our fantastic driver! We were not very far from the compound so Billy decided to get out and walk the rest of the way! We all thought he was crazy, but once Billy has a plan, he sticks with it! The rest of us started to feel a little guilty after realizing that the oldest member of our team was walking while we were riding! Age means nothing to Billy! He is the most active and fit almost 80 year old man I know! He truly is an amazing man and never lets anything hold him back!

These are pictures of homes on our way to Lotore.