In a message dated 12/24/03 10:42:50 AM, jana writes:

<< hello!  just wanted to send a quick note out to you that we have arrived safely in passe catebois with bruce and deb.  it took us just four days...one day from hinche to port au prince and then three full days and two nights to here!  we literally got here on a wing and a prayer...thank you bertau for praying for us before we left...i think he knew we would need it!  we left early sunday morning from port au prince on a schoolbus, loaded beyond capacity as you can imagine and were cruising on the nice paved roads toward gonaive...but then the paved road ended and it started raining, which is a really bad sign.  made it through gonaive, which was a relief because we really didn't want to be stuck there since that is where demonstrations would no doubt start on monday. but not far after gonaive we had to get up a steep muddy hill in a school bus and it was already blocked by several large trucks and tap taps trying to get up.  after a hour or so of maneuvering, our driver went for it and we made it up...to lots of cheering.  i have never seen a large man bouncing and turning the wheel as ferociously as this guy...he was a good driver. 
 

so then we got to gros morne which is a town with a small river without a bridge.  but because of the large amount of rain, it was impassable.  a bus had tried to get across and tipped over.  our bus driver was also smart because he just parked the bus and said we'd wait.  after sitting for a few hours and the rain just getting heavier and heavier, we decided to get out of the bus.  bruce, in his wisdom, had sent us a list of people he knew along the road that we could call on in case of an emergency.  in gros morne he told us to contact pastor simon, who is one of the pastor's in the baptist union of churches in the northwest.  so we hopped on mototaxis and showed up at his house.  his wife and three kids took us in like old friends.  they set up a bed for us, probaby with the kids' mattresses, and with couch cushions for pillows, in his church office.  they refused to let us help pay for food.  we ended up staying there two nights as the rain didn't stop until monday afternoon.  their family was so wonderful and we really enjoyed getting to know them.  the kids were praying for rain so that we would have to stay! 
 

tuesday morning we got up and decided to go with a free ride in a land cruiser with a couple of guys that showed up at pastor simon's too, instead of with our bus.  it was a hard decision because our bus driver had proven to be a good and competent driver, and this land cruiser had been stuck in the river the day before.  the most important thing in getting around is the driver.  but we also thought the land cruiser would be safer and easier to maneuver with all the rivers left to cross and the mud in the roads.  so we got across the first river at gros morne fine.  the next river crossing stopped us for five hours because a dump truck had turned over just as it reached the other side, so the road was mostly blocked.  there was a little room to get around the truck, so we watched a few small trucks get through, and then watched our bus driver get through successfully, although i think it would have been scary to be in it as it swayed quite a bit. 

our land cruiser driver turned out to not know the road well and to be very timid and inexperienced.  but luckily he wasn't all those things and daring.  so he didn't want to attempt it...probably because he had been stuck the day before.  plus, we found out his four wheel drive wasn't working!  so we sat and sat and sat to see if they could get the dump truck out.  after several hours the river had gone down even more and we had seen a few small trucks go through the river higher up.  so we decided to cross that way....we got across the river with no problems, but once on the other side found out the other trucks had driven through some guy's property and he was not too happy.  he wasn't about to let us through.  so after about an hour of the other haitians in the truck talking with him, we got to go through without even paying money, which ended up being very lucky.  because just as we were going through his place, they had gotten the dump truck out, but the very next large truck to cross got stuck so the route was blocked once again.  we would have been stuck there for who knows how long. 

the next river crossing we got through barely...thought we would be stuck, but somehow it made it...sure willpower alone i think.  so then we thought we were home free as we had made it through all the river crossings.  but just as we arrived in a small town only 30 minutes outside port de paix, we see our bus and other large vehicles sitting on the side of the road.  sure enough another large truck had toppled over in the road and there was no way to get around even in a small car.  it was getting later in the afternoon and ben and i knew we had to make a decision soon.  because we really wanted to get across the river in port de paix by boat before dark, so that we at least would be stuck on the side of the river where we know people and where the big city isn't.  so we abandoned our free ride, fought to get on a tap tap that was so full we had to hold on to other people in the tap tap to not fall out, rode into port de paix. as we were walking toward the river, a guy bruce had told to look for us found us and let us know that bruce was at the river with his truck waiting!!  which is just a miracle because he had no idea of knowing when we would show up.  so we hopped in a boat, which happened to be owned by one of our haitian friends who works with us on the bridge survey, and got pushed to the other side with bruce waiting to pick us up. 

then it was an easy hour truck ride to a warm dinner and not so warm shower.  and deb has a christmas tree and lights and music...such a warm welcome for a long journey.  ben said many times along the way he felt like mary and joseph on the long journey to bethlehem. 

well i guess that wasn't so quick an email and i hope that you parents aren't too worried about us.  at no point did we feel in harm's way...although we do now realize the high danger factor in riding public transportation in the rainy season on these roads.  we are seriously considering flying back.  but we have really been able to experience and understand the hardship that ninety nine percent of haitians have to face on a daily basis in order to get around this country.  we were luckier than most in that we didn't have to sleep on the bus for two nights and wonder how we were going to pay for food and changing vehicles.  all the waiting and roadblocks and turned over vehicles was so frustrating.  and all because of a few missing bridges and lack of paved roads...things that are so common and easy for us in the u.s.  it occured to me that there are probably t-shirts circulating in new york and elsewhere that say "i survived the blackout of 2003" and those t-shirts will probably some day filter down here to haiti, and the irony of that just made me laugh.  everyday here is survival.  maybe i need to make t-shirts to sell here that say "i'm surviving haiti" 

we will call tomorrow on the satellite phone.  there is a delay so remember to say what you want to say and then wait. a nd don't interrupt when the other person is talking, or it is a nightmare.  it is like a walkie talkie more than a phone. 

brother harry...we hope your trip to port au prince was much more boring and uneventful and that you have no troubles getting to florida.  have a very merry christmas and blessed time with the brothers!  we probably will not try to get back to pandyasou before the first if things are too hot and especially if we go by road.  if we go by plane, then maybe.

lots of love...

jana and benjamin