I took a few days away from my regular activities at the mission and connected with my friend Pastor Francois Murat for a more culturally related adventure. I realized I had not had the opportunity to visit other parts of this beautiful island so this was much anticipated. Pastor Francois agreed to take me to the southern part of Haiti to visit the port city of Jacmel. As a point of reference Carries, where the Mission of Grace is located is in northwest Haiti.
Knowing we were headed to that region Pastor Francois asked if we could first visit the mountaintop village of Sheridan. Sheridan is supported by an organization Pastor Francois works with, and is the direct responsibility of one of his employees named Edward Delbrun. Edward, Pastor and I embarked on a five-hour car ride through Port Au Prince towards the southwest. At some point we started driving up the mountain in our 4-wheel-drive vehicle and it was readily apparent the car would not get us very far. Sure enough after about 10 minutes we parked the car and called for motorcycles to take us the rest of the way. After 30 minutes of traveling along treacherous goat trails and switchbacks on the back of these bikes the three of us reached the summit and Sheridan. You can get a glimpse of the magnificent view in the pictures below.
The coolness and clouds which occasionally obstructed the view of the valley below made me realize just how high up we were. The folks in Sheridan were friendly and the children were very inquisitive, particularly of the “blanc”, a term used to denote non-Haitians (that would be me). They peppered me with questions about where I lived, my family, what I did in the US, and why I was there in their village. We spent about two hours visiting with the children. One of the little ones was sitting with me and I noticed he was getting sleepy. Before too long he had fallen asleep in my arms.
While I thought the ride up the mountain was arduous, the ride back down was no piece of cake and we were all glad to get back in the car. Pastor Francois and I dropped Edward off and headed further west, and up over the southern mountains of Haiti towards the beautiful port city of Jacmel.
It was enjoyable playing the role of tourists as we walked the streets of this quaint town. There are many older buildings in Jacmel, some dating as far back as the 1800s. This town definitely has “artsy” feel to it which is evident on some of the streets and walls of several structures. Jacmel is high on my list of places to visit again when I am in Haiti.
On our way back to Carries we visited Lambi Village in Carefour. This is where I served the first three years as a missionary in Haiti. It was good to see faces I remember from the past. And it was heartwarming to be fondly remembered by people in the village I haven’t laid eyes on in more than six years.