The team has arrived safely in Pétion-Ville after uneventful flights from Kansas City to Chicago and Chicago to Miami, followed by a somewhat eventful flight from Miami to Port-au-Prince. During the final approach to Toussaint Louverture International Airport, we began circling, and the pilot informed us that there was a problem with the system that controlled the flaps on the trailing edges of the aircraft’s wings. They needed some time to determine whether it would need to be worked on at an airport with more maintenance facilities; if so, we would have to divert (probably to San Juan).
The team at KCI before departure.
After about twenty more minutes of flying over the Plaine du Cul-de-Sac and the Baie de Port-au-Prince, during which we listened to various mechanical noises and felt the plane attempting to descend, the pilot told us that he had decided to go ahead and land at the airport, which, he assured us, has a relatively long runway. Ten minutes later we were on the ground and rolling to a stop with plenty of runway in front of us – and three fire trucks and an ambulance alongside.
A bit of excitement at Toussaint Louverture International Airport.
By this time it was sunset, so the subsequent ride through Port-au-Prince and up into the hills south of the city was in darkness. Odors of smoke, dust, and Haitian cooking drifted through our vehicles. The streets are not well-lit, but still teem with pedestrians and vehicles (nearly all motorcycles and “tap-taps”) after dark. Vendors still had their wares on display. We drove by one building that looked like a small auditorium or warehouse, gaily decorated and with a wedding going on inside. Our drivers took several short cuts to avoid the heaviest traffic, which entailed some very rough streets with even less lighting, but again, pedestrians and activity going on.
Eventually we reached the Freres Campus of l’Eglise Méthodiste d’Haïti, where we are staying tonight at the guest house before leaving early tomorrow to attend church in Petit-Goâve. After a light supper, volunteer management coordinator Rev. Tom Vencuss conducted an orientation for our team, plus one from north Texas that arrived on the same flight. We then had our own team meeting and are now dispersing to clean up and get some sleep.
