Wednesday, June 30th--Day 8

Plans for today:

Today is the day we return home, so we don't have much time for activities.

We do hope, however, to wake up early (what else is new?!) and leave for the airport to give us enough time to drive through Port-Au-Prince to see some of the most-badly damaged areas from the earthquake.

We will then begin the long process of returning home...

On our drive to the airport, we again saw the many piles of rubble that was unloaded at various places. We found out that the Haitian truck drivers would just unload them at the first spot they saw--on the side of the road, in a field, in a yard, etc.--then go get another load. This allowed them to get more money for each load. What a mess...

We saw many buildings which were destroyed.

Trash was everywhere...right in the streets, in huge piles.

Dogs, as we have seen everywhere, eat from the trash, and anywhere else they can find food.

Don told us that many of the buildings, which haven't been touched since the earthquake, likely have bodies buried under them still.

There is a sadness and quietness in all of us as we see these things.

Still, there is that Haitian determination that we see in the faces of people we drive by.

Somehow, that gives us hope...

We finally head to the airport, physically and emotionally exhausted.

It is difficult to say goodbye to this place, and its amazing people.

Yet, we also feel the need to be home.

We are all changed, in many ways, from this trip.

We have been profoundly impacted by the things we've seen and experienced, and we will be changed forever.

We wonder how we each will process our emotions and memories.

We hope we will keep these memories strong in our hearts, so we will stay driven to take action to help these people in the future.

We hope our trip can inspire others to help as well, by offering donations, and even more so by taking a mission trip themselves.

We are thankful to God for this unbelievable opportunity...

Bon -Die Beni ou, Haiti!

God Bless You, Haiti!

And God Bless You amazing Haitians!