Where He leads...: April 2014

Imagine you're visiting Haiti. Your friend takes you to the outdoor market. You see some ripe avocados and think they would be a delicious addition to tonight's menu!

"How much for an avocado?"

"Senk dola," the vendor replies.

"Five dollars for an avocado?!"

That's when your friend goes on to explain something like this...

The currency in Haiti is Haitian gourdes. (In Creole it's typically just "goud", rhymes with "mood".)

$1 USD equals around 40 Haitian gourdes.

But here's the kicker... that five dollar avocado... it's not really a $5 USD avocado. It's a five Haitian dollar avocado. Better for your wallet, not so great for those of us who are still wishing our math teachers were wrong when they said, "Math is something so important you'll use it all your life."

Let me explain...

A "Haitian dollar" doesn't exist. Well, it exists in speech and comprehension, but it is an invisible currency.

1 Haitian dollar (HTD) = 5 Haitian gourdes. So 1 Haitian dollar is the equivalent of 1/8 of a U.S. dollar. So that 5 dollar avocado is really just 25 gourdes (about 62 cents).

Confused yet?! :)

Let me sum it up in one sentence: In Haiti, you physically pay with Haitian gourdes, but the verbal or written price for something could be in invisible Haitian dollars and you just have to do the math in your head before you hand over the cash.

$1 US = 40 gourdes = 8 Haitian dollars

1 Haitian dollar = 5 gourdes

Here's an example...

The above bill is 100 gourdes. The approximate USD equivalent is $2.50. If someone asks you to pay 20 dola/20 Haitian dollars, you could give them this bill. (20 HTD x 5 = 100 gds)

Haitian gourdes come in a range of denominations. 10, 20, 25, 50, 100, 250, 500, 1000. And also coins, 5, 1, 1/2. Some are pictured below.

They are quite beautiful when they're new! But most of the time they look like the photo below and are handed to you in a crumpled wad. I head for the soap after prolonged contact! (A good idea after handling money from anywhere.)

A few more money tips for traveling in Haiti:

You can change money at the bank, supermarkets, and on the streets. The bank rate is the best. Street changers come second. And supermarkets and hotels last. If you need to exchange money while you're staying at the guesthouse, we can send someone to change it for you.
Many places do take American dollars, but you will typically pay more as the rate is not as good when paying in USD and you may not always get change. For example, you can buy cold drinks from guys in the street as you drive by. It's a quick exchange as you don't want to hold up traffic. They are 25 gourdes (~62 cents), but if I only have U.S. cash, I'll just give $1 and be done with it.
Change in general is hard to come by. If you're buying something for 100 gourdes and you only have 1000, you will often be given a hard time. This is especially true when buying from street vendors, as they don't have a lot of change. A supermarket may not have as much difficulty, but they still may try to ask for smaller bills.
Haitian vendors, stores, and even banks will not take ripped or overly worn American dollars. Bring the best you can to Haiti. Not only will that save you from getting stuck with unusable bills, but it will help keep usable bills on the island for longer.
The neighboring Dominican peso is basically the same rate as a Haitian gourdes. Makes things easy for traveling back and forth!

Click here for a helpful resource on Haitian currency written by Haiti Hub.

Creole vocabulary of the day:
money = lajan (la-jahn) or kòb (kawb)

Gone are the days (mostly) of shopping in well-stocked, wide-aisle, wish-I-would-have-worn-a-jacket-for-the-frozen-food-section grocery stores.

Leogane does not have a grocery store. Well, certainly not anything close to what I described above. They do have a store called Original Market, which does sell groceries, albeit, overpriced groceries and you have to play a game of Twister to squeeze past someone in the crowded aisles, of which there are three. There are also gas station/mini marts that sell various items like Corn Flakes, spaghetti noodles, powdered milk, Pringles, and chocolate bars. And then you have the outdoor market where you can try out your haggling skills for a dozen eggs, a bag of rice, or even a new (or more likely used) pair of shoes. There are also street vendors scattered throughout town selling everything from packaged cookies to matches, phone chargers to TV antennas, and soccer balls to Haitian-made or pirated DVDs. Some vendors even walk around town, shouting out their product in hopes that someone within hearing distance will be prompted to make a purchase.

Our cook Yvette does the majority of her shopping in the outdoor market. Each morning she heads out to purchase whatever she needs for the menu that day. The busyness of the marketplace doesn't even phase her. She comes back with bags filled with the freshest goods and properly cleans and prepares them for our guests.

Leogane's outdoor market. This is just a small corner. Start walking towards the middle of it and you'll find rows and rows of vendors who have arrived early to set up their stalls.

It's typical to return to the same vendors who you get to know over time and who are fair with their pricing. It's also normal to split your shopping list between multiple vendors. Even if they sell similar products, it allows you to help as many as you can make a profit that day.

The price for produce depends on what's in season. When avocados are in abundance you can buy one for less than 50 cents. A five pound papaya sells right now for around $2.30.

I have to psyche myself up for an outdoor market trip. It's crowded, hot, steamy, and if it has rained recently, it's a muddy mess!

To navigate through the busy marketplace, you have to dodge people and motos, duck under low awnings, hop over the products often lying on a tarp on the ground, and all the while trying to avoid stepping into who-knows-what that has gathered in the mud and mucky puddles.

So what about other shopping options in Haiti? The closest grocery store for me is DeliMart in the city of Carrefour. It's about 18 miles away and takes about 45 minutes to get there depending on traffic. They carry a good selection including quality wheat bread, lots of pasta and sauces, some decent cheese and produce, even pepperoni and frozen blueberries! When I'm able to get there, I'll buy some items for Yvette that are cheaper than purchasing them in Leogane, such as cheese, pasta, and sauce for lasagna, jelly, peanut butter, and salad dressings.

Earlier this year I was so motivated to get the groceries I wanted that I went with a friend to DeliMart via public transportation and we carried back all that we could in our hands and in one backpack. Surprisingly I've yet to get that motivated again!

If I'm really in the mood for a trip, I take a special outing to Petionville. Petionville is a town south of Port au Prince that is like stepping into another dimension. Amidst the typical poverty, street vendors, and other sights and sounds that are always in Haiti, you'll also find elegant stores, delicious restaurants, luxury hotels, and yes, big, well-stocked, wide-aisle, wish-I-would-have-worn-a-jacket-for-the-frozen-food-section grocery stores! The key, however, to shopping in these incredible supermakets is to not stray from your shopping list unless you are prepared for the shock that will come as you see the total bill at the register! Some items sell for a decent price, similar to what you'd find in the States. Others are twice (or more!) what you'd pay back home. You won't see me buying $10 boxes of cereal or $15 packs of bacon! (Ok, once I accidentally bought a $15 pack of bacon! Never again!) You just have to decide what something is worth to you. Maybe the day will come when you will splurge on a $12 carton of strawberries, $15 tub of Ben and Jerry's, or $20 frozen pizza. But most the time I'm satisfied just having a wider selection of fresh (and fly-less produce), cake mixes and icing, freshboneless chicken breasts, and any cheese I want!

Caribbean Supermaket, rebuilt after it collapsed in the 2010 earthquake where many lost their lives and others were trapped for days.

Enjoy the well-organized aisles and make sure to stop at the French bakery on the way out for delicious desserts and yummy pesto and mozerrella sandwiches on fresh baguettes!

But don't forget that traveling back to Leogane from Petionville could easily take two hours. Bring a cooler and buy ice on your way out. (My friend's cooler was stolen out of the back of the truck on our way up!) Strap down and cover your priceless goodies if you can! And hit the road before your yogurt and chicken spoils... which unfortunately happened to mine last time! :(

Last night I had a bit of a pity party for myself to the point of tears streaming down my face and repeating that phrase over and over again...

I'm not strong enough.

I'm not strong enough.

I'm not strong enough.

I'm not strong enough!

I'm not strong enough to continue to live in this place where I'm constantly burdened by the precious lives of sick and dying children. Often dying from preventable causes—like simply not eating enough food!

I'm not strong enough to continue to be bombarded by needs all around me. Mothers begging me to take their children into my care. Families begging me to help provide for their basic daily needs.

I'm not strong enough to continue to reside in a country where the majority of individuals live on $1-2 a day and often struggle to make it through another week, and yet my needs have always been met every single day of my life. Even here, the divide between how I live and how these desperate families live is indescribably vast.

Can't I just go back in time? Back to before I heard God call me out to distant lands? Back to the time when I could sit comfortably at "home" with friends and family, talking about the weather, because seriously the biggest tragedy of the week was going to be whether the big game was going to get rained out?

Can't I just go back to those beautiful hills of Tennessee? Sleep in that big, soft bed? Take the dog for a walk? Catch up with friends at that cozy coffee shop? Go shopping for antique treasures? And plan weekend getaways with my girlfriends?

Because face it... I'm just not strong enough to be here. To live here. To minister here.

Beth Moore is a psychic. Ok, well not really. She's just one very wise woman. This morning I finally pulled out on of her Bible studies I've been meaning to start all year and she begins by talking about how God's timing is perfect and how this study will meet you where you are with exactly what you need to hear from the Lord. The study is called Living Beyond Yourself and it focuses on the fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23. I guess I suspected today's introductory lesson to dive right into what it means to live a life of goodness, patience, and self-control, because I found myself a bit surprised when God spoke the exact words that I needed to hear. Well, technically Beth said the words, but they resonated to my very core...

"In Christ, we can do what we can't." It was as if God was wrapping me up in His arms and responding to my cries last night by saying, "Yes, my child. You're right. You're not strong enough. But I am!"

I was reminded of a time at Bible study earlier this year when we were reading through the book of Colossions. Colossions 1:9 says, "To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me." Struggling with all his energy. His energy! Last night I was struggling with my own energy. My own overwhelming thoughts. My own overburdened heart. My own fatigued being. But oh the power that resides in his energy. In the empowering that He has given me with His Holy Spirit from the day I said, "Yes, I believe. Make me new." Over 15 years later I echoed Isaiah's cry, "Here I am. Send me!" And now, 9 years after that commitment to serving Him and others, I feel tired but renewed as I'm once again reminded that He who began a good work in me will be faithful to complete it. (Phil 1:6) Even though sometimes I feel alone, not having a mission team serving with me or a mission board taking care of me like I've had at other times, I hold onto the truth that God has called me and through His strength, I can continue all He has set before me. And I'm further encouraged that I'm not the only one in present-day or in history who has felt weak and incapable of dealing with the storms of life—whether my own or watching the storms of others all around me. Paul's words from 2 Corinthians 1:8-11 bring comfort to me, especially as I'm reminded how many of you are praying for me and the ministry here.

We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many. (emphasis added)

As Paul stated and as I believe, there is still hope and your prayers are making a difference!

Beth shares, " What God has for us is beyond us." His plans for us are more than we can imagine and more than we can accomplish on our own. I've said it before, but if this day or in this lifetime I only accomplish the things that Hannah can do. Well, I'm missing out. And the world is missing out. Because as I was reminded this morning in John 14:16-17, the Spirit of the Living God lives in me! He lives in me! So my life is no longer about what I can do, what I can give. It's about what God can do through me. I don't have to worry about whether I'm strong enough, because (sorry, Ego), I'm not nor will I ever be. The tasks are too great. The stakes too high. And what I can offer on my own is too small compared to God's great purpose for my life.

"Dry your tears," He says. "You don't have to be strong enough. Just trust that I am."

[This is a post I wrote for FHM's blog.] Are you planning a visit to our guesthouse in Haiti? We hope that answer is YES! And if you are, maybe you're asking yourself what you should expect, pack, and so on. Or maybe you're like the seasoned traveler above and you've got your toothbrush and passport and you're good to go! Might we suggest a few other items? Keep reading...

So what are some good things to know before your plane touches down in Haiti?

Language: Haitian Creole is spoken in Haiti. French is considered a second official language though only a small percentage of locals speak it. You might find it helpful to bring with you a Haitian Creole phrasebook like this one or Google "Haitian Creole phrases" to study up a bit before you come. We also sell Creole learning books here at the guesthouse written by a local friend of ours. If you really want to have fun with vocabulary learning, I suggest the Oxford Picture Dictionary. This would also make a special gift for any Haitian buddy of yours as you are leaving!

Greetings: Greetings are very important in Haitian culture. It would be considered rude to walk up to someone and start asking questions without first saying "good morning" or "good afternoon" and asking how they are doing. Even if all you can manage is a "bonjou" or "bonswa" that is okay and the locals will be very pleased with your good manners. Men shake hands with men. Men and women greet with a kiss on the cheek, as do women with women. For me, as a female, if I don't know a man well or feel the need to be overly friendly, I will simply shake hands.

Photo-taking: While many locals do not mind having their photo taken, especially if they can see the photo on your LCD screen afterwards, do take care in being discreet and asking for permission when you can. Some Haitians do not enjoy being immortalized in this way. Some of that may tie into their spiritual beliefs and for others it's simply a personal preference. I've referenced this article before, and it's a good one concerning photography in the developing world.

Bathrooms: This is often a question that comes up when you're traveling to a third-world country. Public bathrooms are few and far between in Haiti. What does that mean for you? A couple things... 1) try to use the bathroom on the plane before you land or in the airport before coming outside. It's hard to estimate how long it will take to travel the 25+ miles to Leogane. But it typically takes at least 1.5-2 hours. And 2) don't be surprised to see locals "improvising" despite this fact.

Safety: A huge part of staying safe in Haiti is in your hands... actually, in your brain. USE IT and that will increase your safety exponentially. While some of the reports I hear couldn't have easily been prevented, many others are because people were not being particularly wise. Rules and recommendations from those who live here long-term should be followed such as traveling in pairs (at minimum), obeying the curfew of where you're staying, not having valuables out in plain sight (and leaving most of them at home anyway!), and so forth. Is Haiti safe? I don't answer that with a yes or no answer, as my hometown has its dangers as well. But just be reminded that Haiti is a third-world country with the majority of people living in poverty and desperation. Desperate people do desperate things. So be prepared. Be smart. And listen to those who have been there, done that. I recommend signing up for the Smart Traveler Enrolling Program (STEP). Simply input some personal and travel information and in the case of an emergency the State Department is better able to assist you.

Cell phones: The choice is yours whether or not you want to bring your phone. Like any valuable, keep it close. I've been with a team on two occasions when an iPhone was stolen. In both cases the owner left it sitting in what they thought was a "safe" spot and walked away to play with some kids a few feet away. Most people bring their smartphones to Haiti for wifi and photo purposes and don't use it for making calls. If that's the case, turn off your data roaming feature or whatever tells your phone not to try connecting to a cell phone network. If you want more information on how to avoid an astronomical cell phone bill on your return, ask a friend who has traveled overseas with their phone, search for information online such as this article or call your cell phone company. Haitian SIM cards can be purchased here for a couple bucks. Typically, unlocked GSM network phones work here.

Packing Part 1: You can find some good travel packing lists online. And generally whatever group you're coming to Haiti with will send you suggestions. I'll link to FHM's guidebook at the end of this post. But here are a few of my thoughts and suggestions for packing... I prefer antibacterial wipes to the liquid. I feel like they clean my hands better. Bring the hardcore bug spray, but bring something lighter just in case that works too. The powerful DEET stuff can ruin certain fabrics and materials. You'll be drinking lots of water. And your water won't always stay cold, but you'll still need to drink it! I like to use flavored drink powders to enhance my hydrating experience! Bring some snacks. Yvette will feed you WELL! But only breakfast and dinner are included in a typical stay, so most guests bring snacks for lunch. Make them good, energizing ones! Granola bars, nuts, etc. Clif Mojo bars are my favorite so feel free to bring extra! ;) Other guest favorites = tuna packs, beef jerky, peanut M&Ms. If you bring peanut butter, put it in your checked luggage. It's a popular confiscation item. If you want to bring cake mixes, brownie mixes, muffin mixes, I'll be happy to bake them for you and enjoy them with you! :) Bring ear plugs if you think you might have snoring bunk bed buddies, but otherwise the guesthouse is pretty quiet compared to other places I've stayed in Haiti. It's rare to hear barking dogs, roosters, etc. I always pack my clothes in vacuum seal bags to maximize space. And I recommend bringing a good book and/or journal for your downtime at the guesthouse. We have some board and card games here or feel free to bring your favorite and teach us!

Packing Part 2: Some things you may not have considered... because trash is burned in Haiti, leaving your empty aerosol cans behind is a hazard. Poor Junior (our groundskeeper) had one explode recently while he was burning the trash and didn't realize it was in there. So either leave them at home, or bring them and if you empty them, take them back home with you to dispose of more safely. Most places in Haiti will not accept ripped or overly worn American bills. (Which is a little funny if you've ever seen Haitian currency.) So when you withdraw your cash to come to Haiti, ask the bank teller for her nicest bills. That way you won't get stuck with useless bills and you'll help Haiti be able to keep usable U.S. bills here longer. And if you are worried about bringing too many clothes or not enough, keep in mind that you can have laundry done at the guesthouse by our fabulous housekeeper Jocelyne for $5 a load.

Obviously this doesn't cover all travel information and recommendations for your trip to Haiti. But hopefully it's a good start. And if you're coming through Family Health Ministries, you can consult the FHM Mission Guidebook. Even if you're not coming through FHM, it's still a great resource for Haiti travel and packing tips.

We hope to see you soon!

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