Third Reform Church Trip to Pignon

Sumitted by Tim Brand

1) Please give a narrative description of your trip include in it how many members accompanied you on this trip; what was the purpose/ goals of your trip? What was accomplished, what may need to be done?
Our group of 11 was made up of mostly Third Reformed Church members from Pella, led by Tim and Catie Brand. We had two members that had been on the 2007 trip, Doug Nikkel and Ken Ruefer, and four first-timers: Jay Sunderman, Austin Steenhoek, Jordyn VandeLune, and Addie Smith. Also joining us was Sarah Keller from Olivet Baptist in Des Moines. Our last two members were Bob and Rosemary Nikkel. Their main purpose of the trip was to visit their son and daughter-in-law, Jared and Stacey Nikkel, and grandchildren Will and Natalie. The Nikkels recently moved to Pignon to serve as missionaries, currently living out of the upstairs of the Iowa house.
While in Pignon, we worked on numerous projects. One was working on the Nikkels' home which began construction the day of our arrival. Their house is located north of the Minnesota House within the compound on Dr. Guy's ground. There is much work yet to be done but the group helped clear the area of garbage and cement blocks, removed tree stumps, stubbed the drain lines, started the septic system, and leveled the floors inside the house for cement to be laid. While we were there, the Haitian construction crew dug trenches, laid footings, made cement blocks, and started the walls. It was great to see that progress!
Other work done around the hospital included cleaning air conditioners in a few buildings, including the internet cafe, running electrical service wire to the panel in the new dorm, and doing misc small projects in the Iowa and Minnesota houses. Also, we intended to paint the new three room addition at Three Bears and Me (Fontaine) School. However, upon arriving at the school, we saw that the addition has hardly been started, just trenches and some footings. Upon surveying the other 5 rooms, we saw they were definitely in need of some paint. So we painted the interior of the existing school rooms with two coats in each room. The other main project for our team was a three-day Vacation Bible School at the hospital. We invited 50 kids from our various schools [20 from Meredith, 20 from Three Bears and Me, and 10 from Boukewone (sp)], but in typical Haitian style, we usually had between 130-150 kids each day crammed into the conference room on the first floor of the administration building. For crowd control purposes, we eventually had to close the doors so many listened in through the windows. We now understand the Bible story about Jesus teaching in the house and people cutting holes in the roof so their friend could see Jesus - we had people everywhere! The VBS included songs, a Bible story, a craft, a memory verse, and playing games. Bev Brand prepared the curriculum, with much of it already translated into Creole. Wilkin was our translator (and did a fantastic job and would not accept pay), and Gevy helped with much of the organization. They were both wonderful!
We had VBS from 9:00-11:00 after which we fed a plate full of rice and beans to the 50 that were invited, and then managed to feed an additional 75 to 100 kids besides that on each day. There were a few chaotic moments but overall the VBS was a great success. We'd love to have another group keep the school going next summer or perhaps do the same lessons in another area and we left the material behind with Stacey and Jared. If intersted, please contact me and I can get you in contact with them to plan.
Other highlights of our trip included visiting Haiti Home of Hope and delivering formula and baby blankets. We got a tour of the farm where it was great to see so much progress being done with the goat program and other agriculture.We are happy to report that we saw 58 goats (a whole herd!) and were told that they have handed out over 300 this year. We also sang and prayed for the patients at the hospital multiple nights. Some of our group attended an early morning mass at St. Joseph's and we all headed out to Jean Jean's church service and then their house for lunch. Their new worship center is beautiful and we were excited to hear what UCI is doing for that area.
On July 4, we had an Independence Day party complete with sparklers and singing the "Star Spangled Banner". Our last evening included a presentation on the hospital by Adele and Evanel and a party on the roof of the Minnesota House. We concluded the night by praying together for the hospital, the surrounding areas, and the country of Haiti. It was truly a blessed trip.

2. How did you travel to Pignon? Were there any problems with your flight and or arrangement? Do you have any suggestions to make this an easier process?

We flew down to Ft. Lauderdale and took Acadiana Shuttle services to Ft. Pierce to stay the night. We flew MFI into Cap Haitien (with a quick stop in the Bahammas). They were out of visas in Haiti but we did have to fill out a medical form that asked questions about Swine Flu. The flight into Pignon was smooth, and we were greeted by a team from Trinity Reformed in Orange City that had been at UCI. The flight home was similar except we stopped in Turks and Caicos, where we again had to fill out a Swine Flu form. We had no issues with customs or flights, so we are thankful!

3. What were your lodging arrangements while in Pignon? MN dorm? Iowa dorm? Other?? Any suggestions? Recommendations? Did you have any problems? Do you have any hints or notes you want to pass on to other teams?
We stayed at the MN dorm. We had a few issues with water on the second floor, but luckily Jared was able to figure it out so we were not without water. We also purchased some water filters from Neil Van Dein because we were going through the bottled water so quickly. We left those two water filters with Jared and Stacey for other groups to use if they would like. They filter slowly, but if you keep water going into the filters, you can usually get ahead of it and get cold in the fridge. Our first four days were in the mid 90s with few rain showers coming through. It was HOT.

4. Is there information you would like passed on to the next team that is scheduled ?
This isn't necessarily for the next group, but something that was passed on to me that I think would be helpful for the group. Through the building of their house and seeing some of the projects going on, Jared and Stacey Nikkel have learned that for building projects, if you can get it in writing AND have the money in cash available for the project, things move pretty swiftly. The problems occur when the cash isn't readily available (has to come from the States) or the project isn't being checked on. For example, for the library, Gevy had block made for the wall, but money that was left ran out and worked stopped. At that point, people started stealing the blocks. Money was wired down so materials could be bought to finish the work before more block was stolen (driving up the price for the project even more). Also, construction projects seem to work where labor is negotiated, but all materials are purchased by the personpaying for the job. If someone isn't checking on the project, either too much material is purchased(causing waste) or nothing is purchased (stopping the project). I think we will get smarter as we continue doing construction projects.

5. Did you have any problems issues, occurrences that need to be addressed by the hospital or the Board?
Unfortunately, we had another theft incident where we lost 10 gallons of paint, amounting to about $175. We're not sure when the paint was stolen, but we believe it was taken from the depot when we had someone inside (they were working in the back). We've talked with Evenel about it and it seems the only solution is to keep everyone out of the gated area, as there is a constant flow of people in and out of the compound. We've recommended putting tighter restrictions (and keeping track of) who is coming in and out of the "secure" area. We also will explore adding more security to the depot area.

6. Anything else you would like to share about your trip?
Overall, we had a great trip. We saw some real progress being made at the farm and some of the hospital projects. Also, the hospital staff was the most supportive and available that I've seen them since I started going in 1998. We really appreciated their efforts and sharing with us the current hospital situation. Lives were changed during our trip, no doubt.