by Jonathan LaMare

Sometimes, things just simply do not go as planned. For our Britsionary groups, a constant theme and reminder for them from the moment they apply to be Britsionarys to the very last minute they are traveling, our ongoing reminder is, "It's Haiti". Things happen beyond our control, and quite often this changes the course of the day or the plans we maybe have for our groups. Most groups take this in stride, which is a challenge when coming from what is usually a very "Plan A" place! Our previous Britsionary group, named Team It Is What It Is, learned about this even before they ever set foot on Haitian soil...

Our group originated from both Boston and from Ohio, and the plan was that they would meet in Miami and fly in to Port au Prince all together. A delay from Boston upended this plan, however, and so the decision was made that the "Ohio Four" would fly in to Port to be met by our employees and security and brought out to Be Like Brit as scheduled. The rest of the group (and the majority of the group!) was rescheduled to the following day.

The following day, however, was Sunday, August 9, 2015. This was the day the country of Haiti held their long overdue elections, delayed for more than four years. As a result, there was nation wide concern of political violence and civil unrest, and the U.S. Embassy had issued a warning against unnecessary travel in the country. Given that there is only one road from Port au Prince to Be Like Brit (National Route #2), and most demonstrations tend to try to disrupt traffic as a strategy of gaining the attention of the national government, we made the tough decision to not just delay the group by a day, but by two.  The "Ohio Four" would have the place to themselves - for a bit!

Meanwhile, behind the scenes, we were somewhat frantically trying to figure out what we would do! How would this affect our ability to get a house built for a family, given the group had effectively lost two working days in Haiti? What could we do with the stranded group from Boston, who were waiting patiently in Miami for their Monday morning flight into Haiti?

Boss Len came to the rescue, and decided to rent a van and go pick the group up! In true "It's Haiti" fashion, we made opportunity from this challenge and this seeming set back! Len met the group and brought them to the Lynn University Memorial, a beautiful and peaceful place paying tribute to the Lynn University 6 who were killed at the Hotel Montana. While this was an unscheduled and unplanned event, we really think that it helped our group understand the motivation for what Len and Cherylann have done here in Haiti. 

Back in Haiti, the original group got some extra time in with the children, accompanying them to church on Sunday morning and getting the chance for an afternoon hike! Despite being a small group of four for the first two days, they were incredibly flexible and really embraced the "It Is What It Is" attitude! 

I, on the other hand, fell sick with Dengue Fever, and after spending some time at the local hospital on Election Day, was sent off to Port au Prince on Monday for some doctor ordered rest! This worked well, as Amanda and I traveled on Monday to Port to pick up the next arrival of Britsionarys! Ironically, even after being rescheduled and rerouted, half of the group made it to Haiti on Monday morning while the other half made it Monday night - but just barely! Election-related disruptions had National Route 2 blocked by demonstrators, and we only barely made it in to the city! It is for reasons like this that we travel with a privately hired member of the Haiti National Police!

By Monday evening, the group was all safely together at Be Like Brit in Grand-Goâve, and their work was cut out for them with the delay! Normally, we have 5 work days to build a home. This group would have just four! They really pulled together and accomplished this goal, providing a needy family with new, safe, and secure housing!

The group also included Medical Britsionary Donna! Donna just so happened to walk into Be Like Brit while we were in the midst of a bit of a mumps problem! Children are not vaccinated against the mumps here in Haiti, and we peaked out at having 13 children with active symptoms all at the same time!!! Donna provided so much love and care to our children, and we truly couldn't have made it through the week without her! Please be sure to thank Donna for her hard work and all of the TLC!!!

We continue to be very busy here in Haiti and at our Operations Center in Worcester! We are very excited to be gearing up for our Walk on September 12, and I am very excited to be able to fly up for the event to meet so many new supporters and reconnect with friends! Our children are preparing to go back to school in the next two weeks, and as you can imagine we are very busy with getting all of this in order!

We thank you for reading and for helping us help the children of Haiti at Be Like Brit!!!