Haiti 2015 - Day 9 (29th - part 1)
So, it was Day 9, and time to say goodbye (for now) to Delmas…
We headed south, with Bro. Lamy as our driver, through mountain passes at over 1,000 metres altitude to the south coast and the Brothers’ community and school at Jacmel, a community that had once been described to me by a French Brother friend of mine as the most beautifully situated of any of our communities anywhere in the world.
Driving in Haiti could, at times, be a little traumatic when passing through crowded villages or towns (especially for Bro. Francis and whoever else was squeezed in with him in the front seats), with traffic flying around in all directions and no quarter asked or given. It is truly a “who dares wins” environment where if you want to pull out into a main road at a busy junction you simply pull out and everyone else has to stop for you. Priority to the one who sticks his nose out… except when faced with the rather intimidating Mack lorries that populate the country. Then it was simply “priority to the Mack!” No messing with those beasts. But, Lamy knows his way around such roads and knows how to drive in such an environment. Despite many hours spent on the Haitian roads during the trip as a whole, we learned to trust him and to trust the other road users.
Having arrived at Jacmel we could appreciate for ourselves what the French Brother had told me, the community house perched on a cliff looking out over crystal clear blue water (but not safe for swimming, due to the strong currents and steep coastal shelf).
We headed south, with Bro. Lamy as our driver, through mountain passes at over 1,000 metres altitude to the south coast and the Brothers’ community and school at Jacmel, a community that had once been described to me by a French Brother friend of mine as the most beautifully situated of any of our communities anywhere in the world.
A pit stop for refreshments.
The Brothers’ school at Jacmel.
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