Gabs Global Mission

Day One

Continuing #GabsGlobalMission

Our mission team arrives at the airport, in Atlanta, hours before the flight leaves. Every year, our team brings various supplies and items with us to Haiti. This year we had 80 supply bags, and each person checked an extra bag, so two total. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to afford all of the baggage fees, so we left about 20 bags behind. One of the downfalls to this was that we kind of just picked up bags while checking them in without noting which supply bags we were actually taking. So everything we took to Haiti was a complete surprise.

As I go through the TSA check, my bag had to be checked. I thought for sure that it was the Poptarts, like last year, but the agent ended up taking some shea butter — which I have packed in a carry-on several times before. As a matter of fact, I got the idea from a packing list on another girl’s mission trip blog. They just don’t want me to be moisturized and great!

This year’s flight was in the evening, unlike last year’s which was in the early afternoon. Last year, we landed in Port-au-Prince during the day, this year it was nighttime.

One thing I love about flying down there is the fact that we fly down the eastern Florida coast. My home state is so beautiful. Yay, for picking window seats!

Hey, Florida, hey!

We arrive in Port-au-Prince, and it’s been raining. I want to give their airport a huge shout out for their come-up. Last year, there was no gate, so after the plane taxied, they put stairs next to the plane and we exited Obama style. This year they had a gate! Praise Him for increase! We get off the plane and go through customs. It is $10 USD/100 Gourdes (does that even mathematically make sense?) to enter the country. (I feel the same way about that as I did last year, but oh well). I hand the lady a 100 Gourdes bill note because I’m just balling in international currency like that, and she’s all, “No! Ten dollars U.S.” Ma’am, that is not what your sign reads though (thus why I feel some type of way). The next lady, who stamped my passport was nice, thank goodness. Like some other countries I’ve been to, she reads my name and assumes that I know french due to the origin of my name. We have a brief conversation en francaise.

We then get all of our bags, and of course the airport bag boys are there to try to assist for a fee. We make our way to exit the airport, and we are stopped to have our supply bags checked. This is one of the hardest things to come to terms with each trip. We bring into your third-world country to give away as a means to help your people, but you guys want to tax us to bring it in — which is illegal. It’s these type of corrupt people within the country that keep it from being great.

Our trip leader ends up getting into an argument with the Haitian officers; this allows us to sneak bags past them and, finally, exit the airport. The officers threaten to detain our leader and hold is passport. He tells him what they’re doing is illegal, but do they care? Of course not. This goes on for quite a while. We ended up having to leave some of our supply bags at the airport (again). However, they did allow us to come pick them up the next day for $250.

We finally leave and make our way to the Haitian Christian Mission (HCM) compound where we live during our time in Haiti. It took maybe an hour to get from Port-au-Prince to Fonds Parisien, Ouest Department, and even though it was dark, I could tell that the roads were paved better, or less bumpy, than last year. On that come-up again!

My room.

Even though it is late, the staff at HCM has dinner ready for us when we arrive. We unload the truck with our bags after we eat and then go to our rooms. I picked the same room that I had last year, which is on the top floor, so I have an excellent view of the nearby lake.

 

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The time zone that Haiti is in is EST, but when we arrived, the local time was an hour behind. This is because in 2016 they decided not to participate in Daylight Savings Time, like many other countries. I couldn’t find a reason why they decided to change things, and I’m, honestly, confused as to how they changed things considering they don’t have a president at the moment. They had presidential elections in late 2015, but they were apparently rigged, so they are re-doing them.

The living room area at the apartments where the women stay.

The kitchen area.

 

More Mission

Round Two
I’m planning to go on my second mission trip, to Haiti, with members from my church, in June 2016. Last year, thanks to several friends and family members, I was blessed, financially, with the means to go. It is such a wonderful feeling to know that people support my visions and plans. “A friend loves at all times.” (Proverbs 17:17)

Check out this video that highlights last year’s mission trip!

I had such an awesome time spreading God’s love last year, so I decided, through prayer, that it would be a great opportunity to go on this mission trip again. “And then I heard the voice of the Master: ‘Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?’ I spoke up, ‘I’ll go. Send me!'”
(Isaiah 6:8)

What Are Some Things That Will I Be Doing?
-Volunteering at orphanages
-Volunteering at a local school
-Other opportunities that God may present our group with
“Let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in Heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)

Ways You Can Help:
PRAYER
– Pray that my financial obligations for this mission trip are met
– Pray for safe travel mercies to and from Haiti for our group
– Pray that we have a heart warming experience as we minister to others
“Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” (Proverbs 4:6)

DONATIONS
– Your gracious donations will help pay for my room, board, and transportation in Haiti, shipping fees for our group to transport our supplies and donations that we are taking, and donation materials – such as toiletries, sheets/blankets, shoes, baby items, books, and school supplies
“Take an offering for me; from every person whose heart makes him willing you are to receive my offering.” (Exodus 25:2)
“And they came forward—every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whose spirit was willing; they brought the offering for the Lord.” (Exodus 35:20)

Deadline
I am hoping to reach my fund raising goal by June 1, 2016.
I am extremely grateful for all of the love and support that is received through donations and prayer.

Click here to donate via my Go Fund Me page!

THANK YOU & GOD BLESS,

Gabrielle

Hispaniola Media: A Tale of Two Countries

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. But, more importantly, it was time for the NBA Finals. The highlight of the American professional basketball season, so, for fans, it’s pretty much a life essential to watch these games.

During my visit to the island of Hispaniola for mission work, I noticed some things about television media there. These thoughts all came from watching NBA games, which was the only time I watched TV during my trip. I would, definitely, like to note how excited I was to even watch the basketball games while in both Haiti and the Dominican Republic because I have been to several other countries where I have not been as fortunate.

Haiti

While watching the basketball games in Haiti, one of the things that I noticed was the number of times a particular commercial was shown. It was simply a commercial break that advertised the NBA Finals, showing highlights from flawless plays during various games. Each commercial break the commercial would play at least once if not two or three times. I wondered, why do I am continuously watching this commercial. I’m obviously going to watch the remainder of the Finals because I’m watching them right now. There’s no need for a commercial to make me stay tuned in. All of the other commercials were also sports related and advertised other upcoming games or shows that were sports-related that would air on that channel. (I believe the channel was ESPN, but I can’t really remember.)

Then, the integrated global communication part of my brain kicked in, and I thought about the type of advertising I was seeing. Here are my observations:

• In Haiti, the media industry is not that big. It’s obviously sufficient enough to air things, but it’s much smaller than other Western countries. (*Note that Haiti is the poorest Western country.)
• There were no local or even national commercials. Nothing that had to do with Haiti. Why?
• No local promotions means that they must air network commercials, hence why the same NBA commercial played over and over and over again.

I think this, oddly, falls under Friedman’s concept of globalization.

Globalization is the process of international integration arising from the interchange of world views, products, ideas and other aspects of culture.

It’s almost as if Haiti is giving in to the concept that the world is flat without even realizing it. Or perhaps it is even, in a weird way, forced upon the country. However, even if it is kind of forced, I would hope it’s not a huge problem. If globalization is introduced in this form to countries that are not quite up to speed with media the way the United States, it may be easier for globalization to be accepted. Unlike patrons in the States who are used to having things one way, English, and, usually, have a hard time accepting the integration of other cultures.

Dominican Republic

In the Dominican Republic (DR), the media was very different. Although this is not one of the richest countries in the West, it is more sufficient than Haiti. Thus, it makes sense for the media to be different and better. Here are my observations:

• The channel is a Spanish-speaking network. (Once again, not sure if it was something like ESPN Deportes.) All of the broadcasting was in Spanish and was done by actual Hispanics, not English-speaking natives who are translating. This was a new experience for me personally. It was so different to hear commentary from different people (you know, other than Magic, Barkley and crew).
• There were network programming commercials, commercials that promoted other programs on that channel, but there were also other national and local commercials. Kind of like how, in the United States, we have commercials for cars, restaurants and other businesses. The commercials were in Spanish also. (Remind me to actually learn Spanish one of these days.)
• Due to the fact that there was an opportunity for a larger variety of commercials, each commercial was aired less frequently.

I’ll be looking into media aspects for the two countries, so stay tuned for the continuation of “Hispaniola Media: A Tale of Two Countries.”