Easter Weekend

Good Friday is when our church here does the baptisms. They are adult baptisms and they used to do them on the beach here in Cap Haitien but the water is so polluted now that they had to build a font and today 80 people were baptised in a 3 to 4 hour ceremony.

 

 

We spent the day with all the physiotherapy students at Chouchou Bay which has a lovely sandy beach 2 hours from Cap Haitien. The road is pretty bad and Robyn had organised the school bus to take us there. After a delayed start due to some engine trouble we set off with our picnic picking up students all the way: it felt like a school trip with all the noise and loo stops!

The swim in the sea was very refreshing and everybody had a great time. There was a lot of singing on the way back and we were all pretty tired after a full day in the sun.



Mount John with white cross viewed from Cap Haitien

 

 

Easter Saturday started very early for me as Ogedad and the other residents were taking me up Mount John (716 m above sea level) above Cap Haitien which is dominated by a big cross. To avoid the heat of the day we set off at 6.00 am before sunrise. The start of the climb was going up roads which to me were steeper than Baldwin Street and this was followed by a goat track which led to the summit through banana plantations and mango orchards. Some of the residents were struggling up the hill and wondered why I was able to climb up so easily despite being twice their age! I told them I was a goat in my previous life.

 

Anyway we got to the top where we enjoyed the view of Cap Haitien and its surroundings as well as a packed breakfast. Once everybody had gathered some strength we started the descent which was a real quadriceps endurance test. We went past quite a number of houses with children calling out ‘blanc’ (meaning white) and then running away. I am told that Haitian parents tell their children if they don’t behave the ‘blanc’ will come and eat them! People also ask for money as they think that all white people are very rich. Sometimes I feel like a walking ATM!

We made the trip in 5 hours and everybody was pretty tired at the end.