Man of the Day: Our Bus Driver!

We’re told that it’s harder for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the gates of heaven. Well, to all the rich men out there, you need to speak to our bus driver, because he could probably get you where you’re going. 

To call today’s drive across the country “an adventure” is doing it a disservice. In the 9.5 hour journey, we passed through city and country, relieved ourselves in surprising places (including our bus driver’s family home), drove around hairpin turns on roads about the width of our bus, and squeezed through a bridge with only a few centimetres on either side. And, of course, witnessed natural vistas unlike anything most of us had ever seen before.

The only person seeming to feel more at home here is Fr. Duncan, who is a pastor of two parishes in Cape Breton. He has already found four, yes four, ways that Haiti reminds him of Inverness. Sweeping Caribbean vistas? Like the Highlands. Winding country roads and sheer mountain cliffs? The Cabot Trail. Bustling urban life in Port au Prince? Like Inverness during “Chase the Ace.” Apparently Inverness has one, single palm tree. We have a feeling the comparisons will keep coming, so stay tuned.

By the end of the day, it had most of us speaking about what we felt grateful for: reliable plumbing, a great dinner, and air conditioning topping the list. Also that Canada doesn’t have grasshoppers the size of a hotdog, which we also encountered today.

Tomorrow we start the “sweaty and dirty” work at the sub-sites. We will be digging latrines (or “cruising la terre” which is what the creole sounds like), “faire du brick” – making cinder blocks, and painting the homes. The day starts dark and early with Mass with the Sisters at 5:45am. Pray for easy digging!