I’m back from my mission trip to Haiti and it was an amazing experience. I recommend everyone to visit a third world country at least once. I definitely want to go back. I’m sharing a few photos but the phrase a picture is worth a thousand words seems so inadequate in this case. The photos just can’t compare to seeing, hearing, and feeling it.

I can’t think of any words to describe the ride through Port-Au-Prince. There was so much devastation and so many people out that it was hard to take it all in. The few photos I have are all I could get while riding in the back of a very bumpy van. Oh, and don’t complain about Atlanta traffic. No one stops in Haiti. They just honk their horns and swerve around anything or anyone in the way.

We spent most of our time in Leogane where the epicenter of the earthquake was. Our hotel was a beach front resort by Haitian standards. Ten women in a 2BR/1BA apartment made it a very challenging week. The occasional power & AC outages and cold showers were a minor annoyance compared to the millions of mosquitoes.

Most of our service was spent on vacation bible school and handyman projects at three orphanages. Victory had already funded new buildings for the kids to sleep in so we focused on smaller projects like building seesaws, chalkboards and repairing doors.

The kids in the orphanages are great. They range in age from infants to teenagers. The vacation bible school activities were a welcome break for the school aged kids studying for their finals. Although they don’t speak English, they were very good at communicating that they wanted a snack or they wanted their photo taken.

We also had a unique opportunity to do an outreach and minister to almost 100 prostitutes and pimps. Local churches do not reach out to them but they just want a way out of their lifestyle. This is their only way to support their families. Victory World Church is piloting a program that will allow women to transition from prostitution to owning a street vending business. Many people shared their stories and their were lots of tears, hugs, prayers and smiles. Oh, and a lot of portraits on the beach.

On the last day we went to a small mountain village near the town of Jacmel, about 3 hours away from Port-au-Prince. Here we really got to see how beautiful Haiti is. The village never received any help so we distributed tents and rice at their church. Many of the villagers walk for several miles to attend this church and all of them were there waiting for us to arrive.

And one final thought. If you eat goat, don’t do it. These animals are way too cute to be dinner.

See even more pictures by watching this slideshow documenting my trip.

Those who know me know that I love to travel and see new places. But I’m not just interested in sight seeing and shopping. I’m interested in being immersed in different cultures and experiences. There are so many places I want to go and so few that I’ve already been, so I’m excited that I’ll be making my first trip to the Caribbean this summer. I won’t be cruising or vacationing in the islands. I’ll be participating in my first mission trip. This summer I will travel with my church on a mission trip to Haiti.

Continued

Here are some favorite images from my niece and nephew’s portrait session. They are such hams.

I didn’t get a chance to blog all my weddings and shoots this year so I wanted to end with a year in review.

A few weeks ago my husband and I took a day trip down to providence canyon. It’s hard to believe that big hole in the ground formed from farmers who caused erosion. It’s not the Grand Canyon but it’s a nice site to visit. The walls are extremely soft so you can’t climb it. But you can walk through the canyon floor and there’s a nice trail around the outer perimeter. Here’s a few photos that I took while there.