Brooks here on behalf of our Texas team, composed of our fearless leader David, HATS veteran Julie, lovebirds Jake and Jennifer, and newbie Tina. Last year when we came, our trip was full of adventure – late flights with mechanical problems, missed flights, lost luggage, broken down van in the middle of Haiti at night, Jake and Jen making out in front of us, etc.

Putting finishing touches on the Hilton accomodations befroe team arrives

This year, all the flights went smoothly, All our luggage arrived with us. The trip from Port Au Prince to Deschapelles went smoothly and took record time. In other words, nothing fun happened. I was rather disappointed.

Immediately after arrival Jofky is in arms of his godfather, Brooks

Regardless of the trip, we are so excited to be here. It feels like home. It’s so fun to come year after year and see how the kids have grown. Once arriving yesterday around lunchtime, we jumped right in to playing and visiting and loving on the kids like we hadn’t been gone for a year.

Jonathan with his godfather, David

Ti Fi had a lot of fun with Jake

Good to be together again

We got to do one of my favorite things yesterday before dinner: take a walk with all the kids down the canal.

Afternoon walk along the canal

It’s fun to run, climb trees, dodge motorcycles, and enjoy just how beautiful this country is.

Brooks in our kid’s climbing tree with them.

Our day ended shortly after dinner. We had to be up at 4am yesterday for our flights, so we were all rather exhausted. Some of us may or may not have fallen asleep while eating dinner. The red-headed chief has lots of work planned for us over the next several days, so we thought it was best to get to bed and get our energy back. Now we’re awake and ready to paint some buildings and play with kids and enjoy one of the most wonderful places on earth. It’s good to be back!

~Brooks