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Last Revised 13 January, 2008 October 8, 2001 It was an early morning. We arrived at Armstrong International Airport at about 7:25 for our 8:55 am flight from New Orleans to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The lines were incredible! I guess we should have expected that, but we really didn't. Security was a lot looser than I thought it would be. I don't know whether that is good or bad. Good for us, I guess, since we arrived without incident. With all the people in line, I only saw one suitcase being checked. After a stop in Tampa, we arrived in Fort Lauderdale at 12:45 pm (we crossed time zones, so the trip was really an hour shorter) and spent the afternoon at the offices of Food for the Poor, the organization sponsoring our pilgrimage. We toured the facilities and heard several speakers telling us the conditions we'll find in Haiti, but each one also told us how we cannot imagine what we'll actually see. The Food for the Poor organization is much larger than I expected. Their workforce in Florida totals around 260 people, with other employees in 24 countries. Local workers are always hired from the local workforce, they told us, so that their salaries can also help to boost the local economy. Food for the Poor expects to deliver $340 million in direct aid to countries in South and Central America, with the major concentration in the Caribbean basin, especially Jamaica and Haiti. Typically, a priest will attend a pilgrimage, and then bring back groups from his church parish or diocese. Our pastor, Fr. Thomas Bouterie, attended such a pilgrimage last year, and he's been an active fund raiser for the organization ever since. This year, our group consists of seven from our parish (including our pastor); two other pastors from our diocese, a nun who is the chancellor of our diocese, a vice principal and a campus minister from two of our high schools, two friends of Fr. B from Tennessee, and a reporter and photographer from our local newspaper. It's been a long day so far, but the week is just beginning. Tomorrow they're picking us up at 5:15 (in the morning! And we lost an hour's sleep with the time zone change!) for our flight to Haiti, where we'll visit two orphanages, an old folk's home, a hospital for AIDS infected children, and try our best not to drink the water. So far, we've heard the stories and the statistics. Tomorrow, we'll start to experience the reality. I can't wait, but I'm also very anxious. Up until now, I have known the definition of poor. I have seen the sick, the homeless, the helpless, the elderly. Tomorrow I will begin to learn an entirely new reality, and I'm not sure I'm up to the challenge. God has called me to be on this trip for a reason, and I don't know yet what it is. (This diary is certainly part of it.) That's how it is when you get God's call. It's hard to say "yes" when you don't even know what you're being called to do, and that's sort of what I'm feeling right now. I know that coming on this trip was the right thing to do (even though my wife, Ava, is not sure at all!), and tomorrow I'll begin to learn the real plan and purpose behind his call.
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