Ripe Mango Chronicles

The fear surrounding hurricane Matthew was immense. I'm talking terrifying. The giant angry red blot on the radar. Words like category 4, catastrophic, total destruction, villages washing away. This is what we were hearing, and this is what we were expecting. That Sunday Kenol told our congregation the hurricane was coming, and that it was expected to be huge, much bigger than anything we've had in recent history. The church spent time praying for the hurricane to weaken and for protection over the country. I was thankful he announced it because everyone I talked to really seemed to have no idea that it was coming. I can't tell you how many times I pulled my phone out to show the terrifying radar images, "See the red part, that's the hurricane! It's bigger than the entire country. It's going to be terrible. You need to take this seriously! " I cried out in my panicked voice. Most everyone just smiled and said, "God knows" or "We'll

The following blog was written at noon on October 4th as I was anxiously waiting for Hurricane Matthew to hit. October 4. I can't help but wonder if this date will become as infamous as January 12. When referencing the earthquake in Haiti you don't have to say more than, "January 12th" for everyone to know exactly what you are referring to. October 4. We are exactly half way through the day as I write these words. I'm sitting on my covered patio listening to the rain, a broken tree branch lay across the road by my gate, and the wind is whipping our banana and almond tree wildly. This is only a tiny fraction of what has been going on in the south of Haiti where Hurricane Matthew, a category 4 hurricane, has hit. We're just feeling the far off edges of the storm in Titanyen. I was able to give away keys to 36 homes in Minoterie to families who have been living in tents on Friday and Saturday of last week. I was so excited to see another 36 families FINAL