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I was there as an advance party for some government big wigs from DC. We were there to coordinate security and to see if there were any problems with the locals we needed to worry about. There was plenty to worry about. At the end of the day the big wigs cut their staff and family out of the trip and it went from about 30 people to 4. My recommendation was not to go at all. They asked me why? I said...Ever heard of Custer at Little Big Horn?

We pulled it off with no small amount of just plain dumb luck. We went via 4-wheel drive from Haiti to the Dominican Republic and even though they are corrupt and hate Americans too I was never so happy to be leaving that country behind.

The pure unbridled hatred in their eyes towards us was something I'll never forget. As an American in uniform you get used to being disliked in other countries, but I really believe there were some sections of Port-au-Prince that not only would they have killed us, but they would have done things to our bodies that would make Al-Qaeda blush.

I understand that things are different today than when I was there, but how much is it, really? The country is still the poorest country in the western hemisphere. Haiti makes El Salvador look like Dollywood.

I'm not going to lie to you, but if it were my son I'd be against him going. Church people are among the most vulnerable of what is called a "soft target" church workers are still being killed and or kidnapped for money despite what the government says.

I let my son go off to war, because its what we do in my family. Until I had a son I never thought of how I'd feel putting my flesh and blood in harms way. Now I guess I know how my father felt when I went in. But we were trained to do a job and we were professionals in what we did. Church people have the best intentions, but they need to realize that others don't always share your values and may in fact hate you for it.

That was and as far as I know is still the case with many Haitians.

I would feel better if I were in your shoes knowing EXACTLY where my child was going to be and making sure he stayed in a LARGE group at all times. NO SIGHTSEEING or going to visit the locals. It would be best for all concerned if the ministry could have the people come visit YOU at a pre-arranged location and that my group would stay within the confines of some locale that could be locked up at night. 21 year old young men think their adults and ready to take on the world. But the truth is you're still very much a kid at 21. If you have security people working with your church group, have them totally vetted by someone who knows security and knows that this group can be trusted. Make certain he calls you every single day at a prearranged time and DON'T let him deviate from it. If he doesn't call you at the proper time, YOU call him ASAP! And don't be afraid to chew his butt if need be!

Sorry if I sound such a pessimist, but where your family is concerned you can't be too careful. Haiti is not the place to go without serious and honest preparation.

Wow, thanks for that advice. I had no idea it could be that bad. There are church groups going there all the time from this area, and no one has mentioned such extreme danger. Well, one woman I heard speak a few months ago said she and her group were called "blancs," and that some places weren't good for them to be, but that's as bad as she admitted it got. My son is very "blanc." When he was on the high school football team, the other kids called him "Casper."

The trip isn't even planned yet, and it may well be that the $$ for it would be prohibitive, anyway. He is pretty seriously religious, attends a Bible study as his single extracurricular at the local college, so I had thought this mission trip might appeal to him. And I think it would. However, he is very much one of those soft-hearted, idealistic types, a total innocent.

The Lutherans run a whole system of schools in Haiti (not in Port-au-Prince, but I imagine that's where they would fly into/out of). Our church is responsible for feeding one of them.

Haitians by and large are Catholic, but they mix voodoo and other things into it that it comes out something exclusively Haitian. I was raised Roman Catholic and their services look nothing like what I was used too.

Back one Duvalier was the dictator, he built an ballroom and dining room then had huge air conditioning units installed so the temperature would drop into the 50s and lower. He did this at a cost of millions of dollars.

Want to know why he did it? So the men and their wives and mistresses of the ruling elite in Haiti could have a place to wear their full length fur coats without getting hot.

He had a secret police force called the Tonton Macoute, they would keep Duvalier safe and in return he would allow them to commit murder, rape, kidnaping and pretty much anything. They have since been disbanded, but they're still there and very much open for business. Like most thugs, they lack any quality resembling real military or police force, but since they are now the islands version of the Mafia, you need to tread lightly in areas they are said to control.

Following the big earthquake it has been confirmed that a lot of the aid being sent to Haiti is being taken over by these mafia types and being sold on the black market for huge mark ups.

I think this network of schools is using the money we send for food for the kids, though. We hear from them--both the students, who will send cards and letters (in some French dialect, not standard French), and the administrators, some of whom come to visit us occasionally. Usually they come around Thanksgiving. The schools are not in Port-au-Prince, but somewhere else on the island. We were told they were not directly affected by that terrible earthquake a few years ago.

We see lots of photos and videos of the schools. I suppose pictures can be posed and faked, but these appear to be authentic.

My husband told me that the bad guys in Haiti sometimes do that "necklacing" thing my son was reading about in a course he took in post-colonial African literature. You know, where they put a tire around someone's neck, fill it with gasoline, and set in on fire. When my husband told me that, I knew I did not want my son going anywhere near that place.

The necklace became a thing when South Africa was going through its troubles. It was also a method that former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi used to publicly kill people he didn't like. The tire would keep burning and the flesh would make contact with the rubber and the pain was excruciating. The smell of burning human flesh is something that never leaves you.

I'm sure there are areas in Haiti that have more or less normal lives as far as normal can go in Haiti.

If you ever watch Miami Dolphin or University of Miami football games, their home field is Landshark Stadium in Miami Springs. Per capita Miami Springs has the largest Haitian population in the US. It's also more violent than any other part of Dade county. And trust me. To make that distinction is a something!!! Machetes and machine guns are the order of the day.