Barbara Johnson: St. John the Evangelist School was larger than I expected, and I was amazed to learn that 395 children are enrolled. … We worked hard at the school to accomplish the list of things to be done. … I left Haiti feeling I was the one who was evangelized to, for a visit there makes you realize what is ... important.

Ryan Johnson: I now know what poverty really is. These kids without shoes on, walking up the same rocky road ... carrying our packs for a stupid dollar. It’s so little to us, yet so much to them. ... Seeing these people’s homes and then coming back to see mine.

Tiffany Smallwood: This was my … first plane experience and my first trip out of the United States. ... No story or picture could have prepared me for what I experienced.

Anne Garner: We left early each morning for a one-hour ride part of the way up the mountain. … The climb took about an hour and 15 minutes. We divided into groups at the school and worked until about 3:30 with breaks for lunch and water. The climb down only took about 50-55 minutes — a shorter but much steeper trail. ... I enjoyed seeing people on the mountain again – they don’t get many visitors there and are truly glad to see us.

Ed Dodski: You can watch all the Christian network commercials on TV about the starving, poverty-ridden, destitute countries you want. But until you visit them firsthand and see with your own eyes, you truly have no idea. … I had a porter to carry my pack each day both up and down the mountain from the school. ... Probably 10 years old and maybe 50 pounds; my backpack [was] more than half his weight. He never complained once. He just smiled – and was there every day. ... This was a very humbling experience for me.

Nativity: 706-866-9773

Related stories:

• ER-D building Bishop Tharp Institute in Les Cayes, Haiti
• ER-D adds Southeast director