During normal travel times, the cost is $2,000/person. If flight costs increase, the cost of the trip will increase accordingly.

Flights from Denver, Hotel at a nice hotel (Best Western or Marriott), Rental Cars, Drivers, All Meals (there is a budget for this), paying on the ground people who help to make our trip successful and safe.

Souvenirs, snacks, and drinks.

We try to fit in the following:

• A trip to the orphanage
• A tour of Port Au Prince, including the history museum and a church service
• Memorable experiences in St. Roch, where we will spend most of our time in Haiti. We plan to visit families in their homes, visit the children in school, and work with the people on various projects
• A visit to the beach (depending on road construction)

Please be flexible, as traffic is regularly jammed and trip itineraries can change based on conditions on the ground. All days are generally long and we try to fit in as much as we can.

We recommend going to your local health department to see what the current recommendations are. We suggest Hepatitis A & B, a flu shot (if in season), and a current tetanus shot. It is also recommended you take Malaria pills and get vaccinated against typhoid and cholera. We have not kept current on either of these.

We strongly recommend that you allow BIH to book your tickets to ensure that all members of the trip are on the same flight for safety and logistical reasons. We typically fly American Airlines through Miami, as they have the best times at the best price. The airport is not a safe place after dark, and we do not want people who have not been to Haiti at the airport alone, particularly at non-ideal times of the day. When booked through BIH, travel costs are tax deductible.

No, we have worked out group deals with the hotel chains and get a good deal. In addition, using a credit card in Haiti takes a really long time, as the transaction has to be called in to the bank. Again, when booked through BIH, travel costs are tax deductible.

]We will eat breakfast at the hotel, which is a traditional American/European buffet breakfast. Lunch is typically eaten on our outings and generally consists of sandwiches and chips. Dinner will typically be at an upscale restaurant. Unfortunately there are not any “quick” restaurants in Haiti and meals take a LONG time. We enjoy dinner as a down time and love to have everyone share their favorite things from the day at dinner. We also love to have a traditional Haitian meal when we can fit it in.

As with any large city, yes and no. There are parts of the city that we never go in, parts of the city we don’t go in alone, and some parts of the city we don’t visit at night. Johnny, our on-the-ground liaison, is with us most of the time. We also closely monitor the “word on the street” for safety and will not hesitate to change plans as needed for safety. We will even cancel the whole trip if we feel it is unsafe, although we have not had to do this. We have found that media and State Department portrayals of Haiti are not accurate and we use our extensive network of Haitian contacts to determine the actual security situation.

A smile and games are universal. This is a society of relationships. Relationships are truly the most important thing to them. They love to show you their home, do your hair, play games, read books, paint fingernails, color etc. We will have suggestions on items you can bring to help you interact with the kids, though we will also request you not to bring items in excess. We are not wanting the kids to think they always need something from us. Again, it is more about the relationships than the stuff.

Depends on your child. We have brought children as young as five. We feel you need to decide what your child can handle. The days are very long and hot! We have a busy itinerary. There are also some hard things that we see, including extreme poverty and malnutrition. We find that most kids do not really see this. They just see kids who they love to play with.