Today was our water truck day, so we followed the water trucks to three areas of Cite Soleil, an impoverished area near Port-au-Prince. As we drove in, kids followed the tap-tap (our bus) and people lined up their buckets to be filled with clean water. At each stop we were welcomed with huge smiles and happy greetings of, "Hey You!"
The poverty in Cite Soleil is like nothing we had ever seen before. As some team members filled up water buckets, tubs, tins, barrels, cups, and anything else that could possibly hold water, others helped to carry them to homes. The rest of the team members held and played with an endless amount of Haitian kiddos. At one point, I think I counted 8 kids climbing on Ben Ose at once! Our hearts broke seeing the reality of such harsh poverty: kids without clothing, sick kids, tin shanties, garbage lining the streets, and kiddos at home who were of age to be attending school.
Even in the midst of such a chaotic situation, as soon as we picked up a child, each one filled our hearts with a joy that only an infectious smile can bring. One child, Jonas, even followed us from one truck stop to the next to play some more!
At our group meeting this evening, we talked about the most important similarity we share with these Haitian people: we are all loved by our great God. Although our demographics and circumstances are drastically different, the most important aspect of our lives is the same.
We are loving what God is doing in our hearts and we hope we're able to make a small difference here in Haiti this week. We are all tired and will sleep well tonight!
Live & sweaty from Haiti,
Sammi & Nicole
Team Alpha
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