Ray Team 1 Day 3 Water Truck - Story 2

Water Delivery Day was intense, good and eye-opening. I'll describe a little of what we did and how it went about (there will be some pics later, taken by our team leaders). Due to the shortage of clean water in Haiti, Healing Haiti water trucks deliver clean water to several sites throughout the area. We visited some of the most poverty-stricken communities and poured clean water from the trucks into buckets brought out by the people living in them. These trucks deliver water almost daily. Whole families including very young children and their parents line up often in a mad scramble to get the clean water. It takes 2 or 3 of us to manage the hose that shoots water into the buckets. The rest of the team helps carry those buckets back to the families' homes or somewhere near. It's all very fast paced and the water comes out fast. Sometimes when there's not a bucket right in front of the hose, kids will pile up at that spot almost like they're under a waterfall. But they're just being kids, some for play and some simply to cool off. This happened at least 2 or 3 times while I was at the front of the hose. It can get very chaotic. Pouring the water into the buckets and even the occasional chaos that happens felt very exciting for me while a little challenging. I enjoyed it. The other times, when I was carrying water buckets, were quite eye opening, just to see the level of poverty, but also the culture and way of life for the Haitians. Compared to them, we have absolute luxury here in America, especially in the South Bay in Los Angeles. Yet it was the only life they know. They were always super excited and welcoming when we showed up. The kids will gather around you and jump right into your arms or on your back–they are excited! I met a young man who introduced himself to me. He was gentle, friendly and curious. He asked me my name, my mom and dad's names, where I was from, etc. I found out he was a student and he said he likes to talk to people who deliver water so that he could improve his English. He was 25 years old. It was good to experience all this; 2 additional things stand out...of course you can get pretty drenched pouring water into the buckets, and Haiti is very warm, so you don’t mind one bit...and second, I have a new appreciation for water shoes–works like a dream. We have one more water delivery day, Saturday, and I look forward to it!