- Shopping at Haiti Design Co.
We spent our morning putting some money into the Haitian economy by supporting an established business that employs local artists, Haiti Design Co. We were able to see a lot of very unique, handmade jewelry, bags, kids stuffed animals, and even got the opportunity to learn how to make layered leather wristbands, which some of the team went for. They also had a beautiful rooftop view where we could overlook some of the city and mountains.
- New Hope "Community Center"
Big brother big sister/community center/daycare all wrapped in one, New Hope brings love, childcare, mentorship and food to the surrounding community they are in. We were able to meet some of the directors and employees who manage the chaos of 60 energetic kids in a small building and courtyard. They were such a blessing to these kids and the majority of the kids had a lot of respect towards them. You can tell that they had really invested in the kids to build those relationships, despite there being an unfair ratio of 1 adult:15+ kids.
We were able to do some face painting, rock painting, nail painting, jump roping, ball kicking/tossing, and lunchtime with the kids and brought along 50 sandwiches that we made that fed kids and their siblings at home-I even helped babies drink the pop they were given, something I never thought I would have given in to! They chugged it all down and got a few good burps and were happy and ready to go home after that!
- Home for Sick & Dying Babies
The last two hours of our "work day" was spent with kids who had to live at a hospital/orphanage building without anyone besides a few nannies to take care of them all, so they soaked up all the extra love. It was hard to know how old each kid was because what I would guess is a 6-month-old baby in America, could have been a 4-year-old in Haiti growing very slowly from malnutrition and whatever other sickness they were struggling with as an infant. Some didn't look to get out of the cribs much and some were anxious and needing to move ASAP. Either way, we would scoop them all up knowing they would probably not get held again until tomorrow, and they all seemed pretty happy with the "forced love."
The hardest part about this facility was hearing the room next door with babies so sick we weren't able to even go in the room or look at them and hearing them screaming and crying. Knowing that they were not comfortable or something hurt or they just needed something and the staff was outnumbered so some would wait a while to get what they needed was HARD. It was a good opportunity and blessing though to be a part of it and to see something like that. There is no shortage of children in need in America, but this was really something different that you would see in very few other places around the world. They had filled up with babies and children after the earthquake in 2011, but thankfully were not as full anymore and some babies got healthier and were able to go home with people who could be with them 24/7.
- Pool/Soccer with locals
We ended our day at a beautiful rooftop pool across the street from our stay. We got an earful of DJ Khalid's top 10 or so songs in English with more swearing in a minute than I've heard in 21 years on this planet. They turned it on as we walked up, so we think they were doing it to please us.
As we walked back from the pool, we turned onto our street to find a group of guys still playing soccer. They invited one guy to play soccer with them, which turned into all 4 guys on our team playing the Haitians and using tires as goals. Guess who won? As long as you said absolutely not the Americans, you were right. The ladies sat on the side and chatted with some of the guys as they talked about their dreams to come to the States someday or just travel and see what else is out there. Some of them had great English that they learned in high school.
It was quite a day! The way that kids are raised and families operate is so different, yet so similar to what we are used to seeing in the United States. It is quite amazing how much more they rely and work with each other as a community while in survival mode for their own families at the same time. Tomorrow will bring a whole new set of lessons, love, and emotions as we are off to see a new part of what Healing Haiti has been doing here! Thanks for following our journey and keeping up with our long posts as we try to paint a picture of our busy days!
