Slumberland Team - Day 5

Vendredi!  Friday in Haiti!  What a crazy incredible day here!  We began our day with a beautiful sunrise worship service at Church on the Rock.  It was moving to see all of the Haitians out before work or school to attend a service.  Their services are much different than ours back home so it was special for us to be able to attend. 

We continued our day with two water truck stops.  Every stop, every day is so different than the last. Each district is its own distinct community with its own personality.  The need is different and so are the people.  We know when emotions are running high, as at our first stop, the need for water is great.  At our second stop the children were able to play with the water as we poured it into their random buckets and containers.  What a joy for these children to have enough water to use some to play with!  Water is a luxury we take so for granted at home.  It was lovely to see the Haitian children doing something as simple as playing in a bucket of water, as my own girls do so often do at home, laughing and splashing.  Such a simple pleasure that we were fortunate enough to witness today.

We did a walk around another district in Cite Soleil today as well.   It was quite a different view walking through a neighborhood rather than watching it from our Tap-Tap.  We could see the random way homes were constructed with no streets or sidewalks or yards.  We saw “stores” being run out of these homes made from scrap sheet metal.  We saw families in their homes doing laundry or preparing a meal while pigs and goats run wild.  As always we had an abundance of children vying for our attention, wanting to be carried or have their hands held, or receive any affection we were willing to offer. 

Our last stop was LaPharre orphanage where we got the opportunity to play with about fifteen to twenty orphans.  We played games, colored, jumped rope and did a number of other fun activities.  The children there were the sweetest children I believe we have come across yet.  We sang songs as we usually do and they gave us a surprise by singing for us!  One girl started off the singing with an angelic singing voice that shocked us all with the power behind it.  Then all of the children joined in and gave us an impromptu concert.  It was a beautiful moment for all of us.  Sometimes the greatest gift we can give is listening and we were able to do that for these talented and deserving kids today.

It is hard to believe that we only have one more day in Haiti before we head home.  I know that we will come home changed in some way.   It is then our responsibility to share what we learned with all of you!

Jessica