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
