Our journey to Haiti started bright and early at 4 am. We
hopped a Lyft to the Miami airport and arrived in Port-au-Prince shortly after
9am local time. The itinerary we originally had was to head right to Sweet Home
Orphanage from the airport, but in true Haitian style, our plans changed at the
last minute. Long-term in-country resident Grace, calls this type of daily challenge
“dégagé,” which translates to “make it work”! And so we did!
With the change of plans, we went to the Healing Haiti
guesthouse to get settled and explore the grounds before heading to Papillon.
It was started by a woman who came to Haiti with plans to adopt a child but
when she discovered the child had a family, her focus shifted to helping
families stay together. And so Papillon was born with the main goal of orphan
prevention through job creation. Starting with four employees, Papillon now
employs over 300 local Haitians. We got a personal tour of the production
areas, including hand-made jewelry, pottery, sewing, and print screening.
Afterwards
we were given the opportunity to shop at their marketplace for these hand-made
goods, which directly helps support these local artists. (Check them out at
www.papillonmarketplace.com.)
We went from one extreme to the other, departing the success
story of Papillon and walking into the hardships and struggles at the Home for
Sick and Dying Babies. Our whole team knew ahead of time that this was probably
going to be the hardest part of the trip. A main goal for all of us while there
was to not have an emotional breakdown. In our short two hours, we were able to
love on kids who are sick and need love. Even with a language barrier, we were
able to play and laugh with them. We were even given the opportunity to feed
them. Leaving them was heartbreaking because they were crying and reaching
their arms up for us even as we were walking out the door.
At the end of the day, we returned to the guesthouse for a family-style
dinner, devotions, fellowship, and reflections on our first day in Haiti. We
can’t wait to see what the rest of our trip holds! Thank you for praying!
-Jessica and Sarah
