Healing Haiti Team 1

"Hey you!" was my word of the day today.  We heard this all day long from all the children who greeted us all day in Cite Soleit.  After a delicious breakfast at the guest house, we loaded up the tap tap (a covered, screened type pick up truck) and headed out to meet the water truck.  First we stopped at Hope School and saw all the children in all their classrooms with their teachers.  The school serves over 300 children.  The joy, laughter, and smiles  and "hey you's" were amazing. It was unbelievable to me that the Hope Complex was built on a former garbage land fill.  They dug down through 40 feet of garbage, then another 40 feet to build on top to create this complex.  First, the school was built several years ago, then a Medical Clinic, Dental office, lab and pharmacy were added & has been operating for 6 weeks now.  For people who have been here several times, it was evident that incredible progress has been made through Healing Haiti.

Then the water truck arrived and for this first timer, it was an overwhelming experience.  Kids were running, arms up, wanting to be picked up.  We scooped up so many children, held them, played with them and smiled with them while buckets after buckets were lined up and filled.  Everyone had a job to do and we took turns holding the hose, directing the water, lining up buckets and various size containers, carrying the buckets and playing with the kids while they bathed, danced and played.  Even though I don't speak French or Creole, the language of water, love, God, hope, faith, holding, helping and healing was universal.  I truly felt like we were the hands and feet of Jesus all day. 

We met the water trucks at 3 separate water truck stops and each stop was unique.  In between we took a walk through the city and walked down the alley ways and saw where families lived.  A stop at the ocean turned into a an impromptu song and dance led by our driver, glorifying God.  We also stopped at the pier and saw people catching fish. The mountains, the ocean breeze, the rubble, the dichotomy of all that is beautiful and heartbreaking were all evident.   

After coming back to the guest house, one of our devotions we talked about being was "stretched" and I truly felt stretched today - mind, body, spirit, beyond my comfort zone - but I am thankful for this experience today.  I saw God in the world today and how I can be of service to Him and others.  It was an amazing day and I cannot wait until tomorrow!

Christina