August 29, 2019; day 4 in Haiti and day 3 in the field
Many thoughts are floating around in my head as I write this
update; mostly of the people we just served and comforted and the young people
that found such joy in seeing us and being held. But before I get to far ahead of myself, I
will start from the beginning of our day.
We started the day as we always do with breakfast and
devotion. Our devotion today focused on
friendship and we read an excerpt from the gospel of Mark, chapter 2 verses 1-12. Four friends who have a paralyzed friend cut
a hole in the roof of a building in order to lower him down to the feet of
Jesus in order to ask for forgiveness and the ability to walk again. Four friends that tried to get him through
the crowd on his stretcher never gave up showing true friendship in putting
their friend at the feet of our Lord.
Breakfast was or course delicious, as it always is, and
shortly after we packed our lunch (a variety of snacks and bars to eat in the
field) as we always do. Tamara worked
through her mental checklist to make sure we all had what we needed for the
day, in between shout-outs for us to “HYDRATE”.
The tap-tap was packed and we gathered in a circle to pray. Shortly after, we were off to provide water
to two different neighborhoods in Cite Soleil as well as tour the new
state-of-the-art tech center at Hope church and school and wash the feet and
provide back-rubs to the elderly. There
was a new “event” in the tap-tap today, surfing. Two people stand in the aisle of the tap-tap,
face each other in a surfing stance, and attempt to stay upright without
touching the sides of the bus or anyone sitting. The quality of the roads in Haiti make it a
very active game. Some were better than
others but no champion surfers in our group.
We met the water truck in the first neighborhood and as
expected the kids came running with the familiar chant of “hey you, hey you,
hey you” looking for one of the ten of us to pick them up. The only problem, there is generally 50-75
kids running towards us and we need to fill and carry 5-gallon buckets for the
residents. Many of the boys do the work
with one or two kids hanging off of them and two or three others attempting to
get their attention. The first
water-stop went pretty well and fairly smoothly, I guess as smoothly as it can
go and once again our boys stepped up and did their thing. Filling buckets and hustling water while
comforting children through interaction and touch. It brings great joy when you deliver a
necessity like water, knowing you are helping people obtain such a precious
resource that they need for survival.
There is joy in the faces of young kids as they fill empty plastic
bottles to throw on themselves and their friends. There is relief in the faces of the adults as
they receive the water, although at times there is pushing and shoving for a
place in line. More than once we turn
the water flow off to regain a bit of organization among the chaos of buckets
and pails and garbage cans and plastic drums.
The most creative apparatus we saw for water collection was half of an
old suitcase.
To see these six boys in an environment that is completely
foreign and very much outside of their routines, take it all in stride and
perform, is an amazing experience. The
toughest part of everything I just described is having to walk to the end of
the neighborhood and see the look in the eyes of the children as we walk away
from them, powerless to change their “situation”.
The tour of the tech center was informative and gave a sense
of hope for the young people of Haiti.
Educating them with state-of-the-art technology, as much as possible,
means that progress for the children is happening. Unfortunately, the number of children they
can accommodate is not currently meeting demand, but it is still progress. Interesting thing happened while we were
hearing about the tech center, God entered our afternoon in a very real way,
Tamara and Michael were re-united with Estherlancia and Ketelene, two Haitian
girls that stayed with them for three weeks during the summer of 2015. There were screams and tears and many stories
about when they were in the US visiting.
They were able to stay with us the rest of the day and come back to the
house and have dinner, it made for a very joyous afternoon and evening. Many more stories, more tears, and much
laughter, they were truly a breath of fresh air from God.
To finish the day after our second water delivery, which was
more contentious than the first but very much the same, we were blessed to be
able to truly be the hands of Jesus. We
were introduced to approximately 20 elderly Haitians and we were allowed to wash
their feet and massage their shoulders.
We brought comfort, compassion, and love just as Jesus would have
wanted. Again, the boys stepped up and
at times even refused to take a break from washing when offered by one of the
chaperones. The love they showed to the
elderly Haitians men and women was really something to see. Proud does not begin to describe how I felt
watching them care for and comfort these elderly Haitians. When we were done, we prayed over them and
said our goodbyes. The faces of the
Haitian men and women were a mixture of joy, appreciation, gratitude, and
delight. Our boys created that in them,
just an awesome experience to witness, our young men being the hands and feet
of Jesus, “truly I say to you, what you do for the least of my brothers you do
for me.” Matthew 25:40.
To end our day, as we do every day, we spent time talking
about friendship. We picked our “word
for the day” which we all presented in Creole and discussed some of the things
that transpired today and how we might be changed by them. One thing that is very noticeable with our
group as we have these reflections is that the boys are opening up quite a bit
as they talk of the events of the day and what they are doing to directly have
a positive effect on the people of Haiti.
It is great to see the six boys speaking from their hearts and being
willing to share and be a bit vulnerable in their responses.
To conclude I will tell you that this trip so far has been a
great experience for myself and the others, especially the boys. So many opportunities to see the boys shine
and they have. You would all be very
proud. Additionally, we are blessed to
have a great trip leader, Tamara has every detail covered and does a great job
keep everyone engaged. We truly move as
a group of ten and it is because of all the effort and planning that Tam did
prior to getting here and while we are here as changes pop up in our
itinerary. We owe her many thanks.
Until tomorrow……………………………………cheers from Haiti.
