Healing Haiti Mission Trip
Day 1
Before leaving for Haiti, the team gathered from different locations. George and Luke, a father and son came from Illinois. Bob and Barb arrived from Florida. The rest of the team, Pastor Glenn, Dan, Peter and Wendy from Hope, and our leaders, Melissa and Melanie, all came down from Maine. We all met at Fort Lauderdale, Florida on Monday afternoon. We flew into Port-au-Prince that evening. The first thing we saw was the beautiful mountainous views, limestone covered mountains which left us all awestruck. Melissa brought us quickly through all of the red-tape. When we left the airport, we knew we weren't in Kansas anymore (or Maine as the case might be). We were surrounded by Haitians, all clamoring to carry our baggage for a tip. Only ONE person fell prey to the demands. For now, that person will go unnamed.
We all loaded into the tap-tap. This is a truck , equipped with benches enclosed by a cage. The ride to the compound was very exciting. Apparently, traffic laws don't exist, or at least they are not evident or obeyed. We arrived safely at the compound, with the help of our very capable driver. We were exhausted from the trip, but also excited about the adventure to come. We had a delicious meal and then a time of sharing and devotions. This included each of us coming up with a "word of the day", summing up our perception of this day. Words such as, Exciting, Relationships, Beauty, Awestruck, Real, Chaotic, Unknown, Expectations, Nervous and Home. After that, we were ready to see the end of the day.
Day 2
We knew that our first day would be with the water truck. First, we had another devotional time, with everyone sharing about the topic "Willing Hearts and Palms Up". We enjoyed a wonderful breakfast before jumping into the tap-tap. Water delivery involves a large truck filled with water. This water is delivered to Cite Soleil. This slum houses the poorest of the poor. We arrived at the first stop, to find ladies and children lined up with various containers. The truck has a large hose, similar to a fire truck. Our job was to direct the water into the buckets. The water NEVER stopped gushing, very fast paced. We had to continually slide containers in and out. People were taking their buckets away. Many of these were very heavy. Some ladies, and even children, would tap their head, indicating that they wanted us to help lift the buckets up onto their heads. Down the street they would go. Many of the team members carried water down the street into different homes. All of this took place while we were hugging and holding multitudes of children.
Between three different water stops, we visited Hope School. At recess, we got to play with the children. This mostly consisted of being buried under multiple hugs. Some people were a little concerned about their ability to love so freely. This inhibition was quickly overcome. Actually, there was no possibility of refusal. The Hope School was amazing, truly a beacon of hope among the desolation.
After the last water stop, we walked to the pier. Cite Soleil is "ocean-front property" Wendy wanted to put her feet in the water until she realized it was actually quite polluted. That didn't stop some local boys from playing in the water, all the while yelling out the now familiar "Hey, YOU!"
After this long, exhausting, fun, exciting day we arrived back at the compound. We were able to walk up to a local hotel and use their swimming pool. We played catch with the beach balls, making George and Melissa fetch all of the balls that got thrown out of the pool. After another wonderful meal, we wrote thank you cards for all of the Healing Haiti staff and sorted gift bags, filled with goodies that we brought from home. Finally, we sang some worship songs and shared our thoughts about the day. This again included our "word of the day.": Hugs, Water/Life, hey You, Tentative, Mercy/Merci, Sponges, Touch, Desperation, Privileged, Change, and Community.
