Day Four | Laughter and Play

Today was such a fun day full of laughter and play time. 

Our day began with meeting Jean Fils Aime who has played a significant role for developing Healing Haiti. He is the Director in Haiti and has helped build the compound from the very beginning. He shared his stories of how it all began and the growth Healing Haiti has experienced.    

We then packed up crafts, musical instruments, bubbles and a parachute and headed to the Mephibosheth School. This school houses, educates and cares for children with disabilities. Because of Healing Haiti’s partnership, we brought bags of food to donate.

After we unloaded the truck we were greeted with big hugs and smiles from all the children.  We brought out all the fun and games to begin playing. We started out with song and dance, and some parachute games. Each of us in the group made connections with a child. Whether it was playing an instrument with them, holding and talking with them, or bringing laughter with the parachute, we all had smiles on our faces. Language is always a barrier when we interact with the Haitian community. But it didn’t take long for God to remove those barriers as we both understood what it means to laugh, play and hug each other. 

At one moment during our visit, a young girl wheeled out and wanted to sing for us. As she began to sing, her angelic voice carried above the noise of the crowd. And the group slowly began to quiet and gather around her as she sang to us in creole “Lord I Need You” and “10,000 Reasons”. It was such a gift for us to hear her voice and her praises to God. Music helps us engage emotionally with the words we’re singing, and we were all so touched by this moment. 

After we wrapped up our playtime at the Mephibosheth School, we made our way to Papillon Marketplace.

Papillon Marketplace is a fair-trade certified, socially-conscious lifestyle brand dedicated to supporting at-risk mothers and fathers with full-time artisan jobs in Haiti. Our tour guide Tricky shared with us how all the goods they sell are created. Most of their work is made with clay. We also enjoyed burgers and smoothies and Café Papillon for lunch. 

We wrapped up our time at Papillon and made or way to the guesthouse to rest. Our Tap Tap ride back home had the most thrill and excitement for the team as we drove through the heavy traffic of Port-au-Prince. Bumpy roads, big trucks, loud honks, quick motorcycles and all the maneuvering through the rush hour created a roar of laughter as we bounced our way home. 

Our third and final visit was to a community center for boys and girls in the neighborhood called New Hope. New Hope is similar to an after-school care program. This is one of the newer partnerships Healing Haiti has made in the community. 

We started off our time with a skit and craft focusing on walking with Jesus. We started out with about 40 children and quickly grew to over 100. We divided our time between 2 small rooms and one small area outside. The children inside had a dance party and sang the Hokie Pokie. We learned a new dance that the kids all new well which sounded like it was called Uncle Bookie. 

We also brought out jump ropes, the parachute, stickers, and heart shaped crafts. The children swarmed around as they all grabbed what they needed to decorate their wooden heart. We ended by singing Jesus Loves Me and Smith closed us out in prayer before snack time. As we handed out snacks we started to realize that we were not prepared for over 100 children. But God provided and we had enough for every child with only 3 left over. Praise God!

We made our way back to the compound for dinner. During our team devotion time we reflected on our day. Everyone shared their Word of the Day. Words ranged from Heart, Laughter, Community, Smile and Joy. 

Jesus tells us “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” (Matthew 19:14) We experienced a taste of heaven today as we shared love with all of God’s wonderful children. 

Day Three | Let's Go!

 The Lord had big plans for us today. 

We started our day by visiting the local neighborhood artisan shop where we could buy handmade goods such as paintings, tin wall-art, woodworking and stone sculptures. This is a great way for the team to find goods to remember the trip while contributing to the economy. 

While we were gone, God was working on our plan for the day. We returned to get ready for our next mission of serving at one of the orphanages. Our leader Smith updated us that we had the opportunity to go into Cité Soleil for Water Truck Day! We were so surprised. 

The area called Cité Soleil means Sun City. It’s an extremely impoverished and densely populated community located in Port-au-Prince. What started as a shanty town grew to an estimated 200,000-400,000 residents, the majority of whom live in extreme poverty. This area is generally regarded as one of the poorest and most dangerous areas of the Western Hemisphere. It has no sewers and a poorly maintained open canal system. 

There was a lot of uncertainty if we would get to serve Cité Soleil this week. When our team heard the news that plans changed and we were going today, bursts of joy erupted. We couldn’t believe the time was now to GO! We had 5 minutes to change and pile into the Tap Tap. 

Our main task for Water Truck Day is to meet the tanker truck and manage the hose, help form a line, fill up buckets of water and help carry them to their homes. The water truck offers 6,000 gallons of water. Because most of the residents of Cité Soleil are children and young adults, the moment we opened up the Tap Tap to hop out we were greeted with dozens and dozens of children who jumped up and hugged each of us.  

We were able to make 4 different stops with the water truck and each of them had their own experience. The first stop was overwhelming as the team quickly worked to get the buckets filled up along with hugging, holding and playing with the children. We then moved to our second stop where we began working, but as music was being played we broke out in a dance party on the streets with the children. Laughter and excitement filled the air. 

We then took a break at the Hope compound which houses a school, church and clinic built by Healing Haiti. Smith gave us a tour and talked about how 5 years ago Hope Church opened its doors to the community to share the Light of Christ. 

We also toured two new shipping containers that were constructed to be a sewing shop and technology classroom for children to learn. The sewing team creates cloth diapers for local orphanages and community partners. 

Once we were rested, we geared up for our third stop. The team had more opportunities to carry buckets back to people’s homes. Children were laughing, jumping and pouring water over themselves. It was refreshing to feel the splashes, but also refreshing to see some of these children feel clean. 

Our fourth and final stop was productive. The team felt confident in what to do and each stepped into the role God wanted them to play. One Haitian woman helped direct where buckets needed to go and tapped shoulders for us to help. It was physically exhausting as we kept moving back and forth with the buckets… but every time we felt weak, God gave us strength. 

Once the truck was empty we needed to load up in the Tap Tap quickly and go. We gave our last hugs and hand squeezes while saying “Jezi renmen ou”, which means Jesus loves you, and said goodbye. 

On our way home our team talked about what we saw and felt. How God was moving through this community by bringing living water. As we reflected during our circle time, we each shared our Word of the Day. Words ranged from, Healing, Overwhelmed, Play, Cleanse, Desperation and Grace. What an experience we will never forget. 

We look forward to what God has prepared for us tomorrow.