Team 1 = Texasabetes - Day 4

 Team 1 = Texasabetes - Day 4

On a side note... if you are wondering why our Texas Team has been called Texasabetes  on the blog... it's because we have 3 diabetics on our team. That can be challenging for these people... how great it is though that they have each other for support. Hats off to you guys... now lets get down to business.

Water, agua, H2O... whatever you want to call it... it is a necessity!

Today was mostly about fufilling this basic human need - water. In the States we generally take water for granted. Most people don't even like water - we prefer our sugary soda pop and specialized drinks in comparison to water. Before CoVid we could easily drink water in any location with water fountains. We even have a larger than necessary selection of bottled water in our stores... I prefer Smart Water myself but I digress. In Haiti, access to clean drinking water is a constant struggle. It is NOT taken for granted. Today we delivered water to 3 neighborhoods in Port-au-Prince. This was our first time in these neighborhoods as we are unable to travel into our beloved Citi Solei. I find it a bit comical that we didn't know what to expect at these stops since we were not familiar with the neighborhoods. They were different people of course but they all carried the same look in their eyes.... happy to get fresh water and willing to fight for it if needed. We made a total of 4 stops and it went from moments of calm to moments of chaos then back-and-forth several times. We don't think about how much we use water for until it is no longer available. The need for water can cause chaos, as I mentioned before, when people thought that the water was possibly running out, they began to push and shove to make sure they got the water they needed. Children are expected to be a part of this process trying to claim water for their families. Even smaller children, no older than 5 or 6 were carrying huge buckets of water that I could barely pick up myself. It is necessary to fill as many jugs as possible because there is always uncertainty as to when the next water truck would come. Showering, a thing that we do every day, is such a big deal and provides so much enjoyment, especially for the children. 

We also took part in a favorite thing of Team Texas today... Haitian Baptism. This takes place at the water station. See picture - pretty self explanatory and it was a great refresher!

Another new adventure we had today - was eating lunch at a Haitian restaurant.  This isn't just any restaurant.  This one is owned by a beloved Healing Haiti team member Max. The food was the diggity diggity! Fried chicken, pikliz (spicy Hatian cole slaw), plantains, fries from heaven and sauce that was out of this world. Thank you Max!

Words of the Day: water, Haitian baptism, french fries and 'dat sauce', misconception, 

liy souple (line please), laughter, blame Ed, sign language, lost?, one

Team 1 = Texasabetes - Day 3

 Team 1 = Texasabetes - Day 3

You haven't lived until you have been turned away from a Mother Theresa Orphanage...

but more on that later....

If we had one word to describe today, I think it would be FUN... but I guess we should back up even a little more.

Our plan was to visit a place called Hope Center. It is a local community center for a neighborhood where children are welcome to spend the day. It helps keep them off the streets and their goal is to give the children activities to do, show them about a loving community and teach them about God. We needed to provide them with a sandwich to eat so off the the grocery store we went. Going to the grocery store is a treat these days for any missionary in Haiti. The unrest has caused a lot of change for the daily rountines of people here. Our guides are keeping us safe and we are unable to visit some of the regular places we visit on these trips. It is a little disappointing not being able to serve in areas we have always been welcome before... but like we said yesterday... we must be super "Gumby" and go where we are led. Today was Hope Center and man oh man... did we have fun! 

After purchasing peanut butter and making ALOT of sandwiches... we set off on our adventure. This place was small and held 50 kids easily but adding 11 more adults made it a little crowded at times. We had soccer going on outside while inside we colored pages, painted nails, drew with sidewalk chalk and danced.  And then after we danced... we danced some more... It was HOT, it was STICKY, the smell of SWEAT filled the room and we couldn't have been any HAPPIER!

The team shared many precious moments in this. The kids wanted our attention. They wanted us to hold them. They wanted connection! My most precious moment was holding a little boy, his head rested on my shoulder as we slow danced and I was praying that he felt a mother's love from me. The program was run by 1 man and 4 staff members and you could tell that the men loved the children but individual moments were most likely few and far between so the children cherished these moments where the world revolved around them and only one other adult. 

Individual possessions are rare so the sharing or giving away of something is very significant here. Another precious moment was when a team member received an earring from a child. It should be noted that this was the only earring she had. Despite the language barrier, there was so much love established that the little girl felt obligued to give her this special gift. The receiver felt extremely special. The desire to give something back was overwhelming but not possible. 

Then the music got hopping and a dance off was on. These kids could DANCE! Standing in a circle...cheering each one on... the room was HAPPY!

Now here is when it gets a little real. We made these peanut butter sandwiches and every child got at least one. We asked if we could pass out seconds and we were told no, we could feed more children.  While we were inside doing these activities, other children began to line up outside the center in hopes of getting fed. Let that sink in a little... children were lining up outside the center in hopes to score a meal!  

We all left that center with our hearts a little more full. We left thankful for being able to serve these kids, we left happy and TIRED!

We ventured on to Mother Theresa's orphanage next. Turns out another group of missionaries were already at the orphanage. No worries! We are Super Gumby and we will be coming back for you Mother Theresa later in the week!

We experienced a lot of ups and downs today but we know that GOD IS GOOD!

Words of the Day: plethora, dance, "that was NOT a good idea", grateful, jungle gym, dance party, maturing, laughter, "fun, change, connection", volleyball