Day4/Team1

 

Today was full!

We started at an artisan market in the neighborhood where we shopped for items made by Haitian artists. There was amazing metal art, paintings, jewelry, wood items, stone bowls...and other beautiful items I'm forgetting.

Then we were off to Titanyen. We started at Grace Village. What a beautiful view - in the mountains with the ocean in the distance! We got a tour of the school, garden and dorms. The seniors have final exams coming up - pray for their success.

After visiting the village we were off to serve some of the elders in the town. We brought them dinner, water, and juice. Then we were blessed with the opportunity to wash their feet, sing, and pray for them. What an amazing way to be the hands of God! 

Then...Fleri bakery and restaurant! We saw where they bake the street bread and other items, AND we had PIZZA! It was so good!

Our hearts (and our tummies!) are FULL!

DAY 3/TEAM 1

 

Michelle here! Today was a good day! We did a couple of different things. We went to a factory where they take used tires and innertubes and make shoes and sandals. They also make lots of homemade things like jewelry and leather pieces like book marks, wallets and purses. We also made peanut butter sandwiches and took them to a place kind of like a boys and girls club. We played games, colored, danced and just loved on the children. If that wasn't enough enough experience we went to a home where we played and loved on 17 babies. They were all infants and it broke my heart. I just wanted to sit down and swaddled each and everyone of them up in my arms and sing and pray over their lives. I may have shed a couple of tears as I walked away. We ended the day walking in the rain to a hotel where we cooled off with a swim! 

Day 2/ Team 1

 

Let me start with this...an amazing day! As we rode in our tap tap I was able to see the many people whose complexion was like mine. The extremely bumpy ride enhanced our experience which have given us a more realistic understanding of the daily life here in Haiti. However seeing the faces causes me to consider their actual lives...are they here buying dinner, are they here to sell items in order to buy food for dinner, are they the driver of their own tap tap? All of the questions were running through my mind, yet our focus was on our favorite Deaf school we were anxiously journeying to. 

Once we arrived at the school we were greeted by beautiful children signing and smiling! This was the highlight of our day. This made every bump and every twist and turn worth the travel. The students are vibrant, accepting and smart. They will melt your heart with the large eyes signing to the unexpected guest "Beautiful...you!" Leaving today was difficult, but was made more bearable knowing that we will return later this week. 

Yes this was a long day, one that is just the beginning of our life changing week. 

Day 1/ Team 1 (Lawson Deaf-focused team)

After months of planning, Zoom calls, paperwork, posting, and every other method of communicating you can imagine, our team FINALLY made it to Haiti today!!  We are a team of eight from Minnesota, Indiana, and Georgia with a variety of backgrounds and interests, but we are all coming together well as a true TEAM.  

The day was spent traveling and meeting in Miami.  Some of us were meeting face-to-face for the first time!  After some conversations, laughs, and the obligatory group photo, we were off to Haiti!  The leader, Julie, loved watching everyone's expressions as we navigated the airport, the baggage claim area, and then the tap tap ride.  We arrived to an American meal of taco salad (complete with Doritos and Coke!) and spent the rest of the evening soaking in the beauty around us.  We spent time talking, getting to know one another, reaching out to our families and then had the opportunity to disconnect- Instead of watching TV tonight, we observed lizards hunting for bugs. We watched a thunderstorm build and pass by us.  We shared our observations of how happy the children are; no cell phones, iPads, or video games...just playing and sharing time as a family.  We will continue to look for the beauty in this country and see how God is present in everything we see and do.  

Some of the weary travelers are already asleep and the rest of us are on our way.  Our team is excited to serve and look forward to see what tomorrow will bring!  Please pray for us as we go throughout our week and that God will use us to the best of our abilities.  

Haiti trip 5/24-30 Wrap Up

Caroline Prickette and Lucy McKenzie

We have all been blessed by the opportunity to come to Haiti. We have learned and seen so many eye-opening things. We have made new friends, traveled outside of our comfort zones, and truly fallen in love with this place.

Lucy McKenzie 

This has been my second time to Haiti. I felt that since I knew what to expect, the experience was going to be different from the first time. But one thing struck me about this trip. I wasn't any less exited to see and visit the people. The children's touch was always something I looked forward too! And visiting the elders of the community was so eye opening. Their relationship with the Lord was so strong. One elder would tell us stories of how Christ has helped her in her life. She lived in a shack about the size of an outhouse, and to hear her speak so highly of the Lord despite her living conditions made me feel more dependent on Christ. I have learned throughout my journey in Haiti that God will always be with us in our highs and lows. Haiti has a special place in my heart and will be my second home! Serving along side my team and the staff has been such an honor! I can't wait to be back!

p.s! Big thanks to the staff! They work so hard to make our adventures in Haiti possible!

Caroline Prickette

This has been my second time as well coming to Haiti. I had the privilege to go with Lucy and her mom in January, and now I get to come back a second time, with my mom and a new friend tagging along as well! I have been counting down the days as soon as I got back to the states in January on when I could come back, and as I sit on the front porch of the guesthouse writing this, I couldn't have asked for a better time and group to come back and serve in Haiti. One thing that struck me differently this time around was the children. Of course, they are as cute as ever, but I started noticing the small things they would do that set them apart from every other kid I've met before this trip. One day, I was in Grace Village helping with laundry. The concrete was all sudsy and wet, but I still sat down to help. All of the sudden a small hand was tapping my shoulder and wanting me to stand up. I thought I had done something wrong, but instead this little girl put down a towel for me to sit on. She immediately saw me sitting in the puddle and wanted to help me. The same day at Grace, a little girl wanted to braid my hair. She was still very young, so the hair style she designed for me not only didn't fit my hair, but was probably the craziest style I had ever seen. It had two ponytails braided together with one group of hair braided into a teeny tiny braid. She was so proud of what she had created the she grabbed my hand and marched me around showing all her friends her masterpiece. I had told her earlier in the day that I didn't know much Creole, so she pulled me aside and pulled out her school book and started to teach me. She taught me how to pronounce her name, the vowel sounds, and some numbers before we had to leave. On the way back to the tap tap, she grabbed my hand and called me her "best zanmi"which means best friend in Creole. My heart just melted when she told me that. She had done so many things in the span of 45 minutes to make me feel so loved and welcomed by her. When we climbed into the tap tap she said "orevwa Caroline!" and blew me a huge kiss from the gate. These young kids here in Haiti have so much love in their hearts, and they just want to share it. I am so honored that these children shared their love and friendship with me and my fellow team members this week. I could truly see God's light coming from every single one of them in everything they would do. I can't wait to take another adventure back to Haiti to serve the Lord once again in one of my favorite places in the world. 

Serving Day 2- Elder Visits

5-26-21

Today was an incredible day. eye opening to say the very least. It started out with some coffee on the guest house porch, and mouth watering breakfast made by the wonderful house mothers/ cooks as well as Gena and Cindy some other goers who volunteered to help. We then had a chance to purchase some Haitian metal art, handmade bracelets, paintings, t-shirts and wooden bowls. The next stop... Grace village!!! This was my first time ever at grace village and to say god is working miracles through Healing Haiti would be an understatement. God has blessed this organization through land, the staff, the children, Fleri, the clinic, and sponsorship programs for both the children and elders. this leads me to the next event of the day which was elder visits. We took the rough rock roads through windy and narrow streets to get to these elders homes. Once we arrived our translator and Smith and Rosevelt helped us communicate on a personal level with each elder. The first stop we combined three in one which happened to be a husband, wife and her sister. They openly invited us in and showed us how to make home made Haitian coffee. The process is an artwork. Water boiled over an open flame, that was poured into a cloth strainer that rushed into a big bowl all the while filling the cup and re-pouring the coffee water back through over and over. This was then given to us, while allowing time for it to cool we were able talk and ask questions about their lives and many years of combined wisdom and experience. Once it cooled, and I took my first sip it was like my tastebuds were dancing for joy as it was unlike any coffee I've ever had in my life. We were then able to sing and pray with the three elders before heading off down the street to the next. The last elder visit was filled with laughter and smiles as Dufort was cracking jokes left and right all the while praising God for everything he had and his health. It was a spiritual shift that could be felt in the air as I couldn't help but appreciate how living in a rough condition all that he could do was thank God for everything. This is truly a life changing and eyeopening experience that I will never take for granted. Lastly, we all met up at Fleri which is a bakery ran by Haitians in the community but originally created and funded by Healing Haiti. Fleri means to flourish and the way God has worked with this opportunity in the community it is truly flourishing. We were able to eat and try their handmade pizzas which were so wonderful, I can see how they are flourishing with pizzas that taste this good. This concludes the day and truly one that I will never forget. Life changing. God is SO good. 

Serving Day 1

Bonswa, today was an amazing and blessed day. This morning we went to the New Hope Community Center (Smith's neighborhood) and played with the children in the community. We did different activities with the children such as water colored painting and different games. There was dancing, smiles, laughing, just so much joy all around. We as the team made PB sandwiches for a snack to give to the children. Some of the kids shared with their siblings or took it home to share with their family. Their unselfishness was so impressive to us. In the afternoon we visited a home for sick and dying children. We each fed a baby or toddler and played with them for a couple hours. Here is a personal note from one of the goers who went to the home for sick and dying: 

"I met a little girl today. Her face was round and chubby. She had curly black hair and skin the color of chocolate. A perfect baby. But something was missing. I noticed it right away when I walked into the room. I saw her standing there in that orphanage in her little rusty metal crib, her chubby brown legs sinking into the old, worn mattress and knew right away that something was wrong. Something important was missing. Anyone could have noticed. Any normal person walking into that room could have seen that her smile was missing. No emotion showed on her face. Nothing. My heart hurt as I spooned Haitian pudding into her sweet little mouth. She mechanically ate until the tin bowl was empty and I scooped her into my arms to clean her up and change her. Still no emotion crossed her face. No smile, no happiness, no  crying. Just... nothing.... I had never seen a child like this. So empty of love and so full of nothing. I tried in vain to get her to smile. Or her eyes to connect with mine. Or even for her to reach out or point to something. Still nothing. I tried everything. Tickling her, talking to her, playing pat a cake, cuddling... but none of my efforts were successful. So I simply sat and held her. She was starved for human touch. Nobody had held her all day. Maybe not the day before either. After a while, she seemed to relax a little and I took her chubby hand and we walked over to the playground. I set her on the slide and helped her sweaty little legs scoot down. She got to the bottom and I looked at her adorable face to see her reaction. To my surprise, I saw a smile and sparkling eyes. I threw her up in the air and caught her. I squeezed tight, so happy, and giggle escaped from her. Her face lit up. I loved a little girl today..."