Day 2 - First Day of Service

This morning, after a delicious breakfast complete with eggs, pancakes, fresh fruit, and oatmeal, our team went to our first serving opportunity of the week. Dios is a orphanage for special needs children. We got off the tap-tap and were immediately greeted with children with varying levels of mental and physical disabilities. With it being our first time serving this week, there was a lot of uncertainty and reservation from the group as a whole. The smiles, easy nature of the kids, and genuine desire for connection quickly melted any anxiety on the end of our group. The kids at Dios wanted so badly to be seen by, and to connect with, our team, that they did not care how we did it. For most it involved Play-Doh, bubbles, singing, playing ball, or simply being held. Though many of the children were non-verbal (not that the language barrier would have let us speak a lot with them anyway) our whole team remarked how deeply we were able to connect with the kids at Dios. 

After leaving Dios, we spent some of the afternoon at Haiti Design Co., a shop that features jewelry, clothing, and leather goods from local artisans. In total Haiti Design Co. employs about 100 Haitians, training them to become the best in their craft. The artisans are able to work for 2x minimum wage with health coverage (!!!!). Our team was able to tour their workshops, learn to make bracelets, eat and shop, and connect with some of the Haitians. This company is doing great work to help create jobs and livelihoods for those in Haiti, and if you are interested in supporting that check out their shop at http://haitidesignco.org/.

The last leg of our day, our team split in half to serve at two different locations. Half of us served at a family style orphanage called LaPherre. Our group enjoyed unplanned organic connection with the kids. We spent the first portion of our time playing a ball game that the kids invented, singing, having our hair braided, and simply sitting with the kids. We were surprised how easy it was to communicate with the kids as most of them spoke English. They shared tidbits about themselves- their names, how old they were, their favorite color. We led a group craft in which the kids made a keychain with their name on them. We shared verses with the kids (Psalm 139:13-14, Psalm 147:4-5, Isaiah 43:1) about how God planned for us before He created the world, He knitted us together in our Mother's womb, and He knows us by name. We enjoyed sharing a little bit of God's love for the kids we were with, and reminding them how important their name is. 

This afternoon, while half of our team was serving at LaPherre orphanage, the rest of us were able to experience a much different atmosphere at The Home for Sick and Dying Babies. Our time serving here was a roller-coaster of emotions to say the least. The Home for Sick and Dying Babies was not all how it sounds. We were holding a lot of severely sick children, but pure joy surrounded the room with genuine smiles and tummy giggles, and that is what filled our hearts with hope for them all. After spending those two hours giving endless amounts of hugs and kisses, helping with feeding time, changing dirty diapers, and so much more, it was hard to say our goodbyes but those are moments we will never forget. Although it was one of the most difficult experiences we have been part of, and I think the rest of our team would say the same, being able to give all of that love and affection those babies needed will hold a special place in our hearts. We will forever be grateful! There was a quote said by one of our team members, Kevin, we thought was a really good summary of the emotions felt today and really wanted to share it with you all "I never felt so needed yet so inadequate". With that said, we wish we could have given more, but we hope we were able to touch some of those lives today.

-Rachel & Sydney (Home for Sick and Dying)

-Kelsey & Chelsey (LaPherre)

Exhuberance

Philippians 4:6  "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving present your requests to God."

"Dad, will you go to Haiti with me".  My daughter Kelsey had invited me three times over several years to join her on a Healing Haiti service trip. Each time I found my excuse, all sounding valid enough to me as the words fell from my mouth.  My work schedule wouldn't allow it, I had planned out all of my vacation days for the year, or the heat and humidity wouldn't be something that I would deal well with. Convinced enough to say no, there was still something that rattled around in my heart as Kelsey would return with stories of incredible fulfillment and grace returned in much higher volumes than was given.  God was working on softening my heart.

Several months ago while sitting in church, words came faster than doubts could stop them.  Kelsey was happy to hear me tell her that this year I would finally join her.  However, there was a catch.  The trip was full.  True disappointment hit me, but she just looked at me and said "let's leave it in God's hands".  An hour later while leaving church we ran in to one of the trip leaders.  Volunteering my story to Alicia made her eyes light up and she told me a spot had just opened on the trip through a wide smile.  God was on the move!

The days passed quickly and this morning at 5 a.m. we boarded a plane in Minneapolis destined for 10 hours of travels including two connections.  God is with us and we arrived safely without any of a myriad of problems occurring that could have. Our group consists of 14 with a good mix of vets and rookies to Healing Haiti.  After dinner we discussed our day with each of us offering a word of the day.  Two words caught my attention. 

The first word is anticipation.  Political turmoil had caused the two Healing Haiti trips immediately ahead of ours to be cancelled, yet here we are.  Anxious anticipation was exactly what I felt in the weeks leading up to our trip.  But in the days just prior to leaving peace and joy began to creep in.  Second, connections.  Not the airport kind, but rather the spiritual kind.  Connectivity is something we all need in our lives.  It's good for the soul and the mind.  The age range in our group is 16 - 61... almost poetic.  Different ways of approaching our trip and how God works through us have been shared and connections are already starting.

Suddenly I realized that my anxious anticipation had turned into joyous anticipation.  My reservations had turned into exuberance.

Philippians 4:13  I have the strength to face all conditions through Christ and the power He gives me. 

-Kevin

Arrived safely in Port Au Prince!

Schauer/Kittleson Team Day 6

Good Evening!

You all may be hearing about what is happening here in Haiti. It sounds like things are settling down and starting to get cleared out. Our Haitian staff is keeping us very safe and is continuing to be on contact with others outside of our area of the guesthouse. Today, we spent the day at the guest house as some streets were still blocked. We were able to spend time as a team and continue to process and understand what we have seen this week through our work. As of now we are unsure of our plans for the morning and will wait to get official confirmation from our Haitian Director in the morning, his main concern is always our safety. We are all safe and well and feel that we will continue to be safe here in Haiti.

Thank you for all of your continued thoughts, prayers, and messages.

-Gabby and team

Schauer/Kittleson Team Day 6

Good Evening!

You all may be hearing about what is happening here in Haiti. It sounds like things are settling down and starting to get cleared out. Our Haitian staff is keeping us very safe and is continuing to be on contact with others outside of our area of the guesthouse. Today, we spent the day at the guest house as some streets were still blocked. We were able to spend time as a team and continue to process and understand what we have seen this week through our work. As of now we are unsure of our plans for the morning and will wait to get official confirmation from our Haitian Director in the morning, his main concern is always our safety. We are all safe and well and feel that we will continue to be safe here in Haiti.

Thank you for all of your continued thoughts, prayers, and messages.

-Gabby and team

Schauer/Kittleson Team Day 5

Hello all,

You may have already or may start hearing the news of the demonstrations  happening in Haiti right now. The team and I are safe.

Today we were in Titanyen, a rule city in the northern part of Haiti, visiting orphans and elders. On our way back, we hit traffic and lots of people walking on the streets. We turned around figuring it was a bad traffic jam. As we turned around our Haitian staff found out it was a demonstration and roads were blocked off. We took side roads through neighborhoods to find another route. What we found out was that there were protests because the gas prices are rising.  This is a country where the people have so little, often no water, so to raise the gas price is a huge burden to those who require travel to get to work.

We stopped at an orphanage to wait on one of our staff members to find the best way for us to travel. There we got to play with the kids. Our Haitian staff got us all home safely and we are all in the guest house. We are waiting to hear about our plan for tomorrow. It will all depend on if our Haitian staff believes we will be 100% safe and not run into any issues tomorrow. Our Haitian staff is doing everything to keep us safe and our guest house is very secure.

We will update you as soon as we can tomorrow. Please understand wifi can be spotty and hard to upload blogs.

Thank you for all of your continued prayers!

-Gabby and group!