Saint Mary's U of M Day 4

As today comes to an end I can’t help but think about the same moment in my day. Although today was filled with joy, beautiful artwork, and friendship, but there was some down parts. Today we had our second and last water day of this trip. We visited “Station 26” in Cite Soleil for the second time. The main thing I noticed about this station that was different from the others is that it was a lot more chaotic. Chaotic in the way that the people were a lot more aggressive when fighting for their water. Even the children seemed to be more aggressive when asking us to play with them or carry them. But the moment that keeps replaying in my head is about one particular little boy that had to be no older than 6 years old. He was different from the rest of the children. When he came up to me he didn’t seem excited or happy, but instead he just reached his hands up asking me to pick him up. When I picked him up I just felt him grab onto me as tightly as he could and lay his head on my shoulder. In that moment I felt my heart drop because I could tell that’s all he truly wanted, to be held by someone… At that moment I decided to only hold that one child for the rest of our time there and make sure he felt loved and secure even if it was just for a moment. I did not get the chance to catch his name but I won’t forget the way it felt when I picked him up. Today we also went to the capital where there was a market with small tents set up where people were selling their beautiful handmade crafts. From the moment we got off the tap tap to the moment we left we were crowded by people selling their stuff and yelling “miss, miss!” It was a very overwhelming stop especially since I was never able to leave the same stand since they all came and crowded around me. After that we went to the top of the mountain where we got to see a whole different side of Haiti. Here we were able to see beautiful houses and large high end hotels. Once we reached the top of the mountain we were able to see the view and it was amazing. Amazing in two ways, the first is that we were able to see over everything and it was breathtaking. The second thing that amazed me about being at the top of the mountain is that we couldn’t see all poverty and all the things wrong with Haiti. Overall, the trip has been amazing and it has inspired me to serve those in need in every way that I can. Blessings to our families. We all miss you!

-Imelda