Today was day 3 of our trip in Haiti. Our first stop of the day was at a school called, Teach Haiti. It was started by a woman who wanted to provide education access to children who normally might not have the opportunity to attend school. Our team split up into 2 groups, one group spent time with the 10th graders and the other with the 3rd graders. We helped the kids to practice their English and they helped us to practice our creole! One of the questions that we were encouraged to ask the students is what are their dreams - what do they want to be when they grow up? There were a variety of answers: engineer, nurse, lawyer, police officer, even a pastor. It was a great reminder that we are all uniquely wired by God and given a variety of dreams!
Next we went to Papillon, which is a local artisan shop and restaurant. Papillon was started by a woman and her husband who came down to adopt a child from Haiti. During that process, they realized that many of the children in orphanages actually have parents and are 'orphans' due to economics. From this realization Papillon was born and now employees over 100 Haitian moms & dads. They make a variety of goods: coffee mugs, jewelry, t-shirts, hand bags, dolls, etc. We were able to get a tour and see how things are made - we even were fortunate enough to see some of the coffee mugs being made on the pottery wheel.
We wrapped up the day by going to Sakala, which is an after school ministry that seeks to provide a space for kids to come play and get help with their homework. Sakala was started by two friends who grew up in Cite Soleil and know firsthand the reality that some of these kids face with gangs in the area. We were able to get a tour of the ministry and it was inspiring! They've turned an area which used to be full of garbage into a garden which grows a variety of plants and trees - including moringa trees. The gardener, Frank, grew up in Cite Soleil and after going to university and spending some time in the US he decided to come back to Haiti because he wanted to make a difference in his country - now he works with the kids to teach them about gardening. On top of seeing the garden, we also saw the library, as well as the chess and ping pong area. We learned that one of the elementary school age girls is amazing at chess and will be competing in a competition in the Dominican this coming weekend - needless to say she absolutely schooled our goers who attempted to play her. Lastly, we also saw where some of the kids who have a passion for art and creativity make picture frames out of wood and garbage. They take things such as old nails, wires, bottle caps, etc., and use them to construct picture frames. It's a relatively simple thing to do, however as I stood back and admired the creativity I was reminded about how the Lord specializes in taking all the garbage in our lives and makes something beautiful out of it. I once heard it said that we are never more like God than when we create - today our team had the privilege to witness and be reminded of this first hand as we interacted with our Haitian brothers and sisters.
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