Hello family and friends!!!
Today was our first full day in the beautiful country of Haiti. We woke up this morning to a great breakfast: toast, french toast, oatmeal, fruit and eggs. After breakfast we piled onto the tap-tap along with our snacks and abundance of water. We drove for about 20 minutes and arrived at our first stop in City Soleil. As soon as the truck entered the slum, we were swarmed with children and adults carrying empty buckets, eager to receive the water we had brought for them. With no caution and full trust, the children (naked and clothed) threw themselves onto us and clung onto our arms. We didn't hesitate to catch them either. We were all so involved with everyone we met, whether that was holding the hose the water was coming out of, lining up the buckets, interacting with the kids and even bringing water from the hose straight to their homes. Lots of emotions were felt today but the one that was clearly experienced by everyone was joy. Before we left for our second stop, we were able to go inside Hope Church. It opened up only one year ago and is considered a miracle since it was built on top of 25 feet of garbage. At our second stop, we were once again consumed in a sea of children begging for our affection. For the mot part things were going great, and got more interesting when Tyanna was led by a child to her family who sat her down and tried to communicate with her in creole (luckily we had interpreters with us). For the most part, that seems like something you might expect to happen, but things really picked up when the family handed her a baby and pointed to what looked like a toy, but turned out to be a sting ray on the floor. They picked it up by the tail and proceeded to swing it in front of her face. Not once did quiver-she was calm the entire time. As the water truck was leaving, one of the Haitian women thought that we were leaving without her (we weren't) and rushed her through the crowd and said her goodbye. Our third and final stop was by far the most interesting. We were asked for our phone numbers by Haitian boys, Kylie was given a picture of a boy who looked nothing like the guy giving the picture, and the children kept touching Julia's eyebrows (side note: when we returned to the guesthouse an open safety pin was found in her hair). Along with their interest in us alone, the children also were fascinated by braces, headbands, ponytails, and braids. We also played tug of war (literally) with a determined Haitian boy who had taken over the water hose, and wanted to only give the water to his friends. We finished the day with cooling off in a pool, devouring an AMAZING dinner, and having pit time along with worship lead by one of the long term missionaries, Grace.
-Breanna
