April 2, 2019
Yesterday,
our Michiganders flew from Miami to meet our Minnesotans who picked us up at
the airport and whisked us away in the taptap (think modified box truck where
the box is actually a locked cage that allows airflow when we get over 15 mph
which is rare) to the guesthouse where the Michiganders found their rooms,
dropped their luggage, changed into shorts and t-shirts, lathered up with
sunscreen and back out the door to our first stop of the day: Peace Cycle
(where Michigan and Minnesota met people from Maine!)
What is
Peace Cycle? Think recycle. In Haiti, a common way for people to get drinking
water is through waterbags, little sealed pouches of clean drinking water.
Haitians go through and consume approximately 8 million of these waterbags PER
DAY!!!!!! After drinking their water
what do they do with the bag? Throw it on the ground of course. We didn’t
really notice them until it was brought to our attention and then, while
walking around, you saw that they were everywhere. Peace Cycle takes that
trash/litter and processes it so that it is usable and then uses it to make
something beautiful. Sort of what God does with us when we are saved through
grace and belief in Jesus Christ! Peace
Cycle takes the thrown out, discarded and used waterbag and washes it clean,
cuts it into uniform rectangles, joins them in piles of 4 and irons them into a
new and stronger piece of plastic and then sews those pieces into something
useful like bags, place mats, kids aprons, passport covers, wine bottle totes,
games, etc. All items tell you how many
waterbags it took to make the item being purchased. Let me tell you, what once
was weak and flimsy and discarded as not useful anymore to the person who
consumed it is, through the above process, turned into something not only
sturdy and useful, but when you get the chance to see the beautiful people
rehabbing this trash, their beauty is reflected in the new product created.
Speaking for myself, before I turned to God for saving and redemption, I was
like that used and discarded waterbag. Then people picked me up and, through
Godś amazing grace, I was washed clean, trimmed, pressed and put together with other
discarded and rehabbed water bags to form something greater than my old self;
something greater than my new self alone; something beautiful in a community of
other discarded and rehabbed trash. WOW!
After Peace
Cycle, it was off to Papillon and the Apparent Project. This place was started
by a lady who intended on coming to Haiti to adopt a child, found a child in an
orphanage that she wanted to adopt, but then figured out that the child was not
an orphan in the sense that we understand where the parents are no longer
alive, but simply a child that the living parents could not afford to keep.
Needless to say, the adoption did not go through. Rather, God used this
experience and this woman to birth an idea whereby the Haitian people created
items like jewelry, coffee mugs, etc from clay, as well as from things like
cereal boxes (again discarded items of no use to anyone and intended for the
trash heap), all the while providing income for the Haitian people who create
these items so that they can provide for their families. On average, Haitians
who are employed earn approximately $5 per day. Through Papillon and the
Apparent Project, the Haitians who create their items earn $12 to $15 per day.
In addition, their employees receive free child care and inexpensive schooling
for their own kids on-site. We were again privileged to get a behind the scene
looks at the Haitian people at work. In a day, one person can roll 1,300 beads
from large cereal boxes or 900 microbeads or 1,000 regular beads. Another
person can make a necklace every 15 minutes or earrings every 2 minutes or a
bracelet every 5 minutes. And this is not a sweatshop atmosphere in a big
factory. It is people seated at work benches talking with one another and
casually, but intentionally getting their work done at the same time. And talk
about beautiful items that are created. Whether it is necklaces and bracelets
from the clay or cardboard bead or coffee mugs that are from the master and
junior Haitian potters from the slab of clay to the potters wheel to the kiln
to the sales floor. This stuff is great quality. Again, a metaphor for us going
from sinner to saved!
Our last
stop of the day was to the LaPhere orphanage. Our group was all set with blow
up beach balls, balloons, games and a Bible lesson. The children had just
returned from school and were all inside, but slowly started to emerge from
their house. This was not their first experience with missionaries coming to
visit and play, but they were still shy nonetheless. We were told that this was
a sign of being well adjusted and well cared for. It didn’t take long for them
to warm up to us when we invited them over to us. Hugs were shared and then
they started taking us by the hand to play by kicking the beach balls or jump
rope with them or play hopscotch or 4 square. It wasn’t long before we had all
worked up quite a good sweat. Our Healing Haiti interpreter suggested that we
take a break so that none of the M&Mś (Michigan and Minnesota missionaries)
melted. A bible lesson then ensued, followed by the Haitian children singing
and dancing for us and games that we played with them.
When we
returned, some of us showered before dinner and then we shared a dinner of
chicken and rice. Most of us went to a nearby saltwater pool located at the
Elite Hotel to cool off and community. After getting back to the guesthouse
from the pool, it was time for some team time. Our prayer for the week is What
is God trying to teach me? It is not a mistake that we are here and we may all
be here for a different reason. But we trust that for each of us, God is
intending to teach us something through this experience and it up to us to
allow God to work in us and through us with an open heart and mind and a palms
up attitude. - Brad
No comments:
Post a Comment